Culture

Track: The 59th Street Bridge Song | Artist: Simon & Garfunkel | Album: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Track: Organ Donor | Artist: DJ Shadow | Album: Endtroducing Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Welcome To New Venice

Lukasz Nowicki is a Polish concept artist at Platige, a studio that has worked on games like Total War: Warhammer, Frostpunk, Dishonored and Halo 5 The art you’re seeing here, though, is all from Retro Synthesis, a cyberpunk adventure game currently up on Kickstarter You can see more of Lukasz’s work at his ArtStation page

By The Power Of Grayskull, He Has The Power

Here’s hellspawned_cosplay with a very good take on He-Man, defender of Eternia, rider of green cats, alter-ego of a royal doofus. These shots were taken by gimmiecookie at the Baltimore City Comic-Con. You can see more at hellspawned_cosplay and gimmiecookie’s Instagram pages.

Our Quest For The Best Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Difficulty Setting [Updated]

I’m enjoying Assassin’s Creed Odyssey so far, but I’ve been struggling to find a difficulty setting that I like. More specifically, I’m struggling to find a setting that I like equally for every activity. My boss Stephen Totilo is about as far into the game as I am, so I figured I’d check in to…

Music Is The Secret Weapon Of Mario Speedrunners

Is there anything so satisfying to watch as a well-played Mario speedrun? What makes an expert run of Super Mario Bros. so eminently watchable, and how do the players master their moves so perfectly? It turns out that the answer to both questions could be “music.” “Most of the movement is timed with the rhythm…

Track: Emily (Live in Helsinki) | Artist: Bill Evans Trio | Album: Letter to Evan Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Blue Sky Mining

Chris McCabe is a concept artist and designer based in the UK. You can see more of Chris’ work at his personal site

Track: A Lesson In Lust | Artist: Hail The Sun | Album: Mental Knife Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Good And Bad Of Red Dead Redemption‘s Multiplayer

Before GTA Online, Rockstar Games took a few stabs at online multiplayer within their open world games. Red Dead Redemption for Xbox 360 and PS3 was a big step beyond what was accomplished in GTA IV’s multiplayer. In many ways RDR multiplayer feels like a prototype for GTA Online. With Red Dead Redemption 2 coming…

Track: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Live) | Artist: The Smiths | Album: The Queen Is Dead (Deluxe) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Pringles Flavored Ramen And Noodles Exist In Japan

Of course they do! This month, Pringles Sour Cream and Onion flavored fried noodles and Pringles Jalapeño and Onion ramen will go on sale in Japan. Pringles is teaming up with instant noodle maker Acecook to make this happen. If that wasn’t enough (it’s not, I guess!), chicken-bone soy sauce flavored ramen Pringles and squid…

Welcome To Mushroom Town

Lukasz Salata is a concept artist from Poland, who most recently worked on the adventure/puzzle game My Brother Rabbit You can see more of Lukasz’s work at his ArtStation page

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Cosplay Is Looking Sharp

No doubt helped by the fact Ubisoft released a very cool guide back at E3, we’re already seeing quality cosplay from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. This is French cosplayer Phobos, who built Kassandra’s outfit from EVA foam, worbla, sculpting clay, linen and some fake leather. Her boyfriend Thibaut Claudel is responsible for the photos, which were…

XCOM 2 Getting New Story Missions, A Level Editor

More than two years since its release, XCOM 2 is still a behemoth of a strategy game, but things have been quiet out of developer Firaxis’ camp since the release of excellent expansion War of the Chosen last year. Today, the developer surprise-announced that it’s not done with XCOM 2 just yet. New additions to…

We’re playing Mega Man 11 live on Twitch. Come watch!

More Games Should Let Us Replay The Tutorial

Of all the many valid reasons I’m still playing The Witcher 3, there’s one that’s not related to the game’s quality. If I put it down for too long, I’ll completely forget how to play. It’s a problem that extends to every game I own. I recently discovered a game in my Steam library that…

Track: Oedo Controller | Artist: Yunomi feat.TORIENA | Album: Oedo Controller Album Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

When Disney Meets Historical Fashion

Belle’s dresses in Beauty and the Beast are fancy, but they’re not exactly authentic to the place and time of the original 18th century French fairy tale that Disney adapted. Cosplayer Athena’s Adventures decided to address this with an adaptation of her own, taking Belle’s basic colour palette and turning her ball gown into something…

Final Fantasy VII Cosplay Is The Hero, Not The Villain Here

Natane Eklund works by day as an artist in the video game industry, but over the past year she’s also been toiling away on a gaming project of a different kind: a full 1:1 replica of Sephiroth’s Final Fantasy VII costume, complete with Jenova prop. It really is something else; you tend to see a…