Reviews & Features
Internet Censorship: Part One
| 9 December 2008
The Australian Government is proposing mandatory ISP (Internet Service Provider) Level filtering of the Internet. Reoh discusses the plan and how it will end up doing more harm than good.
Left 4 Dead Preview - Zombies, Guns, and Explosives - Oh My!
| 16 November 2008
A small preview of Left 4 Dead based on Valve's recently released public Demo.
Dead Space
| 26 October 2008 |
Dead Space lifts the 3rd person shooter genre on so many fronts thanks to its innovative approach that you would not want to miss this great experience.
Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway
| 30 September 2008 |
After a few days with BiA I've discovered that its an excellent squad-based shooter but experience with the previous games is required to feel anything for the story until the very end.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
| 20 September 2008 |
Engaging story and phun with physics almost makes up for a short, sub-par game.
Too Human
| 19 September 2008 |
After waiting forever for this game to come out, (ok 14 years is a long time) many people were understandably less then impressed with the finished product. The two problems with this attitude is that ...
Newsfeed Selector
» GameSpot Headlines
Obsidian Entertainment to help with new MMORPG Skyforge
21 May 2013 |Fallout: New Vegas and South Park: The Stick of Truth developer to team up with Russian team Mail.ru.
‘Big’ Battlefield 4 news teased on eve of Xbox 720 event
21 May 2013 |Official Twitter account for first-person shooter series says "big announcements are coming soon"; reveal event to last one hour.
The Simpsons writer signs on for Angry Birds movie
20 May 2013 |Emmy-winning writer Jon Vitti, who penned "Mr. Plow" episode of The Simpsons, working on 2016 film based on Rovio's game.
Next-gen FIFA, UFC game to be shown at Xbox 720 event
20 May 2013 |Latest entry in soccer series and new UFC game to be on display at Microsoft's next-generation reveal event tomorrow.
Riccitiello on next-gen: the stakes are enormous
20 May 2013 |Former Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello says console gaming will "explode" with arrival of future platforms, but only if Sony and Microsoft can avoid pitfalls.
Sony seeking ‘Sturmendrang’ trademark
20 May 2013 |Sony Online Entertainment trademark covers role-playing games, potentially related to German historical literacy movement.
Watch Dogs preorder perks revealed
20 May 2013 |Gamers who preorder at GameStop will get The Palace Pack mission, while Amazon shoppers will receive Signature Shot Pack.
McLaren involved with Xbox 720 announcement?
20 May 2013 |Automotive company tells fans to tune into Microsoft's next-gen presentation; "We think you might like what they're announcing..."
PlayStation 4 hardware teased by Sony hours before next Xbox unveil
20 May 2013 |Sony publishes 39 second video showing obscured shots of the PlayStation 4 hardware; full unveil at E3 2013.
Mass Effect costumes coming to Little Big Planet this week
20 May 2013 |Mass Effect costume pack comes with outfits for Shepard, Wrex, Liara, and Garrus.
» IGN Headlines
» 1UP Headlines
Listen to the Final 1UP Podcast Ever
7 April 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> As you know, 1UP.com has breathed its last. Such are the vicissitudes of business. Happily, Jose Otero ...
Review: Bending Genres in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
22 March 2013 | <!-- Begin Template_OpenHtml --> Feature <!-- Begin socialTools --> Share it: Tweet [removed][removed] [removed] window.fbAsyncInit = ...
Review: Shambling Mirror of Fate Signals Time to Jam a Stake in Castlevania’s Heart
8 March 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate brings the series back to Nintendo's portable systems, ...
An Unflattering Boll Cut
7 March 2013 | <!-- Begin Template_OpenHtml --> Feature <!-- Begin socialTools --> Share it: Tweet [removed][removed] [removed] window.fbAsyncInit = ...
The Trials and Tribulations of Gears of War: Judgment
6 March 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> <body> As the next generation of home consoles slowly emerge into the limelight and enter the ...
