If Playing Animal Crossing is as Boring as Watching the Movie, I’m Out

This past week saw the Western release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS. Despite having never played an Animal Crossing game myself—largely due to its part in the most heartbreaking gaming tale I have ever heard—I decided it would be fun to sit down and watch the 2006 Animal Crossing anime film. This…

Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference, Made Shorter And Much Funnier

Maybe you’re curious what Microsoft showed at their E3 press conference this morning. But maybe you don’t have time to watch the whole thing? Also, maybe you’d like it to be much funnier than it was. You’re in luck! Matt Lees from Videogamer.com has done another of his “abridged version” videos, this time for Microsoft’s…

See The PS4’s Game-Swapping, Share Button, Menu & Chat In Action

During its E3 conference, Sony talked business and showed games. Leaving some of the more mundane – but no less important – stuff to come out after. Stuff like this video, which shows the system’s user interface. We can see how the PS4 swaps between programs (like a phone), how the share button works, how…

The PlayStation 4 Is Region-Free

The PS4’s lack of online requirements or used games DRM has been cause for celebration for many, but for me, as someone who lives in neither the US or Japan, one thing was even more important. Whether the PS4 was, like its predecessor, region-free. According to SCE boss Shuhei Yoshida, it is. Yes

This Game’s DLC Lets You Hit Level 99 In An Hour

I’ve already talked a bit about how hard Shin Megami Tensei IV was on the default difficulty—and how the game makes you humiliate yourself in order to switch to easy mode. But if even easy mode is still too much for you, you can always download the first DLC dungeon. It completely breaks the game.…

Well, E3. That Was Quite A Pleasing Day Of News.

The show hasn’t even technically begun yet – the doors to the LA Convention Centre don’t open until later today – but June 10 is a day gamers are going to remember for a very, very long time. And for all the right reasons. This time last year, I was as down on the show…

The Next Command & Conquer Wants You Inside Its Closed Beta

Remember the game that was going to be Command & Conquer: Generals 2but then got repurposed into a free-to-play online multiplayer real-time strategy game set in the Command & Conquer: Generalsuniverse? It’s going to go into closed beta soon, and it wouldn’t mind having you. Oh come on, it doesn’t look that bad, and look…

Francis Is Crying Because Sony Won The Console War

Well, he’s still mostly just mad at Microsoft. Furious, even. But you know Francis; he’s pretty much mad all the time.

Yup, Sony Is Still Making Wacky PlayStation Commercials

If there’s been a single constant throughout the life of the PlayStation brand, it’s been Sony’s insistence on using…different means of advertising its consoles. Sometimes it’s a dismal failure, sometimes it’s a critical success, but at least it’s always interesting. A tradition this new clip continues. It’s a bit corny, yeah, but I like the…

At Least Microsoft Is Winning The Console War In My Hotel Bathroom

The hotel maids stuck this sign in our bathroom while we were at today’s E3 press conferences. It doesn’t make much sense. “All in one. Input one.” It literally means nothing, as Stephen pointed out yesterday. But hey. Sony might be winning the war for our living rooms, but at least Microsoft won the war…

Dead Rising 3 Explores A Grittier Sort Of Zombie Apocalypse

Dead Rising 3 isn’t designed to be the laugh riot of the older Dead Risings. TheXbox One exclusive from Capcom Vancouver is a grittier kind of zombie game. It’s set 10 years after Dead Rising 2, the game’s executive producer Josh Bridges told me during a demo of the game on Monday evening. New hero…

Specs Sheet Says The PS4 Has A 500GB Hard Drive, Camera Not Included

I’m not sure why this wasn’t part of the company’s presentation yesterday. Maybe they left it out because it simply matched Microsoft, instead of under-cutting it. But hey, the PS4 has a 500GB hard drive. UPDATE – Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed that, like the PS3, the PS4’s HDD will be upgradeable. The tidbit was…

Brock from Pokémon Can Drive, Pilot, or Operate Almost Anything

Remember Brock from the Pocket Monsters anime? He left the series a few years back to go be a Pokémon Doctor, but can still lives on in our hearts as the dude who can operate nearly anything put in front of him. That includes rockets. And drawbridges. Recently on 2ch, Japan’s largest online forum, an…

By the time you read this, Wikipedia will probably change the article back—but for now, ha. I’d say “burn,” but that would be redundant. (Proof it was real.) Edit: and now, a Jack Tretton edit:

The PS4 or Xbox One? Can You Tell the Difference?

Sony just revealed the PlayStation 4. It’s a black box! Funny, because the Xbox One is a black box, too. What a kwinky-dink. Above, you can see both the PS4 and the Xbox One. Can you tell which is which? Can you? This is incredibly difficult! (Note that Kotaku removed each console’s logo.) To contact…

I’m Still Not Convinced Xbox One Will Put Games First

In the time between Microsoft’s reveal of their next-generation Xbox One console and today’s E3 press conference, the company promised that they’d show games. Not just any games, either. They essentially said, “Ready your eyeballs, oh Skeptical Fanbase, for a suite of playable software that will make your heart skip beats.” Well, after watching this…

Here’s Your First Look at Batman: Arkham Origins‘ Gameplay

This clip, shown at Sony’s E3 press event tonight, give viewers the first glimpse of what it’ll be like to play as Batman in the upcoming game developed by Warner Bros. Montreal. Hints of some Bat-plane action, investigations and more capable enemies in the clip. And we get to hear those new actors, too.

Sony Just Smacked The Xbox One In The Mouth

Usually, verdicts of “winners” and “losers” coming out of E3 press conferences are little more than armchair pondering. One person’s view of some competing events that don’t really matter. But today, boy, it’s hard seeing Sony’s press conference as anything but a punch in the face to Microsoft’s Xbox One ambitions. The second half of…

Here’s The First Gameplay Footage For Destiny

Most of what we’ve seen of Destiny, Bungie’s upcoming “shared world shooter,”had been stuff like CGI trailers or concept art. It still managed to look epic, sure, but that doesn’t compare to what we were shown today during Sony’s E3 press conference. Here’s the first gameplay footage for Destiny—which features shooting (duh), customization, and some…

Playstation 4 Pre-Orders Are Live

Sony just announced that the Playstation will retail for $399, and you can pre-order it right now on Amazon