Culture

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for no more E3. The hype demons have been placated for another year. We did it, everyone. I recently started taking kickboxing classes, which are really intimidating and fun! (I also may or may not have tweaked a muscle in my leg shouting “Press conferences!” and kicking a bag way too hard…

25 Years Ago, The Super Game Boy Reinvented Donkey Kong

25 years ago, Nintendo released the Super Game Boy, allowing the Super Nintendo to play an expansive library of Game Boy titles. Beyond letting gamers play years of portable classics on their televisions, the Super Game Boy housed extra functionality that would enable certain games to achieve a level of presentation that the original Game…

Sayonara Wild Hearts Is A Dream Pop Collection Of Games

Sayonara Wild Hearts may have stolen my heart during E3. The levels in the demo I played were a collection of different modes all zooming through different on-rails levels that ranged from endless runners to fighting rhythm games. I can’t stop thinking about it. The game is a trip through vibrant, neon-lit worlds where the…

Elite Wrestler Kenny Omega Loves Mother 3 And Talks Business Over Apex Legends

It’s not surprising these days to hear that pro wrestlers are into video games, but Kenny Omega, currently one of the world’s best performers in the ring, probably can claim that he’s into them even more than most. Not many others can hold court about Mother 3 or are in a position to recruit talent…

Look At This Extremely Nice Video Game Latrine

While playing State of Decay 2‘s new Heartland expansion—a game I find interesting, even if I don’t particularly enjoy it—I noticed something during one of several trips to my local frenemies the Wilkersons in the northern region of Trumbull Valley. It’s a latrine. An extremely considered, well-designed latrine. Just look at it! It’s hard to…

CD Projekt Red Boss Again Promises That Cyberpunk Devs Won’t Have To Crunch

Following an impressive showcase from Cyberpunk 2077 this week at E3 in Los Angeles, CD Projekt Red boss Marcin Iwiński joined Kotaku Splitscreen to talk about crunch, recent controversy over transgender issues, and whether GOG is in trouble. A few weeks ago, CD Projekt Red had reached out to talk about their “non-mandatory” crunch policies…

The Outer Worlds E3 Demo Featured Flexible Combat And Strategic Lying

This week, my colleague Jason Schreier and I had a chance to sit in on a demo for The Outer Worlds, the newest game from Obsidian Entertainment. Outer Worlds is a first-person role-playing game where you find yourself stranded on a distant planet fighting against a giant megacorporation. I get the feeling this might be…

Personality Has Become A Vital Esports Skill

Esports commentator and host Alex “Golden Boy” Mendez started out hosting Call of Duty tournaments in hotel ballrooms in 2011 and covering esports for websites like Kotaku. Now, he hosts esports events in stadiums for thousands, as well as esports matches for TV broadcasts. On this bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, I interviewed Mendez on the…

Track: I Remember Nothing (Reimagined Video) | Artist: Joy Division | Album: Unknown Pleasures Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

The Best Sandwiches Japan Has To Offer

Some Japanese sandwiches are terrible. Others are okay or even very good. However, these Japanese sandwiches are world-class. Go into your typical Japanese supermarket, and there simply isn’t a wide variety of bread, sliced cheese, meats and condiments. Department stores and fancy groceries are bound to have more variety, but your typical Japanese supermarket doesn’t…

Matsumoto Castle. Matsumoto, Japan. By ShuYung Wu. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Piece Of Junk

Ismail Inceoglu is a concept artist and illustrator from Bulgaria. You can see more of Ismail’s work at his ArtStation page

Square Enix Doesn’t Know Where Some Of Its Old Games Are

Square Enix, one of the largest video game publishers on the planet, is interested in getting its entire back catalogue of games together so it can sell/stream them to you online. But there’s just this one tiny problem: some of the older games are missing. In an interview with Game Informer this week at E3,…

How Is The Original Contra Still So Got Damn Good

Contra Anniversary Collection surprise launched earlier this week, and with it came the first official rerelease of the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Contra in a long while. And I have to ask: How is it that this game is still so freaking good? I try my best to not wear my rose-colored glasses when…

Valve’s Auto Chess Game Is Called Dota Underlords, Open Beta Next Week

A few weeks ago, Valve announced that it’d be making its own version of the massively popular Dota 2 mod Auto Chess. Today, it revealed that it’s called Dota Underlords, and it’ll go into open beta in “approximately” one week. And if you’ve purchased the Dota 2 International Battle Pass, you can already start playing…

The Witcher 3 On Switch Runs 720p Docked, 540p Handheld

The Witcher 3 getting a Switch port is excellent news, as long as players are prepared for a version of the game that looks nowhere near as good as its console and PC cousins. Tweeted on Tuesday and confirmed to Kotaku by CD Projekt Red today, the Switch version of Geralt’s adventure runs a step…

A Firefighting Game That Makes Fun Of The Gig Economy

Embr’s house groaned as fire licked away at its supports. Collapse was imminent. With a panicking resident slung over my shoulder, I sprinted for a second story window. Outside were three other residents I’d rescued. I took solace in the fact that, no matter what happened next, I’d done some good here. I jumped, and…

The Genesis Mini Is A Beautiful, Tiny Time Machine

Putting your hands on the controller for the Sega Genesis Mini is like traveling back in time, mushy D-pad and all. The Sega Genesis that I had growing up was actually my older brother’s. He wouldn’t let me touch it unless he wanted to play Sonic 2 or NBA Jam in our shared bedroom in…

Hollow Knight: Silksong Is Drawing Crowds At E3 For Good Reason

There’s been a long line of people queuing up at Nintendo’s booth every day here at E3 to play the sequel to Hollow Knight on the Switch. These people have good taste. Hollow Knight was a great modern execution of classic Metroid-style 2D exploration and combat, set in gorgeous, mostly subterranean areas. Its sequel, Silksong,…

Empire Of Sin Is The Gangster Game Brenda Romero Always Wanted To Make

Empire of Sin, a complex tactics game about running a mob empire in Prohibition-era Chicago, is the game Brenda Romero always wanted to make. When you talk to John Romero, the renowned creator of Doom and now part of the husband-and-wife team Romero Games, he gushes about Empire of Sin. It’s a complex web of…