The Cinematic Nature of Parasite Eve
1 March 2013 | <!-- Begin Template_OpenHtml --> Feature <!-- Begin socialTools --> Share it: Tweet [removed][removed] [removed] window.fbAsyncInit = ...
A Plea for the Gaming Industry to Respect Gamers
1 March 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> Although the economy might not be in the thick of a recession as it once was, that doesn't mean things ...
Moving Forward and Looking to Indies, Not Better Graphics
28 February 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> Excited as I was to finally see a next-generation console, much of the PlayStation 4 software we saw ...
Urban Trial Freestyle Review: Where Flash Trumps Substance
27 February 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> There is no getting around the similarities between Urban Trial Freestyle and the Trials series. The ...
The Orwellian Superheroes of Watch Dogs and inFamous: Second Son
23 February 2013 | <!--Begin feature--> <!-- for syndication --> <body> Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or ...
» GameDaily Headlines
Mass Effect 2: The Engineer
26 April 2013 |Unleash combat drones and hack your enemies with Mass Effect 2's nerdy Engineer class.
MW2 MP Broken?
26 April 2013 |Xbox 360 version plagued by cheaters and 18 person deathmatches. What's Infinity Ward doing about this? Based on our experiences this week...nothing.
NES Stress Test
26 April 2013 |Can Super Mario Bros. withstand subzero temperatures? GoNintendo hopes to find out.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Trailer
26 April 2013 |Ubisoft releases a teaser to its much-anticipated Tom Clancy game.
Blur Beta Key Giveaway
26 April 2013 |Enter to win a chance to play Bizarre Creations' latest speedster three months early.
GDC 2010 Coverage
26 April 2013 |Check out the latest videos from this week's feature packed show in San Francisco.
Red Dead Redemption Trailer
26 April 2013 |New video details life in the Wild West.
Gears of War 3
26 April 2013 |Epic Games confirms the inevitable. Better ready the chainsaw.
Left 4 Dead 2: Realism Versus Here to Stay
26 April 2013 |Thousands of frag happy gamers vote to make experimental Mutation an official part of the L4D2 multiplayer scene.
NBA Jam Facebook Contest
26 April 2013 |Immortalize your latest one-liner in arcade basketball history.
» Gamasutra Headlines
Neverwinter beta exploit leads to server rollback
21 May 2013 |Following a devastating currency exploit affecting Neverwinter's in-game economy over the weekend, the MMO's developers elected to roll back its servers. ...
Blog: Emergent chivalry - When players make the rules
21 May 2013 |We're used to stories of players being unpleasant, but indie developer Bram Stolk writes about a time when one surprised him by being honorable. ...
The GDC Play experience through an exhibitor’s eyes
21 May 2013 |As a first-time GDC Play exhibitor and a starving indie, it was a tough decision for James Liu to go to GDC to promote Nameless: The Hackers. He shares the pros and cons in this detailed post. ...
Four ways next-gen consoles could fail, according to Riccitiello
21 May 2013 |"Mobile is here to stay. [But] we're all ready for the next generation of consoles," says departed EA CEO John Riccitiello, in forecasting what the coming console generation needs to get right. ...
Get a job: Be an Environment Artist for Airtight Games
21 May 2013 |"Airtight Games is looking for an experienced Environment Artist. We are seeking motivated game-savvy modeler/texture artists capable of delivering the highest-quality game art possible." ...
Gamasutra blog guidelines: Updated, open for discussion
21 May 2013 |Want to know more about blogging on Gamasutra? Check out the site's new, revised blog guidelines. If you have any questions or comments, editor Christian Nutt is there to answer them. ...
Blog: Immersion, not realism
21 May 2013 |BioShock 2 and XCOM: The Bureau AI programmer David Pittman argues that there's a big difference between pursuing realism and immersion -- and explains the difference. ...
