Kotaku Off Topic: …And His Man Servant Kato

Guess what? This Kotaku post is not about video games, if you want clear early warning so that you can either complain about it on your blog or join us for nighttime conversation about whatever. It’s doubly useful! This edition of the nightly Kotaku Off Topic series could be about the Green Hornet, a movie…

This Stop-Motion Animation Gets My Votive

Somehow this went to half-a-million YouTube views before I saw it. That’s what happens when you upload it the Sunday before E3. Seriously, stick with it until 0:50, the Tetris representation is worth the price of admission. Which is free. [Thanks to reader Bradford B.]

Transformice Is Pure Mayhem, Everyone Should Play It

What the hell is Transformice and why can’t I stop playing it? Well, it’s a multiplayer Flash-based game, in which you control a mouse and try to get cheese faster than any other mouse. And it’s total, hilarious chaos. The mad scramble for cheese across dozens of maps, most of which have some bottomless pit…

Your NHL 11 Cover Athlete is Confirmed

As suspected, It’s Jonathan Toews, captain of the newly crowned Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, and showcased here in a highlight roll that indicates some puck-juggling and -kicking enhancements for NHl 11 [via Operation Sports]

Report: Kinect Costs Microsoft $150 To Make

There may be a simple reason Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart and others are pricing Kinect for Xbox 360 at $149 USD. That’s how much it costs Microsoft to make the thing, according to a new report. Develop cites a “highly-positioned, trusted source” who considers the price of Kinect for the Xbox 360 “a topic…

Alabama is Your Pre-Preseason College Football No. 1

The AP’s annual accounting of which college football teams start the season born on third base isn’t due for another couple months, maybe, but EA Sports has already ranked them for NCAA Football 11 which releases in three weeks. Credit Pasta Padre, who took down all of the final build’s Top 25 from the floor…

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Keeps E3 Going With ‘Video Game Week’

Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night talk show gets all video gamey this week, showing off Kinect tonight, Call of Duty: Black Ops Tuesday, the new Need For Speed on Wednesday and Killzone 3 on Thursday. Friday? A “special surprise” is teased. Hmmm…

Fist Of The North Star Gushes More Gore, Retains Japanese Flavor

When Tecmo Koei brings Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage (née Hokuto Musou) to North America this fall, it will be more gore-soaked than ever before. But it will keep one important aspect of its Japanese release. While we’d previously heard that the new Fist of the North Star built in the Dynasty Warriors…

iPhone OS4 Available Now

The new iPhone operating system, iOS4, is available now for iPhone owners, requiring a big new download of a bunch of applications and add-ons, including a new iTunes… so give yourself time, Apple owners. You get multi-tasking on your phone for your troubles.

Red Dead Redemption’s ‘Outlaws To The End’ Explained, Narrated

Have you “herd” about the new downloadable cooperative missions coming to Red Dead Redemption tomorrow? Let Rockstar Games walk you through the new add-on coming to the wild west shooter this week, which won’t cost you a single greenback. The “Outlaws to the End” cooperative mission pack is one of three downloadable expansions Rockstar has…

EA Sports MMA Hands-On: Making Sense of a New Science

Conventional wisdom holds that EA Sports saw UFC Undisputed‘s success, said wait a minute, we’re the Fight Night guys, and started hustling out a competitor. That’s crap, says Peter Moore, and EA Sports MMA‘s floor demo backs him up. At E3, Moore, the EA Sports president, told me this project was greenlit back in 2007.…

Real-Life Pilotwings

To: Brian From: Stephen Re: I’m (Not) Afraid of Americans You love L.A.? That’s weird. I don’t understand how anyone could love L.A. But that is just the thing a New Yorker would say, isn’t it? Is L.A. awesome enough to host a real-life version of Pilotwings? New York is! (That was from last week.)…

Warriors: Legends of Troy, For The Brad Pitt Loving Dynasty Warrior

Having a fondness for Brad Pitt is not required to enjoy the latest tactical hack and slash from the Koei side of Tecmo Koei. Liking the Dynasty Warriors series may be enough to enjoy. Warriors: Legends of Troy as well. Developed by Koei Canada, the team responsible for futuristic racing game Fatal Inertia and Warriors…

Warriors: Legends of Troy Screen Shots

Magic: The Gathering – Duels Of The Planeswalkers PC Review: I’d Tap That

After a highly-successful run on Xbox Live Arcade, the collectible card game craze visits Steam with the PC version of Magic: the Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers. We didn’t get a chance to squeeze in a review for the original release of Duels of the Planeswalkers on Xbox Live Arcade last year, and that’s…

Your First Chance to Play With Tim Tebow is in Madden NFL Arcade

Madden NFL Arcade, the downloadable football shootout that released last Thanksgiving, won’t be getting a second version this year. Instead, EA Sports today pushed out a comprehensive roster update tracking more than 100 player moves, roster promotions and draft choices. That means this game is your first chance to play with first-rounders like Rams quarterback…

Scott Pilgrim Movie Includes Zelda Tunes, Beck As Sex Bob-omb

Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto has apparently given his blessing to the movie adaptation of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, based on the heavily video game-influenced comic of the same name, specifically for its use of video game music. According to a new interview with Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright conducted by star Michael…

How Developers See The PlayStation Move

Seeing the tools developers use to create games on the PlayStation Move could be the key to understanding the device’s full potential. Move research and development lead Dr. Richard Marks walks us through the tools of the trade. While we’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of what the PlayStation Move motion controller is capable…

The Unexpected Gamer Who Runs EA

If we ran a video game company, maybe, just maybe, those of us who play video games would be like John Riccitiello. We really could be a boss. We could believe we’re the good guy. And we would know things about video games. We would possess in our core the knowledge absorbed by holding a…

Alan Wake Ads Inspires Fear Of The Dark In Canada

Our neighbors to the north have likely already seen and been irrevocably horrified by Alan Wake’s big, spooky and, most important, clever ad push, which intimidated Canadians with its warnings about just how evil the darkness is. Ad firm MacLaren McCann‘s promotional push for the Xbox 360 game is likely Old News to some Canadian…