Chris Kohler

We have once again updated our story about the Genesis Mini’s inclusion of a fan-made port of the game Darius. Although Sega told Kotaku at the time that the Mini’s version was unrelated to the fan version and that developer M2 did the port, it has since revealed that it is based on the fan’s…

We’ve corrected yesterday’s story about the recent PlayStation Vita update. The hacker has now said that the h-encore² hack does, indeed, work with the latest Vita firmware. Kotaku regrets the error.

Everything Announced At Gamescom’s Opening Night Live

While much of the inaugural Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation focused on trailers and gameplay of previously announced games, there were a handful of brand-new games announced, including sequels to some popular indies. Here’s everything we learned. Erica: An Interactive Thriller, a live-action PlayStation 4 game announced in 2017 for PlayLink (the system where multiple…

Cyberpunk 2077 And More Games Coming To Stadia

CD Projekt Red’s anticipated Keanu Reeves vehicle Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to Stadia among other games, Google said today in its second Stadia Connect livestream. Orcs Must Die 3 is coming exclusively to Stadia. (Update, 4:07 p.m.: Robot Entertainment has now said that it will be a timed exclusive only.) The previous game in the…

The Genesis Mini Makes Up For Years Of Crappy Sega Clones

Sega did mini consoles before mini consoles were cool. For well over a decade you’ve been able to buy plug-and-play Sega machines filled with Genesis classics. Of course, they all pretty much sucked, full of emulation problems and mediocre games. But the Genesis Mini is almost here, and it’s ready to restore Sega’s good name…

Deep-Pocketed Collectors Are Fueling A Retro Game Gold Rush

Danielle Smith has spent half a million dollars on rare video games, most of it in the last nine months. And she’s just getting started. “I really just want the best of the best,” said Smith, 35. That half a million bucks has only bought her around 200 games. Last week, she spent $2,650 on…

Hey, freelance writers, do you want to write for Kotaku? We’re always looking for great freelance pitches. Like maybe you’ve noticed that game characters are bad at archery or that there’s somebody who’s been playing Animal Crossing on GameCube nonstop for the last 17 years. Hit us up at [email protected] and tell that story.

I did another Mario Maker I wanted to try to do something non-linear this time. I was almost done making it when, while playing around with the parts in the editor, I hit on the idea to use it to pay homage to my favorite YouTube video ever. I really want to make a short…

How To Use Mario Maker 2‘s Tricky ‘Scroll-Stop’ Feature

How’s your Super Mario Maker 2 going? Making some Marios? Trying out some of the cool new features? One of the most subtle but powerful new tricks you can do with the Switch version of Nintendo’s brilliant creation game can really change how you build your Mario levels, but it can be tricky to use.…

My latest Super Mario Maker 2 level took me quite a while to complete. I might actually use this as an example to write a piece about what happens when you way overscope a project. I did a lot of trimming. As always, let me know what you think! [Update: Deleted and reposted the level…

TurboGrafx-16 Mini Launches In March With 50-ish Games

You’ll be able to complete the trifecta of tiny 16-bit throwback systems on March 19, 2020, when Konami releases the TurboGrafx-16 Mini. It’ll include Dracula X, Bonk’s Revenge, Gradius and many more games, including many Japanese exclusives. Konami said today that it will sell the device exclusively through Amazon, with preorders opening up on Monday,…

A Mario Maker Level Where Mario Has Post-War PTSD

Oh, you’ve been playing nearly impossible kaizo levels or 20-second speedruns? Sounds great. Me, I just played a Super Mario Maker 2 level where Mario comes back from the army with PTSD. Mario Maker is not the best storytelling medium. In fact, Nintendo goes out of its way to make it difficult to create a…

Switch’s NES Games Get A Rewind Feature This Month

Nintendo’s growing collection of 8-bit NES games available through its Switch Online service are going to get a popular feature that’s been seen in other retro collections: Rewind. Screw up in Super Mario Bros. and die on the first Goomba? Redemption is just a button press away. Hold down the ZL and ZR buttons and…

Miyamoto Still Wants To Reinvent The Controller

While the standard buttons-and-joystick video game controller has made a fairly decisive return to Nintendo’s games on the Switch, that doesn’t mean Nintendo is done trying to reinvent the way we interact with video games. At the company’s annual meeting of shareholders late last month, one attendee asked the panel of Nintendo executives about the…

I just really want Super Mario Bros. 2 Maker, is I guess what I’m trying to get at, here. DBP-VYW-KMF if you want to see how close I got without the actual tools. It’s not very close, folks. If you’re also making levels, maybe enter our latest contest!

Netflix Japan had the Stranger Things kids meet up with Japan’s most famous gamer Takahashi-meijin, he of the “16 shots in one second” and star of Hudson’s Adventure Island. Watch the brief video to see who had the best Famicom skills.

Apologies in advance, as I expect my latest Super Mario Maker 2 level to occupy much of the video game discourse for months to come. I anticipate many a thinkpiece. If you want to try for yourself, it’s 7JF-QBH-34G. Just know that you, the “player,” are implicated in all that happens.

Proud to announce that my latest Super Mario Maker 2 level “Shlooter!” is pay-to-win. Send me five bucks and I’ll beat the level for you. If you want to try to play it yourself, the code is RSK-QH6-CWF.

Mario Maker 2 Online Multiplayer Is Laggy, Too Basic, And Tons Of Fun

Super Mario Maker 2 is the first Mario game to include online multiplayer, and it’s exactly what you’d expect from Nintendo: The tech kinda sucks, the implementation is extremely bare-bones, and despite all of that, it’s a lot of fun. You can access the various multiplayer options by going into Course World, the online portion…

I made a new version of “Bob-Omb Is You,” the Super Mario Maker 2 level I mentioned in my review. Check it out if you’ve got the game! Course ID: 6SC-KMX-T0H. (That’s a zero.)