Realistic Pokémon Starters Are Way Cooler Than The Ones In The Games

I’ve accepted that we’ll probably never see something particularly realistic when it comes to Pokémon designs. Nintendo is all about the cartoony looks that aren’t graphically intensive. But sometimes, when I look at artistic renditions of Pokémon— like these ones by Sam Yang over at CGHub—I can’t help but think of what-could-have-been. The one above…

Mojang is now streaming their three-day “Mojam” game jam. The games will be available through the Humble Indie Bundle

Fox News Wants You To Be Mad About Assassin’s Creed III‘s Evil George Washington DLC

Did you know that there’s a video game where George Washington is evil? And that it’s made by the French? Yesterday, when Ubisoft released the first part in their trilogy of downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed III, Fox News wasn’t pleased. The French? Evil George Washington? Surely somebody should be offended by this! So they…

Midweek Moneysaver: Good Luck, Commander

This Wednesday edition of Kotaku’s The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can’t wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon. Downloadables Green Man Gaming • XCOM Enemy Unknown is $16 until Thursday at noon EST (next best is $25 at Gamefly, elsewhere $50) • Yesterday’s release…

The Superhero Dad from One of 2013’s Most Anticipated Comics Dies In His Very First Issue

Paul Pope hasn’t been hiding. You can find the writer/artist behind such acclaimed works as Heavy Liquid, Batman Year 100 and THB on pretty easily on Twitter, for example. And he just had The One-Trick Rip-Off/Deep Cuts—a collection of older work—land on the New York Times best-seller list for graphic novels. But sussing out the…

Unreal Engine 3 Makes These Hot Wheels Look Downright Menacing

Racing to the app store later this month, Speed Kills uses Unreal Engine 3 to make these wheeled (and not-so-wheeled) warriors look like the most dangerous toy cars ever. This is definitely my sort of racing game. Developed by Holy Warp and Black Wing Foundation—two developers with incredibly cool names—Speed Kills boasts more than 100…

The PBS NewsHour Discusses Violent Video Games And Manages Not To Jump To Wild Conclusions

The PBS NewsHour doesn’t chop news into soundbites and doesn’t mistake banter or squabbling for good television journalism. They actually do TV reporting the way you might hope it would be done. When the NewsHour invited me to head down to their Washington, D.C.-area studios a few Fridays ago to talk to them about violent…

Crysis 3 Has A Bow With Explosive Arrows. So Does This Guy.

The bow and arrow in Crysis 3 might throw off the game’s balance, but it’s still a pretty cool piece of gear. And it seems every time there’s a bow and arrow in a video game, it winds up having explosives attached to it. In this video from RatedRR, host Richard Ryan loads his compound…

It’s Daft Punk Breakout, And You Play It On Buildings By Moving Your Body

Many of us have played some version of Breakout before—but probably not on this scale, and probably not to Daft Punk. The neat thing is, this game uses a Kinect so that you control the paddle by moving your body—and, more interestingly, snippets of the song are played depending on what you can hit with…

PlayStation Memories Are Tearing Up Twitter [Update]

Later tonight, Sony is slated to unveil its successor to the PlayStation 3. Right now, the hashtag #PlayStationMemories is trending on Twitter. What a kwinky dink! A large number of the memories center around PlayStation 2 and original PlayStation games like Grand Theft Auto 3 and Crash Bandicoot. These are distant memories! Others are writing…

FarmVille 2 Fertilizer Bin: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re someone that likes to grow Prized Crops in FarmVille 2, you’ve come to understand how valuable Fertilizer is. On the other hand, if you never use Fertilizer because you can never seem to keep any in your inventory, the game’s newest update will also help. The brand new Fertilizer Bin building project will…

We were on CNN this morning, talking PS4 and which threats Sony needs to fend off. Watch and enjoy

Wondering where to catch the PS4 announcement tonight? We’ll have both a livestream and a liveblog right here on Kotaku

Late-Night Gamer, 6, Saves Family From Attic Fire

Let’s hear it for letting your six-year-old stay up late to play video games. That’s what Taylor Hendrix, of Brownsville, Tenn., was doing when he noticed smoke and flames from the attic “coming down the chimbley.” Taylor sounded the alarm, getting his grandparents and four other children out of the home before it was completely…

Sony Will Announce The PlayStation 4 Tonight. Here’s Everything We Know So Far.

Assuming Sony hasn’t just been screwing with us for the past few weeks, this is it: tonight, we’ll get our first look at the next PlayStation. At 6pm Eastern, Sony will hold a big event in New York City to announce the highly-anticipated PlayStation 4. Kotaku will be in attendance, and we’ll be reporting everything…

The Naruto: Ninja Storm Folks Build a Better Endless Runner

CyberConnect2 might be my favorite Japanese game developer. Not only is it the studio responsible for the Naruto: Ninja Storm fighting game franchise, the .hack role-playing games and the spectacular Little Tail Bronx series, its first stab at mobile gaming is a fresh new spin on the crowded endless runner genre. CyberConnect2’s Shadow Escaper is…

The Official Unofficial Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Drinking Game™

I’m enjoying the totally absurd Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (check out Evan’s review if you missed it) but like many games by both Platinum and Kojima, it’s hard not to notice certain tropes, clichés and themes. You know what that means? It’s time for a drinking game! The Rules to The Official Unofficial Metal Gear…

Murdered: Soul Suspect, Square Enix’s Newest Game, Is Out Early 2014 For Xbox 360 And PS3

Last week, Square Enix announced a secretive new title, Murdered: Soul Suspect. While a series of online puzzles have already revealed some cryptic images, today we have a teaser trailer and concrete information straight from Square Enix that the title will be out for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC… in 2014. With what we’re assuming…

2K Sports has a Five-Year Deal With the WWE, and Its First Game Will Release This Fall [Update]

In an interview published this morning by ESPN, 2K Sports and World Wrestling Entertainment discussed their exclusive, five-year contract arising from THQ’s bankruptcy and dissolution, and said the next WWE professional wrestling simulation should launch during its traditional fall release window this year. [Update] ESPN’s report at 9 a.m. said “Coming this fall: WWE 2K14.”…

They Said Draw Something. You Drew 11 Billion Somethings.

Zynga celebrates a year of the once insanely-popular social mobile game Draw Something by letting the world know how much time and productivity it wasted via a stat-filled infographic. Did you know the most popular word in The Netherlands is “Kerstbal?” Well you do now. Let’s learn more, it’s fun! Draw Something was absolutely everywhere…