Maddy Myers

So There’s Trash Talk And Then There’s Casual Bigotry

How far is too far when it comes to gaming trash talk? And how do you go about confronting a friend, or a stranger, for some seriously uncool comments in chat? On this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, we brought in Kotaku senior reporter and trash talk aficionado Cecilia D’Anastasio to discuss gaming etiquette. First,…

It’s Awkward When Madden NFL 20 Characters Avoid Saying My Player’s Name

Madden 20’s new Face of the Franchise single-player mode lets you create a custom character and give them whatever name you want. I named my custom quarterback Madden Myers, because my actual name is Maddy Myers, and that’s the type of thing that I find funny. It was great to hear the in-game NFL commentators…

Madden NFL 20’s Replacement For Story Mode Falls Short

For the past two years, Madden games have included story modes about a fictional up-and-coming NFL quarterback named Devin Wade. In Madden 20, you can still play a single-player story about a would-be quarterback, but this time you design him yourself, from his facial features to his strengths on the field. It’s a fun mode…

When Your Frustration At A Game Makes You Even Worse

Video games can be frustrating. Sometimes, that frustration can overpower your ability to play them well. There’s a term for that: In those moments, you’re “tilted.” On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we had Kotaku’s newest staff writer Joshua Rivera join us to discuss the ways that games have tilted us and how we deal with…

I Braved A Heat Wave For A Desolate Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Event

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite had its first Community Day this past Saturday. There was a heat wave in my area, but I headed out to play the game anyway. Ever since Wizards Unite came out, I haven’t run into anybody else playing it, and I figured the Community Day would be the chance to finally…

Permadeath Doesn’t Matter If You Have Enough Save Files

From XCOM to Fire Emblem, it feels bad to watch your team die in a tactical game. It’s way better to save a million times so that you can re-do part of a battle to keep everyone alive. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, Kirk and I brought on Gita Jackson to talk about Fire Emblem:…

I Love Games About Bluffing (Or Do I?)

I love games that involve bluffing, even though I can never tell when any of my friends are lying. This past weekend, my poker night buddies and I played a tabletop game called Skull, which involves bluffing. I didn’t win, perhaps because I have too much faith in my friends. The apocryphal origin story of…

The Nintendo Switch Lite Has Sealed The 3DS’s Coffin

Remember the Nintendo 3DS? Enjoy that while you can, because after the Nintendo Switch Lite comes out, the 3DS will be erased from all of our collective memories. Okay, not really, but the Switch Lite does look nifty. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we talk about playing Switch games while lying in a hammock and…

Good Luck Stopping Students From Playing Stadia Games In Class

If Google Stadia games work as advertised, it’ll become all too easy for students everywhere to play video games on their school-issue laptops instead of listening to their teachers’ lectures. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we answer questions from listeners, including one from a high school teacher about how much of a pain Stadia will…

The Division 2 team has now confirmed that killing animals is not supposed to yield special ammunition; it’s “a bug that [they] are actively working on a fix for.” But, until then: animals of The Division 2, watch out!

Street Fighter‘s Queer Stereotypes Kept Me In The Closet

Last year during Pride month, I wrote about my own queer reading of the Street Fighter V tutorial, which features Ken and Ryu fighting and, in my opinion, flirting. In the year since then, I’ve been thinking about the character Juri in Street Fighter, who is the closest the games get to having a canonical…

Week In Games: Let’s Go Make Another Mario

Perhaps the best-known game coming out this week is Super Mario Maker 2, a sequel much anticipated by many of us here at Kotaku, not to mention Mario fans everywhere. But that’s not the only cool game on the docket this week. There’s a Switch port of the original Devil May Cry, plus the 2019…

Sunday Comics: You Look… Different.

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published June 17. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published June 20. Read more of Corpse Run Clueless Hero by…

I’m The Only Person Playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite In My Area

The first week that Pokémon Go came out, it was all my friends wanted to do or talk about, and we weren’t the only ones. Whenever I went on a jog around my neighborhood, I’d run into people of all ages and backgrounds at every PokéStop and gym on my journey. I expected the same…

Final Fantasy VII Remake, Avengers, And Other Promising (And Confusing) Games We Saw At E3

E3 2019 brought us demos and details about games we can’t wait to play, like Link’s Awakening and the Final Fantasy VII remake, but it also threw us some real head-scratchers, like that upcoming Avengers game. On this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, we ran down all the coolest and most befuddling games that we…

Astral Chain Director Says It Actually Can Be Two-Player, But It Makes The Game Harder

Platinum Games’ upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive, Astral Chain, involves controlling two characters at the same time during combat. The game is not necessarily designed to be played by two people at once, but according to Astral Chain director Takahisa Taura, there is a way to do it that he described as both “challenging” and “really…

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Gets The Anime Right, Down To The Unbalanced Showdowns

In the original Dragon Ball Z anime, fights are not balanced. Goku and his pals often end up in situations where they are outmatched by a far stronger and more experienced opponent. The series has had frequent fighting game adaptations, most recently Dragon Ball FighterZ, in which all of the characters must be balanced for…

Personality Has Become A Vital Esports Skill

Esports commentator and host Alex “Golden Boy” Mendez started out hosting Call of Duty tournaments in hotel ballrooms in 2011 and covering esports for websites like Kotaku. Now, he hosts esports events in stadiums for thousands, as well as esports matches for TV broadcasts. On this bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, I interviewed Mendez on the…

Something Feels Off About The Avengers Gameplay Demo

Crystal Dynamics’ take on Avengers looks like a slightly skewed version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—just similar enough to pique your interest, but just different enough to make you feel itchy. Five of the most film-famous Avengers star in a 25-minute gameplay demo that Kotaku saw behind closed doors at E3: Thor, Iron Man, Captain…

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Brings The Satisfying Superhero Lineup

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order marks the first time Nintendo is publishing a game in this series, and the company has tapped Team Ninja to develop it. I and several of my Kotaku coworkers swung by the Nintendo booth at E3 to check out how the game plays. I found it to be…