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Gamasutra's got a fascinating article about how the developers behind Japanese games like Paladin's Quest create worlds and characters. Go check it out.

I end up watching a lot of news in my line of work, and one thing that is frequently hammered home is this: mainstream American media doesn't know what they're doing with games. Across the board what you see on television (with the exception of business reporting) is at best marginally competent and at worst ignorant and hyperbolic. Which is why I find the BBC report above about the Game Republic showcase, as well as this story yesterday, so refreshing. The clip above, taken from BBC Look North in Yorkshire, is an example of how local news should be approaching games coverage. It's positive, upbeat, approachable and sees the game industry for what it really is: a cultural asset and a viable career path.

Supergiant's Amir Rao joins us as we give a warm Daily Dota welcome to SHAGBARK!!!!!!

Save the Date is one of the more clever games I've played in recent memory. It's a visual novel with a simple premise: go out to dinner with someone. Well, it should be simple, except every time you try it, the dinners turn into scenarios that would be right at home in the Final Destination movies. As if the pressure to be good company at dinner weren't enough. But more interesting than that is that the game knows you're going to reload and try other stuff. It expects you to, even. Dialogue options on retries will reference stuff you did on other playthroughs, and each new playthrough sees you using knowledge you gained in a bad run. Reloading and trying again is stuff we'd normally do when we don't get our way while playing something, sure, but it's still neat to see a game account for that/work it into the gameplay. The game also uses all that knowledge to make a clever point about the odd, kind of dehumanizing way we play games. Like I said, it's clever stuff. I'd say more but I don't want to spoil too much—give Save the Date a try here. You can get through it in about 30 minutes, and it's well worth your time.

