Tokyo’s Virtual Child Porn Bill Delayed

What do you think happened after some of Japan’s most famous manga creators showed opposition to a Tokyo proposal that sets out to ban provocative “visual depictions” of characters who appear to be 18 years-old and younger? The Asahi Shimbun reports that the bill has been put on hold. Manga artists Go Nagai, Tetsuya Chiba…

Mario’s Inferno Sticks It To EA’s Marketing Team

Few trailers in recent memory have polarised gamers as much as EA’s Dante’s Inferno clip for the Super Bowl. Would you have liked it more if, say, Dante was not Dante, but Mario? I like it more. Well, except for the Bill Withers. Even in this parody version, it still doesn’t sit right. If you…

Battlefield Drops SecuROM DRM

The Steam version of EA’s Battlefield Bad Company 2 is about to get a new patch, and amidst the little tweaks and fixes is some welcome news: the game’s SecuROM DRM software will also be uninstalled. SecuROM has been a pain in the ass of every PC gamer since it first turned up a few…

Kotaku Off Topic: Turbo Teen

Hey, Kotaku readers, how about a little off topic conversation to wrap up the day? Did you see anything cool on the internet or in real life that you’d like to wax off topically about? If you do, would you mind dropping in some of your favorite uncommon vocabulary selections? See, mine has seemed to…

Will You Start Caring About Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom Now?

The newest trailer for Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, the charming co-op adventure from the folks who made Genji and Folklore, might be the boost you need to start caring about this game. Sure, it may have a terrible name, whether you want to call it Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, as it’s known in…

Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition Hops On 3D Bandwagon

Or should that be batwagon? Regardless, Eidos has set dates for the re-release version of Rocksteady Studios’ surprisingly good comic book hit Batman: Arkham Asylum, confirming that we’ll be battling the asylum’s inmates in a new way this spring. Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year edition tosses in a pair of 3D glasses for…

It’s Business Time, Kratos

Reader ryandesu used paper cutouts to dress up a poster he got with God of War III today. “Since this may be Kratos’ last game, he’s gotta get a real job, but can’t go to interviews in his normal attire.”

Bad Company 2 Video Spoofs Modern Warfare 2’s “F.A.G.S.” PSA

When Battlefield: Bad Company 2 riffed on rival Modern Warfare 2‘s “Mapathy” promo last week, it could be seen as a playful poke. This, however – a comprehensive parody of October’s infamous “F.A.G.S.” video – is a straight-up nutshot. For those not familiar with C.C. Sabathia or why he would be in this video, his…

EA Sports MMA Serves Up Four Courses of Pain

Having seen it at GDC, Totilo gave us his impressions of EA Sports MMA yesterday. Today, EA Sports released a batch of 16 screens. How about that ballroom setting? Nothing like fine dining while two guys pound each other senseless. I’ll confess to being a neophyte at MMA, so the combatants aren’t very familiar to…

Who Is Brave Enough To Squeeze Into This Vinyl Samus Zero Suit?

Only answer if you’re also wealthy enough to afford the form-fitting suit that made Samus Aran more of a sex object after Metroid: Zero Missions, because this custom-made Zero Suit probably won’t go cheap. The folks at Wii Folder are auctioning off this one-of-a-kind bounty hunter get up on eBay, which they call “the best…

Capt. Mario Answers The Call Of Duty

Mario as veteran spec ops commando and Peach as kidnappable scientist in “Super Mario Warfare” by the talented and regularly featured Agent Scarlet, as seen at DeviantArt via GameFreaks. (Thanks, Morris!)

Well, That Didn’t Take Long; MLB 2K10 Patch Arrives

After vowing yesterday a patch fixing a bad multiplayer glitch and punching up the game’s AI had been “fast-tracked” for delivery, MLB 2K10‘s team backed it up today with the arrival of the game’s first Xbox 360 patch, sometime overnight. The patch finally, fully enables bug-free online ranked games against random opponents. If it punched…

Infinite Space

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Why Can’t I Find Heat On Video?! I’m surprised to find how intrigued I am by Sega’s DS role-playing game Infinite Space. Maybe it’s because it’s a portable space sim. Maybe it’s because it is based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. I don’t know, but I’ve just now…

Spider-Man’s Spectacular Game Series Soldiers On With Shattered Dimensions

The Spider-Man license won’t go to waste at Activision just because Spider-Man 4 isn’t coming to movie theaters next year. There will be more Spider-Man games, including one known as Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. The latest issue of GamePro magazine makes mention of the still-unannounced Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, divulging no other details on the latest Marvel…

The Grinder Screens

Scrap Metal Micro-Review: There’s a Difference Between Mindless and Pointless

All it took was seeing one demolition derby to hook me on car combat, but in video games we haven’t seen much in the way of this for awhile. Scrap Metal‘s here, and running unopposed. Is it still a winner? Loved Variety Car-crashin’ Land: In single-player, you get a campaign of eight tracks and more…

Studios Dial Up Dollars From Smartphone Games

There is one bright spot in the flailing videogame industry, and Hollywood already has started taking notice. Last year, while videogame sales were down 11 percent, U.S. mobile game publishers took in about $539 million in sales — up 9.3 percent, according to research firm SNL Kagan. Even more impressive, annual customer spending is likely…

Gears Of War 3 Dated For April 2011 By Edge, Not Epic

Gears Of War developer Epic Games hasn’t dated (or even confirmed) the third game in the stop and pop shooter series, but someone else has, pegging the third entry for an April release in 2011. Now, Edge may not be in an official position to schedule Gears Of War 3, but according to “a trusted…

Wii-Exclusive Samurai Warriors 3 Journeys To America

Tecmo Koei’s Wii-exclusive third entry in the Samurai Warriors series is coming to North America this fall, with Nintendo of America signing on to handle publishing and distribution duties. Nintendo apparently sees something special in the third entry in the Samurai Warriors series, a spinoff of the storied Dynasty Warriors franchise. The game was released…

GDC Imbues Cocksure Codemonkey With False Sense of Coolness

It’s been two days since Jake’s plane from sunny SFO landed in flat OKC, but his friends think the real Jake is still somewhere hiding deep within the halls of the San Francisco Moscone Center. This new Jake is new. He’s lively. He’s cocksure. Like a man after having sex or bowling a turkey, Jake…