Jason Schreier

One Of Arkham Knight‘s Investigations Blew Me Away

I’ve been playing Batman: Arkham Knight, a game about a billionaire who never says thank you to his employees. I’m really enjoying it so far. I expected to have a good time flying around Gotham and beating up thugs. What I didn’t expect was how good the investigations would be. Arkham Knight allows you to…

White House Says Trump Will Meet With ‘Members Of The Video Game Industry’ Next Week [UPDATE: Video Game Industry Had No Idea]

The White House today said that President Donald Trump will meet with executives from the video game industry to talk about violent games, a reaction to last month’s shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead. “He’ll also be meeting with members of the video game industry to see what they can do on that…

Oh No, Chrono Trigger Looks Awful On PC

Excitement for the surprise Steam release of Chrono Trigger quickly turned into dread today as fans realized that this port, like most of Square Enix’s PC ports, looks like garbage. Why has Square had such a hard time getting this right? No, Square Enix hasn’t replaced all of the character models with washed-out sprites as…

Chrono Trigger Gets Surprise Release On PC

The best thing about today’s surprise announcement of Chrono Trigger on PC is that Square Enix hasn’t changed the graphics. This is a port of the mobile version, which didn’t get the sort of ugly remake that Final Fantasys V and VI received. UPDATE (2:44pm): Oh no The $15 purchase of 1995’s Chrono Trigger, widely…

After Months Of Controversy, ESRB Will Add ‘In-Game Purchases’ Label To Games

As pressure from pundits and politicians mounts, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) said today that it will start adding the “In-Game Purchases” label to any game that lets you pay real money for digital goods. The label will apply to “bonus levels, skins, surprise items (such as item packs, loot boxes, mystery awards), music,…

How To Get Decent At StarCraft II

You may wonder, every once in a while: How do I get great at StarCraft II? I cannot answer that question. But I can at least tell you how to be decent at it. I’ve been getting back into Blizzard’s seminal real-time strategy game recently, having played it on-and-off for the past eight years. While…

Pillars of Eternity II‘s Ships Look Rad

The upcoming role-playing game Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will let you helm your very own seafaring vessel, and seeing it in action makes me want to quit my job and take to the high seas. Sorry, Stephen. I’m a pirate now. After 2015’s solid Pillars of Eternity, I’ve been eager to see what the…

It’s Hard To Go Back To Sub-60 FPS Gaming

On today’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we’re talking about noir games, how to get your husband into The Witcher 3, PC vs. consoles, and much much more. First, Kirk and I jump into news on Mafia 3‘s developer laying people off, Kentucky’s governor blaming video games for shootings, and the System Shock reboot facing development troubles. Then…

Master League StarCraft II Player Shows Off His Incredible Skills

I’ve been getting back into StarCraft II recently, so I really appreciated this new video from streamer Evan “Winter” Ballnik, showing off some of the precise mechanical skills you’ll require if you want to play Blizzard’s popular real-time strategy game at the highest levels. Here it is: Happy Friday.

People Are Still Trying To Make Final Fantasy VI Look Less Awful On PC

One of the biggest shames in modern gaming is how badly Square Enix mangled its ports of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI to the PC. Fortunately, modders are still working overtime to try to fix them. “A World Reborn,” for example, is an in-progress mod by ESN23 that adds more character to the…

Oh yes, it’s already time to start thinking about E3. EA said today that it will again host EA Play, which will still take place in Los Angeles from June 9 to June 11, 2018. Attendees will get to play the next Battlefield, lots of sports games, and “get an inside look at the stunning…

Metal Gear Survive‘s Credits Thank Hideo Kojima, But Not By Name

Metal Gear Survive is the first game in the longrunning series to not involve director Hideo Kojima, which may make you wonder: Is he in the credits? The answer is yes, sort of. The credits for Metal Gear Survive, which came out earlier this week, include a “Special Thanks” section dedicated to “Metal Gear Solid…

Warcraft III Gets Some Big New Changes

Alongside the announcement of a Warcraft III tournament, Blizzard last night said it will add some significant features to the 16-year-old game, raising the inevitable question: Is a remaster coming? The list of changes, which will be added to Warcraft III’s Public Test Realm (did you know Warcraft III had a Public Test Realm?) includes balance…

Call of Duty: WWII Directors Leave Sledgehammer, The Studio They Founded

Sledgehammer Games co-founders and Call of Duty: WWII directors Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield have left the company they started, Kotaku has learned. Aaron Halon will take over the top role at the studio. We first heard about the move a couple of weeks ago, and Activision confirmed it this afternoon, saying that Condrey and…

Burnout Paradise is getting a remaster for PS4 and Xbox One, publisher EA said today. This new version of Criterion’s beloved 2008 open-world racing game will be out on March 16. Vroom vroom, etc.

People Are Already Making Silly Mods For Final Fantasy XII On PC

If you have ever wanted to play all of Final Fantasy XII as Reks, the character who dies in the opening tutorial, you’re now in luck, thanks to the power of PC modding. “Play as Reks fully” is just one of many substantial PC mods that has popped up over the past couple of weeks,…

Doom Gets Motion Controls On Switch

One of the biggest highlights of the Wii era was playing shooters like Resident Evil 4 by waggling your remote at the screen. Now you can recapture that feeling with Doom on Switch, which received a patch last night that adds motion controls. The portable version of id Software’s slick shooter just received update 1.1.1,…

Next Time You Play A Video Game, Ask Why You’re Enjoying It

Why do we play video games? That question and many more, tackled on today’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen First, Kirk and I break down the news of the week before getting into some nitty-gritty about what we’ve been playing (25:48), including Civilization VI, Dragon Quest Builders, and Into The Breach. Why do we play games,…

Big Layoffs Hit Mafia III Developer Hangar 13

Mafia III developer Hangar 13 laid off a significant number of staff today, in yet another example of the video game industry’s brutal churn. Publisher 2K confirmed the move when reached by Kotaku this afternoon. “2K can confirm that there have been staff reductions at Hangar 13 in order to ensure that the studio’s resources…

The Secret Of Mana Remake Makes A Great Game Worse

When Secret of Mana came out in 1993, it was rightfully praised as one of the Super Nintendo’s best action games thanks to a lovely soundtrack, beautiful spritework, and fun hack-n-slash gameplay. The 2018 remake has ruined all three of these things. I’ve played a couple of hours of the PlayStation 4 version of this…