Welcome to another week of Ask Kotaku, where people are fed up with their jobs and responsibilities. You need a way out, and I can offer some hope for you (hopefully). **If you want advice on anything at all, send me an email at Tina at Kotaku dot com for next week's column.** Regarding Work and School Moving on from a game design career when you hate it After about ten years, it's clear that becoming a game designer was, to quote GOB Bluth, "a huge mistake". It's impossible to find a job, and if you *do* find a job, there's no stability, very little pay, and very little opportunity to be creative without having your worked stomped on by corporate suits who know less than you do. Unfortunately, game designers have little in the way of transferable skills - I'm not qualified to design anything other than games, nor am I qualified to work on games in any capacity other than design. In fact, as the games industry evolves and designers are becoming more and more specialized, I find I'm becoming less and less qualified for *design* jobs (despite being an accomplished level designer and UI designer, I now no longer qualify for either job), narrowing my job prospects yet further. I can't find any information online on how to move on from a career in game design, as every google search I can think of only returns articles on how to *become* a game designer (it is still considered a "dream job" for some god-forsaken reason). Do I have any options other than starting from the bottom in some other career path? I've started applying for producer jobs, hoping my experience as a lead designer can at least land me an associate producer job, and I've started studying programming in case I have to start from the bottom anew, but ideally I'd like to get out of the games business entirely. Man, that's rough. Despite how hopeless it seems, though, you have a few options. You're already looking into programming, which is great, but honestly a lot of other people have a head start on you in that department. Fortunately you already have a head start in other ways, namely that you have a job and experience in the general field of video game development. I think looking into producer roles is a great idea, too, because your experience will be to your benefit. You could always start your own independent company or work with another one that has more control and a more comfortable work setting. Maybe you haven't found the right company yet. I'm sure you've tried a few options, but it can take longer than you'd think to find the right fit. But have you thought about marketing? It'd be a drastic change, but it sounds like that's what you're looking for anyway. The games industry has a wide variety of roles, and someone with actual development experience would be valued in any of them. Of course, try to develop any other skills you have so that you can seem more well-rounded if you want to make the jump to other in-house or outsourced positions that relate to games and the making and promotion of them. If you want out of games entirely, you could always take your development skills—particularly UI design since you mentioned it—to other fields. UI design isn't limited to games, after all. Maybe even think about freelancing for some time. Consulting? There are so many options. Many of them won't be for you or they won't be feasible. But you do have options. And worst, worst case scenario, save up some money and, yes, start from the bottom at some other career if that will make you happy. Obviously try to shoot for something somewhat connected so that the climb is easier but regardless, eventually—and probably quicker than you would expect—you'll climb that ladder, too. And five years from now, you'll be a much happier person. But consider your options fully first. What game developer employers look for in an applicant Gaining an interest in games dev. recently, I've been prying into that field. I'm a sound engineering student, without much experience (yet) in both fields. Having knowledge about the industry's workings, what do you think I should be focusing on? What do devs look for in a worker? Or am I just walking down a doomed path? They're looking for people with the right experience and for people with talent. It can be hard to get your foot in the door when you're just starting out and want to gain experience but every opportunity is asking for applicants to already have some amount of experience. I know the feeling. We've all been there at some point. I suggest internships. It's not ideal, I know, but you can sometimes find paid internships. That way you'll build connections, gain a bit of experience, and even have some credits to your portfolio. Imagine contributing to a AAA game (or any game really), even in a small way. It'd do wonders for you in your next interview. You'd be able to speak to the experience of working with a team in a very specific environment. These days, it's the employer's market. They have their pick. It can be hard to set yourself apart from the hundreds of overqualified applicants. The best thing you can do is keep working and building a portfolio and your rolodex (or the modern version of that). Deciding between going back to school or continuing to work Do you think at this day and age, the economy not being the best yet with unemployment issues and salaries being so low these days, is it worth it to get a Master's degree and potentially get more in debt knowing you may not find a good job even with the Master's. I graduated with my BS in 2008 and while I've had a job since a graduated I've been looking for a better paying job for about a year now with no luck. I already owe a lot of money to Sallie Mae and would hate to add to that debt if I can't find a decent paying job. You're right that it's not a great time to find a well-paying job. But you also don't want to put yourself further into debt. I'd say that you should calculate your future plan. Decide what job you want to aim for with this potential future degree, and weigh your options. Determine if getting a Master's degree would likely land you that job. If it won't, I'd continue working. If you think it's a position that necessitates a Master's degree and a position that doesn't have thousands of job-hungry poor souls flocking to it, then you should invest the time in school. Not knowing your particular situation, I'd say it seems like the most solid plan would be to continue working and looking for higher-paying jobs, or to ask your current employer for a raise. If you've been there for a year and working well, it's only fair. And though it can feel draining to be searching for a year for a new job, some people have no job and have been searching for longer. And I don't foresee the job market getting significantly more comfortable any time soon. I know that's probably not what you want to hear. But I am a personal believer of taking minimal risks. It's why I'm not a betting man. Ok I'm not actually a man either. Making music for video games One question I've always had is how do you break into writing music for a game. Or at least providing music for one. I've had some success in the past ( remixed for Queen, had music placed on tv shows etc) but have always wanted to write a score for something be it game or movie. I've got no idea where to start on something like this. Can't say I've gained much experience writing scores for actual films and games, but my friend likes to write scripts and we've worked on scoring his ideas for fun. Music for fake films if you want to call it that. Starting out with your friends is a great idea. Once you guys being creating, you'll have something to show to future potential employers. I've mentioned this quite a bit on the site before, but your portfolio is your strongest weapon. You need to keep adding points to it. Also your stuff is great! I've been listening to it while writing this column :) <a href="http://aeye.bandcamp.com/album/warpool-...; data-mce-href="http://aeye.bandcamp.com/album/warpool-... Maiden by A.Eye</a> Getting a job as a games writer How do I make it into the writing scene? I have been trying for many years, (short stories, reviews, articles, etc.) but have not had any luck. I am currently trying to use tumblr as a blog for my video game reviews, but I don't feel it is the best medium to use for it. I have tried other websites, like gamespot, and still no help. Do you have any advice that could help? I've discussed a few pointers on this already, so I'll just summarize them: continue to build your portfolio, don't get discouraged, make connections. But I have a specific tip for you. Don't write reviews! Write features. Express your opinion and your voice. Everyone writes reviews. They're frankly boring to read as an example of someone's work and don't give a sense of your style as well as a feature would. Choosing a major when you have no clue what to do How I can decide what I want to study in university? It seems impossible for me to know what I wanna study and do for the rest of my life ( I would prefer to do my career for the rest of my life, because I want to move up in that field and earn better money, because I have experience), because I can't try to jobs beforehand, so I'd like to get some views and opinions on how I can decide my future career path. Also I don't feel that any career interests me, just I want to make some big money, so this is definitely a problem, so please Kotaku help me with this problem! Normally I'd suggest internships because it gives you hands-on time with the environment and work you'd be doing in specific careers. It's how I was sure I loved writing. I started an internship at Condé Nast and haven't looked back from my writing career since. But since you're already working and it doesn't seem like you'd have time in between to experiment with internships, I'd say research a whole bunch of career choices. Make a list of things you think might interest you. Read about the jobs online. Watch videos and interviews; consume anything about it that you can. Reach out to people who work in those fields and ask them about what it's like. Read books on the relevant subjects and topics. Go visit the workplaces if you can. When my oldest brother was a kid, my mom really wanted him to become a doctor. But the second he stepped into a hospital he hated it. He knew it wasn't for him. The best you can do is try to take in everything about what that job might be like, and decide if it's for you or not. Worst case scenario? Just major in something generic. I did media and communications. It worked out fine for me. Your major doesn't tie your fate. Regarding Life Finding the drive to leave the house I have issues finding the desire to go outside. All I ever do is sit in front of my PC either watching Youtube videos, playing games, or just browsing the internet being bored. Yet I could go outside, enjoy the sunshine or do things. Yet I don't, and I don't know why. I just need get off my butt and do something, but I can never find the drive to. What should I do? It's not abnormal to not find the drive and energy to go out and be active. But you basically have to force yourself, will yourself into doing it. It's like exercising. I used to be a swimmer and fell out of it years ago. Once you fall out of the habit, it can be hard to break back in. But a month or so ago I decided to force myself to try it again, and now I go every week. In fact, I'd feel guilty if I missed a week. It's all about creating habits. For me, I know it helps if I have a buddy to encourage me to go out and do things. So I'll look for fun events in the city and invite my friends. That way I know I have to stick to the plan. I go swimming with my dad. That way, if I am feeling lazy about going, I know I can't back out because I have an obligation not only to myself, but also to him. Once you get into the habit, you won't want to get out of it. It'll feel like second nature. And your week will feel empty without getting up and doing something. Moving out of your parents house when you support them I’m looking for a bit of help when it comes to moving out of my folks house. Since I was eighteen I had the blatant desire to move out and be as independent as soon as possible. I’m twenty-one now and in that time all I’ve managed to do is get a great gal and a steady job. I’m pretty set when it comes financially but that’s also my crutch. My family sometimes relies on my pay checks to make ends meet for auxiliary entitlements they own (my sisters AAU Basketball membership, Cable bill, and sometimes the occasional gym membership) and I’m totally cool with helping out it’s just I feel if I move they’ll see that as a sign of my resignation from contributing to the family. And they’d be absolutely right. Also, I don’t pay rent as what I help out with is “rent” enough, believe me all that shit adds up. How do I approach this? What do I say to my folks other then, “pay for your own shit!” you know? What’s the best way I can dump my family and live my own life? This one is very difficult, because either way it means something has to give. But maybe this shouldn't be an immediate cut, but a more planned out one. Hear me out. For one thing: it might feel like 21 is too old to live at home anymore. It's not ideal of course, but it's not by any means a terrible thing. Everyone has different circumstances. I think I moved out just around that age. Some friends of mine only recently moved out of their parents' houses and they are around 25. It often has nothing to do with your financial status, it can be for a million other reasons. In your case, your family relies on some support from you. It might not be fair to you, but they're family and they need you. You need to wean them off of you. Start helping them set up other means of income. Be it jobs or investments or assistance from your siblings. Discuss a stipend situation with them that feels reasonable for you. Reasonable enough to where you can start saving some of your money to set yourself up in an apartment within some timeframe. This might take months or a year or two years. I understand you are probably tired of the wait. But a lot of life is waiting for things to pan out as you assemble a means to make that happen. Tell them that it's important to you to begin your own life, but that you don't want to abandon theirs or the life you had with them. Tell them that you need to start to think about moving out and how you're going to accomplish that. Set boundaries and voice your concerns. You shouldn't shock them with an immediate cut, but they of course can't continue to rely on you forever. This is a conversation that needs to happen sooner or later, and the sooner it happens the sooner you'll be able to set a plan in motion to eventually gain some independence. They love you and want you to be happy, too. It just might be scary to them to lose you. Keep that in mind when you have the conversation with them. Amazing music What is the single most epic song you've ever heard? I'm curious about what song the Kotaku staff regards as most epic... I guess this is a Life question? Anyway: this one is really hard for me because I LOVE music. So I would really prefer to spend a few hours sifting through my library and my playlists before I say anything definitive and potentially tarnish my usual methods of music-sharing. But I'll risk that and go with my instinct. Because what immediately comes to mind is M83's "In The Cold I'm Standing." It's mostly because when I listen to it I get into a really deep train of thought. I get lost in it. So it might not fit the actual definition of "epic" in terms of length, but it's emotionally evocative enough for me to have it warrant that title: This one—Jesu's "Wolves"—is on the lengthier side, and similarly powerful: "You Don't Know Me" by Apparat was always a favorite of mine, as well: Really I could keep going! I hate to only show three examples, but I'll keep from flooding this page and show you selections from the other writers. If you want me to dedicate an Ask Kotaku just to music, I would be more than happy to in the future. And that would certainly be epic itself. Now on to my colleagues, many of whom could also not contain themselves to one song. Seriously, I had to cut them off. Like a musical bartender. Fahey: Faith No More "Epic" Okay, my real answer is Homeworld by Yes. Evan: John Williams' theme to the 1978 Superman movie never fails to make me feel like a Kryptonian under a yellow sun but it also makes me teary-eyed because I can remember how I felt seeing Christopher Reeve fly across the screen when I was six years old. In terms of video game tunes, I love "Creation - The State of Art" by Ken Ishii from the Rez soundtrack. It's got an urgent thump and a vast sweep that pulls you along but also has smaller sonic details that reward closer listening. It's my deadline music that I play when I need to focus on something. Chris: Rex Tremendae by Mozart. The Legendary Theme from Gitaroo Man. Or maybe The Sun Rises from Okami in terms of games. Kirk: Good lord, that is a big question. Focusing more on "epic" than just "good"... Here are three: Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, Finale (I don't love Bernstein's take, but still.) Jeff Buckley, "Grace" (Mainly for the scream at 4:30.) The Mars Volta, "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" (This tune is a true *crag*ing epic, especially the version from De-Loused, and it features some of my all-time favorite rock drumming.) But I like and listen to a lot of epic music, so I'd have to do at least ten to feel like I was scratching the surface. (Editor's note: Exactly!) András: The Fleets Arrive from Mass Effect 3. It was the one moment the whole trilogy was building up to, and the music was suitably epic. Owen: Men of Harlech (the version by Bryn Terfel, Gareth Jones and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra) Pines of the Appian Way—Respighi Going the Distance—Bill Conti (Rocky soundtrack) Luke: Jerusalem, by Sleep. 52 minutes of grandeur. Jason: NOFX - The Decline Eric: Flash Gordon by Queen, heck just Queen in General. Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner This song used to give me nightmares and visions as a child, I remember a daze like feel feeling watching "What's Opera Doc." Richard: When it comes to "epic," I feel the need to aim for the classical side (often with an accompanying choir). The "Winter" section from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" is one of my favorites. And you can't go wrong with Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." As for game music, I'd say the most epic I've heard is "What Becomes of Us," the theme song to Final Fantasy Type-0. Stephen: Not really this: But probably this: ...which isn't actually called Ric Flair's theme song! Thus Spake Tharathustra. It kicked ass in the movie 2001, too. Ash: Serge Gainsbourg's "Cargo Culte" Anything on A Love Supreme: Station to Station: There's more. Way more, but these jumped out at me. Gergo: Makoto Fujiwara - SDF Macross opening theme Ogura Kei - Hikari No Hashi O Koete (Legend of the Galactic Heroes ending #1) You May Call Me Father from the Bayonetta OST Regarding Games and Gaming Final Fantasy XI's anniversary Just curious, since I didn't see it get much attention from Kotaku or other sites. Some fun facts (sorry I don't have references handy): -Original release date in Japan: May 15th, 2002, PS2 & PC -Expansions since release: 5 -Add ons: 6 -Current platforms: PS2, Xbox 360, Windows PC -The most recent expansion, Seeker's of Adoulin, is the final commercial title to be released for the PS2 -Monthly active subscribers: approx. 500,000 -Most profitable Final Fantasy title to date for Square-Enix I think I can't wait for the HD remake of Final Fantasy X! I have a very personal connection to that game. But, in all seriousness, Final Fantasy XI was certainly a fascinating entry in the FF series. I never got into it myself, but I had friends invest serious hours into that game daily. You're right that it was the most profitable Final Fantasy game, but the other impressive statistic is that it was the first cross-platform MMO. How awesome is that? One of our readers actually wrote a tribute to the game on its 10-year anniversary. It's worth a read. Sharing games with family members I'm a 13-year old who loves gaming, and I am good in studies, so my parents don't care about me playing video games every time. The only problem I have is... my 3-year old nephew. Why? He's a gamer too! He started by playing Angry Birds on my(MINE) PC and then he started to play the SNES games I backed up on it. He plays Super Mario World better than me and he also plays FIFA & Gran Turismo on my(in this case, family's) PS3. It's hurting his eyes too! So my problem is this - how do I get him to stop playing games on my PC, and also my PS3? I am the youngest of three kids. That means, growing up, I never really got to play games. I sure as hell got to watch my brothers play a lot of games, though. The best I could do was steal the controller away while my middle brother (the biggest culprit) wasn't looking. The second he saw me playing, he'd gain interest again and decide he was going to play at that moment. It sucked! You should enjoy sharing the experience with your nephew. You two can bond over it—even if bonding translates to fighting over the controller. It's something you guys can laugh about when you're older. Of course, there have to be boundaries since they are your things and he's much younger and should respect that. Just set time limits and restrictions. Like not chewing on the keyboard or whatever it is three-year-olds do. Regarding Kotaku Getting news How do video game journalists get their tips? I am trying establish a reputation, so people will say "He's nice and trustworthy". I actually managed to get a tip by accident about the PS4. Then I submitted it to your website and others too. I did not hear anything and figure that some else submitted it. The main reason behind this is I do not want to become famous by giving out these tips, I just want people to know. Should I have friends in this industry or just hunt on twitter to find tips? What do you all do? We get our news from lots of places. Sometimes they're emailed to us by tipsters and readers. Sometimes they're from our personal sources. Sometimes we find things on Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook and other social sites. Other times they're more basic, like press releases and RSS feeds and interviews we conduct. We basically live and breathe the Internet for news, and reach out to our contacts for even more. Interacting with commenters A thing I was wondering for a while now (but I just remembered to ask) was how do you guys deal with colourful commenters (like me), and where do you draw the line? Do you have some favourites that you ignore and give space that other commenters don’t have? You said in a other question that you guys talk about rude commenters, but do you also talk normal commenters, and talk about what some commenters are allowed to do and where to draw the line? It depends on the level of colorful commenting that you're talking about. We won't tolerate hateful comments or attacks. We enjoy differing opinions, just as much as we as the writers and editors of Kotaku have differences in opinions between us. We draw the line at nasty comments meant to troll or hate on someone in particular or on a group of people. Anything NSFW has to go, too. We don't play favorites in this regard. If it's something we deem inappropriate, favorite commenter or not, it has no place on our site. I'm sure some of us have favorite commenters, though. Personally, I view us all as one big community. And ever since the launch of Kinja, I think that community has been delightful in a way it hasn't been in some time. We have more discussions and conversations. People seem more open to communicating. So you're basically all collectively my favorite. Yes, yes, cheesy, I know. As for your other question: sometimes you guys create the craziest, weirdest, funniest threads and we all discuss them in our group chat. I know Stephen and I tweet our favorite ones often. Sometimes I steal the amazing GIFs you guys post and brag about you on Twitter. We have fun when you guys have fun. We discuss what goes on in TAY, too. We love how much effort and love and personality the community pours into everything they do. We discuss interesting conversations, rebuttals, reactions. Everything. We consider your guys' contribution to Kotaku as a big part of the site overall. To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.

