Ian Walker

Engineer Combines Smash Controller With A Taser Because Why Not

Recent advances in virtual reality have done wonders to make video games more immersive than ever. But certain persistent technical limitations still bedevil this developing technology, such as, say, its inability to shock the living hell out of players with agonizing bursts of electric current. It’s a problem. But one enterprising hacker sought to change…

Capcom has canceled the first half of this year’s Capcom Pro Tour due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. The second half of the developer’s official Street Fighter V competition is still set to begin in July, but the schedule will be adjusted further if necessary.

Don’t Neglect Turnips In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If you ask me, Animal Crossing is much more fun when you don’t spend all your time in the pursuit of money. But if you’re set on making bank, New Horizons offers you a bunch of good ways to indulge your inner Scrooge. One such option that many new players will gain access to this…

Employees At GameStop Competitor Say Their Company Isn’t Protecting Them From Covid-19 Either

Last week, Kotaku reported several times on GameStop’s ass-dragging procedure for operating during the coronavirus outbreak. But GameStop isn’t the only physical game store whose employees are feeling forced to choose between their jobs and their safety. Employees of the regional chain Game X Change are also unhappy with how their employer is handling the situation, several…

Why Are There So Many Surveillance Cameras In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

A huge part of the fun in Animal Crossing is hunting down the perfect items to furnish your home. But things have taken an unsettling turn in New Horizons as several players have started to find creepy items in the trees around their islands. When I first started playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons a few…

Borderlands 3 will receive another level cap increase in this week’s Guns, Love, and Tentacles expansion These four extra levels will give players the chance to try out new abilities or even max out two separate skill trees for their Vault Hunters

Maybe There Are Too Many Sea Bass In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If I catch one more sea bass in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I’m going to scream. Fishing is probably my favorite thing to do in Animal Crossing games. Whether it’s following my island’s wandering rivers in search of elusive golden trout or spending time at the pier wrestling with blue marlin and tuna, I often…

Tips For Playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out today. I’ve spent a lot of time with this massive game over the last few weeks, and while that may not be enough to truly grasp the entirety of what it has to offer, I do have a few tips for folks looking to make the most out of…

Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Jon “dekillsage” Coello have signed with esports team Evil Geniuses. These fighting game veterans, often considered two of the best Dragon Ball FighterZ players in the world, were previously part of Echo Fox. SonicFox is also the reigning Mortal Kombat 11 champion

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Doesn’t Care If Boys Wear Skirts, Whatever, It’s 2020

Despite being pretty good about letting players do what they want, the Animal Crossing series only recently made clothing gender neutral. New Leaf, released on the 3DS in 2012, was the first game to allow players to wear clothes traditionally meant for a different gender, and New Horizons takes that a little further by removing…

GameStop Cancels Midnight Release Events For Animal Crossing And Doom

GameStop will be canceling midnight release events, like those for Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal, for the foreseeable future and shutting down demo stations in their stores, according to an internal memo sent to employees this morning and obtained by Kotaku “Until further notice, late night launch events are suspended,” the memo reads.…

GameStop’s Employees Fear Its Coronavirus Policies Are Dangerously Flawed

Last week, GameStop sent an email to its customers assuring them that the gaming retail chain was taking the necessary precautions in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Some employees, however, have shared concerns with Kotaku about the company’s ability to keep them and their customers safe. GameStop’s message to consumers was that the company…

Tokido Finally Gets His Decisive Street Fighter V Win Against Daigo

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi might be one of the greatest fighting game players of all time, but that doesn’t keep him from being haunted by his own demons. During last weekend’s TOPANGA Championship, he finally felled fellow legend Daigo Umehara in a lengthy Street Fighter V match, securing a victory two years in the making. Since…

Marco Rubio Says Stop Spreading Rumors About Tekken Character Marshall Law

In this time of pandemic and national emergencies, disinformation is a serious problem. That’s why Marco Rubio, the senior United States senator from Florida, wants to make one thing clear during this ongoing crisis: You people need to shut up about Tekken character Marshall Law. “Please stop spreading stupid rumors about marshall law. COMPLETELY FALSE,”…

Animal Crossing: New Horizons: The Kotaku Review

Excerpts from a journal titled “New Horizons”:  I’ve decided to take a vacation. Well, less of a vacation and more of a… sojourn, I guess you could call it. A close friend of mine, Tom Nook, has started a new business offering relocations to a deserted island. There are discounts for those who can help…

Amidst Coronavirus, The Fighting Game Community Faces An Uneasy Future

The global spread of the novel strain of coronavirus known as covid-19 has impacted the gaming industry in various ways, from convention shutdowns to the enacting of work-from-home policies at major studios. Fighting game community gatherings are being canceled and players are pulling out of tournaments, all of which constitute a serious threat to the survival…

Borderlands 3 Patch Will Rebalance Late-Game Areas For New Characters

Most of the Borderlands 3 hotfixes have focused on adjusting characters and weapons, but the next update will also pay attention to balancing late-game areas. “We found that new players were consistently entering certain areas over-leveled for the content they were playing,” wrote Gearbox in the company’s latest Borderlands 3 blog. “This occasionally trivialized those…

Mortal Kombat 4 is now available on GOG This 1997 release marked the classic fighting game’s first foray into 3D graphics, but is mostly known for its hilarious endings. Do yourself a favor and check out some of those cutscenes if you haven’t already.

How A Shovel Knight NPC Gets Made

The nuts and bolts of how games are made is often lost on players. Yacht Club Games published an excellent blog yesterday that shows what it takes to flesh out the world of Shovel Knight. Forget playable characters; even obscure NPCs go through a rigorous process of conceptualization and design before being added to the…

First-Person Mario Lets You Shoot Goombas In The Dang Face

As part of Nintendo’s forced MAR10 holiday (March 10, Mario, get it?), developer Sean Noonan has released a beautiful rendition of Super Mario Bros. as a first-person shooter. Sure, the gun only shoots plungers, but I have to imagine Mario would take some satisfaction from being able to blow away hordes of Goombas. Noonan, a…