Game & Wario lampoons crowdfunded games
21 May 2013 |With crowdfunding services like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo an increasingly popular alternative to traditional financing for small developers, a satirical video like this seemed inevitable. ...
What can Big Data do for games?
21 May 2013 |You can gather tremendous amounts of data these days -- but what can game developers do with it? University professor Dana Ruggiero explains. ...
Video: GDC’s weird and wild Experimental Gameplay Workshop
21 May 2013 |Over 20 demos of innovative game designs from Jason Rohrer, Brenda Romero, Emily Short, and more were on display during the 11th annual Experimental Gameplay Workshop. ...
» GamesIndustry.Biz Headlines
Rhode Island finds "interest" in 38 Studios’ assets
21 May 2013 |The state prepares to sell off Kingdoms of Amalur
DeNA to release Molyneux’s GODUS
21 May 2013 |The successful Kickstarter-backed game's mobile versions will be distributed worldwide; Molyneux also tells us he fears consoles are "becoming a hobby"
Next-gen consoles ready to thrive, says Riccitiello
21 May 2013 |Former CEO of Electronic Arts sees a bright future for consoles, provided Sony and Microsoft get four key things right
Sony teases first images of PlayStation 4
21 May 2013 |Console manufacturer drops video of new console hours before Microsoft's Xbox reveal
Google Play in-app purchases up 700%
21 May 2013 |Market trending free-to-play as last year has seen players spend eight times as much from within programs
Watch Microsoft’s Xbox: A New Generation Revealed live
21 May 2013 |Microsoft's Don Mattrick to unveil new console live on Tuesday May 21 at 10am PST / 6pm BST
Full Control: Happy Accidents And Harsh Realities
20 May 2013 |Thomas Lund details Space Hulk's charmed inception and Jagged Alliance's troublesome Kickstarter
Former GTA Producer: Why I’ll Never Work On Violent Games Again
20 May 2013 |Jeremy Pope details his personal story and how he couldn't feel good telling people he worked on "that game"
Denis Dyack addresses "ugly" X-Men Destiny controversy
20 May 2013 |"I've got to do something about this, because it's affecting me and it's affecting my colleagues at Precursor Games"
Metro: Last Light replaces Dead Island Riptide as UK No.1
20 May 2013 |Another hit for publisher Deep Silver/Koch as rest of top ten slides
» GamePolitics Headlines
Poll Results: Female Presenters at Microsoft’s Xbox Event
21 May 2013 | Last week we asked you "Will there be any female presenters at the unveiling of Microsoft’s new console?" The majority of you indicated that you think that ...
Super Podcast Action Committee - Episode 52
21 May 2013 |In Episode 52, hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight talk about female presenters at Microsoft's Xbox reveal event this week, EA's continued abuse of the Wii U community, The new S.H.I.E.L.D TV series, Wreck-It Ralph, ...
Old Meets New: Video Game Sans Video
21 May 2013 | Michael Newman and his Los Angeles-based interactive development and product design company Pomp Productions has created an interesting game called Video Game Sans Video. ...
Precursor CEO Calls Questionable ‘Terms and Conditions’ Document a Mistake
21 May 2013 | Speaking to Develop, Precursor Games CEO and founder Paul Caporicci told the publication that the statements in the terms and conditions document related to its crowdfunding ...
Researchers: Games With Human Opponents Make Players More Aggressive
21 May 2013 | Researchers at the University of Connecticut and Wake Forest University claim that when players fight against human-looking opponents, those players become more aggressive. ...
EA: No FIFA 14 on Wii U Because Last Game Didn’t Perform Well
21 May 2013 | In an update to a story on Friday over at Eurogamer about Madden NFL 25 not coming to the Wii U and a decision about the fate of FIFA 14 on the platform, an unnamed rep from ...
Report: Rhode Island Wants to Sell 38 Studios IP
21 May 2013 | This should come as no shock to anyone that has been following the saga between the state of Rhode Island and bankrupt game development house 38 Studios: the state of Rhode ...