Welcome to another one of those app reviews where I spend all day planning on reviewing a specific title but then get so caught up in something unexpected and new that I go completely off-track until I'm peeing on a brush fire. Peeing on a brush fire is just one of many activities in G.O.L. Legend, or simply G.O.L., an acronym of a name delivered with absolutely no indication of what it stands for. I guess it's being left open to interpretation. Speculate away. It ultimately doesn't matter, because once you begin tapping the screen, everything else is just static. Let me set up the game for you. You're a knight (initially, at least). Your princess is kidnapped. You move from screen to screen to save her. On most screens you move forward automatically, tapping the screen to swing your sword to kill enemies, plant yourself to withstand tornadoes, or shield yourself from dragon's breath or raining arrows. On other screens you are timed-jumping through lava fountains. Or shooting a bow to activate a trap. Or swimming across a lake. Or pushing a rock uphill. Or peeing out fires. You gather coins, and your taps and time are kept track of for comparison purposes. The TouchGameplay folks made a gameplay trailer to show you how all of this works. It's just tapping — tapping with a single finger. It's a slideshow of simple mini-games woven together into a simple-yet-engrossing tapestry. After defeating the first of three stages and unlocking the second of nine characters (now the princess can save the knight), I'm convinced. G.O.L. is a brilliant new way to tell a very old story, even if I have no idea what the full title of that story may be. G.O.L. Genre: Mini-Game AdventureDeveloper: D&D Dream Corp.Platform: iOSPrice: $.99 Get G.O.L. in iTunes

