Stephen Totilo

Here Are My Best Mad Max Screenshots. Show Us Yours.

Someone smart recently told me that every video game should have a photo mode. Now that I’ve finally become obsessed with one, I agree. I can’t stop taking screenshots in the new Mad Max game. And that was before I even discovered the filters. Here are my best shots so far: Clearly I am a…

Mad Max‘s High-Level Jacket Should Look Cooler Than This [Update: There’s A Hidden, Better Jacket!]

In a world filled with uncertainty we are able to cling to few sure things. One rock we can grasp to pull us through our days is the expectation that the more advanced clothing and armor that we obtain for our video game heroes will look more impressive than their starter gear. If only this…

What To Make Of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, One Month Out

Less than a month from release, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is likely to be judged as much on its own merits as on how well its publisher listened to fan discontent about the flagship series and what it’s been willing to change. Companion apps are out. Platform-exclusive DLC is back. The overall plan for the…

My Five Favorite Kotaku Stories From Last Week

Marvel Comics used to have Assistant Editors’ Month, and last week, for reasons planned and unplanned, Kotaku had its version of the same. The top two editors of the site were out, but the rest of the team more than compensated with perhaps the strongest week of stories for September. It was hard for me…

Two sights that sum up the like-it-or-dislike-it Mad Max, both captured on my PS4, one macabre and one magnificent. First is up top. Second is below:

My Five Favorite Kotaku Stories From Last Week

Tokyo Game Show and The Taken King dominated our coverage last week, but what were our best stories? I have some thoughts on that: The Biggest Game in Japan You’ve Probably Never Heard Of | Toshi explains why Granblue Fantasy had as big a booth at Tokyo Game Show as all of PlayStation. Just one…

Our friends at Kotaku UK have written a colorful chronicle of the exploits of anti-violent-gaming crusader Jack Thompson. Well worth a read.

New League of Legends Champion ‘Kindred’ Announced While Yannick LeJacq Is On Vacation

In a dastardly stroke, Riot Games has announced the newest champion for League of Legends during our top MOBA-writer’s week-long break. We at Kotaku are now reconsidering our vacation policies. The new champion is called Kindred: The Eternal Hunters and is described by Riot as “a marksman designed for a life in the jungle.” Here’s…

Legendary emote!

Some Inside Baseball For Nintendo Fans As EAD Transforms

Nintendo’s vaunted internal game development groups are merging as part of a structural changes at the house of Mario, changes that we’d be lying if we said we fully understood. But, hey, who doesn’t like staring at a revised org chart and trying to deduce gaming’s future in the process? The change at the top…

The Hottest New Star Wars Game Is A Dull Diablo Clone

Star Wars Uprising, the new Diablo clone sitting atop the iTunes charts, could more appropriately be titled Star Wars: Uninspiring. The game is competent. That’s about it. Check out the video to see it in action. As with many so-called free mobile games, you get what you pay for. In this case, you get a…

My Five Favorite Kotaku Stories From Last Week

The most popular story we ran last week was the announcement of Pokémon Go. Quite the surprise. But what else stood out last week? Here are my favorite Kotaku stories from the past seven days: The Real Story Behind Metal Gear Solid V’s Awesome Balloons – Luke teaching history. Seven Reasons I Actually Love Mad…

Good Pokémon GO Joke, Square Enix Montreal

Here’s a cheeky tweet from the makers of Lara Croft GO, a very good mobile game and successor to Hitman GO. Those games both come from Square Enix Montreal and now share a suffix with the upcoming and completely unrelated mobile game Pokémon GO from Niantic, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. The Square folks don’t…

The veteran designer behind 2013’s Takedown is making a new tactical shooter, Epsilon with fellow genre vets. Key PR quote:“Epsilon focuses on pre-planning, tactics, and gadgets over linear cinematic shoot-em up gameplay, and community involvement is a key goal of our studio.” Coming to PC, Steam early access. More here

Three Gamers Who Can Do The Near-Impossible

A gamer who has to play his video games with one hand. Another who can win a fighting game with her eyes closed. And one more who can clear lines of Tetris using invisible pieces. Welcome to the first episode of Kotaku Compete: Uncanny Players. The gamers you’ll meet in today’s premiere aren’t letting anything…

This Is An Intervention

Kotaku friends. Our good buddy Jason Schreier cannot resist the allure of a shiny new special edition Hyrule 3DS, which may have just become available for pre-order. We must help him resist. He already has a Zelda 3DS. He does not need this new one. Please talk some sense into him. Thank you.

YouTube’s Top 10 ‘Trending’ Games For August

The hottest game on YouTube last month was… the PS4 horror adventure Until Dawn. That’s according to the video giant’s monthly list of top 10 trending games. The full list follows. And remember, YouTube defines “trending” as a combination of number of video uploads and watchtime. The games don’t need to be released yet. They…

WWE Star Plays Final Fantasy Victory Theme Twice During Monday Night Raw

Xavier Woods, leader of the endlessly entertaining WWE tag team act The New Day, added two Final Fantasy Easter Eggs to last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw. He played the series’ signature victory fanfare on a trombone during a backstage segment and then, awesomely, during the main event while his partner was fighting John…

My Five Favorite Kotaku Stories From Last Week

It’s Labor Day in the U.S., and I shouldn’t be working. But it’s also Monday, and Monday is when I highlight my favorite Kotaku posts from the previous week. In brief: Don’t. Preorder. Video. Games. | Luke with a new version of a perennial Kotaku post. No one does minimalist posts like Luke, as you’ll…

Take A Break From Metal Gear And Play Nova-111

Have you heard of Nova-111? I barely had, but now I must show it to you. It’s a wonderful surprise of a video game. It’s partially turn-based, partially real-time. It’s action mixed with puzzles. Its on Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Vita, PC and Mac and is coming to Wii U. It just came out. It’s…