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CultureGranblue Fantasy Versus Adds Buff Grandpa Soriz April 7
Every fighting game needs a muscle-bound older gentleman to show those young whippersnappers what’s what. In Granblue Fantasy Versus that old man is Soriz, a former weapon crafter who decided he was the greatest weapon of them all. He also enjoys wearing loincloths. He’s coming to the game on April 7. One part living weapon,…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureNier Creator’s Mobile RPG SINoALICE Goes Global July 1
SINoALICE is a role-playing game for iOS and Android which stars twisted versions of fairytale characters like Pinocchio, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood. It’s directed by Yoko Taro, who directed Nier, with music by Nier composer Keiichi Okabe. It’s been out in Japan since 2017. Everyone else can play it on July 1. The…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsHow Dare You, Animal Crossing: New Horizons
As Kotaku’s resident arachnophobe, I find Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ handling of tarantulas, vis-a-vis forcing me to handle a tarantula, completely unacceptable. I do not do well with spiders. People tell me that I am a very large person and spiders are very small, but that just means more of them can fit on my…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureTiny Ergonomic Keyboard Gets It Done With Only 44 Keys
This is the Keyboardio Atreus. It’s an ergonomic mechanical keyboard that’s less than 10-inches wide. It only has 44 keys, but that’s all the keys it needs. It’s a beautiful piece of typing hardware. It might not look like it has enough keys, but the Atreus has all the functionality of a full-size keyboard, just…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureRazer Is Making Surgical Masks To Help Combat Covid-19
Gaming hardware company Razer is getting into the medical supply business, pledging to manufacture and donate up to a million surgical masks to health authorities around the world to help combat the spread of covid-19. In a Twitter thread posted earlier today Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan said the company’s engineers and designers have been working…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysThe Perfect Animal Crossing Isabelle Action Figure Returns
Oh. My. Dog. I’d forgotten how wonderful Nendoroid Isabelle is. Originally released alongside Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS, Good Smile Company’s Isabelle action figure is making a comeback just in time for New Horizons Well, her preorder is just in time for New Horizons. Nendoroid Shizue, to use her fancy Japanese name, is now…
By Mike Fahey -
CulturePlayStation 5 Versus Xbox Series X: The Tech Specs
This week we learned the technical specs for the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. How do the two consoles stack up so far? Despite only knowing what one of the two looks like, they are not so different, X and 5. Before we get into it, keep in mind these are just numbers…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureHere Are The PlayStation 5’s Technical Specs
It might only have 10.28 teraflops to the Xbox Series X’s 12, but the PlayStation 5 is still a pretty powerful machine. Check out the hardware powering Sony’s next-gen console, including its custom AMD Zen 2 CPU and super-fast SSD. As PlayStation 5 lead system architect Mark Cerny does a deep dive into the engineering…
By Mike Fahey -
While the original MapleStory gets an official chair, the Japanese version of MapleStory 2 gets shut down. A post on Nexon’s Japanese website (via Siliconera) informs players the 3D sequel will be ending service on May 27, just short of a year after launch. The English version of the game is safe for now.
By Mike Fahey -
CultureThere’s An Official MapleStory Gaming Chair And It’s Precious
Everybody deserves a fancy gaming chair. That includes players of a 17-year-old side-scrolling 2D Korean MMO. Nexon America has partnered with gaming chair maker DXRacer to create this adorable $380 pink, purple, and white seating surface based on MapleStory’s Pink Bean. Think all gaming chairs look like they rolled off the same assembly line? The…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureHearthstone Adds First New Class Since Launch: Demon Hunters
After six years of card-battling Mages, Priests, Shamans, Warriors, Rogues, Hunters, Warlocks, and Paladins, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft-inspired trading card game finally gets some new blood. The Demon Hunter arrives on April 7 as part of the Ashes of Outland expansion. The first new class added to Hearthstone since its 2014 launch, the Demon Hunter…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsHeadsetsThe Best Headset Microphones Can Attach To Any Headphones
It’s not easy to find a gaming headset with a microphone anywhere near broadcast quality. It is, however, easy to add a broadcast quality headset mic to any existing pair of headphones, thanks to Antlion Audio’s series of ModMics. The ModMic series is the answer to a problem I’ve been dealing with for years. Headset…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureThe Xbox Series X Controller Is Subtly Different
There are obvious differences between the controller for the Xbox Series X and the current Xbox One controller. The directional pad has changed, and there is a share button now. Then there are features like new textures and rounded bumpers, small changes that could make a big difference in controller comfort for many people. In…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureHere’s What’s Inside The Xbox Series X
Last month Microsoft posted a lengthy article talking about what the upcoming Xbox Series X console can do. Today the company details the hardware inside the box that’s getting it done, including a custom eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU running at 3.8 GHz and its powerful RDNA 2 GPU. The technical jargon runs thick in…
By Mike Fahey -
CulturePokémon Go Makes It Easier For Players To Stay Put During The Pandemic
Pokémon Go encourages players to go out into the world and meet each other, but that’s not the best idea when the world is trying to slow the spread of coronavirus covid-19. Developer Niantic has implemented temporary changes in the game to make catching Pokémon without going anywhere easier. Along with postponing the Abra Community Day…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsThe Xbox One’s New Free-To-Play MMO Is Something To Do
Launched this week for the Xbox One, Bandai Namco’s Bless Unleashed is a free-to-play fantasy MMO that sprang from the ashes of canceled Neowiz PC game Bless Online. I don’t know why it was resurrected, renamed, and turned into an Xbox One exclusive, but it’s here, it’s free, and it’s kept me from thinking about…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsRoundguard Is A Fantasy RPG Powered By Peggle
Launching on Steam, Switch, and Xbox One on Friday the 13th (and PS4 later), Roundguard is basically Peggle turned into a dungeon-crawling role-playing game. A ball-bouncing roguelike, if you will. In other words, it’s my jam. Seattle-based Wonderbelly Games combined the Pachinko-style gameplay of Peggle with randomized loot, character-specific skills, and RPG progression to create…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureMy Little Pony-Inspired 2D Fighting Game Will Leave Early Access April 2
Them’s Fightin’ Herds began in 2011 as a fan-made fighting game called My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic. The project was shut down by Hasbro’s lawyers in 2013, only to return in 2015 with a new name and original characters designed by My Little Pony series creator Lauren Faust. On April 2, the four-legged fighter…
By Mike Fahey -
Westwood’s classic 1997 point-and-click Blade Runner game is making a comeback Nightdive Studios, the folks behind the refreshed versions of Turok and System Shock, are bringing Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition to PC, PS4, Steam, and Xbox One with updated character models, animations, and cutscenes.
By Mike Fahey