Australia’s Bureau of Statistics Releases City Building Game
21 May 2013 |Australia's Bureau of Statistics has released an interesting game for iOS devices that uses real census data (circa 2011) from the country's various towns called Run That Town. Players build a town using real census data ...
Silicon Knights and Precursor Games’ Denis Dyack Responds to Allegations
21 May 2013 |On Sunday a video was posted to YouTube featuring Silicon Knights and Precursor Games chief creative officer Denis Dyack addressing a Kotaku story from last year which he feels has hurt the funding drive for Shadow of the Eternals ...
EA Sports Canada Developer Calls Wii U ‘Crap’
20 May 2013 | Last week EA confirmed that it didn't have any Wii U titles in development. As if that wasn't enough of a slight against owners of Nintendo's console a ...
» Joystiq Headlines
Molyneux’s Godus goes mobile, Mobage with publisher DeNA
21 May 2013 | Godus, the Kickstarted god game from Peter Molyneux's 22Cans, will be published on mobile devices by DeNA in western territories, Japan and Korea. Godus raised £526,563 ($852,000) with Kickstarter in December, exceeding its ...
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 community votes for next personalization
21 May 2013 | Activision is crowdsourcing its next personalization pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Starting on Thursday, May 23, fans will be asked to vote for one of four new packs, each with their own custom weapon camo skin, three ...
Former DJ Hero devs exploring IPTV for multi-platform project
21 May 2013 | DJ Hero developer FreeStyle Games is hiring a producer for IPTV gaming, according to a job listing on LinkedIn. The position will lead "the development of new multi-platform games with specific emphasis on online ...
Nintendo launches ‘Crowdfarter’ for Game & Wario
21 May 2013 |<iframe frameborder="0" height="318" id="viddler-ab5e607f" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.viddler.com/embed/ab5e607f/?f=1&autoplay=0&player=simple&secret=55025436&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0" ...
Syndicate Wars inspires 5 Lives Studios to get a Kickstarter in June
21 May 2013 |<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="298" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9nWNAXLJEb8?wmode=opaque" width="530"></iframe> Five Lives Studios is teasing a Kickstarter project for ...
PS Plus weekly: Pinball Arcade, Germinator available for free
21 May 2013 | Starting tomorrow, PlayStation Plus members in North America can download FarSight's Cross-Buy pinball sim Pinball Arcade and Creat Studios' PS Vita puzzler Germinator free of charge. Pinball Arcade, regularly priced at $10, ...
Sniper Elite V2 scopes out Wii U tomorrow
21 May 2013 |<iframe frameborder="0" height="298" id="viddler-8b0dd05" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.viddler.com/embed/8b0dd05/?f=1&autoplay=0&player=simple&secret=12088622&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0" ...
Steam weekly: Rochard, Strike Suit Zero, Sleeping Dogs, Unreal deals
21 May 2013 | This week's round of Steam weekly deals includes Sleeping Dogs for $12.50, Rochard for $2.50, Strike Suit Zero for $10, and the Unreal Deal Pack for $10. The Unreal Deal Pack includes Unreal Gold, Unreal 2: The Awakening, Unreal ...
Batman: Arkham Origins challenge mode has a Deathstroke
21 May 2013 | A leaked pre-order image tipped us off yesterday and the press release past the break confirms it: Deathstroke is a playable character in Batman Arkham Origins. He'll be unlocked in the game's challenge mode, and all who plunk ...
Rhode Island prepared to sell 38 Studios’ Amalur intellectual property
21 May 2013 | The state of Rhode Island's last keepsake of 38 Studios - beyond a $100-million-plus loan debt - is the company's Amalur intellectual property, which it's planning to sell off shortly. The Providence Journal reports there is ...
