Culture

In Planet Zoo, You Can Only Get Good By Learning Facts About Animals

Planet Zoo is the latest simulator from Frontier Developments, the creators of Roller Coaster Tycoon and the recent Planet Coaster. In this one, you’re building a zoo and making sure all the animals are well cared for, which comes with unexpected challengers for players used to making theme parks. Modern zoos have a strong focus…

Shark Role-Playing Game Maneater Is Like Grand Theft Auto, Of All Things

“Picture Grand Theft Auto, but as a shark,” game designer Bill Munk said near the end of a demonstration of Maneater at E3 in Los Angeles last week. Well, not quite. There are no cars to jack. There are no radio stations. Although, the designers have considered letting the shark get drunk, if it eats…

Track: Sail On | Artist: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds | Album: Black Star Dancing Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Meiji Shrine. Tokyo, Japan. By The Cloofer 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!

We Ate Lots Of Snacks At Fortnite‘s E3 2019 Booth

E3 might be over on paper, but not in our hearts. In the video above, Tim Rogers checks out the Fortnite booth, eats a lot of free food, and rightfully mocks Peely, because that character is a monster. Check it out!

Dr Disrespect Doesn’t Seem To Be Taking His Twitch Ban Very Seriously

Last week, Dr Disrespect, a popular streamer who parodies toxic gamers by just straight up being one (except in a wig), got banned from Twitch and booted from E3 for streaming from inside a public bathroom, an act that’s illegal in the state of California. Immediately after, he went radio silent. But not for long.…

We Went To Bandai Namco’s E3 Booth And Gushed About Goku

Tim Rogers is, according to Tim Rogers, a man who “lives to be correct in as weird a fashion as possible.” He checked out Bandai-Namco’s E3 booth to peep at Code Vein, survive a power outage, and give you the cold hard facts about Goku. Check out the whole booth in the video above. Check…

Pokémon Sword And Shield Director Says It’s About ‘Growing And Evolving’—For The Trainer, Too

For Pokémon producer Junichi Masuda and Pokémon Sword and Shield director Shigeru Ohmori, the spirit of Pokémon is all about metamorphosis. I have played Pokémon since I was around 8 years old, and every time a new game comes out, I wonder what it is about Pokémon that has kept me coming back for two…

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Gets The Anime Right, Down To The Unbalanced Showdowns

In the original Dragon Ball Z anime, fights are not balanced. Goku and his pals often end up in situations where they are outmatched by a far stronger and more experienced opponent. The series has had frequent fighting game adaptations, most recently Dragon Ball FighterZ, in which all of the characters must be balanced for…

Twitch Sues Trolls Who Turned Artifact‘s Page Into A Porn-Riddled Disaster

Late last month, the Twitch game category section dedicated to embattled Valve card game Artifact briefly rocketed back into relevance. That was almost entirely thanks to the concerted efforts of trolls, who created dummy channels and violated the heck out of Twitch’s terms of service with broadcasts that included anime, porn, and anime porn. Twitch…

The Outer Worlds Is An RPG About Controlling The Narrative

If you fall into the category of people who believe that 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas was the best game in the series, then The Outer Worlds might be for you. Last week at E3, I spoke to the game’s co-director, Leonard Boyarsky, for a bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen digging deep into this cyberpunky role-playing…

Why I Left Breath of the Wild Unfinished

Some time before I actually finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I stopped playing. It wasn’t because I got carried away by other games, and it wasn’t because I was tired of it. I just stopped. New Zelda games are rare things that only come once or twice a console generation, and…

Luigi’s Mansion 3 Developers Promise Better Bosses And More Puzzles

Preventing one of the biggest shortcomings of the second Luigi’s Mansion from making it into the third is a high priority, the game’s top producers from Nintendo told Kotaku during an E3 interview in Los Angeles last week. Both Yoshihito Ikebata and his boss, Kensuke Tanabe, said that they’ve worked with Vancouver-based Next Level Games…

The Week In Games: If You Ain’t Outta Control, You Ain’t-A Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot and his crew are racing on to consoles soon when Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled releases later this week. Just remember: Speed kills, but you can always respawn. So when do we see a new Crash Bandicoot game? Not a remake of older games, but a brand new platformer using the new art style…

Our Favorite Cosplay From MCM London Comic Con 2019

Twice a year, London plays host to one of the biggest nerd shows in all of Europe, as well over 100,000 fans cram into the ExCel convention centre in the British capital for panels, merch, parties and of course cosplay. Our previous coverage of the show has relied on the kindness of local photographers, but…

Track: Tiny Dancer| Artist: Elton John | Album: Madman Across The Water After watching Rocketman this weekend, I can’t get Elton John songs out of my head. Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Keanu Reeves

This isn’t the most surprising contest, I know. But look, what else was I going to do? The internet loves Keanu Reeves and he just appeared at E3 this past week. Let’s honor Mr. Theodore Wick Neo himself and add him to more video games. The world needs more Keanu. Your challenge this week: Put…

Sunday Comics: I’m Just Looking

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published May 26. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published June 13. Read more of Corpse Run Clueless Hero by Luis…

‘Shop Contest: E3 2019, Winners!

Last week was E3 2019 and to celebrate that giant convention of trailers and teasers I asked you wonderful people to create some E3 announcements of your own. Things got a bit…strange. Our winning image this week comes from Mrichston who creates the perfect alternative to E3, E Tree. I’d be down for a week…

Telling Lies Is An Eerie Virtual Invasion of Privacy

Telling Lies is an upcoming narrative-driven game that’s the successor to Her Story from creator Sam Barlow. Much like its predecessor, you’ll dig through hours of footage to piece together the mystery of why these four characters’ video conversations have been recorded by the NSA. Check out the video above to see what I thought…