Jason Schreier

Want to know why Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC still isn’t out yet? Check out this blog post by XSEED for a look at even more of the trials and tribulations that have faced the much-anticipated RPG—including but not limited to purple butt blasts. The good news: they’re still hoping to release…

The People Behind Red Ash Are Crowdfunding Yet Again

After last month’s disastrous gameand successful anime Kickstarter campaigns, the people behind Red Ash are asking for even more of fans’ money—this time to extend the anime from 12 minutes to 30. You can’t make this stuff up. This time, they’re using not Kickstarter but a facsimile of the popular crowdfunding service, using the Studio…

Darth Vader Gets His Very Own Star Wars PS4

Now this is cool—in honor of Star Wars Battlefront, Darth Vader is getting his very own PlayStation 4, which is a pretty decent reward for that whole redemption thing. The limited-edition PS4 will launch on November 17 with two different bundles—one including Disney Infinity and one with Battlefront. Both bundles will also feature four old…

Kingdom Hearts III Is Getting A Big Hero 6 World

Sora and crew will ride the robot Baymax and fight their way through a Big Hero 6 world in Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix announced today during the D23 expo in Anaheim, California. Big Hero 6, an animated Disney film that stars a 14-year-old prodigy and his team of superheroes as they fight against a…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Virtual Reality: The Winners

With apologies to Oculus Rift CEO Palmer Luckey, here are the results of last week’s Kotaku ‘Shop Contest, which took us to the wonderful world of virtual reality. It was nearly impossible to narrow this one down, so if you didn’t make the cut, rest assured I probably laughed at your entry nonetheless. (Or you…

Why Most Video Game ‘Aggression’ Studies Are Nonsense

Do violent video games make people more aggressive? Politicians and pundits have been asking that question for years now, and although everyone thinks they know the answer, scientific studies have yet to come up with results that satisfy even the most basic probing. Last night, the gaming website Polygon reported on a studyfrom the American…

Nintendo Fires Employee For Speaking On Podcast

Last week, Nintendo localization editor Chris Pranger made an appearance on a small podcast called Part-Time Gamers. This week, Nintendo fired him. “Hello friends and family,” Pranger wrote in a heartbreaking public Facebook message this morning. “As many of you have probably seen, I am no longer at Nintendo. I was terminated this week due…

Nintendo’s Virtual Console Choices Sure Are Strange

Today, Nintendo released the fifth downloadable Wii game for Wii U in North America. It’s not what you might expect—the new release isn’t Mario, nor is it Zelda. It’s Pandora’s Tower, a niche action game published by XSEED and released here for the Wii in 2013, way toward the end of the console’s lifespan. Now,…

The 20 Most-Watched Games On Twitch In July

It’s no surprise to see League of Legends and Minecraft on any list of games that people like to watch, but what about Runescape? Or Rocket League? Via Twitch, here’s a list of the top 20 most-watched games of July, by total combined minutes. Some of them are expected; others are a little surprising: League…

No More Smoking Weed During Pro Video Game Tournaments

Are you a professional Counter-Strike or Heroes of the Storm player who likes to, as the kids say, indulge in the reefer? You’ll have to hold off during professional ESL tournaments, according to new rules posted last night by a representative for the eSport organization. In a post on Reddit yesterday, ESL’s PR boss Anna…

Few video games look as insanely joyful as Super Mario Maker, the upcoming level-maker that’s out September 11 for Wii U. Check out this new overview video for a look at customizable sound effects, Amiibo support, and other features in Nintendo’s latest.

Divinity: Original Sin II Announced, Will Be On Kickstarter Soon

One of last year’s biggest surprises was Divinity: Original Sin, a Kickstarted role-playing game with a unique co-op system that blew Kirk away and took home a coveted spot on our GOTY list. Today, the folks behind Original Sin have announced a sequel. Developer Larian Studios have yet to share details on Divinity: Original Sin…

Speedrunners Discover Totally New Way To Break Final Fantasy VI

There’s something incredibly fun and irreverent about breaking all-time classic video games, isn’t there? That’s the reason Ocarina of Time is so popular to speedrunners—and it’s why I love watching people figure out how to totally dismantle Final Fantasy VI In May of this year, the speedrunning community discovered a unique new glitch in Square’s…

Let’s Remember Some Video Games

Inspired by Deadspin’s excellent recurring Let’s Remember Some Guys series, let’s remember some video games. Dark Sector Bushido Blade Tobal Red Steel Solstice Vectorman Yoshi’s Cookie Faxanadu Beyond the Beyond Rival Schools Fester’s Quest Torin’s Passage Milon’s Secret Castle Joe & Mac Hexen: Beyond Heretic Kid Chameleon Lair Elite Beat Agents Black & White Brave…

Copyright Trolls Get Videos Pulled For Using The Word ‘Pixels’ [UPDATED]

The video “Pantone Pixels,” published in 2011, was an independent art project that used a swath of colors to illustrate a picture of the creator’s parents. Last week, Vimeo took it down. Turns out it was too similar to “Pixels,” a 2015 movie starring Adam Sandler. Update (11:40 am EST): In a statement, Vimeo said…

Is this track, by Yoko Shimomura, the best video game boss music of all time? Discuss.

Why You Should Play Suikoden II, One Of The Best RPGs Ever Made

For a certain subset of gamers, last December was big. Really big. Like, the biggest month in years [This article was originally published on December 9, 2014, when Suikoden II came out on PSN. I’ve bumped it up because I’m guest-editing Kotaku this weekend and am doing my best to turn it into a Suikoden…

American Team Wins Dota 2 International, Takes Home $6.6 Million

The U.S. team Evil Geniuses won on Dota 2’s biggest stage last night, earning a $6.6 million prize and becoming the first American squad to win the International tournament. Evil Geniuses defeated the Chinese team CDEC, generally considered to be an underdog, 3-1 in the best-of-five Grand Finals late Saturday night, capping off a week…

The Dota 2 International final round is happening tonight—you can watch it live right here. It’s the U.S. team Evil Geniuses against China’s CDEC Gaming. If EG takes it, they’ll be the first North American team to win a Dota 2 International. U S A!

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Virtual Reality

You knew this was inevitable. Let’s see if you guys can improve TIME’s fantastic August 17 cover, which features Oculus Rift CEO Palmer Luckey prancing like he’s never pranced before. Competition will be tough for this one, given how many people have already been ‘shopping it up since the cover came out earlier this week.…