Culture

The Week In Games: Child Superhero and Flailing Bandicoot

The game release cycle is back in the swing of things post-E3, and that means we’ve got Captain Spirit’s debut, a Ys game, and some excellent Switch ports. As a longtime fan of Dontnod, I’m more than a little bit curious about The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. I’ll admit to finding the trailer a…

Track: Cemetry Gates (Live) | Artist: The Smiths | Album: N/A Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

A Queen Titan From Teen Titans

Cosplayer Oh My Sophii wanted to try something a bit different with her Raven outfit, and so instead of just straight copying the character’s appearance from the TV show and comics went with a more regal tone. With original plans to draw up a “high fashion” Raven, Sophii’s sketches eventually led her towards a “Queen…

Overwatch Cosplay Puts The Guns Down For A Second

Team Paraluna are a pair of cosplayers from the Netherlands who are responsible for these terrific Overwatch costumes. There’s so much detail here. Witch Mercy’s garments are airbrushed to look worn, while her book was hand-made with actual pages (as in, it’s not just a block of wood or foam). Dragon Symmetra, meanwhile, has a…

But Officers, These Are My Friends

Nikita Kukolev is a freelance artist from Russia. You can see more of Nikita’s work at their ArtStation and Instagrampages. 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 their…

A Most Unusual Harry Potter Crossover

Two of the most hated characters in British kid’s literature are Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter and Ms. Trunchbull from Roald Dahl’s Matilda. This cosplay shoot, for probably the first and only time ever, imagines what it would look like if they became best friends and hung out. Let this be a reminder that while…

Track: Hanging On (White Sea Remix) | Artist: Active Child | Album: You Are All I See Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

‘Shop Contest: Summer Sports

Mario Tennis Aces is slamming into Switches everywhere this weekend, so I think it’s time for us to get video games ready for summer sports. I’m not really a “sports and shorts” kind of guy, but it’s hard to deny that it feels great to go outside and throw some sort of ball object around…

Watch The Second Day Of The 2018 Summer Games Done Quick Speedrunning Marathon

Summer Games Done Quick returns for its eighth year with speedrunning performances across a number of classics, starting with Banjoe-Tooie. SGDQ is one of my personal favorite ways to kick-off the season and is always a great distraction from the summer heat and quiet release schedule. Based out of the DoubleTree Hilton in Minneapolis, Minnesota,…

All The Games Jason Played At E3

I’m back from E3, and I’ve brought a truckload of video game impressions with me. You can hear them all on this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, or read some of them right here. On today’s episode, Kirk and I talk about tons and tons of games, starting with the many demos I played at E3, like…

Sunday Comics: Live Musical Performances

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published June 18. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published June 18. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

Track: Llorar | Artist: The Prids | Album: Love Zero Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Even More Smash Bros., Winners!

Smash Bros. is a fan favorite, and one of the reasons it is so successful is that it brings all of our favorite characters together to absolutely wreck house all over each other. I asked you to add more characters. You delivered. Adding characters to a real Smash Bros. game seems to be a serious,…

This Week In The Business: Down On The Sickness

QUOTE | “Gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour, which may be online or offline, manifested by: 1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities;…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for actually cleaning the house this time, not like last weekend when you said you would and then just lay on the couch thinking, “Boy, this house is a mess!” It’s also for playing video games. The picture above, from Steam, accurately represents exactly where I’m stuck in Hollow Knight. I’m not…

Players Are Cheating The Steam Summer Sale Game, But They’re Not Sure Why

For the first time in years, the Steam summer sale has a limited-time game attached to it. It’s called Saliens, and it’s, well, not very good. That hasn’t stopped dedicated groups of Steam users from trying to exploit the gooey-green alien crap out of it, though. Saliens is, at its core, a simple tower defense…

Help, I Can’t Decide Which Octopath Traveler Character To Start With

I’m in a pickle. The new demo for the upcoming JRPG Octopath Traveler lets you play the first three hours of the game a few weeks early. Instead of making three hours’ worth of progress, I’ve spent that time trying to figure out which main character to choose. Octopath Traveler is out on Nintendo Switch…

Track: Shady Lane | Artist: Pavement | Album: Brighten the Corners Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Some Very Fine Art

Pablo Dominguez is an artist at Industrial Light & Magic, but he’s also worked for Marvel and Dreamworks. This is just a selection of fan art and personal pieces, not actual Star Wars work, but I thought it was so damn good it was worth a showcase. You can see more of Pablos art at…

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