Okay. I may not love playing World of Warcraft, but I am happy to give credit where credit is due: this is both cute and awesome.

World of Warcraft is adding a new pet to their pet store. First, it's a kitten, which is just great on general principles. Second, it's on fire, which is impressive if impractical. But third, and most importantly, the purchase price of the fiery feline goes entirely to help recovery efforts from Sandy and other natural disasters.

Hurricane Sandy, which kept our site offline for a week, left a trail of devastation in both the Caribbean and the American northeast. The cinder kitten costs $10, all of which will go to the American Red Cross.

Cute and charitable? That's a winning combination.

Cinder Kitten Charity Drive for Superstorm Sandy Coming Soon [World of Warcraft]

It's a year-round best seller and by all rights has never been better, but Ben Sin, writing for Kill Screen Daily, says NBA 2K13's competitive balance—online anyway—is completely thrown out of whack by the superteams that make the real league such a compelling story for basketball fans.

"Whereas the Chicago Bulls, despite having only one all star for most of the past 28 months, were able to become a top team with hard-nosed defense and grit, the digital Bulls are simply overmatched anytime they play against a team with a cache of stars, like, say the Knicks," Sin writes.

He has a point, even if the tendency to pick the league's best team in multiplayer is hardly peculiar to NBA 2K13. The NBA, with five players on the floor and a total of 12 on the bench, has the smallest personnel size of the major team sports, making superstars' acquisition a lot more impactful than in sports with 9 or 11 on a side, especially one with specialized positions.

But any football team with a talented quarterback, running back, and receiver or tight end will be favored in online multiplayer regardless of the quality of the offensive line or the defense. The difference is that those positions are largely confined to a few interactions. Tom Brady throws the ball, Adrian Peterson runs the ball and sometimes catches it, Calvin Johnson catches it and then runs with it. Furthermore, in video games, their success is much more dependent on teammates' execution than in basketball, especially considering how frequently isolation plays are run in online hoops.

There are more ways for a superstar to beat you in basketball, and a team with three of them has a huge advantage, especially in online multiplayer, which rarely looks like the sport it simulates. Even simulation quality games give a tremendous weight to offense, probably because that's where the most fun comes in playing a video game.

I'm not sure I go along with his final recommendation for fixing the imbalance, but Sin's correct in pointing out that NBA 2K13's multiplayer—almost through no fault of its own—is made very routine by the same thing that makes the real league so exciting. My recommendation: Start up a franchise in MyTeam, whose online multiplayer does a decent job of matching you to teams of similar strength. But give the essay a read, it makes a valid point that developers should consider more.

Lebron James didn't kill the NBA, but he did kill NBA videogames [Kill Screen Daily]

If the Hollywood rumor mill is to be trusted, Star Wars: Episode VII may already have its writer.

Vulture reports that Michael Arndt has already written a 40-50 page script treatment for the film and is " likely to be at least one of the writers" for the movie, which is expected to start shooting in 2014.

Arndt's previous writing credits include Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine, and the next Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. His work on Toy Story 3 received an Oscar nomination, and he won one for Little Miss Sunshine.

The Episode VII release information came as part of last week's surprise announcement that Disney had acquired Lucasfilm. Rumors have of course been swirling ever since, about who might be in the next Star Wars movie and what story it might tell. The Vulture report adds that the treatment does indeed include the core characters of the original trilogy, an older Han, Luke, and Leia, and cites earlier reports from Entertainment Weekly that Harrison Ford is open to reprising his role as interstellar space stud Han Solo.

But no, it won't be the Thrawn trilogy.

Star Wars: Episode VII May Have Found Its Writer [Vulture]

Have you heard people rave about the graphics-less multiplayer game Johann Sebastian Joust but never been able to play it? Have you noticed that it is played with PlayStation Move controllers and wondered why in the world Sony hasn't greenlit it for an official PlayStation 3 release?

Yes? No?

J.S. Joust is a clever 21st century game of.... jousting. I've played it. I love it. A bunch of people, each holding a Move controllers try to rattle each other's controllers. You move with the speed of the game's soundtrack, no faster or you'll be eliminated. Last person with a stable controller wins. Players basically play the game by encircling each other, reaching out for a hit or pulling a way to stay safe. It's a very physical game.

J.S. Joust will be released officially on the PS3 (and PC, Mac and Linux) along with three other games, if people chip in $150,000 to a brand new Kickstarter.The project, a compilation of four local multiplayer games, is called Sportsfriends. Think of it as a crazier, artsier Wii Sports. This is a gaming Kictstarter to care about, folks.

The other three games are Hokra (sort of like soccer), Super Pole Riders (kind of like competitive pole-vaulting), BaraBari Ball (vaguely like volleyball). The Kickstarter video embedded above explains all of this.

But you might have some questions. I sure did. Thankfully, J.S. Joust creator was willing to answer all three of them.

