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As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, prediction. Don't get a life just yet.

We've All Been Fooled by the 'Firefly MMO' [Update]	January 6, 2013
If you think there's going to be an MMO based on or "inspired by" Firefly, well, you're not alone. So did I yesterday, and we've all been trolled. More » More..

Kotaku 'Shop Contest: Balloon Snake	January 6, 2013
It's been a while since we've had this kind of a it-shops-itself exploitable: Solid Snake made out of balloons, with a mesmerizing stare that could be made to express any emotion or fit any situation. More » More..

A Note About Sunday Comics	January 6, 2013
Nerd Rage, by Andy Kluthe, has joined our lineup, beginning today. We haven't gotten rid of Nerf This, which many of you have pointed out doesn't carry much of a gaming theme. That said, it was voted in by the readership, and I don't feel like being a dick to Nerf This creator Scott Ferguson and kicking him out. I haven't even spoken to him about this; it's not his fault, and I don't want my issues encroaching on his editorial independence. So he stays as long as he likes or until we vote on features again. More » More..

The Yes Men Fool Everyone with the 'Firefly MMO' [Update]	January 6, 2013
If you think there's going to be an MMO based on or "inspired by" Firefly, well, you're not alone. So did I yesterday, and we've all been trolled by The Yes Men. More » More..

Sunday Comics: Some of My Best Friends are ...	January 6, 2013
Welcome to your Sunday read of the week's best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. More » More..

Author of The Warriors, Cult Film Adapted to Hit Video Game, Dies at 88	January 6, 2013
Sol Yurick, the writer whose 1965 novel "The Warriors" was adapted into a film 14 years later—which then became one of the best adapted works ever in video gaming—died this weekend. He was 88. More » More..

GLaDOS Did Appear in Pacific Rim's Trailer, but Won't Return for the Movie	January 6, 2013
When Pacific Rim's latest trailer (above) went out last month, a lot of people thought, "Wait! I know that voice!" And indeed, it sounds like Jax Teller reading from "The Life and Death of Sam Crow" as an enormous sea monster destroys a bridge. Oh yeah, GLaDOS from the Portal series can be heard as well. More » More..

Kotaku 'Shop Contest Year-End All-Star Extravaganza	January 6, 2013
Anything goes and anything went as we asked you to revisit the exploitables and callbacks of the year that was 2012. halfbeast's bitchin' fightstick leads our roundup of overall finalists, with hat-tips to all-stars sciteach, uscg_pa, and returning champ Pan_1da7. More » More..

The Moneysaver: Walking in a Winter Download-land	January 6, 2013
Digital downloads lead the list of offers this week, particularly as Steam's always-popular holiday bonanza is closing down gets an encore lasting through Monday. Green Man Gaming has discounts on 10 preorders between now and April, and a coupon code currently on offer will stack on that, so give it a look if what you want over the next four months is on PC and downloadable. More » More..

Report: Warner Bros. Interactive Interested in Bidding on THQ's Assets	January 6, 2013
A bankruptcy judge yesterday did not approve the bidding procedures THQ proposed in selling off its assets, which THQ's creditors had complained was rigged to sell the whole thing to a private equity firm for $60 million. Now comes a report that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is an interested buyer. More » More..

This Week in the Business: 'Prospects for PS Vita in 2013 Don't Look Any Rosier.'	January 6, 2013
What's happened in the business of video games this past week ... More » More..

Load "BioShock Infinite",8,1	January 6, 2013
Irrational Games' Ken Levine finds a diplomatic answer to a sticky question. If you think that'd load slow on a Datasette, think about downloading it on a 300 baud VICModem. More » More..

Firefly-Inspired MMO Appears to Have Fox's Blessing to Go Ahead	January 6, 2013
An independent studio said on Tuesday it's got "the well wishes of Fox Entertainment Group" to go ahead with FUO, an MMO inspired by Firefly the much loved sci-fi series Fox canceled after just one season a decade ago. More » More..

