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  Japan Celebrates Christmas By Buying Many, Many Wiis, DSis

  After taking a backseat to Final Fantasy XIII and the PlayStation 3, Nintendo had a very merry Christmas week in Japan, another 215,000 Wiis in Japanese gamers’ waggle-hungry, Mushroom Kingdom-platforming hands. With a little help from Mario, Luigi and two Toads, the Wii scored first place on Media Create‘s weekly hardware chart, nearly doubling PS3s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  MAG Beta Off To A Rocky Start

  Zipper Interactive has launched the promised open beta test for the PlayStation 3’s MAG, but early server issues are causing frustration for players unable to connect. Judging by the comments posted in the PlayStation blog entry by Zipper’s senior community manager Jeremy Dunham, many players have already had a chance to log in and go…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Think Of It As James Cameron’s Beyond Good & Evil

  Who is that lady who appears in the new Avatar video game from Ubisoft? Why, it’s Kendra Midori who just may have starred in another Ubisoft game under a different name. If I drank while playing games, I would have done a spit take when I first laid eyes on Ms. Kendra Midori, nature-loving scientist…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010
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  Love For Everyone On January 7th

  Eskil Steenberg‘s procedurally-generated online adventure game is coming along quite nicely, and he’s spreading the Love around later this week with the launch of the “feature complete” open beta. According to a new post on Eskil’s Quel Solaar website, the Love open beta is arriving weeks ahead of schedule due to new infrastructure he’s introduced…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Final Fantasy, Super Mario, Doom, What’s On Your Phone’s Desktop?

  On a lark last week I asked friends on Twitter to show me the image they have on their phone’s desktop. The results included quite a few video game references. Here are some of my favorites. What’s on your phone?

  By Brian Crecente Published January 4, 2010
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  The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Jan 1)

  As 2010 begins, Kotaku’s monthly tabulation of the most avidly-played Wii games continues. As always, these are not the 10 games that have sold the most. These are the ones that get played the most by people who have them. (Click the chart to enlarge) We have one change in the rankings as Rock Band…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010
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  Matt Hazard Bathes PSN, XBLA In Blood This Week

  The star of the “2009 blockbuster next-gen hit” Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard makes his way to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this week in Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond. “2009 blockbuster next-gen hit” are the words Vicious Cycle Software president Eric Peterson uses to describe Eat Lead on his…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Win a Signed DSi: The Eleven Zelda Fan Finalists

  Last month… last year we asked you to show your Zelda pride not just by bragging about your ability to buy things or knowledge of the franchise, but by making you get out there and proselytize. The reward? A copy of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, a Spirit Tracks t-shirt, a $1,000 Nintendo World…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 4, 2010
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  You Cannot Play The Original Gameboy And Drive In British Columbia

  As seen on the British Columbia Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles website – thanks Chris!

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  The Nintendo Download: Nintendo’s First Downloads Of 2010

  Nintendo ushers in the new year with seven new downloadable games for the Wii and DSi, including Final Fight 3, Hell’s Kitchen Vs., and five titles you’ve likely never heard of. Even Hell’s Kitchen Vs. for DSiWare (800 DSi Points) is a stretch, as I can’t imagine I am in the majority when it comes…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Oh What A Year

  Staggering layoffs, a slew of delays, console price drops, promising new technology and two new gaming platforms: For fans of video games, 2009 was one heck of a roller coaster ride. Looking back over the past year in video games it’s surprising that so much good and so much bad happened in just 12 months.…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 4, 2010
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  CGI Salem And Rios Hit London

  Creating the CGI versions of Army of Two: The 40th Day co-stars Salem and Rios for this trailer likely cost more than dressing up two guys in Salem and Rios costumes. CGI Salem and Rios were last seen using a sniper rifle in EA’s offices. Since then they’ve managed to board a plane carrying weapons…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Sega Shying Away From Mature Wii Titles

  Poor sales of MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill shook Sega’s resolve over mature titles for the Nintendo Wii, but it took an EA title to finally break the publisher’s enthusiasm for releasing adult Wii titles. In late June of last year, Sega was fully prepared to continue gambling on mature Wii titles. In…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Tony Hawk: Play Ride and I’ll Be Your Friend

  Tony Hawk seemed to take matters into his own hands last night, hopping onto Twitter to get people to play his latest skateboarding game Tony Hawk’s Ride. The famed skateboarder Tweeted that he was on Xbox Live playing Ride, dropping his Gamertag ( tonyinegypt ) for those interesting in joining him. Later he said anyone…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 4, 2010
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  Man Finished 48 Games In 2009 (And That Man Was Me)

  I finished more video games in 2009 than in any other year of my life, according to a big list I’ve been keeping since 2006. Dare I write this in public: I played too much. Below you will find my 2009 playing history in grisly detail. This is the fourth list I’ve made of this…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010
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  iPhone Chart Toppers: Zombies Won’t Die

  Zombies managed to hold onto the top spot this week, with only The Simpsons Arcade breaking onto the list for the first time. Here’s the full rundown. Which do you think should be the top game? Check out all of our iPhone game reviews. Position Title Price Weeks Last Week 1 Call of Duty: World…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 4, 2010
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  The greats of history knew not the ways we would immortalize them. Immortalize your gaming thoughts here in Talk Amongst Yourselves. Comment away… Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010
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  When The Jonas Bros. Came To the Shopping Mall

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft I don’t even know who the Jonas Brothers are! But apparently, American teenage girls like them. Sorry, Disney bubble gum idols aren’t exactly on my radar. Japanese idols, on the other hand… Wait. Take that back. I do know who the Jonas Bros. are. Sorta. One of them did that horrible…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  Mommy, Where Do Game Boxes Come From?

  Sometimes, the most interesting back-stories can be the ones about the most uninteresting things. Take, for instance, the humble zipper. Or, for a more relevant example, how video game boxes are made. Gamasutra ran a great interview last week with the creative director of Hamagami/Carroll, a packaging company that’s designed the game boxes for titles…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Microsoft’s Experimental, Hands-Free Technology

  Microsoft are developing technology that will allow people to perform “everyday tasks” – like playing Guitar Hero – by using their muscles, and not their hands. The tech works by reading your body’s electrical activity (the signals sent from your brain to your limbs) and intercepting the data, replicating the action in a program. Potential…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010