Luke Plunkett

Invisible, Inc.: The Kotaku Review

Let’s get straight to it: for some of you, Invisible, Inc. will be close to the perfect video game. There’s an easy way to determine if you’re one of those people. Ask yourself this question: “Would I enjoy a game that takes (most of) the best parts of XCOM, Splinter Cell and roguelikes and combines…

Castlevania Successor Makes Over $1 Million In A Single Day

Koji Igarashi’s hustle to make a new Castlevania-style game has paid off: his spiritual successor to a series Konami keeps screwing up—because Konami is Konami—has in less than 24 hours made over $1 million on Kickstarter. Bloodstained was only asking for $500,000, so to have doubled that in one day means they’re on track to…

Dragon Age, You’re Lookin’ Good

Matt DeMino is a freelance artist and illustrator from Texas. Aghast at the fact his own player character’s card in Dragon Age was just a green hand, he set out to fix it, and drew this series of fantastic Inquisition cards. You can see more of Matt’s work at his personal site and DeviantArt page…

The Origins Of Nintendo’s Trademark Box Art

From the very first days of its home console business, Nintendo has given its box art a trademark standard, a border or frame that clearly marks the title as being for a Nintendo system. Did you know, though, that this trademark is a lot older than the NES or Famicom? In the 60’s, Nintendo was…

Skyrim D&D Probably Ruins TV, But That’s OK

So awpluke and some friends thought they’d spice their D&D game up by replacing a table with a flipped-over 50” TV. Then putting Skyrim on that TV. Running the flycam toggle (which gives you a birds-eye view), they could give their tablecloth/imaginations a break and play D&D on some pretty badass scenery. Moving all those…

You Can Play Pokemon Inside Minecraft

To think, in 2013 we’d get excited about people building Pokemon maps in Minecraft. In 2015, it takes a lot more than that: it takes recreating Pokemon systems in the game, from Pokeballs to the little (and big) pocket monsters themselves. Pixelmon has been around for years, but we’ve never written about it, so it’s…

What If Half-Life 3 Didn’t Star Gordon Freeman…

After all these years assuming we’d be finishing Gordon’s story, would the internet be ready for this? Actually, who cares, because this would be pretty great. Wake up and smell the ashes, Alyx… Image byGrobi-Grafik (via spyrale)

Slave Cersei Wouldn’t Choke Jabba, That’s Too Obvious

Cersei Lannister vs Slave Leia. Not the most obvious cosplay crossover, but it works! Cosplay by AlyCat, photo by WeNeals

EleNoira Catwoman as, well, Catwoman. Photo by Elle Esse di Schenal Luca (via cosplay blog)

Margaery Tyrell, In The…Flesh?

This isn’t a photo of Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer. It’s actually a 3D model by WETA’s Nick Gaul. We’re living in a weird and wonderful age when 3D art gets so good, and so detailed, that we’re not just noticing a model’s skin or eyes, but can even pick out their vellus hair…

Track: Think Twice | Artist: The Four Owls | Album: Natural Order Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

The Future Of Video Game Graphics: Soap & Soft, Beautiful Skin

Back in 2012, we took a look at Separable Subsurface Scattering (SSSS), a piece of graphics tech that looked very, very pretty. It looks a lot prettier in 2015. What in 2012 looked like the distant future now looks a lot closer to adaptation, especially since the project now has the official support of Activision.…

GTA V Mod Causes Tsunami, Drowns Los Santos (Again)

GtaGamer222 has made a mod that does pretty much as advertised: it covers Los Santos in water, so much so that only the very highest parts of the city and surrounding countryside have escaped the deluge. Here’s a video by GtaGamer222 running around and piloting a sub: While here’s a good one by MkElite that’s…

Here’s Your Newest League Of Legends Champion

His name’s Ekko. He’s new. Be nice.

Real Soccer Players Turn Into Walking FIFA Glitches

This should have been a regular game of indoor football, only everyone (even the ref) is wearing a set of VR goggles, replacing their normal vision with a top-down view of the pitch. Essentially, they’re playing themselves in a game of FIFA. The worst game of FIFA the world has ever seen.

StarCraft II Mod Turns Game Into Tactical RPG

StarCraft 2 is, most days of the week, a real-time strategy game. Thanks to this mod by greythepirate, though, it can also be a turn-based tactical RPG. You can download it here

Newt Gingrich Wearing Oculus Rift Looks Like A Caption Contest

So go on, have at it. (Pics via Mashable)

Stormtroopers Have No Idea What They’re Doing

Dude second-from-left is just “haha what is going on”. This piece is by Martin Parker, who is a freelance artist based in the UK. You can see more of Martin’s work at his personal siteand ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save…

The Nightly Show Is Wrong About Final Fantasy

On the May 5 episode of the Nightly Show, there was a gag where a phony set of terms and conditions for agreeing to watch the program were flashed on-screen. If you saw it live you’d have only seen it race flash by, but pausing reveals a politically-charged throwdown. For anyone who can’t read the…

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood: The Kotaku Review

Wolfenstein: The New Order showed you could take an old style of game and make it feel new. Its new expansion, The Old Blood, simply feels old. I loved last fall’s The New Order. A lot of people did. It was a seemingly old-fashioned type of shooter that ended up being one of the surprise…