Culture

From The Observation Deck in Roppongi Hills. Tokyo, Japan. By Davide Sasso | 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! 

A Highlight Reel Of 2018’s Biggest Cosplay Shows

Throughout 2018, our photographer and videographer Mineralblu travelled the country covering cosplay conventions. To celebrate, and to recap some of the amazing stuff spotted at the shows, he’s put together this 15 minute highlight reel. There are 21 shows covered in all, from DragonCon to Comic Con to BlizzCon to New York Comic Con. Cons…

Games Are Made By More Than Just One Famous Figurehead

We all know that Cory Barlog didn’t single-handedly make the latest God of War, and Hideo Kojima didn’t go it alone on making Metal Gear. Yet as human beings, we can’t help but latch onto figureheads and their personal successes and failures. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, Kirk and Jason and I discuss video game…

Overwatch‘s New Skins Are Based On Historic Figures

It’s that time again: Another year has passed, sapping us all of precious vitality and slowly pulverizing our faculties until we’re unidentifiable powder in the wind. But in return, we get new Overwatch skins as part of the game’s annual Lunar New Year event. Really, it’s a pretty even trade. Overwatch’s “Year of the Pig”…

When You Realize Your Strategy In A Video Game Is Doomed

When I landed at the location I’d designated in my latest game of Rimworld, I felt optimistic. It was permanent summer, but not so arid that there wasn’t anywhere to plant. I thought that this time, I’d make it a few years. A few minutes later, I realized I had gotten myself into a death…

Track: Kokuhaku | Artist: My Hair Is Bad | Album: Woman’s Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Memories of Summer. Kyoto, Japan. By Troy Ford | Official Site 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! 

Arise, Lukas Skywalking

Nicolas Gekko is a concept artist who has worked on games like Destiny 2 and Elder Scrolls: Legends His entry (which you can see above) was also one of the best in that Star Wars Reimagined contest held a few years back You can see more of Gekko’s work at his ArtStation page.

Sea Of Thieves Has Unexpectedly Become One Of Twitch’s Biggest Games

After an intriguing but worryingly barebones launch in March 2018, Rare’s ambitious pirate opus Sea of Thieves found itself lost at sea. There just wasn’t enough for players to do, causing many to fear that the game would never live up to its potential. Late last year, that began to change. Now, Sea of Thieves…

There Are So Many PC Games To Play, I Can’t Choose One To Start

I measured out a space in my incredibly small apartment and bought a desk. After rearranging my room, I finally have a space to actually hook up and use my PC. Now what do I do? I live in New York, where people will live in any space they can get, no matter how tiny.…

Track: ‘Round Midnight | Artist: Miles Davis & John Coltrane | Album: ‘Round About Midnight Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Falling Winter. Skogafoss (Forest Falls) in southern Iceland. By Jim | 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! 

Sunday Drive

David Tilton is a concept artist who most recently worked on Rooster Teeth’s Gen:Lock You can see more of David’s stuff at his ArtStation page.

A Catalogue Of Some Of The Rarest Consoles Ever Made

I’ve always had a weird thing for collections of video game hardware. Rare colourways, odd promotional designs, Japanese-only releases with crazy hardware features, I live for it. So I’ve just spent the last 24 hours clicking throughthis website, whose goal is to catalogue every console variant there is and ever has been, from fancy PS2s…

Track: Frank feat. Tree | Artist: Blockhead | Album: Free Sweatpants Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

How Peanuts Used Lucy and Schroeder To Explore Dysfunctional Relationships

Lucy’s relationship to Schroeder was unfulfilling. She craved emotional validation from the one character who was least equipped to provide it. It was both humorous and sad—a contradictory message that Charles Schulz’s Peanuts conveyed so well. This piece originally appeared 5/2/18. Lucy debuted as a toddler in 1952. Schulz declined to reprint these early strips…

Bloodborne Has Clicked For Me (And It Only Took Four Years)

A few weeks ago, I was cursing former Kotaku jerk Kirk Hamilton for forcing me to play through all of Bloodborne. Now, I’m fearing the old blood just like the rest of you. First, a bit of background: I bought From Software’s PlayStation 4-exclusive action game when it first came out back in March 2015.…

Track: Wild Is The Wind (Live) | Artist: David Bowie | Album: Glastonbury 2000 Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Japanese Whisky Shortage Won’t Stop [Update]

Earlier this year, Suntory announced that it was pulling Hakushu 12 and Hibiki 17 off the market. Now the Kirin Distillery is yanking one of the best Japanese whisky deals from shelves: Kirin Sanroku Cask Aged Spirit. Update January 22 – 6:00am: The Japanese whisky shortage won’t stop! According to Asahi News, sales of Suntory’s…

Boats in the Harbor. Varanasi, India. By Juan Antonio Segal | 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!