Ice In Their Veins

To: Luke From: Owen I had some real mixed emotions watching the Winter Olympics this weekend. Of course, the death of the Georgian slider on Friday is a tragedy that shatters a lot of enjoyment of a very exciting sport. And I was outraged at the manner in which competition authorities blamed it all on…

Xbox Live Player Catches Suspected School Shooter [Updated]

Several Canadian news outlets report that a gamer in British Columbia thwarted a school shooting by alerting authorities after hearing a failing Texas high school student discuss his plans and targets over Xbox Live. Microsoft’s enforcement division also was involved. The Vancouver Sun says the unidentified gamer, of Port Alberni, B.C., was in an unspecified…

The Economy’s Been Hard on Mario, Too

So bad that, apparently, Mario is pawning money for money. As seen in Eastern Maryland by reader Aaron S.

AIAS Awards to be Streamed Thursday; TV to Broadcast Highlights

Friendly programming note, The Independent Film Channel will stream, live and in its entirety, the 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards on Thursday, over its website beginning at 10 p.m. U.S. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific. The show will be broadcast on IFC a week from Friday – Feb. 26 – in a condensed half-hour highlight special, also…

Week in Games: Catch a Predator

This week sees the return of Aliens vs. Predator 10 years later, back to the PC and also on Xbox 360 and PS3. Other headliners include another round of SOCOM on the PSP, plus Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. This week’s count: six for PC and DS, five for Wii and Xbox 360, two for PS3 and…

Kotaku’s Top Five List of Top 10 Lists

Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What’s better? A list of those. Here’s a roundup of the rundowns out there. •Top 10 Movies That Would Make Horrible Games [Planet Xbox 360] Just because they said “Road House” and they are obviously wrong, I am going…

Fondle a Human Spine in Aliens vs. Predator Multiplayer

According to this latest trailer from Rebellion and Sega, you’ll also jam a wrench down an alien’s throat. Here’s two minutes-plus of PS3 multiplayer from a Predator’s often-cloaked point of view, and trust me, it is age-gated for a reason. Aliens vs. Predator is out on Tuesday.

This was Love Week on Kotaku

Today is Valentine’s Day, and this past week Kotaku went wookin’ pa nub in all the video game places. Below are special links to all our Love Week stories, covering love in all its forms, from lust to matrimony.

Why the Game is the Thing, Even for Uncharted 2

Many have praised Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for its story and cinematics almost to the exclusion of its gameplay. But the latter is chiefly why it was one of 2009’s finest games, argues one writer. Brice Morrison, who writes The Game Prodigy, looks at Uncharted 2 and finds a triumph of action-oriented gameplay that gives…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Conversation Hearts Edition

Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers. We have a sweet ‘Shop Contest candidate for you – dear old NECCO Conversation Hearts, a staple of the holiday which I’m sure you’ll pervert with your own crude sayings. At least, that’s the intent. NECCO, the maker of these things, says it threw out all of the Sweethearts sayings…

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Well Played is a weekly internationally syndicated news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Square Enix Probing Altered FFXIII Comparison Shots [Update]

Sonia Im, Square Enix’s North American spokeswoman has said the company is investigating a batch of suspicious screenshots purporting to compare Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 and Xbox 360, yet are apparently the same image with different control overlays. Update: Square Enix has released this official statement on the matter: Unfortunately we did mistakenly…

Sunday Comics

Penny Arcade published Feb. 8 PvPonline published Feb. 8 ActionTrip published Feb. 8 EXTRALIFE published Feb. 10 GU Comics published Feb. 12 Dotgif published Feb. 8 Ctrl+Alt+Del published Feb. 9 Dueling Analogs published Feb. 8 Nerf NOW published Feb. 12 Rooster Teeth published Feb. 11 Monday Night Crew published Feb. 12 Virtual Shackles published Feb.…

Kotaku Off-Topic: Tron Roller Derby

That’s what I call short-track speed skating, something we only pay attention to every four years. I also want to pronounce “Apolo Ohno” as “App-oh-low” for some reason. Second L please! And the Olympics are underway. This is one of the largest global television sports properties, which means we get two weeks of ads featuring…

Is Street Fighter 3’s Dudley Coming to Super Street Fighter IV?

I received a special Saturday delivery package from Capcom today. Inside a blue boxing glove clutching a red rose. Sound familiar? Either Capcom is trying to tell us something about Dudley coming to Super Street Fighter IV, or they have a wicked mad crush on me. I’ll take either. 😀

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Proto-Natal Edition Winners

Last week’s picture of a strangely sentient-looking Project Natal camera drove a flood of entries to our fourth ‘Shop Contest, with multiple mentions of Sauron, RRoD, Geordi LaForge, and at least one semi-NSFW entry. My favorite, if a bit small, is the fact Dr. Zaius saw the camera and somehow thought of Gov. Schwarzenegger yanking…

It Might be the Law, but It Don’t Mean It’s Right

It’s hard to tell who’s good, who’s bad, who’s corrupt and who’s just incompetent in this brief profile of law enforcement in the lawless land of Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption rides to town April 27.

Last Minute Video Game Valentines for the Soon-to-Be Single

If you are just now making Valentine’s Day plans, son, you are hosed. But these cutie-pie cards from Valve and Capcom might – if minimally – defray the ass-beating you’ve got coming. Alexandra Neonakis has followed up last year’s splendid Left 4 Dead Valentine series with another five featuring the special infected of Left 4…

Five More Screens Show Off The Show

Five new MLB 10 The Show screens sent our way from Sony highlight some of the special animations for this year’s game, including a bang-bang play at second and an attempt to throw out a would-be base thief. That view of cover man Joe Mauer throwing down to second isn’t from Road to the Show…