I Don't Understand Why These Skyrim Mudcrabs Are So Funny	January 5, 2013
Help, I think I'm suffering from a mild case of idiocy. What is it about this video by YouTube user NormalDifficulty that I find so amusing? Is it because the mudcrabs are so posh, wearing tophats, monocles and whatnot? Is it that they sound so accusatory? How they gang up on the adventurer? More » More..

The First Week in Gaming Apps of 2013, Brought to You By a Terrible Stomach Virus	January 5, 2013
Welcome to 2013, the year that shall go down in history as the one that started with every being in my household violently expelling substances out of every orifice imaginable. That's my fancy way of saying the this one's going to be a short one. More » More..

Patricia's Top Ten Games of 2012	January 5, 2013
Last year was likely the weirdest year I've had, gaming wise. Sure, I played my share of big-budget titles, and some of these were surprisingly good. But I also started playing most of my games on PC—and because of that, I became privy to a world of amazing, sometimes absurd, sometimes very personal indie games. Consoles saw a similar rise of indie games, though these were more on the 'high profile' side. More » More..

MiiVerse Moments: Pro Bass Pizza Wisdom	January 5, 2013
The MiiVerse on the Wii U can be a terrifying & wonderful place. We here at Kotaku feel like it deserves a little more attention. So in that vein, we're starting a series called MiiVerse Moments, where we shine a spotlight on the good, the bad and the weird of Nintendo's social media platform. More » More..

This Winnie The Pooh Game Is Way Too Difficult For Kids	January 5, 2013
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Why XCOM: Enemy Unknown Should Be Game of the Year	January 5, 2013
April 16, 2015 More » More..

Forget Wikipedia. Let Urban Dictionary Tell You About The Biggest Games.	January 5, 2013
Urban Dictionary is so weird. Once, it was used mostly to define slang. But now? You can search for just about anything and it'll have a number of amusing user-defined entries. It's like Wikipedia, only more unruly. Here are how Urban Dictionary users are describing the biggest gaming franchises. It's as silly as you might expect. More » More..

The Steam Holiday Sale Is Getting An Encore This Weekend	January 5, 2013
Miss any big deals during the Steam holiday sale that's been going on for the past couple of weeks? No worries. Valve's got you covered. More » More..

The Donkey Kong Rap, As Performed By Left 4 Dead Zombies	January 5, 2013
Some people might tell you that Donkey Kong 64 is an awful game. According to 10 year old me (my age the last time I played that game), they'd be wrong. But, hopefully everyone can agree that the Donkey Kong rap is fantastic? More » More..

17 Vatican Virtual Farmers and Other Entertaining FarmVille 2 Stats	January 5, 2013
They might have lost Kirk Hamilton and Stephen Totilo, but every day eight million other people still hop online to water their virtual crops in Zynga's social farming sequel, FarmVille 2. According to the first FarmVille 2 Almanac infographic, 17 of those players are playing from the Vatican. I suspect something more sinister afoot. More » More..

Why Boss Battles Matter	January 5, 2013
So I'm fighting this giant eyeball. More » More..

Maybe What Far Cry 3's Story Needs Is Something Crazy Like Mass Effect's Indoctrination Theory	January 5, 2013
Oh, how we try to fix Far Cry 3. Despite noble intentions, everything about the actual story and writing is terrible and shallow. More » More..

Don't Let the Limecat Fool You, This is One Kick-Ass Free-to-Play First-Person Shooter	January 5, 2013
Do you miss the early days of first-person shooters, when everyone was pretty much equal and the little guy had a chance of coming out on top? I just played a Free for All match of Offensive Combat, dropped in after the round had already started and still managed to win by one kill — and I suck. More » More..

Microsoft Cracks Down On Unauthorized Halo-Branded Bullets	January 5, 2013
Any serious gamer who was watching the Discovery Channel's "Dual Survival" show earlier this week may have recognized the logo that appeared on a box of bullets that were briefly featured in the episode. More » More..

This Snake Is Really Not All That Solid	January 5, 2013
Because he is made out of balloons, by Bruce Carr. And he looks like he is begging you to kill him. More » More..

