Culture

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…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: I’m In Love With My Youth Pastor

Hello internet skulltroll freakscene, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column that’s been remastered for the Switch. This week, we’re here to address your relationship anxieties and help you find some calm in an ocean of sexual turmoil. What do you do when your partner is suddenly no longer interested in…

Collection Of Mana Is 3 Amazing Games With Not Enough Extra Features

One of the first Switch games I bought, way back in the spring of 2017, was the Japanese version of Collection of Mana. It was a very simple package: emulated versions of the first three games in the Mana series, and little else. Two years later, the U.S. version is out, and not much has…

Something Feels Off About The Avengers Gameplay Demo

Crystal Dynamics’ take on Avengers looks like a slightly skewed version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—just similar enough to pique your interest, but just different enough to make you feel itchy. Five of the most film-famous Avengers star in a 25-minute gameplay demo that Kotaku saw behind closed doors at E3: Thor, Iron Man, Captain…

Fire Emblem: Three Houses Is Definitely Going To Make Me Cry For My Precious Children

You’re not going to be able to play Fire Emblem: Three Houses without going through some kind of emotional pain. In many ways, emotional pain is what Fire Emblem games are all about. Traditionally, they’re tough tactics games with permadeath, meaning that once your favorite characters are gone, they’re gone forever. Thought the newer games…

Track: Halycyon (Again) | Artist: Dan Mckie and Orbital | Album: Backroom Jukebox – 6 Years of 1980 Recordings (Part 01 (2007-09) – Compiled By Dan Mckie) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Rice Field. Gyeongju, South Korea. By Anthony Dell’Ario | Official Site | Flickr 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!

Very Cool Portraits Of Every Single Smash Bros. Ultimate Character

Freelance artistJorge Marme has for the last few months been working on a project where he draws every single Smash Ultimate character, from the original roster through to the DLC. He’s now done, and the results are fantastic. You can see a selection below, but there are more—along with Marme’s other stuff—at his Instagram page…

When Crash Invaded The Fortnite E3 Booth

Here’s something silly. The people promoting the Crash Bandicoot racing remake, Crash Team Racing, were walking through E3’s South Hall with a Crash mascot, having some fun as they went along. I caught sight of them in the Fortnite booth, where Crash posed in front of the battle bus. And here he is dancing with…

Popular Streamers React To Dr Disrespect’s Twitch Ban

Yesterday, popular Twitch streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm walked into an E3 bathroom and walked out without a Twitch channel. This action likely violated the platform’s terms of service. His E3 badge got revoked shortly after. It’s incredibly rare for a streamer of Dr Disrespect’s popularity to get banned, and already, it’s creating ripples. Streamers…

In order to promote Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games 2020, Nintendo brought an entire climbing wall to E3. I haven’t been on it yet, for fear that a shoeless Sonic will join me.

Cyberpunk 2077 Artist Says Controversial In-Game Image Is Commentary on Corporations

A screenshot from Cyberpunk 2077 featuring a hypersexualized advertisement depicting a trans woman drew skepticism today on social media. The artist responsible has spoken up claiming no offense was meant and that the art is a commentary on corporate marketing. The image in question comes from an in-game advertisement for a product called Chromanticure, which…

Looks like E3’s West Hall had a temporary power outage, which caused this amusing Zelda II-themed “technical difficulties” screen to pop up during the Nintendo Treehouse Live stage show. Nice planning ahead, Nintendo!

Trials Of Mana Looks Much Better Than The Secret Of Mana Remake

Disappointed by last year’s 3D remake of Secret of Mana? Well, Trials of Mana, the upcoming remake of its sequel, looks nothing like it. Nintendo and Square Enix showed off the Switch game on today’s Treehouse Live stream, and it looks like a completely new, modern game design based on the Super NES original. The…

The Internet Reacts To Zelda’s New Haircut

All it took was two minutes and one surprise trailer for Nintendo to turn a sleepy E3 to an explosive bonanza—but that’s what happens when you announce a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, perhaps the most beloved game in recent memory. The trailer cryptically hinted at something extremely dark and…

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Brings The Satisfying Superhero Lineup

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order marks the first time Nintendo is publishing a game in this series, and the company has tapped Team Ninja to develop it. I and several of my Kotaku coworkers swung by the Nintendo booth at E3 to check out how the game plays. I found it to be…

Breath Of The Wild Sequel Producer Won’t Say If You Can Play As Zelda

When Nintendo teased a sequel to Breath of the Wild at the end of yesterday’s Direct, it left everyone with one big question: Can you play as Zelda? Legendary series producer Eiji Aonuma knows the answer. He’s just not saying. “A lot of people have been asking that, and so I want to ask you,…

Pokémon Sword And Shield‘s Giant Pokémon Changed Up My Battle Strategy

If you were worried about Pokémon Sword and Shield’s new Dynamaxing mechanic, which makes your Pokémon super big and super powerful for a limited amount of time, being an empty gimmick, you can calm down. I played a 20-minute demo at E3 yesterday, and it actually adds to the game’s complexity. Being an adult fan…

Minecraft Dungeons has no Minecraft-style building. It’s a loot-filled dungeon crawler for up to four players with all sorts of Minecraft characters. Players can equip and enchant a wide array of outfits, armor, and gear. It’s pretty, and was fun to romp through here at E3 in that Lego game kind of way. Coming to…