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CultureAtom Feels Like Old-School Fallout Set In Post-Apocalyptic Russia
Nearly every Steam review and description of Atom RPG I read said the same thing: It’s old-school Fallout, but Soviet. “That can’t be,” I said to myself as I waited for the game to download. “That’s too reductionist.” A few hours of playtime later, I’ve revised my opinion: Atom is old-school Fallout, but Soviet. This…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 10, 2019 -
CultureSplitscreen
Our Video Game Predictions For 2019
What’s coming for video games in 2019? What sort of wild predictions do we have for the year? Today onKotaku Splitscreen, we discuss. Every January, Splitscreen makes a bet to see who can rack up the most correct guesses about what’s going to happen in the coming year. Last year, Kirk won, which is why…
By Jason Schreier Published January 10, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
All I Do In Final Fantasy XIV Now Is Play Mahjong
This week’s 4.5 update for Final Fantasy XIV brought players an exciting new raid encounter featuringa Final Fantasy XII cameo, a new dungeon to explore and the first half of the conclusion to the exciting Stormblood storyline. It also added multiplayer Mahjong. Guess what I’ve been doing for the past two days. Competitive Mahjong is…
By Mike Fahey Published January 10, 2019 -
Culture
The Slightly Sketchy 1990s ‘Computer Fairs,’ A Major Part Of My Gaming History
If you asked me to list some of the games I bought or played in 1994, I’d probably start off with Donkey Kong Country and Final Fantasy III, and it would likely take me a long time before I ever mentioned Barneystein 3D. But it was part of my gaming world in 1994, and there’s…
By Chris Kohler Published January 9, 2019 -
CultureCosplay
Just A Couple Of WWE Stars Cosplaying As Team Rocket
Wrestling star Zelina Vega cosplays all the time, but here she’s joined up with Andrade Cien Almas for some fresh trouble. Make it double. The pair, who are usually a wrestler-manager couple but who also team up sometimes in the ring, are dressed up here out of it as Pokemon’s Team Rocket. If Nintendo and…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Really Like The Darkwing Duck Game That Capcom Rejected
Here’s a failed game concept that I really wish had managed to survive the gauntlet of development: Headcannon’s Darkwing Duck pitch. Earlier this week, the developers of Sonic Mania revealed that they’d previously approached Capcom about making a spiritual successor to the company’s 1992 NES game. Obviously, they were unsuccessful. The studio has since released…
By Ethan Gach Published January 9, 2019 -
Culture
Steam Bug Keeps Popular Indie Game From Being Recognized As ‘Real’ For Five Months
Wandersong is a side-scrolling rhythm adventure game that is—pardon my language—charming as all heck. Its combination of inventive mechanics and comedic, heartfelt writing have caused many to fall in love with it, myself included. And for five months Steam wasn’t sure it was a real game. As part of Valve’s ongoing effort to weed out…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 8, 2019 -
Culture
Atlas, As Told By Steam Reviews
When Atlas first launched last month, it didn’t cannonball into the high seas so much as belly flop. The resulting wet slapping sound continues to echo around in the game’s Steam review section to this day. Even though the game is still eliciting cringes and jeers from its reviewers, Atlas has somehow also become hugely…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 8, 2019 -
CultureHollow Knight Speedrun Has A Tense Finale
Hollow Knight is a quiet game of exploration and difficult bosses that can take dozens of hours to complete. Last Sunday at Awesome Games Done Quick, a speedrunner beat it in under 90 minutes. The run was a highlight of precise, masterful movement. And the ending had the audience on the edges of their seats.…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 8, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
The Stories Behind Assassin’s Creed Mercenaries Are Terrific, But Easily Missed
You don’t need to know the backstory of Shoeless Ogarneos, a mercenary who may try to kill you in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, but the word in the game is that this ancient Greek killer-for-hire only wore bandages on his feet and “liked the red tint they had at the end of each day.” I can…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 8, 2019 -
Culture
The Week In Games: Mario Brothers Of Days Past
Not one but two older entries into the Mario Bros. canon resurface this week, because in the world of video games what’s old is eternally new again. And I do hope you like new old games, because otherwise you’re out of luck. In a test of just how many Nintendo fans will buy games they…
By Ethan Gach Published January 8, 2019 -
Culture
The Best-Reviewed Steam Games Of 2018
More so than perhaps even playing them, Steam is a place where people go to yell about games. Here are the games they yelled most positively about last year. Steam reviews are kind of a mess. The positive/negative binary squelches nuance and doesn’t translate well into an overall percentage score, and the system is easily…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 7, 2019
