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Guild Wars 2‘s Subtle Mind Control Makes Me Actually Like Other People

Hell, it has famously been said, is other people. Play enough games online and you’ll come to understand where Sartre was coming from. Many online games can feel a lot like No Exit—a world populated only by the meddling, the griefing, and the incompetent, where even death isn’t an escape. That being the case, it’s…

Halo 4 Looks Like a Big Leap Forward for Master Chief

I always felt like Microsoft’s mega-hit Halo franchise let me travel, taking me to thrilling, never-before-seen vistas at crucial moments. Adventure-as-travel is a standard conceit within genre fiction but the imposing beauty of Combat Evolved‘s battlegrounds, the horror of various Flood-infested environments and shock of a ravaged, futuristic Earth stood out as high points on…

San Francisco Readers: Share Your Space Shuttle Pictures!

Do you live in San Francisco? Did you snap a pretty shot of the shuttle today? This morning (Pacific time, that is) the NASA space shuttle named Endeavour made a trip through sunny San Francisco, visiting popular attractions like the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Chabot Space and Science Center, and Exploratorium. It whizzed over the…

Football Is Basically An RPG

I watch a lot of football. I play a lot of RPGs. And I’ve always had this theory that they’re not all that different. So I went to an NFL player—probably the only NFL player who actually plays RPGs—to see if he’d agree. He did. “You can look at it as— everyone starts at level…

Lost in the Wilds of Pandora, Eight Game Critics Band Together to Review Borderlands 2

Pandora is a harsh and unforgiving planet to the unwary. What chance do eight video game critics have against the insane brutality of Handsome Jack and his minions? Perhaps these review scores will earn them a stay of execution. Only a stay, mind you; Handsome Jack isn’t exactly known for not killing people, at least…

Wrap Your Head Around That Mario Mobius Strip With A Video Of It In Action

Mobius strips work on a pretty simple concept, but it can be hard to wrap your brain around what’s going on. So while those pictures of the Super Mario Bros. level recreated on a Mobius strip were super pretty, they didn’t get to show off just how amazing the entire thing is. The video above…

These are The Best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figures Ever Made

There have been several different lines of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys since the half-shell heroes first appeared in plastic back in 1989. None of those were half as good as the series hitting store shelves right now. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo; the TMNT team is made up of these four brothers, each with…

The One Man Left In The World Who Hasn’t Heard Portal Spoilers Plays Portal, And It Is Glorious

Mark Oshiro does things. He has, in a sense, made a professional life out of being a fan. For several years, on his sites Mark Reads and Mark Watches, he has tackled fan favorite TV shows (like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who) and novels (Harry Potter, His Dark Materials) one episode or chapter…

An Extraordinary History of the Modern First-Person Shooter and its Unsung Heroes

Level designer and writer Robert Yang has written up a fascinating “People’s History of the FPS” as a three part series at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. In it, Yang posits that first-person gaming and first-person-shooters are not, as we tend to think of them, just an industry-dominated gorefest with a linear evolution, but rather, have always…

A Mystical Journey Inside the Box of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition

How many pandas can you count inside the box to World of Warcraft‘s next expansion? If you answered “all the pandas”, you’d be on the right track. Warning: this video may contain brief moments of singing. Mists of Pandaria is unleashed upon the World of Warcraft next week, ushering a new era of furry jokes…

Medal of Honor: Warfighter gets an Xbox 360 multiplayer beta in October, with a chance to unlock a Linkin Park video.

Don’t Panic: The Wii U Naysayers Are Wrong

Nintendo is doomed. Haven’t you heard? They’re about to release a new, underpowered console with a funny name that’s built around a silly gimmick. There’s no way anyone will buy it. Oh, wait. That was the Wii. And the DS. And the 3DS. All of which have turned into ridiculous successes for the folks who…

Break in Your iPhone 5 With Lili, Most Delightful Game on iTunes

We’ve seen how Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 can be used to create dark, gritty and realistic games like The Dark Meadow, Horn and Infinity Blade. Bit Monster’s Lili takes the powerful mobile game developing toolset in an entirely new direction, resulting in a whimsically magical experience that easily earns a spot among our iPhone Bests…

Artist “Disappointed” That Borderlands 2‘s Manual Art Swipes From His Designs [UPDATE]

If you’ve seen artist Olly Moss’ work, then you’ve gone out and learned his name. Over the last few years, Moss has won a loyal following with his impressively designed homages to geekdom’s sacred texts, as well as cinematic classics. His posters for The Dark Knight Rises, Source Code, Moon and Rocky create visual puns…

Reality Bending Displays, Disappointing Wii U Pro Controllers and More from Tokyo Game Show’s Second Day

You’ve probably been seeing quite a bit of Tokyo Game Show news pouring in from our Kotaku East team. Rather than letting you sift through them yourself, here’s a round up of day two to easily browse through. If you missed yesterday’s showfloor news and impressions, we’ve rounded that one up, as well. Um, I’m…

Sleeping Dogs Gets New Downloadable Content This October

Prepare to revisit Hong Kong virtually this October when a whole bunch of DLC drops some time in October. From the official release, this is what the line-up looks like: adrenaline-fuelled street racing across the island of Hong Kong in the Street Racer Pack twenty new cop missions unfold on the streets of Hong Kong…

This Is Bill Clinton’s I’m-Playing-A-Video-Game Face

Former President Bill Clinton told The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart yesterday that he’s been obsessed with a video game at least once in his life. He did not say which game. It’s not news when most people play video games, but this is one of our only instances of a U.S. President admitting he plays…

Kickstarter’s new rules say simulations and renderings for hardware projects are no longer allowed.

Lots of Fresh Halo 4 Footage For You To Watch

Today’s sort of a Halo 4 news day, as Microsoft unleashes the press to talk a lot more about November’s big, exclusive Xbox 360 first-person-shooter. The fresh looks began with last night’s episode of GTTV. The episode is embedded below. Here are the times you want to jump to in order to see the good…

Um, I’m Not Sure How This Game Is Going To Make This Girl My Pet

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (さくら荘のペットな彼女) is a novel series in Japan that is getting its own game for the PS Vita. A brief demo was on display at the Tokyo Game Show 2012. The story is about an apartment complex where a strange new tenant arrives. The young girl, Mashiro Shiina, is a genius…