Kotaku: These are critically acclaimed games, but you're saying publishers turned you guys down? What were you told was the problem with your stuff?

Wilson: "Of the four of us, I've probably spent the most time shopping my game (Johann Sebastian Joust) around to various partners and publishers. After I won the Innovation Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards—beating heavy-hitters like LA Noire and Portal 2!—I thought I'd have a decent chance of getting proper funding to polish J.S. Joust and release it commercially. As it turns out, the game is just a little too untraditional. The game doesn't even need a screen, and there's not even a compelling way to give it a single-player mode! After some months, it became clear to me that I'd have to self-publish the game. That's where Kickstarter comes in. I know the fans are clamoring for a commercial release, and the game has shown so well at public events like IndieCade and PAX. So, I'm hoping to leverage that grassroots support and crowd-fund the game over the finish line, so to speak.

"For a long time now, Ramiro [Corbetta, creator of Hokra,] and I have been talking about the general challenge of commercializing local multiplayer. The question is, how do you take a minimalistic four-player multiplayer-only game like Hokra and sell it? That kind of game is an outlier, at least in today's console market. Inspired by other compendiums like Summer Games or Wii Sports, we decided that it would make sense to take a number of like-minded multiplayer indie games and package them together. That way, the final product would have enough "meat" to it to become an attractive purchase. Or at least that's the hope!"

Kotaku: These are all multiplayer games, but—correct me if I'm wrong—are all local multiplayer games and don't have online play. Why the fondness for local multiplayer and what do you think it has over online multiplayer or solo play?

Wilson: "Yup, local multiplayer only. For us that's a very deliberate decision.

"The four of us designed our games with local multiplayer specifically in mind. For example, Hokra and BaraBariBall were both commissioned for NYU's No Quarter exhibition. I know Ramiro thought a lot about spectatorship when he was designing Hokra. Those considerations influenced our design processes significantly. I just think it's a mistake to think that local multiplayer and online multiplayer will work the same way. Each domain calls for a different approach.

"I don't have anything against online play, but I think those kinds of games have, in the last decade, overshadowed old-school local multiplayer. Think back to those games you played at the arcade, or on the playground, or in your friend's living room. The four of us believe that those types of gaming experiences are super important. Sportsfriends is our way of shouting out to the gaming world—'hey, local multiplayer is a very valuable thing, don't forget about it!' There's just something special about playing games in the same room as your friends, or competing in front of a cheering crowd.

"Also, it's difficult to imagine how you'd play J.S. Joust online! Probably the closest thing is Pippin Barr's browser-based satire, Ludwig Von Beatdown."

Kotaku: Why don't your games include any guns? Isn't that kind of weird?

Wilson: "Actually, we keep joking about a sequel called GUNFRIENDS. Should we make that happen?" [Note from Stephen: Yes, I would play a game with that title.]

"I personally don't have anything against acutely violent games, but I do think they bring with them a certain 'stigma.' Like, I think some non-gamers see gun combat and dismiss the game—'oh, it's just another videogame—not for me.' Sports, however, are a central part of mainstream culture all over the world. Many of us grew up playing sports at school, and millions and millions of us watch professional sports. So, from a design standpoint, using conventions from sports is one way to reach people who might not otherwise be so interested in videogames. The four Sportsfriends games are influenced by sports like martial arts, soccer, hockey, polo, volleyball. The hope is that drawing from those precedents will help make the games more accessible and more spectator-friendly.

"All that said, I will admit that Pole Riders can get a little violent. Bennett [Foddy, the game's creator] tells us that in the new version, you'll be able to impale your opponent on your pole, then wave their lifeless body around as a kind of club. I'm excited."

SPORTSFRIENDS featuring Johann Sebastian Joust [Kickstarter]

Since taking up duties as Kotaku's official mobile gaming guy, I've started spending a large amount of time sitting outside on my patio, trying to look busy while playing games on my iPad or my Transformer Prime. The PadPivot is my constant companion, resting reassuringly upon my thigh andkeeping my tablet safe and secure.

The PadPivot is one of the earliest Kickstarter success stories, raising nearly $200,000 for a goal that was only $10,000. I can dig it; this is eactly the sort of ingenious little product that would be nearly impossible to sell to a large manufacturer. With Kickstarter people could see the product in action on people's legs, and suddenly their legs would feel terrible bare and lonely.

It's more than just a thigh stand, of course. It makes a rather sexy little desktop stand as well. I've been using mine for a couple of months now, and I'm not sure what I'd do without it.

Okay, not true. Without it I'd have my iPad propped up on this styrofoam Taco Mac takeout box. This is probably the better way.

PadPivot - $39.99 [Official Website]

Ahh, world maps. I love world maps. And I love world maps in Mario games.

