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Antonin Scalia’s Landmark Defense Of Violent Video Games

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who unexpectedly died at the age of 79 today, will be remembered as one of the most polarizing figures in American government, famous, or perhaps infamous, for his strong conservative stances on abortion, campaign finance, the death penalty and gay marriage. On June 27, 2011, he also delivered an opinion…

Neca Figures Really Capture Contra‘s Good Side

Figure maker Neca has been doing great things with their video game appearance line over the past couple of years. Lance and Bill from Contra might be the best yet. It’s all about those bullets. While the Q2 2016 release of Lance and Bill won’t include the awesome diorama the pair are featured on at…

Marvel’s Diablo Plays Better With A Game Controller Too

Diablo-esque MMO Marvel Heroes recently kicked off its 2016 season with a massive update, introducing new character models, Spider-Man’s feline friend/foe Black Cat, leaderboards and more. But the coolest new addition is the ability to play with buttons and analog sticks. Not that playing the Marvel Comics’ themed free-to-play PC game was particularly challenging with…

The Toy Fair You Can Take Your Kids To 

While most of New York’s Javits Convention Center is occupied by the the press, buyers and exhibitors of Toy Fair 2016, over in the North Hall they’re holding the first annual Play Fair. You know, for the kids. Open to the public today and tomorrow, Play Fair is an event that celebrates and encourages playing…

All Apologies To The Cook In The Hitman Beta

In the Hitman beta, there’s this cook. He’s hanging out, doing his job, fixing up a nice pot of soup. Little does he know he’s also a tutorial for throwing blunt objects at people. The beta, which went live today on PS4 and runs all weekend, includes a handful of cutscenes and a couple of…

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Attempt At Episodic Storytelling Is Off To A Rough Start

I got restless after waiting three months with little to do in Star Wars: The Old Republic since the launch of the expansion, Knights of the Fallen Empire. Initially, the idea of continuing its story through monthly episodes seemed compelling. The first of those episodes, Chapter X: Anarchy In Paradise, came out this week, and…

The ever-popular ARK: Survival Evolved got another big update on Xbox One today, bringing three new creatures, split-screen multiplayer, and more. Split-screen is “exclusive” to Xbox One for an “extended period of time,” and works both offline and online. The full patch notes are right here. Contact the author at [email protected]

Seven Mods That Make XCOM 2 Less Frustrating

XCOM 2 is great! Well, mostly. It has some performance issues and, more pertinently, it can get a little frustrating with fickle random number calculations and Central screaming at you all the time. Here are some mods to help with that. Save Scum Roller Do you save scum? You probably save scum. Save scumming is…

Guy Realizes Catherine Totally Predicted His Relationship Woes

After a drought of games, we’re practically drowning! That means we’re full of material for Worth Reading, our weekly roundup of the best games writing. Hey, You Should Read These “The Video Game ‘Catherine’ Predicted My Commitment Issues with Spooky Accuracy” by Matthew Kim I know that people love the Persona series, but god damn,…

Tongue-Fighting Game Smooth Operator Teaches How Not To Kiss

French kissing is great as long as you don’t think about it too much. Because the worst euphemism about first base is totally true: you’re swapping spit with another human being. Smooth Operator puts that gross reality all up in your face. Out this week on iOS from Beardo Games, Smooth Operator is a game…

What Happens When You Randomize The Legend Of Zelda

The folks at Storybundle just launched a new pay-what-you-want eBook bundle about video games. Part of it is a new book from roguelike expert John Harris, compiling his @Play columns for GameSetWatch and adding some new writing. Here’s one about an unusual version of the original Zelda. What does it really mean to be a…

Mario Maker Player Creates A Level So Dirty, He Ends Up Trolling Himself

Mario Maker’s most notorious player is back again with another devilishly difficult level. This one is a little different, though. There’s a trap at the end, and it’s a little too good. PangaeaPanga has created a new level called “Grown Man’s Garden,” and it’s about as cruel as you’d expect, coming from the guy who…

Leatherface’s Mortal Kombat Fatality Doesn’t Go Far Enough

My first thought after seeing a person sawed in half from skull to waist should not be “That’s it?” Way to desensitize me to violence, Mortal Kombat X.

Destiny Player Hits Level 40 Without Leaving The First Mission

98 hours, spent entirely in Destiny’s first level. Holy shit. The dedicated (and ridiculous) player is none other than SerfaBoy, and you can watch him grind his way to level 40 in the video below. So, how does this even work? Well, normally this mission wants you to get to the end and collect your…

Mattel’s Doing All The Halo Toys Now, And They Look Killer

No offense to McFarlane Toys, who’ve done a great job with the various franchise figure lines over the years, but Halo is much too big a property for a relatively niche company to handle. Now Mattel’s got the master license, and they’re putting it to good use. Mattel and Halo aren’t exactly strangers. Mattel subsidiary…

The Five Nights At Freddy’s RPG Is Now Free (But It’s Still Pretty Bad)

After being pulled from Steam due to poor reviews, FNAF World is back on Game Jolt for free. You can play it here. But, maybe you shouldn’t? This version of FNAF World does have improvements. Hovering over an attack actually tells you what that attack does NOW, for example. But tweaks like that really can’t…

Mario Maker’s New  Pokémon Costumes Are Perfect

The original starters from Pokémon Red and Blue are now available in Mario Maker, and I think it’s safe to say Nintendo nailed them. Look at the cute sprites. The on-point animations. THE SOUND. When you get the appropriate mystery mushroom, that distinctive Pokémon jingle plays. Nevermind the usage of the original Red & Blue…

Final Fantasy IV‘s Creepiest Enemy Pops Up In FFXIV

Hey, look, it’s Calcabrina. To quote Kotaku’s Mike Fahey: “NOOO, STOP, GET IT AWAY FROM ME.” For quite some time now, the folks at Square Enix have been stuffing Final Fantasy XIV with references to other Final Fantasy games, and this new patch is no exception. With patch 3.2, it looks like they’ll be adding…

Kanye West Is Really Proud Of His New Video Game 

Last year, Kanye told the world he was working on a video game. Yesterday, the world was treated to a trailer for that video game. Last night, Kanye livestreamed a big performance showing off both his new album, The Life of Pablo, along with his newest clothing line. Unexpectedly, he also showed off his game…

5,000-Piece Pacific Rim Jaeger Would Smash Any LEGO Town

Impressive mecha-building skills! LEGO enthusiast Jason Corlett built an enormous Striker Eureka Jaeger from Pacific Rim 86 hours, 5,000 pieces and the result is a huge, 2 feet tall microfig-scale robot. It’s a perfect replica, big enough to guard the house. Here are some more pics to put its size into perspective. Check out the…