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  What Do You Get With PlayStation Plus?

  A new firmware update for the PlayStation 3 ushers in the age of PlayStation Plus, Sony’s new premium subscription service. Let’s take a look at what your money buys you today! In order to see what the PlayStation Plus service has to offer, all you need to do is log into the PlayStation Store from…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 29, 2010
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  The Faces We Make While Losing… And Winning

  Gamer, take a close look in the mirror. Note the exulting highs, the soul-crushing lows, of someone trying to beat a very hard level in a video game. What game is this ruddy gentleman with magnificent facial hair playing? Who cares! Consider him our everyman, a titan, a king of players who preservers through 30…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 29, 2010
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  Sony Turns A Boxed PlayStation 3 Game Into a Download

  Sony’s June 2009 PlayStation 3 disc-based video game inFamous is now Sony’s June 2010 downloadable game. As part of a weekly PlayStation Store update, Sony began offering inFamous as a 6.88GB download to PS3s earlier this week. You can get the game for $30, the same price it goes for new on disc at brick-and-mortar…

  By Stephen Totilo Published June 29, 2010
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  This is Talk Amongst Yourselves, a technological breakthrough. Type a comment here about video games and people will see them — and be able to reply to them. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ

  By Stephen Totilo Published June 29, 2010
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  Video Games Need a Billboard Top Ten

  Video games need a top ten list. Movies have them, music has them, but the video game industry still hasn’t found a solid way to track the country’s most popular video games, according to Michael Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association. “I do think that the movie industry has a significant advantage over other…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 29, 2010
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  Look What Appeared On The Wall!

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: A Summer Of Limited Screens About a year ago, we moved out of Osaka City into the mountains. There are lots of strange bugs here! Like this. Mrs. Bashcraft found a kuwagata mushi on the wall in Mini-Bash’s room. Then we had him try to pick up the bug. Look…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Smash Bros. Creator On Japan’s Strengths

  What is Japan good at? Let’s hear what Super Smash Bros. Brawl creator Masahiro Sakurai has to say. “There’s really a lot of opinions on this and this is just one of those opinions,” Sakurai recently told website Techland. “But, I feel that Japanese game design and game development really isn’t a good match for…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  The PS3’s New Video Editing Tool Is Neato

  The new PlayStation 3 firmware has gone live. The big thing might be the addition of Sony’s paid online service PlayStation Plus. The cool thing is the totally free video editing software. A Japanese PS3 owner uploaded a 24MB trailer in 1080p of anime Evangelion to the PS3 in three minutes. Using the video editing…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Please, Nintendo, Make This

  It’s not a real 3DS cradle, but we wish it was. As seen on Tiny Cartridge

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010
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  Wii Games Included In Sex Toy, Lingerie Spending Spree

  Go ahead, make Wii dick jokes. Cynthia Low, 44, has resigned from her position as a financial assistant at the Oklahoma State University’s chemistry department after using a university, tax-payer-funded credit card to purchase lingerie, sex toys and a Nintendo Wii. According to records, she spent tens of thousands of dollars on these items. An…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Final Fantasy Versus XIII Story Finalized

  Final Fantasy Versus XIII was first made public in 2006. Square Enix has shown screenshots and trailers. And now, Versus XIII’s designer is happy to report, the game’s story is finished. In an interview in the recent issue of Dengeki magazine, it was revealed that the scenario for the game is apparently fleshed out and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Demon’s Souls Actually Selling In Europe

  Demon’s Souls has only just come out in Europe, after an agonising delay. If you thought the wait would mean most of the target audience would have imported and passed on the local release, though, you’re dead wrong. It seems people were willing to wait (or were convinced to buy it a second time because…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010
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  Remember *That* Ferrari?

  You know, this one. It got a ticket for parking violation, not good taste violation. As seen on AkibaOS

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Mega Man Figures Are Mega Man Legends

  At Wonder Festival 2010 Summer in Japan next month, there’ll be countless custom action figures going on sale. Like these Mega Man ones! Available in strictly limited quantities, they’re selling for around USD$56 per set. And there’s two sets available: one has Mega Man and Date, the other, Tron & Kobun. The last Wonder Fest…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010
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  Want To Explore Japanese Culture With A Yakuza Voice Actress?

  She won’t be alone. Oh, no. Better known for her work in anime K-On!, Satomi Sato, who has voice credits in games like Yakuza 3, GodEater and Queen’s Blade Spiral Chaos, is guesting on television show Culture:Japan, joining the show’s host and creator, blogger Danny Choo, whom Kotaku has previously featured several times (since 2006!).…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Rumor: Western PSPs To Get Neo Geo, TurboGrafx Games?

  Alongside the new PS3 firmware update, the PSP has been updated as well. And it looks like this one brought with it a nice little surprise. Reader Ryan sends us this pic, showing what the games folder on his PSPgo looks like after downloading the 6.30 update. Alongside his regular PlayStation-branded titles, there were now…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010
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  Play World Of Warcraft With Your…Feet

  Despite the fact it’s played by millions of normal people around the globe, World of Warcraft players still get a bad rap sometimes. Peripherals like this don’t help. It’s the official World of Warcraft “Tap Chat”, which is a one-button pedal. Which you can use to play World of Warcraft. Tap to chat! Tap to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010
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  Activision In Talks With Hasbro Over More Transformers Games

  Transformers: War For Cybertron is good enough to deserve a sequel, but that doesn’t mean the next non-movie game will be another shooter. BotCon, the world’s biggest Transformers fans convention, was held over the weekend, and part of the festivities was a Q&A session between fans and Matt Tieger (High Moon Studios) and Aaron Archer…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010
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  Who Makes Big Money In Japan?

  People who run big companies, that’s who. As previously mentioned, a new regulation now requires Japanese companies to disclose the previously well-guarded salaries of employees over ¥100 million (US$1.1 million). Executive salaries in Japan are lower than the astronomical compensation execs receive in the West. “Companies owe their existence to society,” says Shizuka Kamei, the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010
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  Multiplayer Tetris Is Ten Years In The Making (And Counting)

  Alexey Pajitnov, creator of Tetris, may be semi-retired these days, but he still likes to dabble in a bit of game design from time to time. At the moment, for example, he’s working on multiplayer Tetris. “We are working on multiplayer versions for more than 10 years — I’ve been trying to design it. I…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010