Culture

Battlegrounds Getting First-Person Only Servers

In PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, using the third-person camera to peek around corners while you remain comfortably out of harm’s way is key to survival. As a human being with eyeballs that spend most of their time firmly in their sockets, you might recognize this as unrealistic. If you want more realism from your game about 100…

Podcast: Vaan Really Sucks

“I just wish [Final Fantasy XII]’s main character weren’t this pretty boy shithead,” says Kirk on today’s big Q&A episode of Kotaku Splitscreen We start off the ep by talking Final Fantasy XII (6:20), Grand Theft Auto IV (20:12), and Red Dead Redemption (26:58) before opening up the mailbag (33:15) and answering your questions about…

Track: Try Me (Live at the Apollo) | Artist: James Brown | Album: Please Please Please Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Bleach Cosplay!

Here’s Bleach’s Yoruichi Shihōin by ChibiThot

Edgar Allen Poe Dameron

Love it. Cosplay by Beth Grimes, photo by mnbookgeek

Overwatch Characters Scrub Up Real Good

Remember how earlier this year a group of cosplayers did a thing called Underwatch, where they all—men and women alike—dressed like Overwatch characters in underwear? Many of the same cosplayers tried something similar for Anime Expo, only this time they went in the opposite direction. This is Formalwatch, a massive group cosplay project that took…

Steam’s Latest Hit Is A Wrestling Game That Already Has Nearly 2,000 Custom Characters

Fire Pro Wrestling World has been out on Steam for two days. Already, it’s got a roster that includes all the greats, from Shinsuke Nakamura to Andre The Giant to the consensus best wrestler of all time, A Bear. For the past couple days, Fire Pro Wrestling World, the latest entry in a decades-old retro-style…

New Trick Has Ocarina of Time Speedrunners Debating What A Glitch Actually Is

Ocarina of Time’s Glitchless speedrun category seeks to complete the game as quick as possible without using game-breaking cheats and glitches, but a newly discovered trick is forcing runners to consider what is or isn’t a glitch to begin with. Is something a glitch if it lets you explore somewhere early? Or is it only…

The Best Animated Superman Series Gets The Toys It Deserves

The DC Collectors folks have been giving a lot of love to Batman: The Animated Series lately, with a series of action figures celebrating artist Bruce Timm’s iconic designs. But what of its brighter, bolder follow-up, Superman: The Animated Series? It’s time has come. Shipping next month, the Superman and Lois Lane two-pack ($59.95) kicks…

Track: This Charming Man | Artist: The Smiths | Album: The Smiths Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Track: Healing Through Death | Artist: Usnea | Album: Random Cosmic Violence Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Artist Brings Simon Stålenhag’s Robot Invasion To Life

Simon Stålenhag’s images of a robot-strewn Scandinavia have been big hits on the internet over the last few years. They’re very static, though, so 3D artist Wiktor Öhman has decided to make them a bit more animated. Öhman has worked on games like Far Cry 3. You can see more of his art at his…

50 Battlegrounds Players Band Together To Test The Game’s Limits

In PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the only thing 50 players gathered in the same small space are supposed to do is kill each other. But with enough coordination, anything is possible. Exactly like in that one pivotal scene from The Hunger Games, DooM49‘s band of renegades refused to slaughter each other during a recent match, and instead…

Toy Time Plays A Combo Of Pokémon and Jenga Called Beasts Of Balance

Beasts of Balance is a game of balancing skills featuring stylized plastic animals and icons. It’s also a colorful mobile strategy game involving collecting and evolving fantastic hybrid animals. It’s how both of these elements come together that make it a game that’s hard to stop playing. Beasts of Balance comes in a big friendly…

Track: So What | Artist: Miles Davis | Album: Kind of Blue  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Best Cosplay From America’s Biggest Anime Convention

Anime Expo, held earlier this month in LA, is the biggest anime convention in the US, attracting over 100,000 people. And while there were some problems at the door, once people got in they were treated to some of the best cosplay going around. We’ve seen some of the show’s cosplay before, but this is…

Track: Starboard | Artist: Chiasma | Album: Human Element Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Hey, Inmate! Here’s Some Good Persona 5 Cosplay

Here’s PineapplePandah as Caroline and Bell-hime as Justine, Persona 5’s cranky-ass wardens.

We Miss You, Barney

Olya Bossak is an artist based in St. Petersburg, Russia. You can see more of Olya’s work at her ArtStation page 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 artists, showcasing the best of both…

Owlboy Developers Leave Some Glitches Alone For Speedrunners

Developers make games, and speedrunners break them. Those goals might seem to be at odds, but Owlboy studio D-Pad keeps in touch with the game’s speedrunning community, and has left sequence-breaking glitches intact just for them. (It’s even added some back in.) Like inspirations such as Super Mario Bros 3 and Kid Icarus, Owlboy has…