Despite the company's marketing tagline, Razer's new Blade ultrathin gaming laptop isn't really "thinner than a dime." It's thinner than a dime… that's been placed on its side. That said, it's still a pretty darned thin gaming laptop. (And you know what, it's sort of a cute tagline. After all, a laptop truly thinner than a dime would be horrifyingly, uselessly thin.) Yesterday, I attended Razer's announcement event for their two new gaming laptops: The more-powerful and ever-so-slightly cheaper 17" Razer Blade Pro and the new ultrathin 14" Razer Blade. If you'd like the vital stats on those machines, Mike posted the info yesterday. Short version: The 14" Blade sports an Intel Haswell processor, 8GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5. Since I had a chance to mess around with the new Blade after the presentation, I figured I'd go after the biggest question I had: How does this thing stack up to a MacBook Air, size-wise? I took out my 13" Air and shot some comparison photos: As you can see, despite Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan's assurances that the Blade is a fraction of an inch thinner than the Air is at its thickest, the Air is certainly the less substantial laptop. It's lighter, too. But the Blade is indeed a mighty small computer, and its 14", 1600x900 screen is an inch larger than my MacBook's. And of course, most important of all is what's on that screen: High-end PC games that my MacBook Air couldn't run in its wildest dreams. (Though in the little guy's defense, he runs FTL just fine, and that's all the laptop gaming I need.) I played a few minutes of Metro: Last Light on the Blade and it ran flawlessly on very high settings. FRAPS wasn't running, but I'd guess the game was hitting around 35-45 FPS. The gentleman next to me was running Crysis 3 and getting similar results. Here's what I've got on two other things commenters mentioned after yesterday's announcement: Battery life and the potential for crotch-scorching heat. In the presentation, Tan claimed that the Blade can get 6 hours of battery life, based on Mobilemark 2007 benchmarks. But as anyone who's ever bought a laptop knows, press conference battery-life claims* are generally awfully generous. I'd be surprised if this thing could really sustain an airplane Last Light gaming session for 6 hours, but I guess we'll have to wait until people test it to know for sure. *(Always with that asterisk.) As for the heat, the Blade I tested was certainly very warm when I picked it up, and while I wouldn't call the heat "crotch-scorching," between the types of games it'll be running, the battery demands and the heat, this laptop will probably be at its best when resting on a hotel-room desk or an airplane tray-table. I have no need for a powerful, hardcore gaming laptop, but if I did—if I traveled all the time or didn't have a lot of room in my apartment—I can absolutely see the appeal of either the Blade or the Blade Pro. The green branding isn't really my thing, but both machines have a clean, understated design that doesn't look garish or childish in that way gaming PCs so often can. And I have to say, it was pretty cool to play one of the most demanding modern PC games on a laptop the size of my MacBook. Even if I'll never understand how someone could hope to play an FPS with a trackpad. If you want more nitty-gritty details on the new Razer gaming laptops, check out Mike's post from yesterday. And if you'd like to see a row of dudes testing gaming laptops at a media event, well, you're in luck:

