Customer Service Sucks For Those Inside the Gaming Industry, Too

Console failures don’t just happen to the little people. No, they happen to gaming industry professionals, too, and we’re happy to report they don’t get a customer service batphone and valet replacement service just because they happen to work for a major publisher, as “Frank” does here. He gets to suffer through the same tale…

You Can Close Your Eyes In This Game. It’s Profound.

You know what I hate? Audible character heartbeats in games. I can’t deal with that. It’s too stressful. I start breathing harder and I start to feel my own blood rushing as I start pondering the possibility that somehow—despite all logic—I’m about to suffer a heart attack. I mean, listen to my heart (which is…

Guild Wars 2 Bear Loves to Photobomb

There the player was, getting the camera right, the lighting right, the character’s pose just right for that perfect screenshot and…oh, hi bear. Photobombed in Guild Wars 2 [Reddit]

Minecraft Helped Inspire Skyrim‘s Newest DLC

When the rumors started circulating about a new DLC called Hearthfire for Skyrim, people started excitedly speculating as to what new powers you’d go on in the expansion. Dawnguard brought vampire abilities to Bethesda’s hit RPG so Hearthfire would bring what? Magma-flinging? Dovahkiin sidequests involving arson? No one was really expecting house-building and adoption In…

The “World’s First True Gaming Laptop” is Now More Powerful, Less Pricey

First revealed a year ago, the Razer Blade was a fascinating machine. Dubbed “The World’s First True Gaming Laptop” by its makers, the $2,800 17-inch machine, weighing less than seven pounds, was a bold experiment that traded power for portability, and portability for price. The experiment was an overwhelming success. Earlier this year the Blade…

The Thousands of New Animations in NBA 2K13 Include This Insane Dunk

NBA 2K13 will include, for the first time, NBA All-Star Week competitions such as the Three-Point Shootout and the dunk contest. Bet your ass you’ll see this crazy dunk (at 1:15 in the video) in the latter. The 2K Sports motion capture team brought in a duo called the Team Flight Brothers to put on…

It’s Not Easy Being a Pinball Junkie in a Digital World

In today’s nostalgic episode of the TAY-powered Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter JonathanPonikvar laments the sad plight of the modern-day pinball fiend, forced to go digital to get his fix. I’m a complete pinball junkie who is forced to go without a fix. Local arcades in my area have completely vanished, except for one —…

Five Gaming Apps to Help You Survive the Long Labor Day Weekend

It’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S., a time for sitting around reflecting on all things labor-related and the contributions workers have made to our country. Contributions like sitting on the can at work playing some gaming apps instead of working. Games like this week’s five Gaming Apps of the Day! I realize it’s hard…

The Joy of Jumping: Why ArenaNet Lets You Hop In Guild Wars 2

If you’ve been playing Guild Wars 2 at all, then you’ve probably seen people talking about jumping. Dancing is cool too, and actually, standing in one place is pretty neat as well, but the thing people love to do most is jump. That’s partly because jumping was impossible in Guild Wars 1. I visited Guild…

Here Are a Bunch of New Top Screens for Castlevania 3DS. No Bottom Screens.

How are we feeling about the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate these days? The game played well when I tried it last spring. I think a side-scrolling Castlevania on the 3DS XL with the 3D slider pushing the backgrounds beyond the system, should be good. . . . . . UPDATE: And here…

Don’t Ruin Bastion by Letting it Play Through the iPad’s Crappy Speaker

Supergiant Games’ award winning action role-playing game Bastion is now available on the iPad, and it’s one of the best experiences you can have with the Apple tablet. Just don’t ruin it by playing without headphones. The gorgeous hand-painted graphics and the shooting and smashing gameplay make the trip to the iPad intact, but those…

Plants vs. Zombies Comes to Zen’s Pinball Suites Next Week

At PAX today, Zen Studios said the next table in its acclaimed pinball lineup will be Plants vs. Zombies, licensed from PopCap, makers of the tower-defense hit. Plants vs. Zombies releases with Zen Pinball 2 on PlayStation 3 and Vita (it’s a cross buy title) on Tuesday in North America, and on Wednesday in Europe.…

There will be a PAX Australia, the founders of the con said at PAX’s kick-off today. And PAX 2013 will last four days.

Building One of World of Warcraft‘s Finest Rides, One Plastic Piece at a Time

The Mega Bloks World of Warcraft line has been unleashed, bringing tiny plastic versions of Azeroth’s iconic people, places and Deathwings to toy stores across the country. I have one such Azerothian playset in my possession, and you get to watch me put it together, piece by piece. To the zeppelin! My LEGO-loving brethren are…

No Random Encounters Today. Instead, Let’s Have A Chat.

As you read this, I am wandering around Seattle for PAX Prime, playing games and talking to people and crafting stories for my glorious Kotaku overlords. So, sadly, there will be no JRPG column today. But! Let’s not waste the week. Let’s use this as an opportunity for some reader feedback. Let’s chat. What do…

MMO Developer Paragon Studios Closing; City of Heroes To Shut Down By End of Year

Paragon Studios has announced that effective immediately, all work on superhero-themed MMORPG City of Heroes will be ceasing, and the game will be shut down by the end of the year. In a post on the official City of Heroes site, community manager Andy Belford wrote: In a realignment of company focus and publishing support,…

Dishonored’s Rat Assassination iPhone Game Reminds Me That I’m Surrounded by Rodents at All Times

Let’s not beat around the bush: Dishonored‘s iOS spinoff game owes a whole lot to Fruit Ninja, with a few clever tweaks. There’s on big difference, though. At the end of a game of Fruit Ninja, you may feel like getting a smoothie. At the end of Rat Assassin, you may feel like throwing up.…

Our First Teasing Look at Insomniac’s Fuse, or Is It?

This teasing screen for the next big game from the developers of Ratchet & Clank briefly appeared on screen during Ted Price’s PAX Prime keynote moments ago. Is Fuse a renamed Overstrike, or something entirely new? Along with the teasing screen, Insomniac Game’ official Twitter sent out a link to Fusegame.com, where a countdown clock…

Ron Gilbert’s Cave Is Deeper Than I Thought

What? It is. There’s a special type of anxiety that arises when you have to solve one of Ron Gilbert’s puzzles in front of him. This is the guy who made Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island, for gosh’s sake. And here I am, poking and prodding at a new puzzle he made,…

Spec Ops‘ Multiplayer Developer Defends Mode Called ‘Cancerous’ by the Game’s Designer

The studio responsible for the multiplayer component of Spec Ops: The Line, whose lead designer called it a “cancerous growth” foisted upon the game by publisher 2K Games, defended its work in a statement today. In a feature published earlier this week by Polygon, Cory Davis, formerly of Spec Ops developer Yager, ripped the multiplayer…