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CultureSpeedrunners Baffled By Mysterious Stranger Sending Silent Hill 2 Puzzle Solutions
One of the challenges of speedrunning Silent Hill 2 is getting past the game’s puzzles. Puzzles are semi-randomly generated and will change on each playthrough. In the past week, a mysterious stranger has been slipping into speedrunners’ Twitch chats and revealing future puzzle solutions to them. It wasn’t clear how this stranger was getting that…
By Heather Alexandra Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryIt Is Surprisingly Hard To Create An Incompetent Ass-Clown In Dungeons & Dragons
The great escapist fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons is that you are not a salaryperson shoveling handfuls of gummy bears into your mouth and rolling 20-sided dice. Rather, you are a singularly important hero with a singular capacity to disarm some impending plot bomb. It’s a time-tried formula, one that basically spawned an entire industry…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureTake-Two Sends Investigators To YouTuber’s House To Crack Down On Borderlands 3 Leaks
After two weeks of no uploads, a notable Borderlands personality on YouTube returned to the platform yesterday with a video explaining his absence. He said that the game’s publisher Take-Two Interactive hit his channel with several copyright strikes and sent investigators to his home in response to months of Borderlands coverage on his channel, which…
By Ian Walker Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureBlizzard Creates Tool To Help Old World Of Warcraft Buddies Find Each Other
If you’ve been a lapsed World of Warcraft player for the past 10-plus years, you’ve probably let some relationships fall by the wayside—for example, the entire guild that formed the core of your social life when you were in a suffocatingly small Christian high school in Texas. Maybe you’ve found yourself sipping a beverage in…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureDestiny 2 Players Can’t Decide What This Weird Cat Statue Means
Last week, Destiny 2’s Solstice of Heroes event began, bringing with it a new activity set in a new area: the European Aerial Zone. Ever since, players have been scouring it for potential hidden lore or secret areas that could be tucked away somewhere in its many floating rocks and abandoned buildings. So far, all…
By Joshua Rivera Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureRiot Employees Say Company Has Made Real Progress Fixing Its Sexism Issues
In the year since Kotaku’s investigation into sexism at Riot Games, the 2,500-person company behind League of Legends, the company has crafted and self-injected its proposed antidote to its so-called “bro culture.” Over the last week, 14 current or recent Riot employees spoke with Kotaku about the game company’s forward momentum toward equitable workplace conditions.…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureTwitchAs Police Investigate Threats To Twitch Offices, Employees Told To Work From Home
After multiple threats were sent to Twitch’s offices in San Francisco, California, the company has asked employees to work from home for the day. Police are investigating. Business Insider first reported on the situation earlier today. Twitch confirmed the publication’s report in an email to Kotaku “We were made aware of a threat against our…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 7, 2019 -
CulturePerfect Character Balance Is ‘Boring,’ Says Samurai Shodown Director
During Evo 2019, I sat down with Samurai Shodown director Nobuyuki Kuroki to discuss his work on the new game. Since the game’s release in June, players have noticed some character balance issues in Samurai Shodown. In our interview, Kuroki admitted he’s not a fan of making the power diversity in the game’s cast “too…
By Ian Walker Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureESA Says Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo Will Start Disclosing Loot Box Odds
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony will be required to implement new policies requiring the disclosure of all loot box odds for games on their platforms. “I’m pleased to announce this morning that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have indicated to ESA a commitment to new platform policies with respect…
By Ethan Gach Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryFire Emblem: Three Houses Captures The Challenge Of Fostering Your Students’ Passions
In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, you split your time between fighting battles and teaching students at a monastery. As you teach, there are key moments where you can encourage students down different paths toward new jobs. While the mechanic mostly exists for you to grind stats and try new battle combinations, these small moments realistically…
By Heather Alexandra Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureLatest Pokémon Sword And Shield Trailer Reveals Villain Team And New Galarian Forms
Fresh information about Pokémon Sword and Shield, shown this morning on the official Pokémon YouTube channel, tells more about the game’s cast. Alongside new monsters—including new Pikachu-adjacent creatures—there’s a quick look at some of the game’s rivals and villains. The trailer outlines a handful of monsters and characters coming to Sword and Shield. Among these…
By Heather Alexandra Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureCosplayShowcaseOh Man Look At This Enormous God Of War Cosplay
German cosplayer Kes von Puch and her boyfriend Marcel are to thank for this incredible piece of God of War cosplay, which didn’t just require the creation of a costume, but the transformation of a man. While Kes was spending over 1000 hours crafting Kratos’ outfit, making everything from his belt to his pouches to…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 6, 2019