What do the people making games think about Xbox One? We asked, they answered, and it's not all loving.

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. It's rare for an iPhone adaptation of a classic game to work out at all; rarer still for said adaptation to be preferable to the original. Jordan Mechner's faithful iOS/Android port of Karateka accomplishes this task handily, partly because of convenient portability, and partly because of nice new features.

But more than anything else, Karateka Classic succeeds because the original's controls weren't that great to begin with. Karateka is, when you get right down to it, a game about shuffling your feet up to your opponent, and then mashing on the kick buttons until he falls over. Like every other pre-Street Fighter 2 fighting game, attacks are slow and connecting depends not so much on timing or frame counting, but the will of some capricious computer god.

It's mesmerizing to watch AweMeChannel do 3D chalk art of Duck Hunt at high speed. Not only that, but they also animate the chalk art at the end to make it look like the Duck Hunt is "playable." Very awesome. Duck Hunt 3D Chalk Art [AweMeChannel]

This week brings the App Store release of Marbly, an iOS puzzle game designed by famed Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov.

Marbly is a match-three puzzler in which the object is to remove all marbles from the game board in as few moves as possible. The game includes over 180 puzzles across three gameplay modes, and offers Game Center achievements and leaderboards.

Marbly is developed by WildSnake Software, itself named after another Pajitnov creation. WildSnake notes that Marbly is the first game in a series of planned mobile app collaborations with Pajitnov.

The somewhat-wonderful, somewhat-demented interactive incarceration simulator Prison Architect always gets the best updates. To wit: "Internally we've done a lot to increase the realism by implementing a more advanced model of prisoner anger. This now results in full scale riots and riot police to restore law and order." They've also added Steam Workshop support and made a Linux version to go along with the PC and Mac versions. Prison Architect may not be finished yet, but that Alpha's been good. You can start playing it now, if you buy access on Steam. Get it for $27 at the moment. Or read more about the Alpha 10 update first. And then get it! It's from Introversion. They make quality. To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.