» Kotaku Headlines
While You Were Sleeping
23 August 2011 |Sleeping can be fun — necessary even. But what if stuff happens when you’re sleeping — game stuff? What are you supposed to to do then? Thankfully we have a solution — While You Were Sleeping, a quick round ...
Talk Amongst Yourselves
23 August 2011 |This is where Kotaku readers go to talk about the stuff we’re not already posting about. Think of it as the official unofficial Kotaku community forum. (more…)
Finally! Video Game Clothing That’s Stylish And Perfect For Daily Wear
23 August 2011 |Deus Ex: Human Revolution is already getting great reviews, though it doesn’t release until tomorrow. And now a Deus Ex clothing line has been announced for what promises to be a blockbuster game. (more…)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Review Scores Are Perfectly Natural
23 August 2011 |In the year 2000, Ion Storm unleashed the perfect marriage of futuristic shooter and skill-based role-playing in Deus Ex, a game so unique that even its own sequel couldn’t replicate its success. Can any follow-up possibly do ...
The Gaming Tragedies That Didn’t Kill Us (But Nearly Broke Us)
23 August 2011 | My proudest moments as a tap dancer are displayed in my parents’ house in the form of sparkly, obnoxious trophies. (more…)
On The 8th Day Atlus Gave Us A Good Reason To Buy Devil Survivor Again
23 August 2011 | With only one more day before the 3DS remaster of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor comes out, Atlus gives fans one more day to consider replaying one of the best role-playing games of 2009. (more…)
The Rare Angry Birds Theme Guitar Remix Spotted In The Wild
23 August 2011 | When musicians decide to take video game music and make it better, the results are almost always fantastic. (more…)
Death Of PC Gaming Scheduled To Be Disproven On August 26
23 August 2011 | We’ve heard it said time and time again, PC gaming is not dead, but sometime just saying something isn’t enough. This Friday, PC peripheral maker Razer plans to prove it. (more…)
Aliens: Colonial Marines Shows Why It’s Smart To Wait 25 Years To Make A Movie Game
23 August 2011 |While we’ve known for a while now that Gearbox’s upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines makes extensive use of original concept art from the movie it’s based on, 1986′s Aliens, it’s still a surprise to see ...
The Trailer For Dark Souls Comes With Fair Warning
23 August 2011 | The new trailer for Dark Souls comes with a simple warning: Prepare to die. (more…)
» Next Generation Headlines
The limits of videogame interaction
17 September 2012 | Nuanced and subtle game design is meaningless if the player can't respond in kind, says Clint Hocking. A few ...
World Of Warplanes: free-to-play dogfights from the creator of World Of Tanks
17 September 2012 | Developer Wargaming on taking its free-to-play fight to the skies. World Of Tanks was a freak success. Not even ...
Introducing Free-To-Play Week
17 September 2012 | A thorough investigation of the industry's fastest-growing business model kicks off today. Throughout this ...
Joe Danger 2: The Movie review
17 September 2012 | Hello Games' sequel layers on the polish without losing the original's scrappy small-team charm. At ...
Sleeping Dogs tops UK chart again
17 September 2012 |read more
Time Extend: Super Metroid
16 September 2012 | "The last metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace." Thankfully, that's just about the only thing Super Metroid ...
The Making Of: Spacewar!
15 September 2012 | The first ever videogame ran on a $120,000 piece of hardware - we go back to the summer of 1962. It's a ...
Hide&Seek;Weekender offers drop-in gaming to London public
15 September 2012 |read more
Tokyo Jungle review
15 September 2012 | Bold and strange, Crispy's underdog adventure daringly attempts to upset the natural order of things. Novelty ...
Gamestation stores to be rebranded under Game name
14 September 2012 | 122 Gamestation outlets to be unified with parent company, rebranded stores to combine "best of both brands". ...
