Culture

Count Dooku Has Evolved

Hello! This week we dunk on Elon Musk, check out a cool LEGO Mario game, watch an android do some flips, ask rich companies to help more, check out the new Apex Legends character and meet the new Dooku. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week I will never understand why so many people think…

Dr Disrespect’s Shtick Takes A Dangerous Turn Into Spreading Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories

During a stream today, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, whose 4 million followers make him one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, shared two pieces of widely debunked coronavirus-related media with his viewers. Many viewers reacted with shock and disappointment. Others cheered him on. He never dropped his facade—never removed his trademark wig or sunglasses—but…

Classic Streets Of Rage Soundtracks Getting Reissued On Cassette

Sure, one can get Wayô Records’ reissues of Yuzo Koshiro’s legendary Mega Drive soundtracks to Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage II digitally or on compact disc, but why not pick a format capable of melting on the dashboard of your car or being eaten by hamsters? While the merits of the music from…

Upcoming Guild Wars 2 Episode Won’t Release With Voice Acting Due To Covid-19

The upcoming third episode of Guild Wars 2’s fifth season will release without voice acting, developer ArenaNet said in a recent announcement. The studio plans to record voiceover and add it to the game at a later date. Since the Guild Wars 2 team is working remotely due to covid-19, The Icebrood Saga’s next chapter,…

Last Of Us II Leakers Are ‘Not Affiliated’ With Naughty Dog, Sony Says

Earlier this week what appeared to be major spoilers from The Last of Us Part II leaked on YouTube and Reddit. Sony now says it knows who the leakers were, and contrary to widespread online speculation, can confirm they were not a disgruntled Naughty Dog employee. “SIE has identified the primary individuals responsible for the…

Bungie Hopes To Make Destiny 2’s Seasons And Bounties Feel Less Punishing In The Future

In its latest weekly blog post Bungie laid out plans to address some of players’ biggest complaints about the current state of Destiny 2, including how content disappears once a season ends and the game’s recent emphasis on grinding bounties. Destiny 2 operates on a seasonal basis with new activities, quests, and guns rotating in…

Thanks For The Lovely Birthday Party, Animal Crossing Friends

I’m not normally one for elaborate birthday celebrations, but the party held for me this morning by a trio of Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers was exactly the pick-me-up I needed today. My ideal birthday is good food with family and friends and maybe a new Transformer or Lego set to fiddle with. I commemorate…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for making apple butter out of my abundance of farm share apples, just in time to get more apples and have to figure out what to do with those. It’s also for playing video games. I went on a rant about how great Euro Truck Simulator 2 is to a Jalopnik colleague…

Slay To The Beat In Rhythm Action Shooter BPM: Bullets Per Minute

Coming to PC this summer and consoles this winter, BPM: Bullets Per Minute is a first-person shooter where everything happens to the beat of an epic rock opera. Shoot to the beat. Dodge to the beat. Jump to the beat. Reload to the beat. Players progress through procedurally-generated levels as a Valkyrie defending Asgard from…

Track: Don’t Stop… (Demo) | Artist: Oasis | Album: N/A

I Studied The Blade

Edward Denton is an artist at WETA, where he’s worked on stuff like The Hobbit, Elysium and Chappie You can see more of Denton’s stuff at his ArtStation page

The Internet Agrees That Elon Musk Is Deus Ex‘s Trillionaire Villain, Not JC Denton

Today, noted embarrassing smoker, bad driver, and worse tweeter who is also somehow a billionaire Elon Musk has decided he’s JC Denton, the hero of 2000’s genre-defining cyberpunk immersive sim Deus Ex. Nobody agrees with him. Musk has spent the past couple days yelling to his 33.4 million Twitter followers about how it’s time to…

Old Build Of Switch Game Released Early, Publisher Calls It A “Happy Surprise”

Action RPG Indivisible, from Skullgirls creators Lab Zero, is great! The version that was reportedly released on the Switch this week, though, has been a very weird story. The game came out on April 28 with absolutely no advance notice whatsoever, to the point where even the game’s developers had no idea: That’s odd, and…

GTA Online Players Are Picking Sides In A Giant Alien War

There is a war raging in Grand Theft Auto Online, but not between drug dealers or criminal kingpins. Instead, players are donning green, purple, or white suits in a war of different colored aliens. It’s weird, even for GTA Online. As with most wars and conflicts, it is impossible to pinpoint a specific moment when…

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Devs Preemptively Shut Down Bullshit Concerns About Female Vikings

Women exist. This is a basic fact of life, but it’s also a frequent source of controversy for more… let’s say reactionary sections of the gaming community. In what appears to be an attempt to head off the usual tiresome complaints, Ubisoft has addressed its decision to allow players to choose between male and female…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Should I Move To Canada For A Boyfriend I’ve Never Met?

Hello, all you intertube skinbeasts of sexcrime, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only advice column to help you manage your relationship in the new post-apocalyptic land we find ourselves in. And strangely, it doesn’t involve nearly as many BDSM harnesses as I expected. Guess I should’ve kept the receipt. This week, it’s all…

Xbox Series X Gameplay Reveal Set For May 7

Microsoft will finally show gameplay from Xbox Series X games, including our first look at Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in action, on a new episode of Inside Xbox airing May 7. While Microsoft has already shown the console itself, as well as shared deep dives into its specs, this will be the first opportunity to see…

The Makers Of Jackbox Are Launching A Celebrity Livesteam Show For Charity

A new livestreaming series called Celebrity Jackbox: Games & Giving will pit some mildly famous people against one another as they play Jackbox party games to raise money for those affected by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. “Every episode, a new crew of famous personalities will play a variety of games from Jackbox’s collection of 30…

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Coming To Old And New Gen Consoles, Features Choice Of Male Or Female Protagonist

Now that we’ve spent eight hours watching artist Bosslogic paint a picture of a Viking, it’s time for something more substantial. Here’s the epic cinematic trailer debut for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, along with the first concrete details on the holiday 2020 release. First we have the trailer. Looks like England is going after the carefree,…

Game Pass now has over 10 million subscribers. Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced the stat in a new blog post outlining the downloadable game service’s continued growth. That’s up from 9.5 million monthly users last year. Spencer said subscribers are playing games twice as much since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.