It‘s almost midnight and I have spent the last hour killing myself over and over and over again. 205M. Too far. 199M. Almost there. 199M again. So close. This continues, the tapping of my space bar sharpening behind the force of frustration with each failed attempt, for dozens of playthroughs. 201M. *crag*, seriously? This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why would they even put this in here? It doesn’t take any skill, it’s complete luck. I am not having fun, quite the opposite in fact, but I stick with it. Getting a score of exactly 200 meters will unlock the last 15G achievement I need in Jetpack Joyride. This is how I play video games now. While I sit here typing this sentence, my gamerscore sits at 122,595G. By the time you read this, it will be higher. I am an achievement hunter, or in less-polite company, an achievement whore. And it’s ruining video games. I don’t remember when exactly I discovered achievements, but I hardly noticed them… at first. Then I got curious, started looking up achievement lists online, watched my gamerscore slowly rise as I’d loosely follow those lists from game to game. It was casual, innocent even. I am an achievement hunter, or in less-polite company, an achievement whore. And it’s ruining video games. Soon, I started seeing articles about achievements, whispering in my ear about games with quick 1000Gs that could be unlocked with minimal effort. I do know that, like a lot of people, my first true act of achievement whoring was in Avatar: The Burning Earth, where you could unlock every achievement in five minutes just by pressing B over and over again. For a few months prior I had fought it, not wanting to sully my gamertag with such an easy score, but finally I caved. I was hooked. What followed was a Requiem for a Dream-style downward spiral into achievement whoring hell. Boosting matches online, changing gameplay sliders in sports games, reloading saves to farm for kills, I did it all. No genre was safe from my addiction, no game too bad or too embarrassing to feed my hunger. When I bought a new game, I wouldn’t play it right away. I’d run to the computer to my favorite achievement websites to find out which achievements were missable and which ones I should be working to complete first. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t play a game without at least looking at its achievement list. But now the Xbox One is coming, with achievements that carry across multiple games and can be added post-launch by the developers, and I know that I can’t keep going on this way. No genre was safe from my addiction, no game too bad or too embarrassing to feed my hunger. I need to reflect on what got me here, on how I let it slip out of control. I need to change. I never got the fourth bottle in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the one you earn by riding around Hyrule Field shooting big Poes with arrows from horseback. The big Poes would always disappear too quickly, and my aim was never very good, so I left it alone and went along my way. I already had three bottles anyways, why did I need another one? Back before I discovered achievements, I played games because I liked them. I didn’t care that I had left certain games half-finished, or didn’t get X number of headshots with a certain weapon. If a game was fun, I played it. If it wasn’t, I stopped. So simple. That fourth bottle might have been a lot more tempting if it had had 100Gs attached to it. Looking back, I wonder if that experience would have been different if there had been achievements to fuel my gaming habits in my younger years. Would I have obsessed over that one chapter I never could unlock in WWF No Mercy’s story mode? Would I have gone back and rented Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. to earn its achievements, even though I already owned Slugfest? Would I have quit Disney’s Aladdin every time I missed a red jewel until I had collected them all in one sitting? I’d like to think that my entertainment wouldn’t have been altered, but I’m not so sure. That fourth bottle might have been a lot more tempting if it had had 100Gs attached to it. Despite my earlier gaming innocence, and like any proper psychological abnormality, there were signs that I was ripe for achievement whoring at a young age. When I was in elementary school, my dad and I engaged in a serious war fought on the battlefield of Minesweeper’s top-times board. My dad was subtle—he wouldn’t say anything when he beat my time, but would leave his name on the leaderboard for me to discover on my own. When I beat him, I was less subtle—I called him at work in the middle of the day. What’s that Dad, you’re in the middle of a big project? No problem, I just wanted to let you know that I got 111 seconds on expert! Yes, I still remember that 111 seconds was the time that knocked him off of the leaderboard. It’s also the first time I can remember that a game became more about playing and beating it—it became about a number. And I found numbers quite easy to obsess over. There have been several low points in my achievement whoring career. For a two-year stretch, my Gamefly queue was dedicated to nothing but children’s games and four-year-old sports titles that could be burned through in a couple of days for a quick 1000Gs. If it was a movie tie-in or had LEGO or an adorable Pixar character on the box, you better believe that I was playing it. A game became more about playing and beating it—it became about a number. During one session, I needed to intercept a pass for a touchdown in NCAA Football, and I recruited my fiancée to help. “Wait, you have to hit A to select the play, then A to hike the ball, THEN B to throw to the receiver that I’m covering. Got it?” I’m certain that this experience has single-handedly kept her away from playing a co-op game with me ever since. I also had to explain to my fiancée why it’s perfectly acceptable for a grown man to play Hannah Montana because you can max out its achievements in just a few hours. The arguments, surprisingly, are not as persuasive as you’d expect them to be. Skyrim is one of my favorite games of this console generation, but I still have to fight a seething resentment every time I play it for one achievement that glitched on two successive playthroughs and cost me 100% completion. And now, finally, here I am, committing suicide en masse in Jetpack Joyride when I could be doing something—literally anything—else. My problem isn’t just that I obsess over achievements, although that doesn’t help. Rather, my problem is that achievement hunting has fundamentally changed the way I approach and play games. I still love gaming but, often, once I’ve played the fun out of a game I’m still left with a sizeable list of achievements that have me doing something I could care less about save for the corresponding gamerscore boost. Hours of playtime that could be used to play something new instead get consumed with monotonous task-managing, all in the name of increasing a number that has no actual value. Hours of playtime that could be used to play something new—something fun—instead get consumed with monotonous task-managing, all in the name of increasing a number that has no actual value. And if a game has a dreaded missable achievement, I’ll play in rigid paranoia until it unlocks, knowing that my chance at 100% is still intact. This is a problem. The first step is admitting that you have a problem. My road to recovery started, ironically enough, with an achievement list—the cut-and-pasted MLB 2K13 list that was a carbon copy of 2K12’s list. To me, there was no clearer indication that this game would be a woeful retread of the previous year’s model and, stuck with no new baseball game to play alongside the actual season, I popped in my original Xbox copy of MVP Baseball 2004 instead. Backwards-compatible Xbox games have no achievements, despite the achievement-hunting community’s cries for Microsoft to put them in retroactively. So for the first time in quite some time, I just gamed, never looking at an achievement list or worrying about what I needed to unlock, and it felt good. Really good. It’s a small step, but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Part of me worries that the Xbox One will suck me back in with its platform-wide achievements, but as long as I stay diligent, I think I’ll be ok. The other day, I missed an achievement in Tomb Raider by forgetting to talk to one of my crewmates until it was too late to go back, and I’m ok with that. I think they call that acceptance. Cameron Gidari is a freelance writer and the author of Seattle Before8 and the upcoming Manhattan Before8. His work is featured on gidarimedia.com, and he can be reached on Twitter at CGidari. Republished with permission.

