Ethan Gach

Command And Conquer Mobile Game Would Be Great If It Weren’t Pay-To-Win

Command and Conquer: Rivals, out yesterday, takes the beloved real-time strategy series into the controversial world of free-to-play mobile games, which tend to be fueled by loot boxes and microtransactions. This game is, too, and it goes to absolutely zero lengths to mask that. Worst of all, the game’s still fun despite those things, making…

Rapper 2 Milly Sues Epic Games For Stealing His Dance

Rapper 2 Milly is suing the maker of Fortnite, Epic Games, for selling his signature “Milly Rock” dance as an emote called “Swipe It.” Pierce Bainbridge, the law firm representing 2 Milly, filed the complaint in the Central District Court of California today, accusing Epic of, among other things, copyright infringement, and exploiting African American…

After Dota 2 Team Fails To Ban One Of Its Players, Valve Does It For Them

Yesterday, professional Dota 2 player Carlo “Kuku” Palad was banned from a major tournament due to making what were seen as racist comments in a match last month. Prior to this move, Dota developer Valve had condemned Palad’s behavior but refused to inject itself directly into the matter, calling instead on teams to dole out…

A Strategy Game That Finally Made Me Take Stealth More Seriously

I’m not very good at stealth games. I like the idea of trying to sneak around undetected, but as soon as I get caught all hell breaks loose. In real life I’m happy to be a wallflower, but in games I often want to be at the center of the action, or violently creating it…

New Mod Lets You Play Game Boy Advance Games In HD On A TV

The Game Boy Advance had some great games. In addition to portable versions of great console games like Mario Kart: Super Circuit, there were also lots of great original games like Metroid: Fusion and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Unfortunately, none of them have been ported to modern hardware. Thankfully, someone’s been working on a handy…

Modders Are Making Fallout 76 Less Frustrating To Play

Fallout 76’s launch has been plagued with problems. The game is buggy, despite two meaty patches so far, with another on the way tomorrow, and its multiplayer is a far cry from what was described when the game was revealed in June at E3. Fortunately, that hasn’t stopped the modding community from slowing trying to…

A Team Who Has Barely Ever Played Rainbow Six Siege Made It Into The Latest Tournament

A group of students in Norway thought it would be funny to sign up to compete in Rainbow Six Siege, a game they’ve barely played, at one of the region’s biggest seasonal esports events, DreamHack Winter 2019. The stunt worked: Due to a shortage of signups for the event, Minigolfgutta (“mini golf boys”) will now…

Artifact’s Controversial Cards-For-Money System Has Been Good So Far

I’ve been having a lot of fun playing Valve’s new card game, Artifact, since it launched on Wednesday. It is surprisingly easy to learn and is an interesting take that borrows from Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering while doing something new. The game also treats its digital cards unusually, letting people buy and sell their…

Fallout 76 Players Banned For Life After Saying They Plan To ‘Eliminate All Gays’

Bethesda has banned a group of Fallout 76 players for life after they launched a homophobic attack on others in the game. “We have come to eliminate all gays,” players can be heard saying in a video of the incident. As reported by Eurogamer, the incident, which originally took place a couple weeks ago, lasted…

The Vita’s Sleep Mode Is Pure Sorcery

Old Faithful. That’s what I call my Vita, or at least that’s what I would call it if I was the type of person who had nicknames for their video game consoles and, for whatever odd reason, felt compelled to utter them out loud. I’d call it that because no matter how long I go…

The Elder Scrolls: Blades has been delayed until “early 2019,” Bethesda announced on the game’s Twitter account today. Revealed at this year’s E3, the city builder role-playing game was originally supposed to launch sometime this fall on Android and iOS.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is finally backwards compatible on Xbox One. The program has been steadily growing every month, but this 2012 fantasy RPG is a particularly nice addition, especially since a remaster doesn’t seem to be in the cards at this point. A little generic perhaps, but charming and fun nonetheless

I Just Started Playing Artifact And I’m Already Tempted To Spend Money

Valve finally has a new game out. Can you believe it? A card game based on Dota 2, Artifact launched today on Steam. After having messed around with it for several hours, I can report that there is indeed a ton of stuff going on in Artifact, but that it’s also one of the more…

Fallout 76: The Kotaku Review

Fallout 76 is filled with intriguing ideas, set amid an appealing post-apocalyptic sprawl ripe for exploration. It’s also a mess. The latest Fallout sheds the narrative focus of its its single-player predecessor, Fallout 4, and introduces an online multiplayer setup where the human-controlled strangers you meet are supposed to fuel a new sort of storytelling.…

The FTC Says It Will Investigate Loot Boxes

The Federal Trade Commission says it is investigating loot boxes, a controversial video game mechanic that can allow players to spend real money on randomized goods. During a hearing yesterday, FTC chairman Joseph Simons addressed New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan, who has recently spoken out about loot boxes. During her turn to ask questions at…

The Next Fallout 76 Patch Will Bring Some Much-Needed Fixes

Fallout 76 is getting another big patch on December 4 that will begin trying to fix some of the game’s bigger problems, Bethesda said today on Reddit. In addition, the company said it plans to be more communicative in the future about what the Fallout 76 team is working on and when new updates for…

Fallout 76’s Multiplayer: The Promise Vs. The Reality

In the week since Fallout 76‘s release, it since has become one of 2018’s more divisive games. Its Metacritic page is a horrorshow; its official forum and subreddits are battlegrounds between those who have found something to love in the buggy online survival game and those who think Bethesda has taken the series off a…

The Messenger now has a new game plus mode thanks to its latest update You’ll need to 100% the game to unlock it, but after doing so you’ll be able to replay the entire thing on a harder difficulty and with all of your stuff from the previous playthrough.

Spider-Man’s Turf Wars DLC Is Short And Uneven

I didn’t know how much I liked Felicia Hardy until she was missing from Turf Wars, the second chapter in Spider-Man’s The City Never Sleeps DLC, released today. The cat burglar’s duplicity and romantic chemistry with Peter Parker, the highlight of chapter one, are replaced in this latest outing by the sociopathic antics of old-school…

Dota 2‘s massive 7.20 update recently went live, completely changing the game yet again. The map has been reworked with new paths, there’s a dedicated item spot for Town Portal Scrolls, and a ton of heroes have had abilities reworked or changed altogether. Meanwhile, the Dota 2 card game Artifact releases next week.