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The Best of Kotaku, This Week

Welcome to the Best of Kotaku, where I round up all of this week’s best content. This week’s best image is what I imagine baby Gordon Freeman looks like. Look at him. All adorable and rosy-cheeked. Go on. Look at him. knitetgantt’s adorable creation was found with the help of Blue Dog’s Eyes Moving on…

Animal Crossing‘s Creepiest Room Is Amazing and Somewhat Criminal

Manga artist Pyocotan might be best known for signature illustrations in Japanese game magazine Gamelabo or CoroCoro Comic. His work is anything but cute. It’s actually both wonderful and creepy—kind of like Robert Crumb Pyocotan, a hardcore Nintendo fan, recently picked up a copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf and is passing the time by…

This New Resident Evil Pistol Looks Real Enough to Kill Zombies

While Resident Evil 6 might not have been the best survival horror game, it sure did have nice hairdos and cool looking firearms. That’s probably why Airsoft gun maker Tokyo Marui is releasing a customized version of the SIG P226 that Leon Kennedy wields in the game. This isn’t a first: Tokyo Marui has collaborated…

Utada Hikaru Loves Evangelion So Much, She Sings the New Theme Song

Popstar Utada Hikaru was taking time off. She hadn’t put out a new song since 2010. Until now. Utada is lending her talents to the new Evangelion feature film, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Q 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. She’s such a big fan of the series, that she couldn’t turn down the offer to do…

A Hug Pillow Designed Especially for Dudes to, Um, Yeah

In Japanese, they’re called “dakimakura” (抱き枕). In English, they’re “hug pillows”. In short, hugging them while you sleep can either given a greater sense of security or even help with back problems. The insinuation, however, is that hug pillows are otaku girlfriends. This is even a joke in Japan, tinged with irony—and most certainly not…

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z takes place in the world of Ninja Gaiden, but it’s not canon, says Team Ninja’s leader.

This Isn’t Cosplay. It’s Theater!

Those battling Ikki Tousen girls are bringing their torn clothes and short skirts to the Tokyo stage. The manga turned video game and anime series is getting a theatrical adaptation. Known as Battle Vixens in the West, Ikki Tousen is the latest anime/game property to be turned in a stage production, following in the footsteps…

Square Enix, COD‘s Japanese publisher, announced that Call of Duty Elite won’t support Japanese—no plans, either.

24 Hours Before Wii U Launch, Reggie Surprises The Nintendo Faithful in NYC

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime did the Jimmy Fallon show on Friday, got some dinner and then… he took a stroll to the Nintendo World Store. He found more than 50 people camped out to pick up the Wii U at midnight Saturday night. I tagged along to see what happened. I walked the…

The Biggest Anime of the Year Steamrolls Japan

Late last night, two things happened in Japan: the first six minutes of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Q 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and that movie’s midnight premiere. This wasn’t just the first screening of a big time anime. It was a party. An event. Japanese website Gigazine was on hand at the midnight screening in…

Zynga’s Boss Near Tears, Says Wall Street Journal, as He Grapples With Turning the Company Around

Well, now you’ve done it. Yes you, Facebook user, you’ve made Mark Pincus cry. Taken public and valued at $9 billion in so doing, Zynga’s stock price has slid to a quarter of its value at the initial public offering, and taught a harsh lesson to the CEO about what happens when you run a…

Oh Look, A Crazy 70’s Movie About A Baby Who Is A Grown-Ass Man

Where do I even start with this trailer for The Baby, a 1973 cult classic about a gigantic baby that looks like a regular man? The crazy hammy acting? The insane premise (which is really, if I’m not mistaken, the same as a particularly late nightish Will Ferrell skit from SNL)? The constant, shrieking violins?…

Tell President Obama to Honor the Veterans of Halo 4

The White House’s bullshit feel-good “We the People” initiative is, like all Internet petitions, worth the paper it is printed on.* Most of the petitions lodged there demand things the executive branch cannot effect on its own. The remainder are protest tantrums, like the secessionist fantasies a bored and distended mainstream media are indulging in…

Backhanded Box Quotes: When ‘Best Call of Duty Ever!’ Isn’t a Compliment

Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic. This week we examine games from two series that frequently are accused of impersonating each other: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Halo 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops II Released: Nov. 13. Critic: MasterOfMetroid (Metacritic)…

There’s No Such Thing as a Free-to-Play Game

I’ve tried to be fair to the concept of free-to-play games, which you see a lot of in mobile gaming. Yes, it all seems a bit cynical—it trades a single price for a potentially unlimited revenue stream, but there’s nothing necessarily illegal or unethical about that. It does depend on making some substantive portion of…

This Is One Of The First Indie Games You Can Buy On Your Wii U

It’s called Chasing Aurora, and it’ll be out Sunday when the Wii U launches. It’s a multiplayer game with a handful of different modes. Seems pretty interesting! Check out their website for more

Challenge the World’s Best Trainers in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 Beginning Monday.

On Monday, Pokémon enthusiasts can challenge the top 12 trainers from this year’s World Championships in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 The trainers and teams will be distributed over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection sometime on Monday, and will bring three-time world champion Ray Rizzo’s stable of Tyranitar, Garchomp, Cresselia, Hydreigon, Rotom, Metagross along with…

GREE Closes OpenFeint, Gives Game Developers a Month to Avoid a Potential “Poor Player Experience”

Before Apple had Game Center it had OpenFeint, a gaming network that brought a cohesive online experience to countless iPhone, iPad and eventually Android games. Some of us may have opted to miss out on its fun features, but for many game developers it was a priceless tool. Come December 14, OpenFeint will be no…

EA Sports Expands Course Offerings in Basic Version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14

Mea culpa: When Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 revealed its cover stars yesterday—Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods—I missed the biggest news in the cover art: Its basic course roster has gone up to 20. That’s four more than the 16 the game has usually included in its standard version for high definition consoles, with about…

Stan Lee’s The Week in Gaming Apps

Legendary comic book creator Stan Lee only had his hand in one of the five Gaming Apps of the Day this week, but I’m pretty sure the rest of them were probably his idea at some point anyway. It was a great week for gaming apps, with the exception of Monday. Apparently somebody didn’t get…