Culture

Our Best (And Worst) Memories Of The PlayStation, 25 Years Later

On this day 25 years ago, the Sony PlayStation released in Japan. A lot of us here at Kotaku have pretty fond memories of the PlayStation, from bartering for access with our siblings to sitting in dark, dusty basements, illuminated only by the light of an old TV and some sharp, sharp polygons. Take a…

Mario Kart Is Apple’s Most Downloaded Game Of 2019

Last night in New York City, Apple held its annual celebration of the best and most downloaded games and apps across its platforms. The iPhone game of the year is ThatGameCompany’s gorgeous social adventure Sky: Children of the Light, with the outstanding Hyper Light Drifter winning iPad game of the year. Neither of those critical…

Red Dead Online Will Let You Make And Sell Moonshine Next Week

Get ready to make some moonshine, because the next big Red Dead Online update, releasing December 13, will add moonshine running, underground bars, and new missions, as well as a new Outlaw pass and weapon. Moonshiner is the first new career Rockstar has announced since adding roles in an RDO update in September. This new…

Destiny 2‘s Next Season Is All About Osiris, Saint-14 And… Time?

Rough time for our biggest Destiny 2 expert to be on jury duty, folks, but here we are with some unskippable news. Bungie just posted a trailer to hype the Season of Dawn, which will run in Destiny 2 from December 10 through March 9. Whoa, that’s Saint-14! [Googles “Saint-14”…] Here’s the setup, spinning out…

Valve Finally Ran Out Of Steam Controllers

Valve’s Steam Controller, once useful for allowing players to enjoy their favorite games on televisions around the house, is pretty much dead. Following the Autumn Steam sale that drastically reduced prices, Valve is giving refunds as stock runs out. As reported by PC Gamer, the stock of Steam Controllers is drying up. The controller’s original…

I Love Having My Own Spaceship In Video Games (And In Real Life)

Here’s a good way to win me over in both real life and in video games: Give me a damn spaceship. If you did, you’d find that the majority of my complaints against your considerable flaws (we all have them, except Toad, who is the best) would disappear. Because I now have a spaceship, and…

The Art Of Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds

The Outer Worldsis one of the best games of the year, so it’s a treat tonight to be sharing some of the concept art that went into the game’s production. Below is a sample of work from some of the artists responsible for the game’s look, ranging from character art to weapon design to environments…

Arkham Horror‘s April Fool’s Gag, Barkham Horror, Becomes Real Game

Earlier this year, Fantasy Flight’s April Fool’s joke was to announce an expansion to Arkham Horror’s card game called The Dogwich Legacy, in which the human heroes were replaced by dogs and the Lovecraftian horrors by cats. The joke came and went, but people loved it so much that it’s now an actual game. Barkham…

Civilization VI Bug Crashes Game Unless You Declare War

There’s a bug affecting the Switch version of Civilization VI at the moment that’s causing the game to crash just before the player claims victory, and the current solution is maybe not the most ideal for anyone with a pacifist’s approach to the game. This Reddit thread (via Eurogamer), beginning with one person complaining about…

YouTube Is Relaxing Its Rules Against Video Game Violence

In a “Policy enforcement update” posted earlier today, YouTube announced a series of changes coming to the site’s content moderation, most of them centred around new distinctions between actual real-world violence and the “scripted or simulated violence” you see in video games. Starting today, “scripted or simulated violent content found in video games will be…

Twitch Briefly Bans One Of The Biggest Moderation Bots

If allowed to chatter and meme unchecked, Twitch chat can grow into an unstoppable avalanche of ugly behavior. Many streamers rely on at least a handful of volunteer or paid moderators, as well as chat bots that allow streamers to auto-block specific terms, stop spam before it starts, and quarantine questionable comments. Yesterday, Twitch accidentally…

Inside Twitch’s Wildest Talk Show

It’s the beginning of another episode of the Rajj Show, a livestreamed reality show with what may euphemistically be described as 13 of Twitch’s strongest personalities, and already, it’s on a waterslide straight to hell’s navel. A new guest is immediately cut off after introducing himself as a lawyer who streams at night. “Can you…

My Dad Would Like To Buy You A Drone For Christmas

Hi reader. Would you like a drone for Christmas? See, my dad really wants to give one to someone, and I’m trying to help him out. My dad loves tech toys, and often buys them for himself for Christmas. Many years ago I awoke on Christmas morning to find that my dad had haphazardly wrapped…

Outer Wilds Has Made Exploration In Other Games Boring

When it comes to video games, “exploration” is kind of a bullshit word, a sexier way of saying hey you’re gonna be doing a lot of running and stuff. “And stuff,” in this context, can be climbing, walking, riding a horse, swimming, or what have you. All the basic ways you get from here to…

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Thanksgiving Commercial Spoils The Damn Ending

Imagine: you’re sitting with your family on Thanksgiving Day, watching football or the parade or a Hallmark movie marathon, when suddenly you see a commercial for the new Star Wars game. “Cool,” you might think, for roughly twenty seconds, until it spoils the ending and one of the game’s coolest surprises That’s what it was…

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Players Really Want AI Teammates

Ghost Recon Breakpoint players want to see the game become more tactical, less grindy, and be less online, according to the results of a player survey Ubisoft shared on Friday. Thousands of players participated in the survey. The requested changes and additions, many of which are already in the works, aren’t that surprising to anyone…

Super Mario Maker 2 Update Adds Link

Super Mario Maker 2 is getting a free update this Thursday that adds a bunch of new enemies and blocks for players to build levels out of, including a Master Sword power-up that will transform Mario into Link. When Mario becomes Link he’s able to use the character’s abilities, ranging from smacking enemies with his…

The Week In Games: Life Is Farming

Happy week after Thanksgiving! Life is Strange 2: Episode 5 launches this week, and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey comes to Xbox One and PS4. Red Dead Redemption 2 comes to Steam. And, of course, Farming Simulator 20 arrives on the Switch, which I will admit I kind of super want to play. December 2 Trax (PS4)…

Track: New Me | Artist: Double Experience | Album: Alignments 

Running Down A Path. Croatia, Tribalj. By Eduard Tucaković | Instagram 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!