There Was Only One Way to Respond to the N-Word in Letterpress

I couldn’t find the words to respond to the appearance of that most unacceptable of racial slurs in a random game of Letterpress on my iPhone this weekend. Luckily I found the right letters. Letterpress is an iOS word game in which friends or total strangers can take turns using a set amount of letters…

NSFW: EA Wanted His Game to be More “Mature”, Dev Responded With… Penis Monster

According to studio head American McGee, during development of 2011’s Alice: Madness Returns, publisher Electronic Arts were pushing hard for the already-dark game to be made more “mature”. “They wanted more violence, more gore, more sex, more horror and more offensive ‘stuff’-I think they had in mind a sort of Dante’s + Alice thing”, the…

FarmVille 2 Goes Dark for Halloween

Haven’t stopped by your FarmVille 2 farm in awhile? Log in today through tomorrow to see what it looks like in the dark. And then get spammed by Halloween quest messages for hours! I’ve been slacking off on FarmVille 2 lately, what with so many nifty new Facebook games coming out that don’t involve poking…

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A Sega Motor Raid cabinet lies washed up on a street in Keansburg, New Jersey. Image courtesy of Marijane Gray

DOTA 2 Gets Into the Halloween Spirit

Not to let Team Fortress 2 be the only Valve game with a Halloween celebration, DOTA 2 will be running Diretide, a fancy name for a sale in the game’s store for all kinds of unique and seasonal items.

EA Thought Medal of Honor: Warfighter Was “Better”

That’s EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau, speaking earlier today during Electronic Arts’ latest earnings presentation. Now, I’m not here to kick a game while it’s down. Whether you like Warfighter or not is up to you. But what I find interesting is the complete disconnect EA has seen-or is at least saying they saw-between its…

Kotaku Might Be Down, But We’re Still Listening

While the main site may be down, that doesn’t mean our email accounts are. If you need to get in touch, or just want to say hi, we’re still at tipsATkotakuDOTcom!

Make Steam Look Prettier on Windows 8

So, Windows 8 is out! I’ve got something substantial written up on the new OS for gamers that’ll go live when they drag our servers out from the depths of the ocean, but in the meantime, if you’ve already got Windows 8 and are struggling to make any practical use of the Start screen, try…

If you’re making a gaming pumpkin for Halloween, you may as well go all out and make it interactive.

Natural Selection 2 Is Finally Out

It’s been ten years since the first Natural Selection, a Half-Life mod, was released. Its sequel, this standalone game, has itself been in development for six years Today, it’s actually out.

How Valve Fires Somebody

You hear a lot about how great it is to work at Valve, about the studio’s collaborative culture, but remember, not everyone is a perfect fit. Sometimes, somebody’s got to get their marching orders. And the way it’s done is as interesting as the way they’re brought on board. While many developers are sadly told…

Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation: The Kotaku Review

There had to be some sort of heroes back then. Unnoticed in the ways that mattered and exploited in the ways that left permanent fractures, the African people that came over during the Atlantic Slave Trade had to have found ways to survive and thrive in a land where they were looked on as property.…

Let’s look back on an iconic scene from the original Star Wars, as we look ahead to the new management.

Modder Rimplus made a Myst book. That has a computer in it. That plays Myst

Vote for this awesome design to be made into a t-shirt on Checkpoint!

Time To Get Rid Of Game Discs

Remember video games on discs? Forget ‘em. These slides come from mega-publisher EA (Madden, The Sims, Battlefield, Need for Speed) and if you dig into them you’ll see that EA is making a LOT of money off of what they call “digital”. That’s selling games for download, selling DLC, subscriptions, microtransactions. You name it. It…

Call of Duty and Guitar Hero Servers Face Storm-Related Troubles

We here at Kotaku aren’t the only ones with servers in storm-beset New York City. Activision, too, has servers in the zone affected by wind, water, and power outages, and those servers are having a rough time of things right now. Actvision community manager Dan Amrich announced on his blog, One of Swords, that servers…

Is this how Star Wars: Episode VII will begin?

Donate to Hurricane Sandy Victims with a Simple Text Message

lifehackercom: There’s no doubt you’ve been reading (and seeing) a lot about Hurricane Sandy’s destruction today. Figuring out how to help after a massive natural disaster can be tough, especially if you’re far away from the damage. Thankfully, several relief organizations allow for quick $10 donations through text message. Read More

Need for Speed Most Wanted Mobile Is Excellent, Until You Play the Console Version

I’ve been playing the gorgeous mobile version of Need for Speed Most Wanted for the past week, loving every tilt-steering, nitrous-swiping, fender-bending moment. Last night I played the console version of Need for Speed Most Wanted for the first time. I can never go back. Real Racing developer Firemonkeys makes the best racers on iOS…