» Digg Headlines
» Slashdot Headlines
Steve Jackson Shows Off the Texas Brick Railroad (Video)
21 May 2013 |Imagine game designer Steve Jackson and a bunch of friends building Lego trains and tracks and scenery, including buildings and other props. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? The group calls itself the Texas Brick Railroad. A lot of ...
Nintendo Hijacks Ad Revenue From Fan-Created YouTube Playthroughs
18 May 2013 |mcleland writes "The BBC reports that Nintendo is now using the content ID match feature in YouTube to identify screencap videos of people playing their games. They then take over the advertising that appears with the video, and ...
Used Game To Survive? EA Plans To Drop Online Pass
17 May 2013 |Krazy Kanuck writes "Introduced in 2010, Online Pass was marketed as a way to 'preserve' online content or DLC as titles were sold in the used game market. Many saw this as a way to cut out the second hand game market. EA has now ...
NeuroGaming Conference Profiles the Rise of Brain-Computer Interfaces
15 May 2013 |kkleiner writes "The first NeuroGaming Conference and Expo took place at the beginning of May to showcase the convergent technologies that are paving the way toward gaming with your mind. Tech news has been dominated with stories ...
Google Play Games Leaks Ahead of I/O
12 May 2013 |Android Police reports on an information leak out of Google in the lead-up to their I/O conference, which starts on May 15th. A new version of Google Play Services contains information about "Google Play Games," the company's ...
Vulnerability Found In Skyrim, Fallout, Other Bethesda Games
12 May 2013 |An anonymous reader writes "The author of this article goes over a format string vulnerability he found in The Elder Scrolls series starting with Morrowind and going all the way up to Skyrim. It's not something that will likely be ...
World of Warcraft Loses 1.3 Million Players in First Quarter of 2013
10 May 2013 |hypnosec writes "World of Warcarft, the gaming industry's most popular franchise and one of Blizzard's cash cows, is bleeding subscribers with 1.3 million defecting from the game in the first quarter of 2013 alone. Blizzard ...
Ouya Game Console Retail Launch Delayed Until June 25
9 May 2013 |PC Mag is one of several outlets reporting that the Kickstarter-funded Ouya Android game console has been delayed by a few weeks; the new target date for launch is June 25. Says the article "The delay does not affect early backers, ...
Integer Overflow Bug Leads To Diablo III Gold Duping
9 May 2013 |Nerval's Lobster writes "Online economies come with their own issues. Case in point is the Auction House for Diablo III, a massively multiplayer game in which players can pay for items in either in-game gold or real-world dollars. ...
Oculus Rift Guillotine Simulation
7 May 2013 |An anonymous reader tipped us to news of an interesting hack for the Oculus Rift: a simulation of being beheaded by a Guillotine. Thrown together in a couple of days at the Exile Code Jam, the simulation lets you... "look around to ...
Latest Blogs
Blogs Have Moved!
| 3 November 2010
Blogs can now be found in the vBulletin blogging tool, located here.
Latest Division News
Guild Wars 2: Division Overview
| 22 August 2012
An Introduction to Guild Wars 2 and the TOG GW2 Crew.
Get to know your guildmate interview #4: Serah De Vere
| 29 December 2012
Ral Partha interviews TOG member and Guild Wars 2 fan "Serah De Vere", in the latest installment of "Get to know your guildmates with Ral Partha"!
Get to know your guildmate interview #3: Pumpkin
| 19 December 2012
Ral Partha interviews TOG member and Guild Wars 2 fan Pumpkin, in the latest installment of "Get to know your guildmates with Ral Partha"!
TF2 Unveils a new Co-Op Mode - Mann vs Machine
| 26 August 2012
The game that keeps on giving unveils new co-op mode. Red and Blue join forces to fight off a marauding mob of malevolent machines. TOG TF2 has 2 MvsM servers up and running for your machinations. See the ...
Health, You and the Launch of Guild Wars 2
| 23 August 2012
Specs gives a humorous but serious run down on how to stay healthy in the first weekend of Guild Wars 2.