Jason Schreier

Prey Shows That Bethesda’s Review Policy Is Even Bad For Bethesda

Prey, the newest game from Arkane Studios, is most enjoyable when you take your time exploring its corners and crevices. It’s a quiet, unsettling game, one that can turn into a real drag if you try to rush. So why did Bethesda force reviewers to blaze through the game as quickly as possible? And what…

What We’d Do If We Were Making Destiny Spinoffs

Would you watch an animated series about Destiny bounty hunters before the Fall? Would you play a game where you have to balance Destiny guns? On episode 78 of Kotaku Splitscreen, we answer all these questions and more. During last week’s show, we reached into the mailbag and took out some questions from listeners, including…

Someone Already Beat Prey In Less Than 20 Minutes

Yesterday, speedrunner DraQu beat the sci-fi shooting sim Prey in just 45 minutes. Today, he’s knocked it down to 20. This is a game that has been out for three days. You’re safe to watch the first few minutes without spoiling too much, just to see how he pulled it off. The short version: DraQu…

The Zelda Escape Room Is A Little Disappointing (And Not Really An Escape Room)

When I first heard that there was a Zelda escape room coming to the United States, I imagined a labyrinth of elaborate puzzles, growing more challenging and complicated with each subsequent chamber. I did not expect to be solving brainteasers at a conference table. But I am pleased to report, dear Kotaku readers, that my…

Podcast: Should Nintendo Make Switch VR?

Should Nintendo make a VR peripheral for Switch? What would Kirk and I do if we were put in charge of Bungie? Get the answers to those questions and many more, on today’s Kotaku Splitscreen I just started Nier: Automata, so Kirk and I talk about that for a bit (7:17) before jumping into the…

Here’s a quick look at Ever Oasis, an upcoming 3DS game (June 23) that feels a whole lot like Fantasy Life. You run your own village and do lots of side-quests in a cute world with basic action-RPG combat. Seems fun!

Three Hours With Prey

One of the first things you should know about Prey is that it’s really tough. If you’re anything like me, you may find yourself stuck in an area called the Trauma Center, dying over and over again because all you’ve got is a wrench and you have no idea how to get past that dumbass…

Here’s A Big Sign That Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Is Coming To 3DS

Last week, a dataminer who goes by the handle SciresM reported that he’d discovered an apparent port or remake of the GBA game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga in a 3DS file database. Although we can’t confirm this rumor, we did discover a new bit of evidence this week that makes it seem very likely.…

Hands-On With The New 2DS XL

The newly announced New 2DS XL looks sort of like an iPhone attached to a 3DS bottom, as you can see in the above video, which Kotaku boss Stephen Totilo and I shot at a Nintendo event in New York City this week. If you’re in the market for one of these New 2DS XLs,…

Tetris Speedruns Remain Hypnotizing 

The only thing more enjoyable than seeing the reactions of speedrunners KevinDDR and ApertureGrillz at the end of this new world record for Tetris: the Grandmaster 2 Plus is watching all of those pieces fall into just the right places. Please do watch this video, recorded earlier this week when they set the record. There’s…

Nier: Automata Is Even Better If You Remap The Buttons

If you, like me, picked up Nier: Automata on PlayStation 4 during the Golden Week sale, here is a tip that will CHANGE EVERYTHING: Remap the buttons. As you may notice when you first start playing Nier, the default control setup has a few weird quirks. Evade is mapped to R2 while shooting is mapped…

Professional Kojima BFF Geoff Keighley is hosting an event this year called E3 Coliseum, he announced today. Taking place at L.A. Live on June 13 and June 14 (the Tuesday and Wednesday of E3), the event will be a live-streamed set of “panels, conversations, talks, and other surprises.” Should be fun.

There’s A Brand New Trails Game Out Today

If you are wondering what the top-selling item on Steam is right now, beating out the likes of Battlegrounds and the Star Wars collection, wonder no further: it’s Trails in the Sky the 3rd, a PC-only JRPG that’s out today. I haven’t yet gotten to play the third Trails in the Sky game—my PC is…

Source: The Rumored Mario x Rabbids RPG Is Real, Coming To Switch

One of this fall’s big Nintendo Switch games will be Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, a game that has been rumored for quite some time and does indeed exist, as confirmed by art assets provided to Kotaku. The game will mix Nintendo’s iconic plumber (and friends) with characters from Ubisoft’s popular Rabbids series. Although the…

PlayStation’s Golden Week Sale Is Full Of Ridiculous Deals

If you have ever wanted to play the best video game of all time for only two dollars, this is your lucky week, because Suikoden II is on sale as part of an excellent set of PlayStation discounts that also includes Final Fantasy XV for $36 and Persona 4 Golden for $9 (all with PlayStation…

Thimbleweed Park‘s Plot Hole Problem

Thimbleweed Park, a great new adventure game by some of the key talent behind Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, sets up several mysteries that are never quite resolved. Does that matter? Director Ron Gilbert argues not. WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIMBLEWEED PARK Thimbleweed Park starts off with a dead man in a river,…

That Time A JRPG Ended In The Middle Of A Final Boss Battle

Over the past few years, there have been many complaints about video game endings—that they’re rushed, that they’re unsatisfying, that it feels like the developers spent more time on other parts of the game (usually true). But no unfinished ending holds a candle to Saga Frontier Saga Frontier, a quirky role-playing game that Square released…

Podcast: Stories From LucasArts And Bethesda

Veteran programmer Brett Douville joins today’s Kotaku Splitscreento talk about LucasArts, Bethesda, and much more. Kirk and I start off the show by talking about the new indie games What Remains Of Edith Finch and The Sexy Brutale before jumping into this week’s news: the announcement of Call of Duty: WWII (13:01), an Overwatch player’s…

Nintendo Finally Says Goodbye To 3D

Few video game systems have had as strange a journey as Nintendo’s 3DS. The spunky portable console flopped, got a massive price cut, gradually built up a spectacular library of games, and received several bizarre (and confusing) hardware models throughout its six years on store shelves. And now, it’s ditching its biggest selling point. Farewell,…

Debugging A Massive RPG Like Skyrim Means Leaving Some Bugs In

When a company like Bethesda is trying to debug a massive game like Skyrim, where do they even start? Skyrim lead programmer Brett Douville tackled that question (and much more) on this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen Here’s an excerpt from our conversation: Jason Schreier: Something that I bet is a really interesting topic of…