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The Small Things in RPGs That Matter A Lot

Think about the last game you spent serious time playing. Visualize everything. Imagine how it looked, how it sounded, how the controls felt in your hands. Picture the last thing you did. Okay. You probably thought in broad strokes: maybe you remember going on a mission of some sort, like shooting a hive full of…

Thousands of Developers Want to Make Games for the Ouya

Let’s say you’re someone who put up their hard earned money to back the Ouya. You already believed in the hack-friendly Android-based game console enough to help it become one of Kickstarter’s biggest success stories. But you might be wondering just how many developers are going to be making games for the thing. Well, in…

A Startling, Emotional Alternate Ending For Black Mesa

When does something stop being “fan-made” and start being real? Considering the fact that the excellent Half-Life tribute Black Mesa was itself made by fans of the original game, this amazing alternate ending, created and uploaded by Machinima filmmaker TomahawxX, feels perhaps a touch more real than your average fan-made video. The filmmaker, who created…

Now There’s an Entire Studio Dedicated to Making More Mobile Sims

Finland, Finland, Finland, the country where I quite want to be, your mountains so lofty, your development studios dedicated to creating more mobile games for The Sims franchise so fresh and new. EA Maxis has opened Maxis Helsinki to focus on making virtual people for us to torture on our tablets and phones. There can…

This Great Mass Effect/Dragon Age Fan Art Kind of Breaks My Brain

I have joked about “Dragon Effect” before, when playing through BioWare’s vaguely parallel science-fiction and fantasy-franchises at the same time. Fan artist Andrew Ryan Art, though, has done one better. Miranda as Morrigan I can actually kind of buy in to. And of course Jack is a dangerous-looking blood mage. For the full set, which…

This Is What Every Slender Video On YouTube Is Like

I know, I know. You’re all tired of the Slender videos. “It’s not even scary!” many of you have said in the past. But don’t worry. This one is a mockery video by Evanz111. *Headphone users beware.* Every Slender video on YouTube. [YouTube via Reddit]

The Most Badass Weapons in Borderlands 2

What’s the most badass weapon you’ve seen in Borderlands 2? We’ll start. Above is my favorite and best weapon. Sure, I’ve got a Tediore rocket launcher that does over 10k damage. (Although the danger with having a Tediore-made rocket launcher is that I’ll forget it shoots out an extra rocket when I reload it. And…

Playing MMORPGs Can Actually Make You Better At Your Job

Sneaking in a little World of Warcraft during business hours is probably a great way to get yourself fired from most jobs—but it seems that spending your personal time in an MMORPG may actually make you a better employee. As the Huffington Post

Guy Tours Ubisoft, Gets Warped to The Tropical World of Far Cry 3

An innocent tour of Ubisoft’s studio sends this poor traveler smack in the middle of the crazy, savage Far Cry 3 world. FinalCutKing’s journey is part beautiful, part incredibly dangerous, much like the game itself will be. There must have been quite a lot of drugs inhaled in that mask.

Like the Saints’ Bounty System, NFL Pro 2013 is Also a Pay-for-Performance Scandal

Unfortunately, this is not one of those App of the Day writeups where the selection is meritorious and the title is an honor. I’m here to dispense consumer advice about NFL Pro 2013, which provides a lot of enticement given the fact it’s free and it has NFL licensing. My advice is to walk around…

Watch CNBC Painfully Try to Make Angry Birds and Bad Piggies Jokes

Listen, CNBC, I understand that there’s a lot of complex data flying all over the global economics maps at any given time. And anything that a TV producer can do to make all that parsing and projection seem even a little bit fun or plugged into pop culture must feel almost like an obligation. But,…

The Strangest, Coolest Free iPhone Game You’ll Play All Day

I know, I know; another girl rides her haunted skateboard through the underworld game. Crafted dangerous close to my hidden base on the outskirts of Atlanta by Secret Library, Cool Pizza is a sweet little four-color (okay, three colors and black) game about a skateboarding girl beating the hell out of hell with her possessed…

Some More Assassin’s Creed III Footage And Gameplay Details

Maybe you’re getting sick of Assassin’s Creed III footage. Maybe you just want to play the new stealth-action-adventure game, which comes out in a month or so. That’s okay. I don’t blame you. But if your appetite for footage from the next Assassin’s Creed game has not yet been sated, check out last night’s episode…

EA Says The So-Called ‘Threatening’ Letter They Sent An Ex-Employee Was An Exception

A firmly-worded letter that made the rounds online a few days ago is not something that gaming giant EA sends to all its ex-employees and is certainly not part of standard operating procedure, a spokesperson for the company tells Kotaku. It was targeted at a specific ex-employee for a specific reason. The letter emerged on…

The Remnants of 38 Studios Will Be Up For Auction In October

The sad, sordid saga of the total collapse of 38 Studios has quieted, but the state of Rhode Island is now left holding the assets of the defunct game developer. Rhode Island, not generally needing a game development studio but definitely needing cash, will be auctioning off the assets next month. As Giant Bomb reported,…

Make Other Players Kill Any Character in Hitman: Absolution With the Game’s Contracts Mode

This sizable chunk of gameplay footage highlights Hitman: Absolution’s user-generated content feature. In the new Contracts Mode, players can craft and distribute specific missions for each other within the single-player levels. The walkthrough shows off a Contract mission and how to create one. With the ability to have nearly any character in the game, Contracts…

College Gaming 101: How I Kept Gaming While Getting A Degree

College was good for debauchery, “experimenting,” and surprisingly, video games. I guess I learned some things too, but, eh. Academics was the least interesting part of college for me. I graduated from a small liberal arts college this spring, where video games made regular appearances—but so did things like alcohol, drugs, and parties. This was…

The Ultimate Mobile Drift Racing Experience Skids Into the Sequel Lane

Drifting is the art of making cars do things cars should not do and spending a lot of money on tires. Ratrod Studios’ Drift Mania Championship 2 for iOS, Android and soon Windows 8 devices is a much cheaper alternative. The sequel to the wildly popular Drift Mania Championship is now available for play on…

Good Morning, Samus

The internet is drowning in Samus fan art, but this beautiful image, complete with subtle redesign, might just be my new favourite. It’s like a cross between a Nintendo game, a rock poster and early 80s anime. In other words, the perfect picture. Samus [Muju @ DeviantArt, via Copiously Geeky]

iOS hit Jetpack Joyride is now available on Android for the low, low price of free. Big fans of free.