Nathan Grayson

Track: Burn It | Artist: Fever 333 | Album: Strength In Numb333rs  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Overwatch League Team Slogan ‘Texas Hard’ Deflated by Boner Jokes

At the end of January, Overwatch League team the Houston Outlaws revealed their season two roster and, with it, a new slogan: “#TexasHard.” They hoped fans would wield this hashtag with sincerity and heart, evidently having forgotten that they were on the internet, where that has literally never happened. Today, they changed it. The top…

Apex Legends Might Have Killed Sea Of Thieves‘ Twitch Momentum

At the end of January, Sea of Thieves seemed to be on the cusp of pulling off one heck of a trick: joining Twitch’s upper echelon after nearly a year of relative irrelevance. Popular streamers were piling onto the newly-refurbished ship’s deck, curious to see if it could provide a viable alternative to Fortnite, which…

The Internet Reacts To Bowser Taking Over Nintendo

After 15 years, the man, myth, and infinitely meme-able legend Reggie Fils-Aime has finally kicked enough ass and taken enough names. He’s being succeeded as president of Nintendo of America by a man with the greatest name of all: Doug Bowser. Never before have the jokes so readily written themselves. Within seconds of the announcement,…

Jack Black Is Sorry, Not Sorry About His YouTube Gaming Videos

“No gaming videos this week,” Jack Black said apologetically at the start of his latest video on his gaming channel on YouTube. And also the one before that. And the one before that. And, well, you get the idea. Back in December, Jack Black and his beard launched aYouTube channel called Jablinski Games. This was…

Metro Exodus: The Kotaku Review

I take my anxious first steps into a desolate post-winter wasteland. All around me, I hear mutants scratching and snarling. One sights me. Three more follow. I rise to fire my rifle. It jams. I feel frightened, vulnerable, out of sorts. But also, at home, like I’ve stumbled into a lucid dream shared by Far…

Overwatch League’s Season Two Debut Was Exciting Despite An Unpopular Meta

Standing in the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California for Overwatch League season two’s debut, I heard some of the biggest cheers of the night when, after a long evening of matches, Shanghai Dragons and Hangzhou Spark flipped the script. Tank-and-healer-heavy compositions had formed the core of every other match, but in this one, Reaper, Sombra,…

30 Hours With Metro Exodus

Before starting Metro Exodus, I replayed the entirety of its predecessor, cult hit post-apocalyptic shooter Metro: Last Light. Exodus’ first hour felt like it could’ve been part of that game. I skulked around in train tunnels, got chomped on by mutants, and listened to underground denizens chatter endlessly about their sad, sunless lives. Then, the…

Symmetra Makes Her First Real Appearance Ever In Overwatch League

It finally happened. After an entire season in which Overwatch’s oft-abused queen of holograms was relegated to troll pick (and immediate switch) status, an OWL player finally played Symmetra for real tonight at the league’s second season debut. It was the second map of Los Angeles Gladiators’ match against Seoul Dynasty. LA had taken the…

Twitch Streamer’s Perfect Run Of All Soulsborne Games Fails When He Tries To Kill 69 Bosses

The_Happy_Hob is no ordinary Twitch streamer. In 2016, he pulled off the first no-hit run of Dark Souls, stunning even series director Hidetaka Miyazaki. Last year, he one-upped himself by completing the whole series without getting hit. Now he’s added Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne to his marathon gauntlet. But recently, he 86-ed himself in pursuit…

The Big Stories To Follow For Overwatch League Season Two

Tomorrow, after several cold, OWL-less months, Overwatch League season two kicks off. The first season had its ups and downs, fittingly ending on a simultaneously high and low note with a blockbuster grand finals match in New York that ended up being a one-sided blowout. Since then, a lot has changed, leading to questions about…

Astral Chain Is A New Switch Action Game From Platinum Games

During today’s Nintendo Direct, Bayonetta, Nier Automata, and Vanquish developer Platinum Games debuted its latest Switch game: a mecha-powered cyberpunk action game called Astral Chain The trailer depicts stylish anime police battling monsters alongside mecha partners and pulling up what seem to be predictive holographic interfaces to see what’ll happen to people and environments around…

Tetris is the latest series to become a battle royale. Yes, that Tetris. Tetris 99, which Nintendo just announced is available on Switch right now, is a 99-player version of the uber classic. Last person standing—or I guess stacking—wins.

Overwatch League’s Once-Dominant Team Opens Up About Their Season One Failings

New York Excelsior’s first season in the Overwatch League ended with more questions than answers, most of them boiling down to some variation on “What happened?” The answer to that question depends on who you talk to. Two members chalk it up to the choppy waters of a shifting meta, but to hear another tell…

Astroneer Makes Outer Space Survival Relaxing

The worst problems are often ones we make for ourselves. For instance, while wandering Astroneer’s idyllic starter planet, I found a hole. Its alluring darkness contrasted the planet’s candy swirl aesthetic so perfectly that I couldn’t resist. I gently edged my way down one of its walls. Then I started sliding. Then I kept sliding.…

World Of Warcraft Guild Beats Newest Raid Boss Before Anyone Else, Twice

Earlier this week, top World of Warcraft guild Method defeated the Mythic difficulty version of the game’s newest raid boss, Jaina Proudmoore, who became available to fight on January 29. Yes, the Jaina Proudmoore, an Alliance leader you’re probably familiar with even if you haven’t touched Warcraft since it became an MMO. It took Method…

Kid-Friendly Twitch Streams Aim To Be The New Saturday Morning Cartoons

Since practically the dawn of consumer television, Saturday mornings have meant sitting down in front of the TV with a soggy bowl of sugary cereal and watching cartoons. But in the age of multiple 24-7 kid-focused cable channels, the Saturday morning cartoon is now a relic of the past. Now, a pair of Twitch channels…

Apex Legends Has A Cute Overwatch Tribute

Like Overwatch, Apex Legends, the new hero-based battle royale game from the creators of Titanfall, contains a playable character who’s a bipedal robot with a heart of gold. He’s also got a bird friend, although I’m not sure how friendly they are. Reddit user Arzamar discovered that Apex Legends has an in-game banner pose that’s…

Player Hacks Overwatch To Play In-Game Piano With A Real Piano

You’ve probably heard by now that Overwatch’s new Paris map has a fully playable piano. You might have even heard somebody play “All Star” by Smash Mouth on it, because that song—a shimmering monument to the idea of unearned confidence—will outlive us all. Now, one player has taken things a step further. Overwatch fan Zbnone…

A Totally Accurate Game About Being A Tree

How To Be A Tree is a game about being a regular, dumb old tree. You’ve got leaves, a trunk, branches—all that jazz. It has 16 endings. And only one of them involves standing still for literally the entire game. I’ve been waiting five years for How To Be A Tree. Now it’s out on…