Patricia Hernandez

Do you play lots of Ark: Survival Evolved, Diablo, Call of Duty, Eve Online, or World of Tanks? We’re looking for freelance story pitches on any of these games. Email me your ideas, along with writing clips, over at [email protected]. And yes, these are paid opportunities.

Pewdiepie’s Shock Humor Is Par For The Course On YouTube

While Pewdiepie makes headlines over a “death to all Jews” stunt that backfired, the kicker is that such antics are not an anomaly on YouTube. The open secret that everyone knows but nobody really talks about: many of YouTube’s popular nerdy figures are ‘offensive’ in an attempt to push back on a world they believe…

Pokémon Go Update Will Finally Add 80 New Monsters From Gold and Silver Later This Week

After months of fan begging, Niantic will finally pull through and add real content to Pokémon Go. A Pokémon Go update slated for sometime this week will allow players to collect dozens more creatures from the Johto compendium. Once added, the new monsters will found just like other monsters within the game—by going out there…

YouTube Cancels Pewdiepie’s Show, Removes Him From Premium Advertising

A month after YouTube’s biggest star uploaded a video containing the phrase “Death To All Jews,” the service that once hosted that very content is distancing itself a bit from Felix Kjellberg. Variety reportsthat YouTube has cancelled the second season of Scare Pewdiepie, the premium $10-a-month show that sought to scare Kjellberg IRL in elaborate,…

Someone Created A Pokémon Red and Blue ‘Virus’, And It’s Wild

It’s been over twenty years since the release of the original Red and Blue, but people are still messing around with the games to discover new glitches and exploits. It’s incredible. Last week, we told you about a recent Red and Blue exploit that allows you to delete your opponent’s save files just by playing…

For Its Three Year Anniversary, Twitch Plays Pokémon Gets Its Most Ridiculous Game Yet

Has it really been three years since the internet collectively tried using Twitch chat to control a single Pokémon game? Time flies. Even more absurd: Twitch Plays Pokémon is still going, and the latest iteration may be the best one yet. Right now, Twitch Plays Pokémon (TPP) is running a modified version of Pokémon Yellow,…

Grandfather Shares How Destiny Helped Save His Life

Sometimes, Twitch streamer lucent_beam decides to take on what she calls ‘The Tower Challenge,’ a game where she picks a low-level Destiny player to help out. After some research, the plan unfolds with a message. “The reality is that a lot of people won’t respond to a random message from someone in the Tower, thus…

Some Fans Already Want To Bang Mass Effect: Andromeda’s New Alien 

We don’t know much about the Angara, Mass Effect’s new alien race. That’s OK, though. Some fans are already  getting flustered just thinking about having someone new to smooch. That someone is an Angaran called Jaal, pictured above. As Eurogamer has noted, Jaal’s already got a clubhouse going on, fan art and everything. Really, it…

Link’s Full Name Is ‘Link Link,’ Miyamoto Says

Did you know that Mario’s last name is also Mario? He’s not alone. Apparently, it’s an ongoing gag spanning multiple games over at Nintendo HQ, where they jokingly give characters silly full names. Game Informer recently sat down with game developer legend Shigeru Miyamoto and Breath of the Wild producer Eiji Aonuma to ask 51…

New Pokémon Red and Blue Exploit Lets Players Delete Opponents’ Save File

“I battled a Mew and it deleted my save file” almost sounds like a creepypasta and yet, it is completely real. Welcome to the wild world of Pokémon Red and Blue glitches, where terrifying corruptions are possible. For years now, hardcore players have known about the “Cooltrainer” glitch, an exploit that is “meant to represent the…

Fire Emblem Heroes Is A Horny Casino

I’ve been playing Nintendo’s latest free mobile game, Fire Emblem Heroes, for the last few days, and I’m struck by how subtly sexual it is. Take Niles the archer, for example. His description alone is fucky: If you rub Niles, he’ll say stuff like “Yours until I break, master,” and “Now now, be gentle.” It’s…

Sombra Player Proves Haters Wrong About Competitive Overwatch

“We don’t expect Sombra to ever be a vicious assassin,” Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan once said. Players seem to agree: Sombra is not typically understood to be a competitively ‘viable’ character. One player took that notion as a challenge, and the result is beautiful. Watch as Bunsen gets bullied and harassed for picking Sombra in…

Tips For Playing Fire Emblem Heroes

Fire Emblem Heroes isn’t a difficult game, but it is confusing to navigate and understand, especially if you’ve never played a game in the series before. Here are some tips and tricks to make the most out of it. If you haven’t started yet, consider rerolling This is possibly the most annoying tip on this…

Fire Emblem Heroes Fans Are Deleting And Reinstalling The Game For Better Characters

Fire Emblem Heroes, Nintendo’s free mobile strategy game, released yesterday afternoon in the U.S. Instead of actually playing the game, many are finding themselves repeating the opening sections over and over again, in the hopes of cheating the system a little. You see, Heroes is a Gacha game, meaning it is full of random potential…

Overwatch Player Fakes Everyone Out With Lucio Wall Riding Skills

Some people—most people, probably—play Capture The Flag by barreling straight into the enemy’s base, shooting down anyone that gets in the way. Lucio, however, has options. We all know that in the right hands Lucio can be a wall-riding demon, and Erez Perlman uses that to great effect on Lijiang Tower. Watch as he circumvents…

Kotaku Is Looking For A Summer Intern 

Are you an aspiring journalist interested in learning how to craft sharp, compelling stories about the intersection of video games, pop culture, and technology? You should come work alongside the Kotaku crew! Under our tutelage, you will research and report stories about the video game industry, its culture, and the fandom surrounding it. You will…

Kotaku Is Hiring A Video Team–Come Work With Us

Kotaku is putting together a video team of fresh voices with a creative spark. Could that be you? We’re looking to hire for two full-time positions: video producer, and creative producer. We want people with a strong voice. We want people who think visually, and can flex that muscle to break anything down to an…

Player Beats Shadow of Mordor Without A Nemesis

One of Shadow of Mordor’s biggest features is the “Nemesis System,” a mechanic that gradually beefs up unique Uruk rivals for the player. The more you progress, the more menacing your Nemesis becomes, and the more gratifying it is when you finally kill it. But what happens if you go out of your way to…

For The First Time In Almost 20 Years, Team Rocket Beat Ash In The Pokémon Anime

Team Rocket has had a rough career. Giovanni, their leader, doesn’t always appreciate them. They’re usually broke. And they usually lose. Well, not this time. The official Pokémon Sun and Moon anime continues to delight with its antics, and that is especially true in this week’s installment. The set-up seems run-of-the-mill: Ash and co have…

A Small Detail You Might Have Missed In Mass Effect: Andromeda’s New Trailer

Yesterday, we got to meet some of the new squadmates introduced in Mass Effect: Andromeda. One of them, pictured above, is named Cora Harper. Harper is your second-in-command on the Pathfinder mission to find a new home for humanity. “To be brief, I am a biotic, the team’s operation’s specialist in charge of ground missions,…