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Six Reviewers Say The Last Of Us Thrives On Story And Character
Uncharted developer Naughty Dog’s upcoming PS3-exclusive The Last of Us is a grim, grim survival horror game. Critics, however, found that beneath its bleak, dark exterior, The Last of Us hides a deep, extremely rewarding experience. Apart from a few technical issues, like the AI being wonky in places, reviews talked at length about the…
By András Neltz Published June 7, 2013 -
Hopefully This Is A New Move In The Next Smash Bros (And Other GIFs)
E3 is in just a few days, but that doesn’t mean this week is devoid of weird and screwy GIFs the Internet likes to have fun with. Quite the contrary. So before we prepare Photoshop for undoubtedly silly GIFs from the big E3 conferences, let’s see what the Internet has been up to this week.…
By Gergo Vas Published June 7, 2013 -
How To Dress At The Zelda Symphony. Plus, Other Advice.
It’s a first for Ask Kotaku! I thought my column was getting a little unwieldy, what with how long it was getting, and figured it might be fun to do a video-formatted one for this week. But the gist is the same: you ask me questions, and I give you advice. We’ve got some life…
By Tina Amini Published June 7, 2013 -
Luke Schneider of RadianGames makes great mobile games but they haven’t been available on Android. Until now. Schneider’s bringing his excellent Tetris-alike Slydristo Google Play, with other games like the very good Bombcats and Inferno+ to follow. He’ll be bringing some of the RadianGames catalog to Ouya, too.
By Evan Narcisse Published June 7, 2013 -
A Game That Wants To Teach Women How To Masturbate
And here I thought people were joking when they said we’re slowly turning everything into a game. Nope. Gamification has a new target, and it’s female masturbation. Now, masturbation on the whole has a stigma. Hairy palms, what have you. But some would say it’s especially bad with women given societal pressures to maintain purity.…
By Patricia Hernandez Published June 7, 2013 -
Report: Gaming Hacker SuperDaE Facing Child Porn, Dishonesty Charges [UPDATE]
The Australian hacker who breached Sony, Microsoft, Epic, Valve, Blizzard and other gaming companies before being raided by authorities in February is facing an array of unseemly charges, according to a report by an Australian wire service. The report by the AAP wire service in The Australian indicates that the teen hacker who goes by…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 7, 2013 -
I Played The New Animal Crossing With The People Who Made It
I’m a lucky gamer. I get to play games with the people who make them. I know it’s the job and that it’s usually tied to selling something, to puffing up a preview or what have you, but, hey, it’s also fun. It’s odd, too. You’re in this virtual world with the people who made…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 7, 2013 -
Why Voice Actors Matter
If Ubisoft wanted me to pay loads of money for Splinter Cell: Blacklist DLC, then they’d offer an audio track of Michael Ironside doing all the Sam Fisher dialogue. Charge me $20. I’d pay it. Seriously. Back when the first Splinter Cell game came out, I never thought I’d ever care about what Sam Fisher…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 7, 2013 -
Don’t Freak Out About That The Last of Us “Spoiler” You Saw Just Yet
Last week, I was chatting with my boss Stephen about The Last of Us. We were both playing through the game, and he was acting as a sounding board as I worked on my review. Suddenly, I got a worrying text from him: “A reader just let me know some asshole is in our comments…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 7, 2013 -
This Isn’t The Trailer For The New Smash Bros. Game, But It Should Be
Okay, so this “trailer” for the new Smash Bros by seinfeldspitstain is not in any way real. But who cares about that? The sheer ridiculousness of badly rendered Smash characters is worth watching anyway; it’s so silly. Silly, and yet I’d totally play this. (Via Nick Robinson) Super Smash Bros. Universe – E3 2013 Trailer…
By Patricia Hernandez Published June 7, 2013 -
The Biggest Storylines Of E3 For JRPG Fans
E3 is next week, and while it’s easy to get distracted by the dubsteppy shooters and flashy next-gen engines, the important news, of course, revolves around JRPGs. Yep, my favorite part of the show every year is getting to wander the floor and find hidden Japanese gems (and/or accidentally convince Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime to leak…
By Jason Schreier Published June 7, 2013 -
Monkey Island Creator’s New Pirate Adventure Is A Puzzle Masterpiece
Scurvy Scallywags in The Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty is a one part match-three puzzles, one part silly pirate role-playing game, and maybe a quarter part musical extravaganza. It’s the sort of ridiculous combination that has Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert written all over it, which is fortunate, as he’s one of the…
By Mike Fahey Published June 7, 2013 -
The Moneysaver: Saints Row IV, Guild Wars, Into Darkness, Huge PC Sale
Full price, ain’t nobody got time for that. Out of nowhere, we’ve got one of the biggest PC sections we’ve ever had today, with Gamefly, uPlay, GOG, Steam, Green Man Gaming, and Amazon all putting up some extremely aggressive prices. The Gamefly sale in particular features some truly insane deals In other news, we’ve got…
By Shane Roberts Published June 7, 2013 -
Microsoft Denies Participation In PRISM Data-Gathering Scheme
Yesterday was an unusually troubling day for online privacy. Microsoft clarified the potentially problematic privacy settings for the Kinect video and audio sensor that must be plugged into the Xbox One for it to operate. And yet according to a stunning, unrelated report, Microsoft has also been offering up its users’ data to the NSA…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 7, 2013 -
The Next Game from the ‘Splosion Man Folks Is an Xbox One Launch Title
Updates about LocoCycle—the next game from the creators of The Maw and The Gunstringer—have been few and far in between. But it looks like we’ll be seeing more of the vehicular adventure next week since LocoCycle has been confirmed as an Xbox One launch title. The game’s going to be on the 360, too, but…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 7, 2013 -
A little bit of The Binding of Isaac, a lil’ bit of Diablo, and a whole lotta “this is why you can’t leave children alone,” Our Darker Purpose has the player work their way up a dangerous orphanage in the hopes of figuring out why the adults have disappeared. Seems sinister. Here’s the Kickstarter.
By Patricia Hernandez Published June 7, 2013 -
This Novel Might Have the Most Neurotic Superhero Origin Story Ever
Superheroes don’t start out super. It’s a hoary trope that’s a key part of every adventurer’s origin story. Superheroes don’t have to be penciled onto the printed page, either. In the right hands, words alone can make the powers and responsibilities of a gifted protector come to life in a mind of a reader. League…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 7, 2013 -
Investigation: A Video Game Studio From Hell
Seven-day work weeks. Sexist decisions. An office environment so toxic, employees are terrified to speak up for fear of losing their jobs. That’s the atmosphere at the Florida-based game development studio Trendy Entertainment, according to current and former employees. Trendy is responsible for a popular tower defense game called Dungeon Defenders and is currently working…
By Jason Schreier Published June 7, 2013