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Sega Still Says Phantasy Star Online 2 Is ‘Delayed’

Yesterday, we got an e-mail from a Kotaku reader named Jacob. He said he was bummed out. See, he really wants to play Phantasy Star Online 2, the free-to-play online RPG that was released in Japan last year, but he can’t, because it’s not out in the West, and publisher Sega hasn’t told anyone what’s…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Little Sparowe talks about how an infamous line of trash talk from Microsoft’s E3 presentation made her feel. GiantBoyDetective asks what kind of time investment you expect from a game purchase. And go jump into the conversations happening in Cimeas’ post about this generation’s console…

If You Liked the Text-Only Flash Game Candy Box, Check Out A Dark Room

Candy Box, the quirky, text-only flash game that got a lot of attention last month, now has a rival: A Dark Room, which begins just as simply before unfolding into a much larger game of commerce and intrigue. A Dark Room is made by a one-man outfit called Doublespeak Games, which registered its domain around…

One Developer Sums Up Game Design in a Vulgar Six Seconds

Lots of moving parts and distinct disciplines go into making a single video game. There’s level design and AI programming and physics simulation and art direction and writing and on and on. Messing any one of those things up could turn a game into just another big pile of crap. So, it makes sense that…

So, The Games of E3 2013. When Are They Coming Out Again?

This year, E3 had so many games. So many. But watching demos and reading impressions is one thing; we want to play these games. Sadly, a lot of them won’t be coming out just yet. Lots of E3 games will land this year, no doubt. In fact, one of them is already here—Naughty Dog’s The…

Shadowrun Returns Slips From The Shadows July 25

A shadowrun rarely goes exactly according to plan. Originally planned for release this month, Harebrained Schemes’ Kickstarter-backed Shadowrun Returns is bringing its classic single-player isometric role-playing action to PC and tablets on July 25. It barely feels like over a year has passed since Shadowrun pen-and-paper RPG creator Jordan Weisman launched the Kickstarter that promised…

Shin Megami Tensei IV had its English demo on display at last week’s E3, and, as this screenshot proves, it has some funny moments. This tends to happen in some localized games. UPDATE: We’re told this is actually intentionally broken animal-speak. Amusing, nonetheless!

Playing Portal 2 on Oculus Rift is Almost a Religious Experience

When I was eleven years old, I convinced my mom to drive me to Blockbuster store and, despite it costing far more than my meager allowance, rent a brand new Nintendo Virtual Boy with two games: Mario Tennis and Mario Clash As I took it out of the giant padded plastic case and set it…

Earlier tonight, chiptune-rock band Anamanaguchi performed their hit song Endless Fantasy on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. And now I’ve got a sudden hankering for some space pizza

Can You Name All The Games In Late Night’s Video Games Week Intro?

For their Video Games Week, the crew of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon created a custom game reference-packed intro for the show. They managed to fit in quite a lot, for a thirty-three second clip—including the obligatory chiptune soundtrack. Neat! Check it out above.

How the iPad Made Me a Starship Captain

Since I was a child in the early 90s watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on TV, I have always dreamed of being the captain of my own starship with a crew at my command. Last weekend, I finally got my chance. Late last year, thanks to a post on i09, I learned about Artemis.…

Jimmy Fallon Doesn’t Want You To Play These Games. With Good Reason.

Courtesy of Late Night’s Video Game Week, here we have a list of games Jimmy Fallon wants us to avoid. Personally, I’m convinced. Then again, it’s true you wouldn’t expect stellar quality from a Hooters game, and E.T. is pretty much a no-brainer, but I think something like Captain Novolin could have worked had they…

Blood Dragon Action Figures Don’t Need A Tutorial

There weren’t any official Blood Dragon action figures. Shame. Ah well. At least there’s this unofficial one, of the game’s star Rex Colt, which is probably better than anything we’d have officially got anyways. Made by Danny Hughes, it’s cannibalising parts – including the face – from a Hicks/Michael Biehn figure, a helpful thing since…

Mario Levels Made Out Of Real Animal Skulls. Creepy.

Made by artist and designer Tobias Wüstefeldfor the We Love 8 Bit show in Austria this month, these two pieces are…animal skulls. Turned into floating Super Mario Bros. levels. Right. It should be macabre as hell, but really, you barely notice the fact they’re the skulls of dead animals. Maybe. Just think of them as…

Xbox One Checked Into Late Night TV Once In The Last 24 Hours

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer comes across as more of an infomercial guy than a talk show guest here in this stint on Jimmy Fallon earlier tonight, but hey, he’s not the focus here. The Xbox One and some games are. Namely Killer Instinct and Forza 5. Not sure they were the two best games to bring…

Animal Crossing’s Smash Bros. Crossover: Food For Thought

After the PS4 beatdown, the next-biggest thing amongst internet gif makers last week was the announcement of the Animal Crossing villager for the new Smash Bros. game. He was portrayed as everything from a psycho to a…psycho, something which may have made you laugh, but did anyone think of his feelings? He’s just a kid,…

This Is A 90’s PlayStation JRPG, Only New (And For The PC)

Soul Saga is described by its developers as “A love letter to J-RPG classics from the Playstation era like Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Suikoden, and Persona.” Which means, in case you hadn’t got that far on your own yet, some Westerners are looking for money on Kickstarter to make a new “classic” JRPG. Most…

How Garrus Learned To Calibrate

What, you think he took classes? Years of college just so he could say a few lines in a video game? No way. Dude did the bare minimum and hoped you wouldn’t find out. Whoops. Other cosplay highlights this week include a Terry Bogard who should really be called Terri, some unbelievable Assassin’s Creed costumery…

Video Game Beards (And Hair) Are More Interesting Than You Think

Know why Eidos and AMD made such a big deal about Lara’s hair in the new Tomb Raider? Because video game hair is normally pretty ugly, and something incredibly hard to get right. The Last Of Us gets it about as right as the current generation probably can, though, with all those wavy curls and…

What Did You Think Of This Season Of Game of Thrones?

I know, I know. The season ended last week. But seeing as how we were knee-deep in E3, I didn’t get a chance to watch the finale until much later in the week. So, I thought I’d do our normal post-GoT off-topic a week late. What did you guys think of this season? My thoughts,…