Amazon Italy has listed Dragon Age III: Inquisition for Xbox One, suggesting BioWare’s RPG is shifting to next-gen.

Armed officers assaulted Robert Bowling's Robotoki studio following a panic button mishap.

LAPD swarms game development studio, guns drawn after mistaking Call of Duty statue for armed man. Polygon's got the full story. Shades of our infamous 2009 Bungie adventure.

It's Spring Gamers, starring Games Franco! This is a thing I want that I never knew I wanted. iam8bit is doing a parody film of the surprisingly amazing—aka not just stupidly amazing—Spring Breakers. The teaser scene you see above is a gamer's recreation of the real scene where James Franco's thugged-out character brags to his newfound groupies about all the gun-swag he's got. Except in this edition, it's all games and gamer swag. He even has that awesome Triforce lamp! I have no idea if this parody will be any good. I just know I loved Spring Breakers like I haven't loved a movie in some time. And the simple memory of it makes this teaser a beautiful thing. To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.

The web series has gone from strength to strength, and despite the best efforts of those who’d oppose it, it shows no signs of stopping. This is why it matters to gamers.

A rechargeable mouse with frickin' laser beams. Amazon has the newly-released Logitech G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse for $80, 20% off what everyone else is selling it for, and tied for the lowest it's been so far. 8200dpi, multiple profiles, optional wired USB connection if you prefer that to wireless, this one has all the trimmings. What I really like about it is that it doesn't look like a neon robot about to kill you. If you're looking to upgrade your input, it's an easy recommendation. [Amazon] Here's the current Moneysaver roundup, and here's a crazy awesome Playstation 3 bundle. Keep up with Shane Roberts on Kinja and Twitter. Check out Dealzmodo for more great tech deals, and Deals.Kinja.com for even more discounts. This is a Moneysaver One-Shot, a post focusing on a single deal, sale, or category. Join us every weekday at 2:15pm ET for the full Moneysaver roundup, brought to you by the Commerce Team. We're here to bring Kotaku readers the best gaming deals available, and to be clear, we also make money if you buy. We want your feedback.

Here's what's going on at Talk Amongst Yourselves, Kotaku's reader-written blog: GiantBoyDetective flexes his gargantuan smallness at the digital versus physical conundrum, Jbronin puts the fate of the entire gaming industry in the hands of Sony and Microsoft, and Zarnyx calls for the community's ideal anime waifus and husbandos. And you can always go join the voices talking about video games and life in TAY Classic and in the TAY: Open Forum.

Anyone can strike a pose, but to properly cosplay the out-of-control virtual athlete of brilliant flash game QWOP, one has to be in total control of their real body, like this guy right here. The footage was captured by YouTube user ProTekProductions at Anime North 2013. Comparing the cosplayers' performance to last year's event, his routine got much much better, easily topping the valiant try of this fellow back during Comic Con 2011. Let's just hope he won't switch to Surgeon Simulator next year. QWOP Cosplayer at Anime North 2013 [YouTube] To contact the author of this post, write to gergovas@kotaku.com

The Famicom Test Cart was used to, well, test Nintendo's Family Computer. It might be rare, but it's certainly not exciting. But it is somewhat interesting! And probably more so for hardcore collectors. As Famicom World explains, there were test cartridges for the console itself as well as ones for the controllers. Have a look at the test cart in action: On Yahoo! Auctions Japan, someone is trying to unload a Famicom Test Cart for controllers. The opening bid is 120,000 yen or US$1,200. As of posting, there are zero bids, but four days left. Four days, people, four days! ヤフオクで幻のファミコンカセット『HVC検査カセット』が12万円で出品されているらしいｗｗｗ [DSPSP初心者講座] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Brad bursts into flames as he struggles to put the elements of ELEMENT4L together.

