Stephen Totilo

Google Unveils Gaming Platform Stadia, A Competitor To Xbox, PlayStation And PC

Tech giant Google is getting into gaming in a big way with a direct challenge to the giants of console and PC gaming. It’s called Stadia. Former Sony and Xbox executive and current Google gaming boss Phil Harrison detailed the platform today at an event in San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference, saying it…

You can watch Google’s gaming keynote livestream here. We’re expecting a game-streaming service that requires no console and will give people quick access to games of all sorts, including the high-end experiences you’d normally need a console or PC to play. More soon.

Our own Jason Schreier and Maddy Myers are snapping photos as they take their seats at Google’s gaming event that kicks off at 1pm ET in San Francisco. (We have a good senseof the game-streaming platform that’ll be revealed.) The event will be livestreamed and we’ll have full coverage on Kotaku, too.

Yesterday evening’s patch issued to fix The Division 2‘s gadget/skills cooldown bug seems to have been effective. Issues I’d run into with my drones suddenly disappearing and going into cooldown didn’t repeat last night as I played for a few hours. I’ve heard from other players also reporting that the old problems are gone. Ubisoft…

With Sony skipping E3, maybe it’s news when a company isn’t? Bethesda just announced it’ll be holding its E3 press conference at 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET on Sunday, June 9. They probably won’t invite us again, but we’ll all be able to watch the event’s livestream. What do you hope they’ll show?

I’m Trying Not To Panic About A Bug In The Division 2 [Update 3: Fixed?]

The Division 2 is mostly very good, but a bug that the developers acknowledged on Saturday has me scrambling through my checklist of what to do when a game isn’t working right. The bug involves in-game skills, which are special attacks tied to gadgets such as drones and seeker mines that players use throughout the…

22 Hours In And The Division 2 Is Excellent So Far 

It’s fun. It’s huge. And it’s extremely player-friendly, except for the fact that some of its on-screen text is microscopic. I’m 22 hours into The Division 2 and am pleased and impressed. Ubisoft’s newest mega-game sequel officially launches today, though it’s actually been out since Tuesday for those who bought the $100 version. It’s another…

We know that the newest U.S. presidents in The Division 2 are fictional, but a close look at an in-game museum exhibit about past presidents shows we don’t even know if Reagan succeeded Carter. Mysteries! We’ll have impressions of how the game actually plays tomorrow. So far, so good.

The upcoming remastered version of Assassin’s Creed III will add more stealth mechanics, including hiding in bushes, whistling to attract enemies and double assassinations. Ubisoft details a few more of the remaster’s gameplay changes in its March update for the AC series.

The Division 2 Rewards Players If They Dance Together Or Do Other Nice Things

Ubisoft’s newest mega-game, The Division 2, gives players points and virtual patches for 125 tracked activities, some of them expected, some of them not, and some of them seemingly designed to encourage positive behaviors in multiplayer. That’s always a nice thing. The activities are listed in the game’s Commendations menu and give players many feats…

Here’s a great respawn animation from Xbox One/PC game Sunset Overdrive. Why show a clip of it now? I found it in my collection of captured footage while looking up clips from The Division, and it’s too fun not to share. What a fun game.

The Best Stories Hidden In The Division

The Division 2 launches this week, and I can’t wait to hear its audio logs. I mean, sure, the rest of the game might be good, but did you know that the first Division had some great audio logs? The serious, politically fraught main story of Tom Clancy’s The Division is the only narrative element…

The Division 2 is shaping up to be another game with a massive file size, at least on PS4. Ubisoft is giving potential players a heads up that it’ll be 90-100GB on PS4, though just 48-52GB on Xbox One and PC. (Those buying any version on disc will have a 48-52GB download.)

Why Kirby Doesn’t Swallow Enemies In Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Nintendo’s omnipresent Kirby character almost always inhales his enemies. He did it in his first game, Kirby’s Dream Land. He did it in his Switch debut, Kirby Star Allies. He does it in Smash Bros. He just doesn’t do it in Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the 2010 Wii game remade and released today as Kirby’s Extra…

My Favorite Thing About Far Cry New Dawn Is Seeing How Far Cry 5‘s Locations Changed

I’m a sucker for a game series that lets me revisit a place I’ve explored in an earlier game. I loved it when I played Super Metroid, and I’m having a great time with it now in the new Far Cry. I’m not talking about old levels being recreated in new games. I’m talking about…

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Bloodline Expansion Is A Solid End To A Divisive Saga

As I battled the final boss in the new and final chapter of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s first big episodic expansion, a chapter that happens to be all about parenting, I heard my two-year-old daughter cry out for me and her mom. It was half past midnight. She was down the hallway, three rooms away, wide…

Ubisoft Slightly Changes Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Controversial DLC Relationship

The surprise at the end of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s second downloadable episode still happens, but the developers have tweaked the path to getting there. As best we can tell, Ubisoft has trimmed one cutscene and changed two dialogue choices. The changes are relatively minor but may become a major case study in the ongoing debate…

The makers of The Division 2 are implementing a ton of changes for the game’s March 1 open beta. The list of updates covers many issues raised during the generally good private beta, including making enemies in the included endgame mission weaker. They’re also limiting the private beta’s ubiquitous request for backup audio pings to…

Ubisoft Renames Controversial Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Trophy

As promised, Ubisoft has begun making changes to a recent expansion to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey that upset many players and led to an apology from the developers. The first of those changes appears to be in the process of rolling out, as PS4 players can now see a new name for the trophy that they…

Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime’s Long Career… Being Asked About Mother 3

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime announced last week that he is retiring in order to spend time with his family and friends, but it is entirely possible he just got tired of answering questions about Mother 3. In 2006, Mother 3, the long-awaited sequel to Nintendo’s cult classic RPG EarthBound, was released on the…