Culture

2017, As Told By Steam Reviews

One Steam review is a person shouting into the void. Two is an argument. A whole mess of them, though? That’s a deep, dark look into the collective psyche of Steam users. In 2017, we rounded up the best reviews of the year’s top Steam games and maybe, just maybe, learned a little something about…

The Year In Video Game Paintings, 2017

Another year, another crop of video game paintings doing their best to class up the place. I invited my artist friend Curtis back to lend their expertise to my folder full of screenshots of this year’s video game paintings. We saw a lot of references to existing artists, as well as a lot of strange…

Track: Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) (Live) | Artist: Neil Young | Album: Rust Never Sleeps Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Week In Games: Style Savvy New Year

2018’s just around the corner. Fortunately, you can end the year in style with a new 3DS game. Style Savvy: Styling Star comes out on the 25th meaning a whole new generation of 3DS and 2DS owners will know the power of color coordinated outfits. Other than that it’s the end of the year, so…

What Are Your Favorite Games To Play During The Holidays?

There was a period of time when every December I’d start up another playthrough of Mega Man Legends. It’s not a Christmas-y game by any stretch. And it’s not something I originally got as a present either. For whatever reason it just seemed to fit, helping me take a step back and appreciate the end…

Track: Christmas In Hollis | Artist: Run-DMC | Album: A Very Special Christmas Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Podcast: Every Video Game Of 2017, Part Two

It is time for part two of our annual Kotaku Splitscreen tradition, where we talk about EVERY VIDEO GAME OF THE YEAR. This week, Kirk and I go from July to December, covering this summer’s gems (Pyre, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age) and then getting into the big games of fall, from Star Wars…

Sunday Comics: Naughty Or Nice 

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics that usually occurs on Sunday except when it doesn’t. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published December 23. Read more of Nerf NOW!!  Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published December 18. Read more…

Track: Harvest For The World | Artist: The Isley Brothers | Album: Harvest for the World

This Week In The Business: Love And Loot Boxes 

QUOTE | “My highlight of 2017 was Breath of the Wild – what an incredible experience! The feeling of absolute freedom in BotW is beyond any other game I’ve seen, and the design of the world is so well done. I’m very happy to see my belief in Nintendo, and great game design, is once…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for telling a friend you’d go with her to IKEA, which means sitting on all the furniture and imagining what your life would be like if the floor model were your living room. Also, video games. My plan is to cram in a bunch of 2017 games I missed over the long…

Yoink!

Today on the last Highlight Reel of 2017 we have VR shenanigans, Zelda shrine solutions, Battlegrounds replays, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more!…

Maybe Adding VR To LA Noire Was A Mistake

Not now, Phelps! L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files was supposed to make Rockstar’s detective caper classic more realistic than ever by nestling you deep inside the uncanny valley that is Cole Phelps’ face. Perhaps, though, the world was not ready for Phelps to have fully-functioning hands. Perhaps it will never be ready, as evidenced…

Majority of Battlegrounds Cheats Are From China, PlayerUnknown Says [UPDATE]

Many PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds players blame the game’s cheating problem on China. They’re not wrong, says the popular battle royale game’s creator Brendan Greene. But there’s more to it than that. “Battleye have already tweeted out that I think around 99 percent of cheats in the game right now are coming out of China,” Greene told…

The Last Jedi’s Porgs Are Just Puffins, Which The Film Crew Couldn’t Get Rid Of

Everyone thought the Porgs, those cute lil’ animals from The Last Jedi, were basically space penguins. Turns out they’re actually space puffins, because Skellig Michael (aka Luke’s Island) is so covered with the birds that it was easier for the VFX team to just work with them than try and cut them out of the…

Bridge Constructor Portal Is Actually Pretty Good

When I heard that the next game to yank us back into Aperture Science’s bleached-white bowels would be about bridge building, I figured it’d be a skip for me. I just got done playing Bridge Constructor Portal for a few hours, though, and I couldn’t stop smiling. This collaboration between between Bridge Constructor developer ClockStone…

Designing Yennefer of Vengerberg

We’ve featured the work of CDPR’s Bartlomiej Gawel before, both individually and as part of our massive Witcher 3 special, but today we’ve got a more narrow focus: the origins of Yennefer of Vengerberg. Below you’ll see “a very messy, early” round of sketches and photobashingthat were part of the effort to nail down Yenn’s…

Cosplay Wishes You A Very Merry Christmas

The last major cosplay show for the year is Holiday Matsuri, aka Holmat, which takes place every December in Orlando, Florida. This year’s show was held between December 15-17 at Orlando World Center Marriott, and the resort location—coupled with Florida’s warmer weather—means it’s one of the only places in the US you can visit this…

One Man Is Trying To Speedrun Three Final Fantasy Games–At The Same Time

Speedrunning a long role-playing game requires both concentration and stamina. There are endless menus to navigate and character builds to optimize, and doing everything fast means knowing the game’s secrets like the back of your hand. Speedrunning an RPG can be grueling for even the most accomplished player. So naturally, one guy wants to speedrun…

Yes Yes Praise It

Anna Pan is an artist based in Australia who has worked on games like Dream Daddy You can see more of Anna’s work at her personal site To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game…