Ethan Gach

The Week In Games: Style Savvy New Year

2018’s just around the corner. Fortunately, you can end the year in style with a new 3DS game. Style Savvy: Styling Star comes out on the 25th meaning a whole new generation of 3DS and 2DS owners will know the power of color coordinated outfits. Other than that it’s the end of the year, so…

What Are Your Favorite Games To Play During The Holidays?

There was a period of time when every December I’d start up another playthrough of Mega Man Legends. It’s not a Christmas-y game by any stretch. And it’s not something I originally got as a present either. For whatever reason it just seemed to fit, helping me take a step back and appreciate the end…

Track: Christmas In Hollis | Artist: Run-DMC | Album: A Very Special Christmas Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Hackers Say Nintendo Switch’s Latest Firmware Update Removes Secret Golf Game

A few months ago Switch hackers showed the handheld had a hidden emulator designed to play NES Golf but only on July 11th, the date Satoru Iwata, former President of Nintendo and the game’s programmer, died. Now they say the company has overwritten the code as of the 4.0.0 firmware update. According to Switchbrew.org, these…

Thousands Of People Are Watching Overwatch‘s Jeff Kaplan Sit Motionless In Front Of A Yule Log [UPDATE]

He’s been this way for over an hour, and as word’s gotten out the audience has swelled to over 30,000. As Overwatch’s creative director, Jeff Kaplan has spoken in the past about how dedicated the team is to supporting the game and engaging with the community, even if that means working holidays. The Twitch stream…

Revisit one of the best role-playing games of all time with the Chrono Trigger Holiday Challenge. It runs from now through March and the rules are simple: register, get assigned three characters, and then go beat the game with them and upload a pic of your victory. More details can be found at the Four…

Sunday Comics: Naughty Or Nice 

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics that usually occurs on Sunday except when it doesn’t. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published December 23. Read more of Nerf NOW!!  Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published December 18. Read more…

A Bunch Of Different Star Wars Games You Can Go Play Right Now

Whether you’re just looking for something to play over your days-off in the coming weeks or desperate to escape back into the world of Star Wars following The Last Jedi, there are plenty of options. The list that follows isn’t necessarily of the best Star Wars games overall. No series has had more licensed video…

Limbo Could Become The Commodore 64’s Best Game 

When it came out in 2010, Playdead’s Limbo showed the puzzle platforming formula could be turned inside out to reveal something minimalist and haunting. A side-project by one of the studio’s developers is currently trying to push that experiment even further with a version of the game built specifically for a 35-year old system. Søren…

Risk Of Rain 2‘s Developers Discuss The Game’s Shift To 3D

Hopoo Games gave the world its first good look at their upcoming game last spring in a post over at the studio’s development blog. Surprisingly, the sequel broke with the original Risk of Rain’s 2D side-scrolling layout and the developers have explained why in a recent interview. Speaking at length with PC Gamer, Paul Morse…

Track: Harvest For The World | Artist: The Isley Brothers | Album: Harvest for the World

Fortnite Battle Royale got a holiday update today that adds grenades which force enemies to dance after exploding. Yes you read that right. “When boogie dancing, you are prevented from building, firing weapons, or using items,” the rest of the description explains. A “High Explosives” event begins on December 28.

Fan Shows What Donkey Kong Country 2 In HD Could Look Like 

What would Donkey Kong Country 2 look like in HD? About as beautiful as you’d expect it turns out. YouTuber BlobVanDam posted a video of the game’s Bramble Blast level with cleaned up visuals recently (thanks Resetera). While it doesn’t necessarily capture all the jaggy depth of the original, it looks fresh and polished. It…

Gwent Players Aren’t Happy With The Game’s Big New Update

This week the Midwinter Update for Gwent, CD Projeckt Red’s card game based off The Witcher 3, finally went live. Gwent, which is still in beta, gets patched pretty regularly, but not like this. Popular cards have seen their abilities simplified and weakened, and text descriptions that added flavor to the game have now been…

The World’s Top Tetris Player’s Secret To Success Is Learning To Embrace Chaos

Of the eight Classic Tetris World Championships that have ever been held, Jonas Neubauer has won seven. The 36-year-old Neubauer, a microbrewery manager from Redondo Beach outside LA, bought the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Tetris after seeing it on the front cover of Nintendo Power magazine in November 1990 when he was eight, and…

Nintendo Power Comes Back In Podcast Form

Nintendo Power magazine ceased publishing at the end of 2012. It was a nostalgic time full of sad goodbyes and fond memories. Its last cover was even a call-back to the first issue, where Mario pounds his fist triumphantly into the air while standing on a mushroom. But today, on the five-year anniversary of its…

One Man Is Trying To Speedrun Three Final Fantasy Games–At The Same Time

Speedrunning a long role-playing game requires both concentration and stamina. There are endless menus to navigate and character builds to optimize, and doing everything fast means knowing the game’s secrets like the back of your hand. Speedrunning an RPG can be grueling for even the most accomplished player. So naturally, one guy wants to speedrun…

Enter The Gungeon Is More Forgiving On The Nintendo Switch

Enter The Gungeon released on the Nintendo Switch last week, and they go great together. Despite a few bugs and some little niggling issues with the controls (which are 100% remappable) the overall experience is great. It’s also the most approachable version of the game thanks to some balancing tweaks that haven’t yet hit the…

Kingdom: New Lands got a free DLC expansion called Skull Island today. It adds a new territory to the pixel-animated, side-scrolling medieval strategy game as well as a new win condition apparently. According to the developers it’s also “challenging AF. Yeah, that’s right, capital A F. Fuuuuuuuuuuuu.” 

The World’s Biggest Video Game Mod Site Will Start Paying Modders

Nexus Mods plans to roll out a new donation system and storefront early in 2018 according to a recent post in the site’s news section The fan site was founded in 2001 and now has over 10 million registered users. While it supports mods for hundreds of games some of the biggest include ones like…