Jason Schreier

Some interesting nuggets from Nintendo’s financial presentation this evening: 1) the company has somehow shipped nearly a million copies of 1-2 Switch; 2) the 3DS has hit a total of 63 million sales; and 3) Nintendo won’t be holding a big E3 press conference this year, which isn’t a surprise. The company hasn’t had a live…

Thanks For The Shoutout, Prey

Next Friday, Arkane Austin will release their newest game, Prey, closing the loop on a minor four-year meta-story involving that studio and me. It’s only fitting that one of Prey’s achievements is a shoutout to Press Sneak Fucks. Some context: in May 2013, I reported that publisherBethesda had tasked Arkane Austin (Dishonored) with developing a…

Early Mass Effect: Andromeda Art Shows Some Very Different Characters

Former BioWare UI designer Eric Bellefeuille posted a large gallery of his work this week, and it offers a fascinating look at some early versions of Mass Effect: Andromeda Above, for example, is a snapshot of some strikingly different characters, including an odd Peebee and a resoundingly Donald Glover-looking Liam Kosta. Another shot shows what…

Here’s Our First Look At Call of Duty: WWII

Described as “gritty” and “visceral” and “boots on the ground” and all of the other buzzwords you’ve come to expect from a military shooter, here’s Call of Duty: WWII, coming November 3 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. This one is developed by Sledgehammer Games, the studio last responsible for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare…

Games Like Project Phoenix Ruin Kickstarter For Everyone Else

Kickstarter, a polarizing crowdfunding website that has become a useful tool for aspiring game developers, should maybe reconsider its policy on helping backers of failed projects get their money back. Otherwise, games like Project Phoenix will keep hurting crowdfunding for everyone. In 2013, a Japanese composer named Hiroaki Yura raised over $1 million for Project…

How Three Kids With No Experience Beat Square And Translated Final Fantasy V Into English

One day in the late 1990s, Myria walked into the Irvine High School computer room and spotted a boy playing Final Fantasy V. There were two unusual things about this. The first was that Final Fantasy V had not actually come out in the United States. To play the 1992 Japanese game in English, you’d…

Don’t forget that a game studio is only as good as the people who work there. “Bungie” means something different today than it did in 2004. Here’s an insightful, well-researched post by Redditor Forestl showing how many of the people who made Halo 2 are still at the iconic studio and how many have left…

Podcast: What Makes Nier: Automata So Great

From Nintendo’s baffling NES Classic decisions to Nier: Automata’s greatness, there’s lots to discuss on this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen We start off with some brief chat about Kirk’s cool Undertale cover (3:37) and some of the games we’ve been playing including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Dungeon Keeper (10:23). Then, we dig into the week’s…

Activision Announces Call of Duty: WWII

The next Call of Duty is probably set during World War II, as is evidenced pretty strongly by its title, Call of Duty: WWII. Activision announced the game today, adding that there will be an official “reveal” next Wednesday at 1pm ET. We’ve known about Call of Duty: WWII since last month, when it was…

The 30 Games I’d Most Like To See On SNES Classic

By now you’ve almost certainly read Chris Kohler’s well-reasoned take on the 30 games that should be on the rumored SNES Classic. Now here’s mine. 1. Space Blasters 2. Avocado Patrol Two obvious classics. Sure, the ripeness mechanic in Avocado Patrol can feel a little clunky when you’re used to modern controls, but this is…

Guy Speedruns Diablo II Without Attacking Anything

Perhaps my favorite thing about the speedrunning community is how often they find clever, ridiculous ways to play games. Take Diablo II. Instead of simply doing a quick run through Blizzard’s iconic action game, a man going by the handle DrCliche decided to blaze through the game without attacking anything. It is perhaps the most…

It will not surprise you to hear that Nintendo is making a mini-SNES, according to Eurogamer’s anonymous sources. More to come whenever Nintendo officially announces it.

You Can Now Get StarCraft For Free

In preparation for the upcoming remastered version of StarCraft: Brood War, which is scheduled for this summer, Blizzard has made the original versions of StarCraft and its expansion free. Totally free. On both PC and Mac. There’s no catch. You can get the game here

A Spoiler-Packed Chat About Horizon Zero Dawn‘s Excellent Story

Three Kotaku staffers have finished the new PlayStation 4 game Horizon Zero Dawn, so it feels like time to talk it all. Join me, Kirk, and Patricia for some SPOILERY talk about Aloy’s wild robot adventures. Jason Schreier: Alright, let’s talk about Horizon Zero Dawn. Now that the game has been out for nearly two…

Star Wars Battlefront II Is Written By Spec Ops: The Line‘s Writer And An Ex-IGN Reporter

Star Wars Battlefront II, which was officially announced last weekend, will give fans what they’ve wanted for two years now: Mitch Dyer. Also, a single-player campaign. To write this next Battlefront (not to be confused with the other Star Wars Battlefront II), EA hired Walt Williams, best known for his work writing the critically lauded…

Horizon Zero Dawn Uses All Sorts Of Clever Tricks To Look So Good

Every time you move the camera in Horizon Zero Dawn, the game is doing all sorts of under-the-hood calculations, loading and unloading chunks of world to ensure that it all runs properly. And that’s not even counting the robot dinosaurs. In a new 45-minute documentary produced by the Dutch organization VPRO, the developers at Guerrilla…

Here’s The First Trailer For Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Straight out of the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida today, here’s the first trailer for the next Star Wars film, The Last Jedi, which comes out on December 15. It’s an excellent teaser, one that will no doubt be endlessly dissected for the next eight months. It hints at, among other things, some Rey…

Nintendo Sells Nearly A Million Switches In The United States

Nintendo sold over 906,000 Switch units in the United States alone last month, making it, as they bragged in a press release tonight, the fastest-selling video game system in the company’s long history. Combine that with half a million in Japan and you’ve already got nearly 1.5 million of these things, not counting Europe (where…

Nintendo Discontinues The NES Classic

Nintendo has abruptly decided to end North American production of the NES Classic, one of their most popular items in years, the company said today. In a statement to IGN, Nintendo confirmed that it will no longer produce new mini-NES systems in North America—at least in 2017: Throughout April, NOA territories will receive the last…

Podcast: The Voice Of Horizon Zero Dawn

Writer and actress Ashly Burch joins me and Kirk on today’s Kotaku Splitscreen to talk about what it was like to play Aloy, the lead character of Horizon Zero Dawn. First we talk about the games we’ve been playing (Rock Band VR and Cosmic Star Heroine) before leaping into the News Hour, with stories on…