Earlier this spring, a group of Japanese schoolgirls uploaded photos of themselves imitating anime style attacks. The photos spawned numerous imitators, ended up on television, and spread beyond the country's borders. And now? Now, band nerds are involved. The original meme initially referred to Dragon Ball and, later, Street Fighter attacks. When it reached Western shores, however, it was reworked as "Vadering". In the past few weeks, Japanese kids in their school bands or music clubs have been uploading their latest twist on the meme: "Tuba Gun" (チューバ砲 or "Chuuba Juu"). And, of course, there are twists on this twist. Very clever. These Japanese school kid photo memes are endless! More recently, teens in Japan created a sideways studying photo meme and a human-eating giant one. Photos: smsm1683, Ren565, rysk0320, tim_gh8, yu1aaa, Ren565, MkHr0318, asukaredtomato, kasundaaaaa, hornhrk315, minimumtuba, Bergamot624, CityTuba, 9220Shiho, misoshiru753, matome To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Chinese Internet Cafes aren't the best place for minors; so much so that legally they're not allowed to let them in. Unfortunately for Chinese parents, there are a few "black" Internet cafes that operate unscrupulously. Luckily, one mother was able to win her fight against a conscienceless net cafe. On Thursday, the Guangzhou Daily reported that a group of internet cafes in Foshan, Guangdong province were raided by the police for conducting "illegal" business. Eight illegally operated net cafes were shut down and 15 suspects were detained by the police. The cafes were shut down because they didn't have any business licenses and they were allowing young children in. The police raid was authorised as a result of an investigation following a post written by a mother desperate to "save her son". The woman, whose son is still a minor, was at her wits' end with her son's gambling habit, which he had developed by playing an online slot machine game at the internet cafe. According to the woman, her son had started visiting an internet cafe to play games with his friends. Over the course of his visits, the boy started getting attached to the cafe, spending most of his time there. He would steal money and various smaller electronic devices to] pay for his net cafe expenses. The mother said she visited the net cafe and asked the owners not to allow her son in anymore. Sadly, her request was denied, and she was also asked to leave so as not to disturb the other customers.The mother's post was sent to police by socially conscious netizens, and the police went and did their thing. It's unknown if the minor is back home being weened off his "gambling" habit, but hopefully he'll be more careful in the future. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am. [未成年儿子混迹黑网吧 绝望妈妈发帖求解救] [Guangdong Daily via Tencent] Eric is Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @ FatAsianTechie@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie.

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has been accused of copying others before. So please don't be surprised that people online in Japan are doing that today. Above you can see the cover for One Piece Chapter 526, which was titled "Adventure in the Great Prison" and released in 2008. 2008? Goodness. And now years later, it seems, someone on 2ch, Japan's largest online forum, has gotten around to posting an compilation image that shows how the cover totally copies the great Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai. Below, you can see how Oda was supposedly inspired by the 19th century artist, blatantly stole from him, or a bit of both. On 2ch, some people seem to think this is okay—that this is an homage—and chided folks for hating on Oda. Defenders pointed out that, sure, the composition was similar, but it wasn't a copy. "It's not like he's tracing," one commenter wrote. Others, however, thought it was indeed a rip-off. Previously, Oda was called out for "copying" Disney cartoons. And there, there was that compilation of real-life people who might have inspired One Piece characters. Copying or not, these comparisons certainly add another level to Oda's work: You can see where he's pulling from. Or that is, where he might be. Still, you'd think the guy could at least fully recover from his illness before people on 2ch started accusing him of this! That's the price one pays to rule the manga world, I guess. 尾田栄一郎ついに浮世絵までパクリだす [2ch] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Nothing like creating fast food websites that can make your customers feel ill! Warning: this post contains imagery that actually might make you dizzy or sick. Are you ready? Here we go: These illustrations are the work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who is a psychology professor at Ritsumeikan University that studies visual perception. Above, you can see a warning for the site, telling people not to look at it too long. That's popstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, whom Kotaku has featured a few times before (here, here, and here). The warning actually pops up after the site is opened for less than a minute. "Kind of them to give us a warning," wrote one commenter on 2ch, Japan's largest online forum. "I feel like I'm gonna barf," added another. KFC shouldn't make you barf! Neither should these Krushers! Though, this might be the first fast food website that actually makes people truly ill. Here is the KFC commercial that the website is based on. This is part of KFC's "kurakura" (クラクラ) campaign. In Japanese, "kurakura" can mean "dizzy" or "giddy". Here, it's used in a wordplay, because "Krushers" is written as "Kurasshaazu" (クラッシャーズ) in Japanese. Click Here IF YOU DARE [Krushers] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

In Japan, they're making a live-action Kiki's Delivery Service movie. Today in Japan, a photo of Fuka Koshiba, the actress playing Kiki, was released online. The photo was taken on the first day of the movie's principal photography in front of Kiki's house in the movie. So, I guess, that means this is the final costume. And it's a horrible costume! Look at those shoes. Look at them. Also, why's her bag so damn dark? And where's the ribbon? Online in Japan, some seemed upset that the movie Kiki doesn't have a big bow in her hair and trashed this press photo because of that. Others noted that the movie cannot look too much like the anime, or Studio Ghibli, who's not connected to the movie version, might get upset. Some, however, said the movie version looked fine. Who knows, maybe the movie will be terrific. Yes, Kiki's Delivery Service was originally a book—a book that, as noted above, Studio Ghibli adapted into a fantastic anime. That's what this movie has to overcome: an iconic anime that has since defined the book. This makes the decision to do a live-action version even more puzzling. The anime is great, so what's the point of a live-action flick? 実写版『魔女の宅急便』待望のキキ写真解禁！ [Excite] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

In a conversation with IGN, DrinkBox Studios co-founder Graham Smith confirms that the studio is thinking about doing a sequel to Guacamelee.

Justin Murray, a concept artist who worked on Injustice: Gods Among Us, sent us some pics over of his contribution to the game. But he didn't just send the art. He brought it to life. With cosplay. Teaming up with his girlfriend Jia Jem, Murray went down to the same Chicago locations they shot scenes from Chris Nolan's Batman movies, where photographer Kyle Johnsen captured Jem - in full Harley Quinn outfit, as per the game's designs - hanging out with Justin's concept art images. They're edited to blur the lines between the two worlds; at first glance it's got a bit of a Roger Rabbit thing going on, but the closer you look, the more you see Jia is becoming concept art at the same time. It's certainly...different, but I like it! There's only two of these composite images; the rest are Justin's "normal" work for the game. You can see plenty more at Justin's site. To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), click on the “expand” button in the bottom-right corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional and personal portfolios. If you're in the business and have some concept, environment, promotional or character art you'd like to share, drop us a line!