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Bootleggers Explain Why There’s So Much Video Game Piracy in China

Piracy is a huge issue in China. Enterprising lawbreakers have loads of ways to make money off piracy, one of which is selling pirated DVDs of movies or games. So it always surprises me when I talk to purveyors of pirated video game hardware and software who tell me that they, the pirates, want to…

A Look Back on China’s Most Beloved Video Game Console

Even before the ban on mainstream game consoles in 2000, the Chinese have been playing old school video games on third party machines. One of these machines, aptly named the “The Little Tyrant (小霸王)” garners particularly fond memories—memories of a time when things were simpler and gaming was a fun family affair. The Tyrant, a…

This Japanese Sword Will Amaze You

Last summer, a Japanese sword exhibit that featured Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired blades was held in Okayama Prefecture. This weekend on Twitter, a friend of one of the traditional craftsmen who participated in the event apparently said he created a short sword to leave something behind, whether it’s this Asuka carving or whatever, so that it…

Be Excited About Assassin’s Creed IV. And Be Skeptical.

We’ve been here before. It’s time to tell you about a new Assassin’s Creed This part went oh-so-well a year ago. Many of you were enthusiastic back then about a new character, a new continent and a new era. Many of you were not as enthusiastic in the fall, when you played the resulting game,…

No Shame In Being Slightly Afraid Of A Gaming Room Full Of Giant Space Guns (And Swords)

Props builder and Kotaku reader Andrew Cook just put the finishing touches on his new gaming room. Those touches were mostly “hanging up his terrific and enormous replica video game weapons on the wall.” Taken mostly from Halo and Mass Effect, they’re certainly a cut above your standard “free posters from GameStop” style of room…

X-Wing Bed Gives Boy The Coolest Childhood On Record

When I was a kid, I dreamed of flying an X-Wing. Somehow. I would have pretended to turn my bed into one, but my bed was rectangular and made of wood. Not good enough. This kid’s bed is good enough. While the actual bed part sits on the ground, suspended above it—for both playing and…

Splinter Cell Short Film Looks Just Like A Splinter Cell Video Game

Teaming up with some stunt performers, the film crew at Warialasky have made this amazing Splinter Cell video that shoots real actors as though this was gameplay footage. Because this is a third-person game, that makes it a lot more impressive than it is the flood of similar videos for first-person shooters you see on…

If The World Ever Needed Minecraft 2, Hopefully It’d Look This Nice

There’s a certain charm to Minecraft’s default visuals, but it can also be argued that without help the game looks like ass. When you see jaw-dropping screens from the game, like these Game of Thrones pics, those slick graphics come courtesy of tricks like rendering, where what were once basic blocky tiles are passed over…

A History Of Adventure Games, Told Through Awesome Art

Artist Jón Kristinsson runs a site called Point n’ Clicking, where he posts images of famous adventure game characters (or casts). Some are recent, some are old, some are very old, but all are fantastic, capturing the spirit and tone of the games they’re paying homage to. Some highlights below, but you really check out…

Cyberpunk Might Hit You With Other Languages, Which You’ll Need To Translate In-Game

Developers CD Projekt RED are considering something for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 that I really hope makes it into the final game: the idea of having people in the game all speak their native tongue. An example given by CD Projekt RED’s Sebastian Stepien is that, even if the game’s set to “English,” if you…

Call of Duty Co-Creator Jason West Has Left His New Studio [UPDATE]

Jason West, a co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of video game studio Respawn Entertainment, has left the company he helped found, two sources have informed Kotaku. The departure was amicable. West, who left because of family issues, has been gone since last May, according to one reliable source who asked not to be…

America’s “Real” Metal Gear Can Now Throw Bricks

The team at Boston Dynamics have nudged me one step closer to moving to a desert island with this new footage of its very Metal Gear-like BigDog throwing cinder blocks. It was scary enough when the thing could run faster than Usain Bolt. Now that we know it can throw a brick through your window…

The Best Of Last Week’s Cosplay: Hitman, Dark Link, Mononoke & Freakin’ Wind Waker

For all the controversy Hitman: Absolution’s “sexy nun” trailer generated, it’s nice to see three cosplayers find a way to have a little fun with the characters. It’s also nice seeing people make exquisite Wind Waker costumes because, well, there is no higher calling in life, cosplay or not, than making exquisite Wind Waker-based things.…

Good times being editor again this weekend, Kotaku! Hopefully you’ll see me again someday. Praise the sun!

Blurring The Lines Between Single Player And Multiplayer Is A Good Thing

In the future, there may not be any more single-player games—but that doesn’t mean what we seem to think it does every time some big publisher opens its big mouth and tells us that single-player games are dead. Epic, story-driven campaigns aren’t going away; it’s just that new forms of multiplayer are evolving in tandem…

SNL Proves That Racism Won’t Die, Even After The Undead Apocalypse

Poor Kevin Hart. All he wanted to do when he hosted SNL this weekend was eat “white people brains” and do the dance from “Thriller.” Instead he got shot. It’s a messed up world we live in, especially once the dead start walking. (Apologies to anyone outside the U.S. who can’t watch this—blame Hulu. I’m…

Super Smash Kittens Should Probably Be Nintendo’s Next WiiWare Game

I would like to wholeheartedly thank Youtuber TyVerteLive for creating this masterful work of parody, which will surely be hailed by future generations as the perfect example of how to combine cats and video games. And there are plenty of those Now someone please run with this idea—I want it on Nintendo’s eShop by the…

Fox News Still Hasn’t Fixed The Basic Errors In Its Latest Assassin’s Creed Story [UPDATE]

Mainstream news outlets often get games wrong. This has been discussed. And discussed. And discussed, again, this week The Assassin’s Creed 3 article that Fox News published earlier this week is atrocious for so many reasons. Yes, it’s xenophobic, somehow making the phrase “French company” sound like dirty words. Yes, Fox clearly tried to twist…

Arma 3 Has Some Stunningly Realistic-Looking Signage

This set of new screenshots from within Bohemia Interactive’s Arma 3 paints a very pretty picture, one filled with detailed sign textures and sexy lighting. The images were unearthed by the community as part of an ongoing augmented reality game, according to the fan site ArmaHolic They’ve got more over there, and I’ve got to…

Call The Geek Squad: Mars Curiosity Rover Hit With Memory Issue

As if Mars wasn’t a hostile enough environment already, now it’s come to light that computer glitch-causing radioactive energy might be flying around. That’s one theory as to why NASA was forced to put the Curiosity Rover into safe mode this week, at least. When Curiosity’s A-side computer experienced a memory issue and failed to…