Unfortunately, as with a lot of things on the Xbox One, these are neat ideas that fall down in the execution. Quality seems to be the primary tradeoff with a lot of the features — it can stream TV but degrades the quality of the signal significantly, the Netflix app features a better design but lacks some of the…

Yeah, every scenario you're describing is the definition of griefing. The fact that the game lets you do anything you want is neat, and it supports lots of emergent gameplay, but there's nothing inherently cool or awesome or 1337 about sitting in a tower and shooting people who cannot really retaliate. The people who…

"Finally, gentleman, we have achieved a breakthrough! Not only will this bra finally allow us to understand women's confusing emotions, but it will also automatically lock the fridge when she's feeling moody!"

Tim Curry is the BEST.

I like that Microsoft has chosen to go all-in with a consistent design language across all its platforms. That having been said, there are many times that rote consistency lessens the experience. The black background and flat colored squares of the XB1 look ok until you compare them to the PS4's subtle textural…

Right, there are plenty of games I enjoy despite the writing and characters, and in many cases pointing these things out kind of misses the point. I can't think of a game that has excellent writing (not "excellent writing, for a game") or deep, multidimensional characters that were not "Oh, he's multidimensional…

I personally think all the confirmation-seeking among gamers reading reviews is strange. People get upset if a reviewer didn't echo what they want to believe about a game, even to the point where people frequently say "Oh, damn, I was hoping it was good. Guess I'll pass." You're never going to know whether the…

Yes! I loved Kameo, it was an Xbox game that wasn't bro-tastic. Knack looks to have a lot of that kind of DNA, which I consider to be a good thing.

Right, and that's certainly all true, but ultimately it's still a question of whether you care to invest hundreds of hours in the "beginner" stage, which is the impression I have gotten. MOBAs in general are incredibly complicated, and it seems to me that by their very nature you must be well-versed in all aspects of…

One thing I'm hoping Blizzard does (and it sounds like they may be to a degree) is to move MOBAs out of the hardcore crowd and closer to the mainstream, as much as that would be anathema to a lot of the hardcore players. The reality is that both the learning curve and the game design of these games seem designed to…

I was always puzzled as to why Blizzard didn't jump on this immediately after the original DotA became popular. This could be the MOBA I actually try, the others seem to combine a near-vertical learning curve with an aggressively antisocial community, something I don't really need in my life.

There are too many Kickstarter campaigns for the mere fact that something is a Kickstarter campaign to be newsworthy. It's just another avenue for funding, it isn't inherently good or bad, in any quantity.

There is probably something, somewhere that this would be good for. But this isn't it. TV web browsing via controller, really? In 2013? And anyone here who claims they think "But it's cool that you can do it, anyway!" will try this exactly once and then never use it again.

One of my pet peeves about SWTOR (though it isn't a huge one) is the binary thinking behind the light/dark choices. You need to build up your light side/dark side points in order to access the light/dark-specific gear, which means you don't really have a choice — you either have to be unfailingly honest and lawful…

Unless you're just really cheap, I can't imagine why anyone would be interested investing the time to watch the entire game (minus the minor exploration and interactive choices) but not want to actually play the game.

The fundamental problem is in the assumption inherent in stories like this — because Kotaku has chosen to write a story about this, people assume that the subjects of said stories are put before us to justify their existence (or beliefs, or actions, or whatever).

Or, maybe we don't have the slightest idea what things are like there, and different people may see things differently because they have legitimately different experiences. I love it when people make grand assumptions about things they know nothing about, based on anecdotes.

This strikes me as a cool proof-of-concept that will inspire someone else to make a much cheaper and more accessible product that is actually successful. It seems like something that no one would really even be talking about if not for all the money they put into the presentation... it has a nice high-end feel, but…

Yes but would you clean them up? Nooo, you'd leave them out all over the floor and then Mom would step on them and say bad words and sell them all at the next garage sale. GO TO YOUR ROOM!

I didn't realize until now how suggestive that phrase is.