This particular map comes from New Super Mario Bros. U, the Wii U Mario game that will launch alongside Nintendo's new console on November 18. It's sort of reminiscent of Super Mario World—check out that ghost ship!—and it's really interesting. Lots of the old familiar terrain types, like deserts, forests, and snow-covered plains, but they look pretty neat.

(Note: As part of a pre-release restriction on the game, we can only show you thirty seconds of Mario footage at a time, which is why we moved the cursor so fast.)

Expect lots more Wii U coverage—including more videos from New Super Mario Bros. U—in the coming days and weeks.

Uhhhhhh. Oh, boy. Either People magazine got some really bad information on Christina Aguilera's Halloween costume this year, or Christina Aguilera herself doesn't know who or what Zelda is.

Either way, according to this issue of People—and caught by Gamervescent—depicted above (and in full below) is "game heroine Princess Zelda, and beau Matt Rutler suited up as her love interest Link." At least they got the gender/names right?

Interestingly, if you visit People online and check out a similar image, the description is somewhat different.

"The queen's got her knight in shining armor! Christina Aguilera poses with boyfriend Matthew Rutler," it reads. Guess someone figured it out.

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The Legend of Xtina [Gamervescent]

Haunted Hollywood! Star Costumes of 2012 [People]

I hate you, hollywood [Reddit]

The thing I like about Letterpress is how it makes a field of letters turn into a vicious battleground, with two players vying to control more territory than the other via clever word-forming. Sounds a lot like something important that happened this week, no?

(Image by Dave Wiskus, via Twitter)

The digital issue of December's Game Informer is out now, and with it comes a boatload of new information on Grand Theft Auto V, including the fact that its world will be bigger than the worlds of Red Dead Redemption, San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto IV combined (at least according to Rockstar).

Holy crap.

You should read Game Informer for the full look, but here are a few big details we've learned from the magazine's latest cover story:

• According to Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto V's Los Santos is bigger than Red Dead Redemption, San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto IV combined. Yep. There's wilderness, a military base, and even an ocean floor to explore underwater.
• You can switch between the game's three main protagonists at "nearly any time."
• Those three protagonists, by the way, are named Michael, Trevor, and Franklin. Michael is a retired bank robber who gets sucked back into crime; Trevor is a career criminal and drug addict; Franklin is a 20-something street hustler.
• Sometimes they'll work together on missions, during which you can switch back and forth from character to character depending on which part of a given mission you feel like doing.
• Each character has his own personality, skill set, and group of friends to interact with. And the ones you're not controlling will go off and do their own thing.
• This is the same world as Grand Theft Auto IV and Liberty City, so you might see some recurring characters from those games (just not the major ones, like Niko Bellic). But. Rockstar says this is the "high-definition" world of Grand Theft Auto, so don't expect to see anyone from the PS2-era titles.
• Remember those randomized dynamic missions in Red Dead Redemption? They're back for GTAV: expect hitchhikers, muggers, and dead bodies, among others.
• Yes friendships. No romance.
• Rockstar says there will be an economy, but you won't be able to buy properties. There will be "loads of other stuff."

You can get the digital copy of this month's Game Informer online right now. The dead-tree edition should be out within the next week or so.

As for Grand Theft Auto V, we can expect the game spring 2013 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Launched earlier this week on Facebook by Plarium, Stormfall: Age of War is an incredibly polished social empire builder with tons of depth, sharp production values (voice overs!) and plenty of opportunities to interact with your Facebook friends both positively and negatively. If only I had the patience.

Empire building is one of my gaming blind spots. Some players revel in creating and positioning buildings, gathering resources, researching technology trees and amassing armies large enough to defend their kingdom while invading others. I toss down a couple buildings, gather enough troops to make a brief nuisance of myself, and play until those troops die horribly at the hands of their inept overlord.

Stormfall kept me going longer than most, thanks in no small part to the spoken dialogue of the game's tutorial-delivering regent lord. I am not used to Facebook games talking to me. When I first launched the game and the lord's gruff voice rumbled from my speakers I started scanning the 200 Chrome tabs I had open to see what was making the noise.

He's a pal now. I kind of want him to be my dad.

The regent lord guided me through building my fortress, placing resource-harvesting buildings in their assigned spaces, making allies of neighboring castles and then sending my troops to spy or assault those castles when I grew bored of those allegiances. He helped me build walls and fortifications. He showed me how to research new troops and technologies in the game's Lost Arts tree. He showed me how to be a better leader.

And I let him down.

There are no units at my keep now—they've all been killed. I've let my people down, but my farms and mines keep producing despite the constant raids by my more disciplined neighbors, so I don't see why I need to maintain a military force. I imagine my character sitting in a high tower of Castle Kotaku, reading comics and munching on cheese and stale bread. When the invaders come he hides in his wardrobe. Maybe he winds up in Narnia and lets them down too.

Stormfall: Age of War [Facebook]