Chris Kohler

Ah, yes, the complete series.

The fact that you can walk into Japanese music stores and buy a brand-new copy of the soundtrack to the original Nintendo 64 version of Super Smash Bros. because it’s still in print and was never out of print will never cease to impress me.

This Is The Best Final Fantasy V Merch

As a well-known appreciator of Final Fantasy V, to the point where I wrote a whole book about it, I love that Japan feels the same way to the point that there’s actually a market for this very specific merch based on this 1992 Super Famicom game. In the grand Japanese tradition of “blind boxes,”…

Kirby Hats Kirbify Your Cats

Hello, do you love Kirby but hate your cat? Now you can shove your cat’s head into a Kirby-shaped hat, thanks to the miracle of Japanese vending machines. The hats, which your cat is guaranteed to wear for at least three and a half seconds before desperately trying to claw it off, are available in…

Japan wastes zero time: Days after its announcement in the Nintendo Direct, there are already rows of empty New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe boxes lining the shelves at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara. As expected, Peachette—whatever that is—is a major selling point. And those Joy-Cons in the logo!

I’m in Japan! We’ll have coverage of the Tokyo Game Show this week, starting Thursday morning (late Wednesday night U.S. time). Until then, I’ll bring you updates from Akihabara and beyond…

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is coming to Switch… as a cloud game… in Japan only. Announced during the Japanese Nintendo Direct today, it looks like Ubisoft’s latest will be taking the Resident Evil 7 approach to its Switch port, an online-only game played via remote servers.

Classic Final Fantasy PlayStation Games Are Coming To Switch [Update: And Xbox One]

Decades after Square split from Nintendo to go to PlayStation, the classic Final Fantasy games of that era are heading to the Switch. Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, X-2, and XII are all coming to Switch in 2019. Update, 7:12 PM Eastern: Square Enix has now said that several of these games are also on…

Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle, including the arcade ports of Capcom side-scrolling classics like Final Fight, King of Dragons, Knights of the Round, and more, is coming to Switch on September 18.

Neo Geo Mini Is Cute, But An Imperfect Nostalgia Trip

Neo Geo, as a brand, has always seemed to be about extravagant, weird ideas. First it was an arcade machine that used cartridges, then a wildly expensive home machine released in 1990, now a mini-console with its own screen and a tiny joystick for a controller. As a novelty item, Neo Geo Mini has an…

Just saying a little prayer before today’s Nintendo Direct.

The Weird History Of The Super NES CD-ROM, Nintendo’s Most Notorious Vaporware

Nintendo never released a CD-ROM gaming system. But for a while in the early 1990s, it flirted with the idea. That protracted will-they-won’t-they romance produced pages of breathless gossip columns in video game magazines, a mountain of vaporware, some terrible Zelda games, and one priceless prototype. The legacy of the Super NES CD-ROM is also…

Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition Coming To PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition, the shrunk-down version of Square Enix’s RPG with adorable characters and streamlined game play, is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, the publisher said today. The episodic game was released earlier this year on iOS and Android phones, with a Windows 10 edition following later. Kotaku’s Mike…

From Pyrotechnics To Quiet Confrontations, Harry Potter Shines On Broadway

There was a moment, about three hours into a performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child last weekend, when the 1,500 people in the audience, myself very much included, let out a collective gasp. That communal intake of breath was not in reaction to one of the Broadway play’s many dazzling special effects, nor…

Michael Cunningham, the editor-in-chief of the long-running website RPGamer, died this weekend following a battle with cancer, the site has said. Cunningham had written for RPGamer, which covers role-playing video games, since 2006. RIP.

Whoa, There’s Gonna Be A Streets Of Rage 4

After nearly 25 years lying dormant, Sega’s Streets Of Rage series will continue on. Streets of Rage 4 is in development from publisher DotEmu and developers Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games, the publisher said this morning. DotEmu also released a trailer showing the game’s cartoon aesthetic and revealing the return of series mainstay protagonists Axel…

Classic Sega Games On Switch Are Getting Cool New Features

When Sega announced the “Sega Ages” line of classic games for Switch back in April, it said that the new versions of its classics, like Sonic The Hedgehog and Phantasy Star, would get updated features but didn’t talk specifics. It’s now revealing some of the additional elements, and they’re pretty darn cool. Broadly speaking, there…

The next project from Until Dawn’s developer is an anthology of smaller horror games with branching stories. The first entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology will be a South Pacific diving trip gone wrong, called Man Of Medan. It’s out in 2019 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Good morning! Some release dates were announced today. They are Luigi’s Mansion for 3DS (Oct. 12), Brawlhalla for Xbox One and Switch (Nov. 6), and Trials Rising for Xbone/PS4/Switch/PC (Feb. 12).

Conflicting Reports Emerge About Game Developer’s Arrest After Filming Police [Updated]

Game developer Patricia Pizer was arrested in Rock Hill, South Carolina yesterday on charges that she assaulted a police officer while filming the officers with her phone. According to The Herald, the Rock Hill police department’s report states that Pizer assaulted an officer. Pizer’s husband, who says he has seen a surveillance video of the…