Culture

Avengers: Endgame Is Excellent

Avengers: Endgame, the big send-off to the current crop of money-printers known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, hits theaters this week. Two of Kotaku’s hero-worshippers, Joshua Rivera and Seung Park, have thoughts about this conclusion (or is it?) to the franchise. We do spoil the movie, so if you’re planning to watch it, steer clear…

I Went Down A Sekiro Rabbit Hole. Here Are Some Cool Videos I Found

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a fun game with excellent combat and an infamous difficulty curve, so it stands to reason that there’s lots of content about it online. There are a whole bunch of guides and showcase videos that do great work to explain which tools and techs are useful. There are playthroughs and…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for going to buy some of those mesh bags you put produce in so you can feel like you’re doing something for the environment. It’s also for playing video games. Subnautica: Below Zero got some new items and areas I’m excited to check out. For a survival game about the cold, I…

New Visitors Are Shaking Up My Once-Exclusive Final Fantasy XIV Server

As of Tuesday, Final Fantasy XIV’s World Visit service is live, allowing players to zip between servers and check in on other worlds. The result has been a wonderful sort of chaos. New friendships, massive economy shakeups, and a few troublemakers trying to stir up the pot. Once closed-off servers have now been opened, and…

Archivist Elysiana Is A Fun Hearthstone Card When Your Opponent Isn’t Using It

Up until the launch of this month’s “Rise of Shadows” expansion, Hearthstone was ruled by a few select cards that provide what fans call “infinite” value: Once you played them, you could benefit from their effects for the rest of the game. Deathstalker Rexxar, for example, provided infinite value by letting you add a powerful…

Red Dead Redemption 2, Six Months Later

Red Dead Redemption 2 launched six months ago today. In those past six months, developer Rockstar faced criticisms over crunch, the main game released to great reviews, Red Dead Online launched and grew, and a country-trap hybrid hit song used the game in a music video. Here’s what’s happened in the last six months. In…

‘My Childhood Dream Had Come True’: A Belated Interview With Skies Of Arcadia‘s Producer

Skies of Arcadia released in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast and while it wasn’t a huge hit, its cheerful tale of air pirates inspired countless players, including me. Nineteen years later, I finally got a chance to ask the game’s producer about what went into making this role-playing gem. My personal history with Skies of…

Game Of Thrones Recap Podcast: And We’re Back

Game of Thrones has returned, and with it, so has Kotaku Splitscreen’s weekly recap of all things Westeros. This week we’re hitting episodes one and two of season eight, Winterfell and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms We spoil the episode in its entirety, and also talk about differences between the show and the books.…

Hello Kitty Bullet Train. Osaka, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft | Twitter 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! 

Black Widow Model Is Pretty Damn Lifelike

With Endgame now out, I thought tonight might be a good time to take a look at this incredible 3D model of Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow made by Abdelrahman Kubisi andJeremy Celeste This wasn’t made for the movie—or any Marvel movie—it was just a personal project between the pair. Get a load of the detail: And…

Some Of The Best Star Wars Cosplay For 2019

Earlier this month, Chicago played host to Star Wars Celebration 2019, the biggest convention/party for Star Wars fans on the planet. And where there are loads of Star Wars fans, there’s some A+ cosplay. Mineralbluwas there taking photos for us, and you can see some of the best of it below. If you need an…

How Panzer Dragoon Defined The Sega Saturn Era

From its early days of promise to its heartbreaking failure, the Sega Saturn was a fascinating game machine. If there’s one game series that is emblematic of Sega’s ambitious, quixotic 32-bit console, it’s Panzer Dragoon. It began as a graphical showcase of the console’s abilities, and finished its Saturn life as a role-playing game that…

Modders Have Finally Cracked Katamari Damacy Wide Open

You can now fly around the levels of the beloved PlayStation 2 classic Katamari Damacy to your heart’s content in your web browser, exploring the game’s worlds without having to impress your overbearing space dad, thanks to the website Noclip—and a $500 bounty offered by its creator to expert engineers willing to help crack open…

Days Gone Is Certainly A Video Game

What’s the deal with Days Gone, a video game about killing zombies and being sad on a motorcycle? On today’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we discuss. I’m back from vacation, joining Kirk and Maddy once again to talk about all sorts of video games including Mortal Kombat 11, Baba Is You, Hitman 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and…

My First Captures On The Switch, PS4 And Xbox One

I’ve spent a lot of time this console generation honing my screenshot-taking reflexes, and now my Switch, PS4 and Xbox One are full of pictures and videos I’ve captured. But what did I capture first? On my Switch, it was Link in his 100-year underwear, just waking up at the start of The Legend of…

Finding The Metagame In Atlantic City

While visiting Atlantic City’s greige boardwalk last Sunday, I set foot in my very first casino, a come-as-you-are joint called Bally’s with years’ worth of cigarette smoke ground into its red carpet. It was Easter—not a great day to commune with sin—but a day off nonetheless. Passing the ringing slot machines, I sat down at…

Sekiro Speedrunners Are Using A Glitch To Swim Through The Air

Speedrunners use a variety of tricks to reduce Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice from a difficult combat gauntlet to a breeze. The fastest Any% runs now take less than 30 minutes, with the current world record at 24:37 at time of publication, held by Distortion2. Some tricks involve dying in the right place to avoid a…

The Fortnite World Cup Is Worth Watching, Despite Its Flaws

Over the last two weekends, I’ve obsessively watched the Fortnite World Cup tournaments. I turn on the long broadcasts while cleaning the house or cooking, certainly tormenting my neighbors with hours of esports shoutcasting. It’s introducing me to new players and techniques, and it’s inspiring me to get better at the game. Watching competitive Fortnite…

Track: Hurricane | Artist: Bob Dylan | Album: Desire  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Old Consoles Are Murderous Death Machines

Ah yes, the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation, machines we remember best for their ability to *checks notes* fire devastating plasma beams and railgun blasts out of their arms. These are the work of artist Gerald Gordge, and you can see more of his stuff at his personal site