Your Comprehensive Guide to Just When the Hell L4D2 Will Unlock

We deal with “midnight” a lot as an embargo time, and you know, it’s always confusing. Valve knows, and has laid out specifically when Left 4 Dead 2 (PC) will unlock in all the major time zones of the world. Says Valve, on the L4D2 blog: Due to an ongoing debate in the office and…

Heist Nets 100 Copies of Modern Warfare 2

Conflict currency – it’s not cash, but goods or valuables that are small, easily liquidated, easily smuggled. Diamonds are the classic example. We might have to add Modern Warfare 2 to the list, after what just went down in Pennsylvania. Cops in Meadville, Pa. say a man went into a Gamestop there at 7 p.m.…

Pac-Man, in Cans, Before Cans Were Cool

Tuna-can Pac-Man, as seen at Walyou, via Hawty McBloggy. Original photo from March 2008.

Weekend Timewaster: Elevator Fart, the Game

The great thing about working weekends is I can blast gas with impunity in the Kotaku Tower elevator, and then on Monday when the car smells like Donkey Kong’s taint, Fahey gets blamed for it once Crecente comes in. Here’s a delightful little flash game that trivializes a serious problem faced by millions of Americans…

Nintendo’s Temporary Mario Museum, The Video Tour

Couldn’t make it to to Nintendo World Store in New York City today? Kotaku went for you and shot this nearly gaffe-free video of Nintendo’s Bill Trinen and Kit Ellis showing off a Mario Museum. The museum was erected just outside Nintendo’s store in Rockfeller Center, a few feet from the Today Show Studios and…

PS3: It Only Does Kidnapping …

A Florida teenager says he was kidnapped at gunpoint, driven to a Walmart and forced to buy his captors a PlayStation 3 for the new super-low price of $299.99. Cops have arrested one suspect. The Naples, Fla. teen says two guys in a white pickup truck blocked his car as he tried to enter a…

Totilo, Talk-Show Star, Visits Fox News

This doesn’t qualify as shameless self-promotion because, well, it’s not about myself. Kotaku’s own Stephen Totilo went on Fox News‘ “Strategy Room” on Friday to discuss Modern Warfare 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and other hot topics. Totilo, who was earlier a guest on MSNBC, joined Seth Porges of Popular Mechanics and the NPD’s…

At Activision Customer Support, Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto You

Bernard, a customer support rep for Activision, proclaimed that if he got more Twitter followers than his colleague, Randolph, by Friday, he’d pie Randy in the face. Bernard came up short but carried out the attack anyway. That’s customer service. Bernard lost by 1,400 to 340. I know cowardice when I see it and I…

Jersey GameStops Break Street for Assassin’s Creed II, L4D2

Three GameStops in Jersey City, N.J. put Assassin’s Creed II and Left 4 Dead 2 on sale today, calling in customers to pick up their preorders. Clerks said corporate authorized the move, blamed on a rogue independent breaking street first. The stores involved were nos. 4627, 4260 and 6005 at the Hudson Mall and Newport…

Mass Effect 2’s Elusive Illusive Man is … Martin Sheen?

Shepard confronts the behind-the-scenes puppeteer “Elusive [sic] Illusive Man” who blends the habit of Cigarette Smoking Man from The X-Files with the look of Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock – and the voice of President Bartlet from The West Wing. Exclusive Ellusive Man Gameplay [GameTrailers]

The Importance of Asking ‘Why’

In film or literature, the creation of acclaimed work is sometimes attached to a personal event, or reaction. “That doesn’t show up often in game development bios,” says one dev. Finding that “why” might save games from a “cultural ghetto.” As reported by Gamasutra’s Chris Remo, Chris Hecker (formerly of Maxis, now an independent developer)…

World Store Launches New Super Mario Bros. Wii This Afternoon

Friendly reminder to those in the vicinity of New York City – Nintendo’s World Store is throwing a launch party beginning in a couple hours (3 p.m. US Eastern time) for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The shindig is more than just a line-up for an early purchase. Nintendo says it’ll deck out the store…

Maybe the Greatest of All Time, but not In Its Time

Of the major game-of-the-year awards given out each year, no sports title has ever taken top overall honors. And yet five years later, there is one still talked about in ways that year’s winners are not. That would be ESPN NFL 2K5, the last and best of an uncommonly good crop of football games in…

Weekend Coupons: ‘Twas the Week Before Black Friday

That means this is the last guilt free week you can drop disposable income on yourself. By U.S. law, once the Holiday Shopping Season officially opens, you have to buy a bunch of crap for other people. Hardware • Hey, remember that new Xbox 360 Wireless-N Adapter? Yeah, well, it’s out, and A/B/G & N…

Kotaku Originals: News that’s Hot, Spot or Not

Modern Warfare 2’s release was the big news everyone could see coming; a bloodbath at Electronic Arts, and GameStop deliberately breaking a major street date, was not. Huge developments marked an unusually newsy week, even for this time of year. Top Stories The Story and Gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII Modern Warfare 2 Sells Nearly…

It’s nice to see Luigi NOT getting the short end of the stick this time, and actually getting to show Mario how things are done 🙂 #newsupermariobroswii

EyePet Review: His Master’s Voice

In controlled environments, Sony’s EyePet had looked set to revolutionise the way we interacted with our games. But my house is not a controlled environment. Not that it’s not a nice place. It is! But it’s also a place where the lights were installed by me, not by Sony. Where my furniture and windows were…

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Super Guide In Action

In my review of New Super Mario Bros. Wii I talk about how the Super Guide works, and how important it could be to gaming. Now take a look at how the guide works while playing. Be warned, this does show an entire level in the game. Click to view

Oh, So That’s How They Got Two Million People On Xbox Live

As seen on Modern Warfare 2 last night (thanks Jordan!)

Final Fantasy XIII Also Has A European Release Date

When Square Enix finally announced a release date for Final Fantasy XIII in North America earlier today, they also quietly slipped a European date out the door as well. And you know what? It’s not as bad as you’re thinking. While earlier developments had led to a degree of pessimism on the part of European…