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Curious how Earthbound made it to U.S. shores so long ago? In honor of last week’s Wii U re-release, Wired has published an interview with Marcus Lindblom, the guy who helped localize it. Fun fact: Happy Happyists have snowballs on their hats because they looked too much like KKK members.

Dozens Of Awful Indie Games Later, I Found An Amazing One On Xbox Live

I decided to go searching for something worthwhile on Xbox Live’s Indie Store today. I had to play dozens of bad indie games before finding it, but One Finger Death Punch made it all worthwhile. It would be better without the annoying announcer, but it’s nice to find a game with a focus on tight…

This Is What It Looks Like When Celebrities Play Wii U

Celebrities: They’re just like us! They have bad hair days. They hate waiting in line at the DMV. And just like us, they stand around looking uncomfortable when they play Wii U at conventions. Nintendo today sent over a bunch of celeb photos from the San Diego Comic Con last weekend, and some of them…

13 Minutes Of Very Impressive Assassin’s Creed IV Gameplay

I’ve already seen this slice of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag in action. Now you can, too. I’m extra-wary of the new game after feeling so disappointed with Assassin’s Creed III And I’ll only really feel more confident once I’ve had a chance to actually play the thing. But I’m guessing you’ll agree that this…

Act fast and you can snag this hilarious Mario warp-pipe cat complex from CatistrophicCreations on Etsy. If you’re lucky, your cat will share the coins she earns. (And hey, even if someone beats you to it, these pictures are still pretty funny.) (Via Technabob)

I Can’t Help It. Pac-Man Dash! Makes Me Sad.

The sweeping success of the original Pac-Man arcade game is not something that can be replicated. With thenew cartoon,console game and now this mobile runner, it feels as if Namco Bandai is forcing Pac-Man into increasingly awkward situations against his will. I feel bad for him. The original Pac-Man arcade game took everyone by surprise.…

FIFA and Madden‘s Ultimate Teams Can Transfer to Next-Gen Versions

In separate announcements this morning, EA Sports said gamers who begin Ultimate Teams on Madden NFL 25 or FIFA 14 for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 may transfer all their cards to those games’ versions on Xbox One and PS4, once those consoles release. The transfer is not without limitation, but it’s an acknowledgment that…

I Just Figured Out What’s Bothering Me About Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Everything that I know so far about Splinter Cell: Blacklist tells me that I should like it: it’s a beautiful, globe-trotting third-person adventure that gives you a ton of freedom to play the way you want. But, each moment I’ve laid eyes on it, I’ve been bothered by this nagging feeling in the back of…

These Women Are Lifelong Geeks With Nothing To Prove

Ah, the “fake geek girl.” A label that’s both needlessly parochial and wholly counterproductive, and yet still it’s trotted out most every day. And so comes this video from The Doubleclicks for a song called “Nothing To Prove.” It’s really great! Give it a watch. You can buy the tune here

Niko Bellic Reacts Really Badly To His First Look at GTA V Gameplay

It’s a hard thing to realize your career is over before you’re ready for it to end. When you’re the lead character of Grand Theft Auto IV, though, it’s also freaking hilarious. One day, you’re Niko Bellic and the game you’re headlining is the most amazing thing to hit game consoles. The next, you can’t…

Ex-Eidos Boss Slams Square Enix

Ex-Eidos Montreal boss Stephane D’Astous, who left the studio last Friday, has come out firing shots at his former parent company. Eidos Montreal is the development studio behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the upcoming Thief reboot. Their parent company, Square Enix, develops games both in Japan and in the west under their Eidos branch.…

Moneysaver: Amalur, Kentucky Route Zero, Mercenary Kings, Windows 8

Moneysaver becomes Electra. The last time I had the chance to use Kentucky Route Zero as the header was back in March. It was my second post at Kotaku and Steam had 500 indie games on sale (many for cheaper than their Summer Sale). Grab the underrated Kingdoms of Amalur with all its DLC for…

Rob Lowe Doesn’t Need An Emmy; He’s Got His Rock Band Skills

Emmy Nominations. Every year they’re a minefield of snubs, bizarre choices, and outright travesties. Sometimes the only way to cope is by playing video games. This year, a handful of great shows were overlooked by the Emmy voters. In particular (in my opinion), FX’s terrific The Americans got ignored something fierce. And NBC’s stellar comedy…

Level One Bidoof Defeats A Pokemon Champion In A Most Humiliating Way

Did you think defeating the Elite Four with a Magikarp was impressive? That Magikarp was level 100. At that level, you can tank through most things. This Bidoof owned by ImEpicToast is level one, and yet it manages to defeat one of Pokemon‘s fiercest foes, Cynthia—who is the champion of the Elite Four in Diamond,…

Being A Hater Is A Full-Time Job

Game critic Cara Ellison and artist Elizabeth Simins are back on Kotaku with another amusing comic strip about life on the Internet. The particular lifestyle at hand today: haters. P.S. It’s a little NSFW for reasons that are words. Follow Ellison’s writing on her blog Hard Consonant. She’s on Twitter, too,@carachan1. You can find more…

Final Fantasy IV‘s Most Touching Moment, Re-Created With Beads

On first glance, this photo just looks like a printed image or something. Not too impressive. Then you realize it’s made entirely out of beads, and you’re like, “Holy crap.” Created by the folks at VGPerlers, who craft all sorts of works like this and sell them online, this bead-by-bead recreation of Palom and Porom’s…

I… What?

So Many Shooting Starsssss

So prettyyyyyyy.

This Hospital Has Its Very Own Video Game Room… For The Surgeons

“It’s amazing how that little monkey wound up being able to help me and others become better surgeons” said an actual doctor. At a Florida hospital, the doctors are encouraged to play six minutes of video games before surgery. Dr. James Rosser, who co-authored a study on the benefits of gaming and laparoscopic surgery years…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: The Agency Group—Sir Trey’s imaginary video game Criterion Collection—gets another candidate in Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. LightningLouie asks everyone to look back at this fading console era And Faux Bravo wants to know about music videos where games show up And you can always go…