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How The Legend of Zelda Changed For U.S. Shores

Did you know that Pols, the rabbit-looking things in the original Legend of Zelda, are meant to be destroyed not with arrows but by talking into a microphone? And that the Japanese version of the Zelda board game was way better than the North American one? Legends of Localization Book 1: The Legend of Zelda,…

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You Can Celebrate Christmas In These Video Games

Christmas is all about spending time with family and friends. But when you get bored of those family and friends, why not play some video games? As the holidays fill the air—except here on the East Coast where it’s somehow like 70 degrees—here’s a list of games that are doing special things for Christmas. You…

No, Disney Infinity Is Not Spoiling Star Wars Episode VIII Secrets

Yesterday saw some Star Wars excitement as a video circulated suggesting one of The Force Awakens’ biggest unanswered questions was actually answered in Disney Infinity’s movie play set. Nah. Didn’t happen. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS FOLLOW. SEE THE MOVIE ALREADY SO I CAN STOP HITTING CAPS LOCK. Here’s a clip (via YouTube’s Frank…

As Rare continues to roll out behind-the-scenes videos, they’ve now given us a look at the making of Perfect Dark I didn’t realize how close this game was to being another Bond game, or how the Game Boy Camera was almost used to let players map their faces onto characters! (It was scrapped over fears…

Intrepid Modders Hope To Make Final Fantasy VI Look Less Terrible On PC

When Square Enix brought Final Fantasy VI to PC last week, they brought with it a graphical overhaul that most fans can’t stand, complete with washed-out sprites and inconsistent tiling. It’s a bummer, to say the least. Fortunately, modding exists. Since the PC version of the best Final Fantasy game came out, intrepid fans have…

Veteran Video Game Engineer Joe Waters Dies, Is Remembered By Peers

Joe Waters, a senior development lead at Xbox’s advanced technology group, unexpectedly passed away last night. An engineer who worked on everything from Counter-Strike for the original Xbox to this year’s visually stunning Rise of the Tomb Raider, Waters contributed technical expertise for more than a decade. News broke last night, as friends and colleagues…

Fallout 4 Santa Claus Is A True Holiday Miracle

In Fallout 4, not only is Santa Claus real, he wears a damn Power Armor suit. Because of course he does. Here’s an amazing Christmas celebration by Tyrannicon within Fallout 4—he basically pretends to be Santa Claus, and goes around the Commonwealth saving the day with the help of candy cane mini guns. Also, actual…

Five Cool Hidden Dialogues In Hearthstone‘s League of Explorers

It’s not a Blizzard game without all the hidden things, and Hearthstone’s third adventure is no exception. YouTuber DisguisedToast collected some of the dialogue between the characters that only occurs when certain conditions are met. Brann greets his brother, Magni Giantfin greets old Murk-Eye Rafaam and Magma Rager Rafaam faces a full golden deck Funny…

That’s One Lucky Arcade Crane Catch

Two Japanese high school girls recorded a rare moment, proving not just that winning at an arcade crawl game is possible, but that sometimes it’s a place where miracles happen. They insert a coin and after the machine starts working it looks like they hit the jackpot with two puffed corn sticks. The snacks fall…

For The UFC, 2015 Was Total Chaos

In 2015, seven UFC championship belts changed hands. Jon Jones pleaded guilty to a felony and fell from grace. Ronda Rousey got knocked into oblivion by Holly Holm. Deadspin reported that Vitor Belfort was allowed to compete despite suspicious testosterone levels. Reebok ruined everything. And yet, it’s been a damn good year of fights. Where…

As things slow down a bit moving toward the holidays, enjoy a nice slow pan through the upcoming puzzle game The Witness, coming to PS4 and PC on January 26. The game is nearly finished

Crew Member Reportedly Killed On Set Of New Resident Evil Movie

There is, unfortunately, more grim news from the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, where a crew member was reportedly crushed to death earlier this month. A stuntwoman who’d been injured also recently said that her injuries will cost her an arm. South African website IOL reports that a resident of Cape Town, South…

An Avengers Video Game Worth Posing As An Australian To Play

The first Marvel: Avengers Alliance is one of my favourite comic book based mobile games of all-time, so when I heard the 3D sequel to the 2D turn-based RPG was soft-launched down under, I got real Australian, real fast. With more than 70 million players worldwide, plain old 2D Avenger’s Alliance is the most successful…

The latest episode of the Super Gaming Quiz Alpha Turbo podcast had a special guest—me! I joined hosts and TAY veterans Ben Bertoli and Steve Bowling to try to answer 10 questions about Assassin’s Creed. I did my best. Get it on iTunes or Soundcloud

Xenoblade Chronicles X Voice Actor Reveals Localization Secrets, Comments On Game’s ‘Censorship’

Cassandra Lee Morris voiced Lin Xenoblade Chronicles X, one of the game’s main characters—and a source of controversy. In the US and Europe, the character couldn’t wear certain bikini costumes. On YouTube, she released a video about the process of making the game and weighed in on the “censorship” discussion. Morris broached the topic by…

Arkham Knight’s New DLC Superbly Spotlights Batman’s Saddest Enemy

Driven to break the law to extend the frozen life of his fatally ill wife, Mr. Freeze arguably has the most poignant backstory of all Batman’s archfoes. This week, the video game version of the frozen-hearted felon gets some ice-cold closure. Spoilers follow. Victor Fries returns to the Bat-game franchise as one of the featured…

Which Video Game Console Should You Buy?

Last week, I got an e-mail from a reader with a simple yet challenging question: Which video game console should they buy? It’s a question we often discuss but have never quite answered definitively here on Kotaku. As we enter 2016, there are six main gaming machines—four stationary, two portable—that compete for our time and…

Finding Good Levels In Super Mario Maker Is Way Easier Now

Super Mario Maker is a wonderful game filled with a nearly endless supply of inventive Mario levels to play. The problem, unfortunately, is finding them. Nintendo launched a website yesterday to try and fix that. Here’s how it works. The website’s called Super Mario Maker Bookmark, and while it doesn’t completely solve the game’s issues,…