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CultureOdds and EndsSonic Speedrunners Go Fast, Break World Records Back-To-Back During AGDQ
The Sonic block of games is mandatory watching in my house for every Games Done Quick event and this year’s block—that took place yesterday—has already claimed GOAT status when not one but two runners achieved world records back-to-back Flying Fox’s earned the first world record for her run of 2013’s Sonic The Hedgehog Android port.…
By Ash Parrish Published January 5, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsConspiracy Theories Drive Developer To Recreate Nancy Pelosi’s Vandalized Garage In VR
After a photo of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s vandalized San Francisco home started circulating online, it didn’t take long for people to call bullshit. Was the graffiti and seeming pig’s blood really the work of outraged leftists, or an elaborate psy-op perpetuated by some right-wing group to delegitimize progressives? Who the hell knows,…
By Ethan Gach Published January 5, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsVideo Games Predict A Grim 2021
2020 was a bad year for most of us, but a surprisingly good year for video games. As we enter 2021 with the hope offered by the vaccines, and the light at the end of the tunnel just about visible, it might soon be possible to allow hope back in. Unless, it seems, video games…
By Zack Zwiezen Published January 4, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsSome Of 2020’s Nicest Screenshots
As I’ve done for the last few years, when a year comes to an end I like to look back on some very nice screenshots by one of my favourite screenshot artists, and 2020 was no different. Andy Cull’s 2020 was spent like the rest of us, playing stuff like The Last Of Us Part…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsCyberpunk 2077 Gets “Working” Third-Person Mod
There’s now a mod available that lets you play Cyberpunk 2077 in third-person on the PC—but be warned, while it works in the most basic, functional sense, it’s not something you’re going to want to be using for any real stretch of time. The mod, created by Jelle Bakker, can be downloaded here. It lets…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsCall Of Duty‘s 1980s Shopping Mall Map Gets The Little Details Right
Maybe it’s the 2020 pandemic blues, but I can’t get enough of Black Ops Cold War’s retro shopping mall map. “The Pines” is a standard 6v6 multiplayer map that was added earlier this month with the launch of Cold War’s Season One. It’s a New Jersey-based mall filled with retail flashbacks. I’ve gotten so distracted…
By S.E. Doster Published December 28, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsSuper Mario Sunshine Mod Turns Every NPC Into A Chuckster
Indie game developer Bread released a very special Super Mario Sunshine mod over the holidays that makes every NPC in the game able to heave Mario over their heads with no regard for his safety. What a great gift! This ability is lifted from the Chucksters, a group of throw-happy Piantas who form the crux…
By Ian Walker Published December 28, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsI Went On Vacation And Ended Up In A Video Game
On a trip to a state park, I’m pretty sure my partner, my dog, and I stumbled into a video game. My own personal isekai Last weekend, my partner Travis and I took my dog and traveled three hours south to the Hocking Hills area of Ohio, where we stayed in a rented cabin for…
By Ash Parrish Published December 25, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsHappy Holidays, Everyone
Here’s a 12-hour, 4K yule log in the style of Hades, courtesy of Supergiant Games: Happy holidays.
Kotaku Staff Published December 23, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsYou Can (Carefully) Pet The Zombie Dogs In Black Ops Cold War
I love when games give me the option to pet dogs, and surprisingly, you can pet the Plaguehounds in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode. But unless you use a specific weapon effect, you’d never even know you had the option to pet them. Die Maschine’s Plaguehounds are special round-based enemies that…
By S.E. Doster Published December 22, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsMarvel vs. Capcom 2‘s Iron Man Infinite Combo Makes For A Great Beat
Musician Akito Bass recently shared a great video showing how the iconic Iron Man infinite in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 can be used as the foundation for a catchy track. A big part of learning even basic fighting game combos is getting the rhythm down. You don’t always need to count frames or learn concepts…
By Ian Walker Published December 22, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsCyberpunk 1997
Wake the fuck up, Samurai. We have a city to burn. An original PlayStation-era city, courtesy of game developer Anders Lundbjörk’s completely accurate demake of Cyberpunk 2077. We’ve already seen a PS1 demake of Cyberpunk 2077 made in Dreams, but that one was too clean, too sharp, and too functional. I prefer Lundbjörk’s vision of…
By Mike Fahey Published December 22, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsFIFA 21 Has Some Good Looking Hair
I don’t play sports games. I don’t even watch sports. But I’m always impressed by some good looking, next-gen hair. And the latest FIFA game on next-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X has some damn fine hair. I know nothing about soccer games, so it’s possible FIFA 21 is a terrible game filled with…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 20, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsA Strange Game That Lets You Create A Digital Art Gallery About Anything
Art galleries can be cool. But they are hard to create, so we don’t get as many galleries as we deserve. For example? Where are the galleries and museums for things like broken extension cords? Or people like Keanu Reeves? Well, thankfully, with The Anything Gallery, you can create a gallery about whatever you want.…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 20, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsThe United States Space Force Is Basically Setting Up Destiny
Earlier today, United States vice president Mike Pence announced that the members of the Space Force—a big dumb vanity project by the big wet toddler currently living in the White House—will be called “Guardians,” much like the player characters of the Destiny franchise. Bungie CEO Pete Parsons obviously got a kick out of that. I…
By Ian Walker Published December 18, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsYoshitaka Amano’s Harley Quinn Cover Is So Good I’m Gonna Cry
Stephanie Phillips, writer on DC Comics’ upcoming Harley Quinn comic series, recently shared an excellent variant cover from the first issue, provided by none other than legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano. I’m not much of a comic reader these days but, damn, if this isn’t a tempting reason to get back into them. Amano…
By Ian Walker Published December 18, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsCyberpunk 2077 On Ultra Low Settings Looks Like Pixel Hell
Continuing the fine work he’s done on previous games like The Witcher 3, the LowSpecGamer has picked up Cyberpunk, dropped all the settings to low and then gone further, poking around in the game’s code to turn one of the year’s most visually demanding titles into a blurry shitstain. His stated goal is to see…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsModified Cartridge Gets Ray Tracing Working On A Super Nintendo
Ray tracing, currently the big thing in video game visuals, is a perk for those running bleeding edge hardware on PC or next-gen consoles. Or, conversely, anyone who owns a SNES. This demo for SuperRT shows real-time ray tracing running on a Super Nintendo—a console first released in 1991—thanks to the use of a modified…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 15, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsDestiny 2’s Latest Quest References A Moment Cut From The First Game
Destiny 2’s new exotic quest for an old Destiny 1 gun makes reference to an alternate version of one of that game’s main characters only seen in an E3 2013 trailer, breathing a little life back into a story that never made it into the finished game. Hawkmoon is a small, agile exotic hand cannon…
By Ethan Gach Published December 15, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsFour Generations Of Xbox Consoles Can Play The Same Game Together
When we think of backwards compatibility we tend to only think of a game from an older system running on its replacement. But as this video shows, in the right circumstances, a console released in 2001 can play the same game at the same time as one released in 2020, as well as the two…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 14, 2020