Evan’s Top Ten Games of 2012	January 5, 2013
Like my colleagues, I had to come to grips with a lot of games this year. Some of them made me feel like video games as a medium did a significant amount of evolving in the last twelve months. But this list—in no particular order—assembles the games that captivated me while playing them and that I haven't been able to shake out of my head. They linger and that's the quality that's made them most memorable to be. More » More..

We Need The Greatest Generation of Gamers To Save The Future Of Gaming	January 4, 2013
It used to be so simple. More » More..

Tina’s Top Ten Games Of 2012	January 4, 2013
Last year was supposed to be the year I got a beast of a PC set up in my tiny apartment. It didn't end up being that year. 2013 will be, though, PC gods willing. More » More..

I Finished These 23 Video Games in 2012	January 4, 2013
For the seventh straight year, I'm publishing a list of all the games I started playing in the past year and all the ones I finished. More » More..

ChefVille 'The New Healthy' Quests: Everything You Need to Know	January 4, 2013
As ChefVille's newest focus is on eating healthy, we've been given a new Healthy Eating Station with plenty of healthy cooking options for our virtual customers. Now, have a new set of three "The New Healthy" quests to complete from Ginger. While the Healthy Eating Station does have a lot of healthy options, we already have plenty of healthy dishes in our other appliances. These quests will see you interact with those dishes, and earn new prizes along the way. More » More..

American McGee Is Out Of Money, Wants Your $200,000 To Finish His Game	January 4, 2013
Game designer American McGee—best known for designing the horror game Alice and its sequel, Alice: Madness Returns—has run out of money. More » More..

Why Super Hexagon Should Be Game of The Year	January 4, 2013
Earlier today, our own Luke Plunkett nominated Crusader Kings II for Kotaku 2012 game of the year, writing that it's "the only game on this list that's about sex and politics." More » More..

Almost the Wipeout-Style Futuristic Hovercar Racer the iPhone Has Been Waiting For	January 4, 2013
I want to go fast — faster than modern day street vehicles are capable of travelling. I've felt the need for ground-based speed since I was a small-ish boy, so games like F-Zero, Wipeout and Extreme-G (remember Extreme-G?) have always been a passion. Plenty of mobile developers have attempted to capture the power and energy of the futuristic racer. Not many have come close. Pixelbite's Repulze is nearly there. More » More..

Here’s an Actual Game Running on the Ouya	January 4, 2013
So, we've seen proof that the Ouya exists, in an unboxing video seen last week. But that clip stopped just short of showing any actual games running on it. Well, now you can see software running on the Android-based hardware. More » More..

For $30, BioShock Ultimate Rapture Edition Includes Two Full Games, All the DLC and New Unseen Artwork	January 4, 2013
Sad that this March's BioShock Infinite won't be set in Rapture? You'll get a chance to re-visit the beautiful underwater city of the first two BioShock games with the newly announced Ultimate Rapture edition, which will boast an all-new Museum of Orphaned Concepts filled with concept art and character designs that weren't used for Irrational's hit franchise. The new bundle comes out on Jan. 14 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, at a cost of $30. Here's a full rundown of what's inside: More » More..

TrainStation Hops the Rails From Facebook to Mobile	January 4, 2013
The best rail management simulation on Facebook is looking to become the best rail management sim on iOS and Android, as Pixel Federation prepares to send a freshly repainted TrainStation to iOS and Android in the first half of 2013. More » More..

Why Crusader Kings II Should Be Game Of The Year	January 4, 2013
It's easy. Because it's the only game on this list that's about sex and politics. More » More..

Creditors Call THQ's Bankruptcy Deal Rigged, Want It Stopped	January 4, 2013
Creditors don't expect to get everything they're owed when a company enters any form of bankruptcy, but THQ's say they're getting screwed in the publisher's arrangement to sell off its assets and start over. Three creditors have filed objections, reports Gamasutra, and so has the government trustee overseeing the bankruptcy. More » More..