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The history of sex in video games is… not so sexy. Cara Ellison’s “Gloriously Stupid History Of Sex In Games” feature on Vice looks back on the early days of sex in games, all the way up to the present. And you thought Custer’s Revenge was a travesty. It gets worse—but also thankfully better.

If you somehow hadn’t already got into the Destiny beta already, know that the thing is now open to everyone. Even if you don’t have a beta key.

Batman’s Greatest Villain Is Not The Joker, Penguin Or Ben Affleck

Batman’s origin was already depressing. Dorkly has found a way to make it even more traumatic. I’ve read a lot of Batman stories over the years but I can’t remember anything with this particular take. Yeah, you can laugh at it… if you’re the Joker.

I’m Pretty Sure Sunset Overdrive is Ratchet & Clank Reskinned

Back in the day Insomniac was top tier PlayStation. The Ratchet & Clank series ruled (unless you preferred Jak & Daxter, in which case: arguments) and it had nailed a perfect mix of run and gun controls and ‘what the hell did I just shoot’ weapons. Why any of it was happening didn’t matter, only…

Here’s a short and very shiny-looking teaser that San Diego Comic-Con attendees got to see for the new Transformers series, Robots in Disguise. Those Autobots sure love their three-point landings, don’t they? The show kicks off Spring 2015.

I really liked Clone Wars, but this? The art style is bugging me. It’s too… simple? I can’t put my finger on it. I’m interested in a series set in this era, but I’m not feeling the character designs or the overall look.

What GTA V Is Like For A Law-Abiding Citizen

A messed-up dad who’s in jail. Angst-filled childhood memories. A rocky romantic relationship. Weird dudes at the bar. Some players go to video games to try and escape this kind of stuff but one person’s using GTA V to create a life filled with it. You can see the outlines of a normal—if very sensitive—picture-taker…

Why The Dota 2 International Finals Were A Blowout

Monday’s grand final match in the $10 million Dota 2 tournament, The International 4, was so lop-sided—so shocking—that forum conspiracy theorists briefly postulated that the contest must have been rigged. No way, of course. I can explain what happened: why one team was able to crush the other so convincingly and why the changes developer…

“His beard alone required 2½ hours of careful yak-hair application.”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson takes his job very seriously. As he should!

Here’s What World Of Warcraft’s New Tauren Will Look Like

Blizzard’s ongoing overhaul of World of Warcraft’s character models has wound its way towards the majestic bovine class known as the Tauren. This is a standard female model, shown in a post today on the studio’s Artcraft blog by senior art director Chris Robinson. On the left is what she once was. On the right,…

Timeless Life Advice, Brought To You By Mario Kart

Video games rot the brain? Pffft, hardly. I’d like to think some of my most valuable life lessons have come from games, lessons like “be cool to people” and “that jerk took the piece of loot I wanted, nevermind.” How about Mario Kart 8, though? What can we learn from that? Let’s find out with…

Hacking In 80s Movies Was Super Cheesy

Movies have never been that good at accurately representing interfacing with computers, especially in the early days. But it’s still a riot to watch what people thought it looked like. Founditemclothing put together a montage of some of the cheesiest hacking and computer moments in 1980s cinema. Of course, a bunch of them involve Matthew…

Our First Look At The Halo Live-Action Series

Microsoft just showed off this teaser for the Ridley Scott-produced Halo live-action series, which will start airing this November on Xbox platforms. There’s no word on whether Halo: Nightfall will be televised, too, but we did just learn that series protagonist Agent Locke will be a playable character in Halo 5: Guardians, which will be…

​James Joyce is Back, In VR Form

James Joyce’s Ulysses is a classic novel (I hear), but you know what could make it better (I assume)? Virtual reality (hopefully)! Look, I haven’t finished Ulysses. And that’s okay! Even nerds that celebrate Bloomsday can agree that it can be a daunting novel. Which is why Dublin filmmaker Eoghan Kidney is trying to make…

Thank God Cheat Codes Were Never This Complicated

Look, if you want the Boner Code to work in Monster Peninsula, you’re going to have to sweat. And bleed. Set in the pre-YouTube days of the SNES, this skit from the Above Average guys nails the pressure associated with hitting the right inputs in the right order at the right exact time. You didn’t…

​Mario Kart 8 vs. Sonic Racing: The Comparison We Had To Make

When it comes to kart racing, it often seems like Mario Kart is the only game in town. I’m here to tell you that it’s not. In fact, there’s another, arguably better game that came out for Nintendo’s Wii U console two years before Mario Kart 8 was even a thing people were playing. I’m…

The upcoming Sonic Boom games land on the 3DS and Wii U on November 11 and 18, respectively. The playable parts of Sega’s new-look re-imaginationof their super-fast mascot have different names: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for the Nintendo home console and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for the handheld.

​Where to Find the Destiny Beta’s Five Golden Chests

Part of Destiny‘s gameplay formula is finding and grabbing loot amidst all the sci-fi gunplay. But some of the loot chests in the beta are shinier and cooler than the others, bestowing special rewards to players that find them all. Here’s where the good stuff is. The guide to the golden chests—which can be found…

Why Do You Play Video Games?

And, for good measure, why do you care to read about video games on the Internet? Please answer below. Your answers just might help shape the future of Kotaku! Thanks. To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo. Top image via Wikipedia, by Evan Amos

Deals: Playstation 1 Classic RPGs(!), Transformers Comics, Free Sims 2

Once in a while our Commerce Researcher Corey finds something unexpected in the morning deal hunt, and today it’s Playstation 1 RPGs. No, not PSN downloads, the actual discs, and sold by Amazon, not some third party, and only $10 each. So we’re guessing Amazon found a pallet in some warehouse… Playstation 1: Chrono Cross…