These Halo: Reach Figures Don’t Know The Battle Is Already Lost

The first series of Halo: Reach action figures was missing a few key characters. Who are, of course, included in the second series from toy company McFarlane. Spartan 259, Carter, is the leader of Noble Team, and was missing from the game’s first wave of figures. He’s joined in this “advance wave” of series 2…

NSFW Report: These Bad Words Are Okay In Pokemon: Black And White

Words might be words, but some people are offended by certain words. That’s why game makers — especially those making games for younger players — block certain words. Apparently, Pokemon: Black and White does not. WARNING: OFFENSIVE WORDS AHEAD. A Japanese blog has gone through and attempted to enter a wide variety of questionable words…

Here’s A New Use For Your Old PlayStation 3

Turning an old PS3 into a George Foreman grill is silly. Those things get hot! You’re far better off turning it into something useful. Like a bed for your pets. So cuddly. Which upon further viewings also looks a lot like a coffin for your pets, which makes it cuddly and – ultimately – practical.…

Bayonetta Designer, Now Hairy And Hunky

Hideki Kamiya has designed a handful of games like Viewtiful Joe, Okami and Bayonetta. In Bayonetta, the heroine sports a body suit made from her own hair. Kamiya, however, is short on hair. He’s bald! That’s fine. Having hair or not having hair does not impact designing games. Also, you can be handsome and totally…

Final Fantasy XIII Developers Couldn’t Cater To Western Tastes

While we’d be hesitant to use the word “failure” in relation to Final Fantasy XIII, “disappointment” works just fine. If only Square had known people outside Japan wouldn’t like the game before they released it! Oh, wait. They did. The latest issue of Game Developer magazine has a fascinating insight into the development of Square…

A Look Back At Super Mario

This fall marks the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. After appearing in 1981’s Donkey Kong and 1983’s Mario Bros., the overall-wearing plumber got “Super” in 1985. Here is a look back at Super Mario’s promotional art through the past quarter century. Note: Super Mario Bros. 2 was not originally released in the USA, but…

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Cinematic Introduction

Here’s the cinematic introduction to the Cataclysm expansion pack, due Dec. 7, and it features one pissed-off, tormented dragon. The video is 2:30 long. Not sure if this is the same thing that Blizzard said will be broadcast during the Cowboys-Vikings game currently in the first half. We’re capturing video from that and if it’s…

Comic Junker

To: Luke From: Owen Re: Half a Dozen Flags We’re in the process of remaking the Sunday Comics, something well overdue for some new strips. This morning we put out a call for suggestions and in the next week we’ll be putting together a list of candidates for the community to vote on Sunday. We’ve…

The Week In Games: Everything’s Ring-A-Ding

Fallout: New Vegas is assuredly this week’s top drop for the core, but Kirby’s Epic Yarn and EA Sports MMA also are worth a look for fans of Nintendo scrollers and simulation fighters. Today Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii) – A Kotaku editor’s choice, this side scroller returns everyone’s favorite pink blob to a beautifully rendered…

How To Keep Your Man: Play Video Games

Cosmopolitan, which formerly advocated unplugging your man’s console to improve communication about feelings, now gets on the games bandwagon as a relationship builder. The survey it cites is three years old. From this month’s edition, seen via GamePro.

Kotaku’s Top 5 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 PC Games That We All Want On a Console. [Planet Xbox 360] This is a good list but I tell you, if they…

Kinect’s Solved Its Sitting-Down Problem

The subject of much gumflapping post E3, Kinect’s ability to handle players who are sitting down has been more finely tuned, Eurogamer reports. It’s now calibrated to focus on your neck-al area rather than your ass-al area. The “base node” used to create the skeletal models that the controller recognizes has been switched from the…

Watch Owen Get Destroyed By Yahoo! Games In EA Sports MMA

I can speak highly of the authenticity of EA Sports MMA’s Live Broadcast because, were I to fight a mixed martial arts bout in real life, I’d get wrecked exactly this bad, too. This is a demonstration of a Live Broadcast, an innovative and highly entertaining feature in EA Sports MMA, due on shelves Tuesday.…

Think We Need New Comics? We Agree. Tell Us Your Favorites.

The tree of video game webcomics must be refreshed from time to time with new blood. Sunday Comics, begun more than a year ago, has held the same crop of features for about that long, dropping out some strips that either closed, went entirely off message, or didn’t update reliably enough. What you’ve seen today…

Review: Super Scribblenauts

Think it, write it, see it. That was the premise of 2009’s Scribblenauts, which turned a 20,000-word dictionary into a puzzle-solving toolkit. This year it returns with adjectives to prove the pen is a mighty, giant, flaming magic sword. Super Scribblenauts is the sequel to 2009’s Scribblenauts, which won wide acclaim and peals of delight…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Mine Rescue

The rescue of 33 miners trapped below the earth for more than two months riveted the world’s attention earlier this week. Namco apologized for its video games tribute to the moment, but we won’t. This week’s assignment: ‘Shop up another game-themed commemoration of this joyous moment. Below is one of the first (likely the best)…

Sunday Comics

Penny Arcade published Oct. 15. PvPonline published Oct. 12. ActionTrip published Oct. 11. EXTRALIFE published Oct. 13. Dueling Analogs published Oct. 14. Nerf NOW published Oct. 14. Rooster Teeth published Oct. 14. Virtual Shackles published Oct. 13. Little Gamers published Oct. 14.

Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves

Who’s the thread that won’t cop out when there’s games to talk about …? TAY! You daaaaaaaamn right. Shadowstep is the weekend winner of the #taypics derby. There are six chances each week to get your handiwork featured. Just shop up this image and submit it to the #taypics hashtag. Now, shut yo mouth. Unless…

A Visual Guide to Super Scribblenauts

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Pinkwashing Winners

I’ll confess to some trepidation offering up last week’s subject – Breast Cancer Awareness – but you folks impressed me. We had a ton of great submissions treating the subject with humor, candor, and even sentiment. For starters, Sodrohu’s “Titris” is absolutely not out of line. Given how many cute “Save the Tatas” messages you’ll…