Uniform Policy: Why Video Game Golfers All Look the Same at the Sport’s Most Prestigious Club

There’s no formal dress code for Augusta National Golf Club as it appears in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, but all created golfers must wear the same thing when they play it this year. This is unintentional, but admittedly a goof-up, two of the game’s designers told me on Friday. Granted, I play a lot…

Sunday Comics: Pie in the Sky

Welcome back to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, and enjoy our weekly roundup of webcomics whose lineup was chosen by our readership. The comics will enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner of each image. Virtual Shackles by Jeremy Vinar and Mike Fahmie. Published April 3. Read more of Virtual…

The Newest Pokémon Looks Startlingly Similar to An Old Favorite

Debuting earlier today on Japan’s “Pokémon Smash” TV show, the latest pocket monster revealed for Pokémon X and Y bears more than a little resemblance to one of the coolest creatures ever to be stuffed inside a tiny plastic ball. Mewtwo, Brute? For those of you who don’t remember Mewtwo, he was a complete and…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Table Talk: The Winners

When I drew on a table at age six, I was suspended from recess—on the first day of school. Little Samael Henkel does it and he gains worldwide fame and he sits for a dignified portait in front of our Kotaku ‘Shop Contest shoppers. We have a dozen finalists inside, plus overall No. 1 and…

In the dragged-out, teeth-gritting aftermath of 38 Studios’ dissolution, lawyers for Rhode Island now claim the developer moved there knowing the state’s $75 million in incentives could not cover the $125 million needed to make the Kingdoms of Amalur MMO.

For chiptune aficionados, the original soundtrack to Mega Man now is available through the Capcom store, part of the Blue Bomber’s 25th anniversary year. The album is $8.95.

Report: Chinese Gamers Think Chinese Games Pretty Much Suck

We as Westerners complain about the quality of video games all day long. At least we are not subjected to state-run tracts like I Carry Shit Up the Side of the Hill for the Commune Simulator 2013 or whatever it is that China’s propaganda ministry is cooking up these days. Even Chinese gamers hate it,…

Hey, I Just Hacked You, and That Sounds Crazy, but RockBand.com is Offline, So Change Your Passwords Maybe

Hackers appear to have struck RockBand.com and DanceCentral.com right as the games’ maker, Harmonix ended a 281-week run of offering new songs to both rhythm games. While that may seem late to the party to some, to others, closing down a service might be a great time to harvest user names and passwords and try…

The Rock will be featured on the cover of WWE 2K14, the first edition of the series to be published by 2K Sports. The game releases in November.

Which One of These Things is Not Like the Other?

Fuse is developed by Insomniac Games. Fuse is a third-person co-operative shooter. Fuse will release May 28. Fuse will not have an Online Pass. And Fuse will not have any microtransactions. But Fuse will be published by Electronic Arts. Hey, maybe everyone was wrong about all that Worst Company in America stuff after all? Fuse…

Xbox 360 Used as a Weapon in Strange Florida Murder

In five years of writing about weird crime here, I’ve heard of gaming consoles being involved in violent crime in just about every way possible—except as a weapon itself. That’s one of the many bizarre features of a murder in Florida last Sunday. The Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale reported this week that cops in Broward…

This Week in the Business: GameStop is Sold on the Next Xbox

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “[Next Xbox] will be a very hot, compelling device … I think the world is going to stand up and take notice.”—GameStop CEO J. Paul Raines, talking about the as-yet-unofficial new console from Microsoft rumored to be coming out this year…

PSP action RPG Black Rock Shooter is coming to the PlayStation Network on April 23 in the U.S. and April 24 in select European countries. Sorry, Canada and Mexico, licensing issues mean no release for you. We’ll let you look over our shoulders.

Dear Lord, These Fake Human Skin Sculptures Are Disgusting

This tiny furniture isn’t made from real human body parts, not that you can immediately tell. According to Laughing Squid, the artist— Jessica Harrison—created the sculptures using casts of her own hands. Here are a couple of images from her collection, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. …yeah, that’s enough of that. But if…

The first Dragon Fantasy, a wonderful old-school JRPG-style game, is coming to PS3 and Vita. No release date quite yet.

Demon Fusion In Shin Megami Tensei IV Looks Pretty High Tech (And Cool)

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers isn’t out yet, but already I’m looking out to the horizon—and over to Shin Megami Tensei IV, which was recently confirmed for North America. Here we have a clip from Siliconera showcasing what Demon Fusion will look like. There are lots of numbers and wireframes, which makes fusion…

You’re trapped in the dark, and a monster is hunting you. Good thing you’ve got such great ears, and these cute little monsters are helping you! Check out this demo video for Pulse, which was on hand at the IGF booth at GDC last week. Team Pixel Pi are currently running a Kickstarter to try…

All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Playing LucasArts Games

I played a whole lot of LucasArts games growing up. Like, a lot. I used to look forward to getting the company catalogue, The Adventurer, in the mail. I knew all the sword-fighting insults by heart. Sam and Max taught me to love words. Hell, I even got made fun of by crappy playground bullies…

Grantland writes an interesting analysis of the old Super Mario Bros. movie. “Super Mario Bros. created a much more insidious template, one that’s never been as prevalent as it is now: the simultaneous money-grub brand exploitation and fan-base slap in the face.”

The Violence in This Week in Gaming Apps is Simply Enthralling. Appalling. I Meant Appalling.

Our weekly roundup of the new mobile games we’ve played over the past five day period is usually filled with physics puzzles and endless runners. Those things are indeed present this week, but tempered with some good old-fashion shooting people in the head. Oh don’t worry, they’re mostly stick people. I’ve been passing up the…