Culture

‘Shop Contest: Princess Peach Forever, Winners!

The Mushroom Kingdom is in turmoil. The divine right of princesses has been challenged. Princess Peach must assert her authority. I asked you to ‘shop up some images that promoted Princess Peach, and you did not disappoint me. When we talk about the Mario video game universe, we often forget about the political machinery that…

This Week In The Business: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gambling

QUOTE | “Psychologically akin to gambling” – A phrase used to describe loot boxes by two researchers who conducted a survey of more than 7,000 gamers. Their report said loot boxes as they exist right now can provide publishers with an unregulated way of “exploiting gambling disorders among their customers”. STAT | 16 – Number…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for coming back from being away and dealing with the bag of lettuce you left in the crisper all week. Blugh. Also, video games. Risk of Rain had a surprise release on the Switch yesterday, thus adding to my tendency of only owning games I already own on PC. The game makes…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: I Just Want Closure With My Ex

Hello all you love-cobras of contagion, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column to give you the DLC to find your OTP. This week, we’re getting in people’s heads. How do you respond when everyone has a preconceived notion about you based on how you look? And why can’t you get…

Frostpunk‘s New Expansion Is About Digging Through The Past

Frostpunk, a post-apocalyptic city builder, somehow manages to get even darker and more brutal in its latest expansion, a story-based scenario called The Fall of Winterhome. Rather than create and navigate my own messes, the game’s new scenario required me to clean up after somebody else’s with a feverish sense of urgency. In the main…

The Art Of Destiny 2: Forsaken

A look behind the scenes on Destiny 2's latest expansion

Sephiroth Cosplay Rises From The Flames

This isn’t photoshop: cosplayer Leon Chiro went all out on this Sephiroth getup, sitting himself in a ring of fire to make sure everything was as evil and brooding as possible. The fire photos were taken by Muffin Geek Production, while the others are by EoS Andy and Tobias Schmelzer. The shoot was part of…

Track: Sweet 16 Blues | Artist: Namie Amuro | Album: Ballada  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Cosplayer Transforms Into Mai Shiranui, Thanks To Plenty Of Padding

Australian cosplayer A.K. Wirru pulled off a terrific cosplay of iconic fighting game character Mai Shiranui. Here’s how he did it. For his Mai cosplay, he decided to recreate the character’s physical proportions. Making sure everything matched his skin tone. He also constructed a lower body suit. But that’s not all that was needed for…

Start Your Engines

Mustafa Lamrani is an artist at Starbreeze (Riddick, Syndicate) who has also worked for companies like Ubisoft. You can see more of Mustafa’s work at his ArtStation page

Emilie Gauvin is a cosplayer from Montreal who specialises in costume and fashion design. Here she is as Haru from Persona 5. Panther by luxlocosplay, photo by Erik Paredes

Avatar: The Last Airbender Is One Of The Greatest TV Shows Of All Time

One of the best to ever do it

A Murder Mystery Where The Suspects Are Different Video Game Genres

Daniel Mullins, the creator of beloved indie horror mindfuck Pony Island, is back with more genre-bending antics. His new murder mystery game, The Hex, has a central conceit with which I became immediately enamored: all the suspects are stand-ins for different video game genres. The game takes place at a creaky old inn, which TV…

What We Liked (And Didn’t Like) About The Dragon Prince

Netflix released The Dragon Prince this weekend, a new fantasy story by the writers of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Senior Reporter Cecilia D’Anastasio and Staff Writer Heather Alexandra sat down to talk about what they liked and whether or not it can live up to Airbender’s pedigree. Cecilia D’Anastasio: Heather, hello! Today, we’re talking about…

What We Liked (And Loved) About BoJack Horseman‘s Fifth Season

Season 5 of BoJack Horseman premiered this weekend on Netflix. It’s full of the usual dark humor and animals doing drugs we’ve come to expect from the show, as well as new developments, twists, and a lot of really excellent experimental episodes. Riley: Hello Gita! This weekend we watched Season 5 of BoJack Horseman. I…

That Time A Player Tricked Everyone Into Thinking You Could Get The Triforce In Ocarina of Time

On February 4th, 1999, one of the greatest hoaxes in video game history began. The Zelda fandom was shock by a player claiming to have found the Triforce in Ocarina of Time. Ariana Almandoz, a gamer from Colombia, had all the details, but she wasn’t quite ready to share them with the world. Through vague…

Completionist Speedruns Of Final Fantasy VII Are No Joke

In September of last year, Caleb Hart first streamed a completionist run of Final Fantasy VII. The PS1-era JRPG is notoriously involved, filled with hyper-difficult extra bosses and complicated sidequests. When it released in 1997 it shocked people by being too big to fit on one disc, instead requiring three. In recent weeks though, Hart…

The Week In Games: Fishing Tale

This is a week of fishing games, beat ‘em ups, and Undertale on the Switch. If you haven’t played Undertale, and you own a Nintendo Switch, then this is your big chance. You can do it! I believe in you. And maybe, just maybe, I can believe in myself, because I also have not played…

Track: Try A Little Tenderness (Live) | Artist: Otis Redding | Album: Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Best Cosplay From DragonCon 2018, One Of The Biggest Nerd Shows Of The Year

DragonCon, which was held between August 30–September 3 in Atlanta, isn’t just one of the biggest cosplay shows in North America, it’s now one of the biggest cosplay galleries we’ve ever run on this site. Over 80,000 people went through the doors of multiple hotels in the area, to sit in on panels, meet friends,…