Culture

‘Shop Contest: Headed West, Winners!

In the spirit of something red and redemptive, all of our favorite characters went West in last week’s ‘Shop Contest. They rustled and wrangled their way into the frontier spirit, and some amazing ‘shops came out of their struggles to homestead their way into their new lives. I asked our intrepid ‘shop experts to send…

This Week In The Business: Rolling The Dice On Loot Box Legality

QUOTE | “We’re working with all the industry associations globally and with regulators in various jurisdictions and territories, [and] have established that programs like FIFA Ultimate Team are not gambling.” – On Tuesday, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said regulators agreed with EA’s position that loot boxes aren’t gambling QUOTE | “We are going to take…

What Are You Playing This Weekend? 

The weekend is for finally cleaning your room because you’re pretty sure that luggage from your February trip back to New England doesn’t need to be there anymore. Also, video games. I’ve powered my way through Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and God Of War over the last few weeks and learned a lot…

UFC Champ Crushed By PUBG‘s Circle, Somehow Wins Anyway

This afternoon’s entertainment is brought to you by UFC champion (who somehow finds time to have an entire professional video game streaming career on the side) Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Prepare to witness a full spectrum of emotions in a mere 30 seconds. Usually, when the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds circle closes, it heralds either a tense…

Track: Sparkle (Live) | Artist: Radwimps | Album: Your Name (OST) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Splatoon, The Most Fashionable Game Of All

Leland Goodman is an artist at Titmouse (Metalocalypse, Avatar’s intro), but she also has a very special side-project: a fashion zine based on Splatoon You can see some images from that book, along with some of her other work, below. And you can see more of Leland’s stuff at her personal site To see the…

Valve Is Paying Hackers To Discover Security Flaws In Steam

Even Steam, the biggest PC gaming platform in the world, isn’t immune to hacks and other issues that have in previous years rendered private information woefully public. That’s where Valve’s new bug bounty program comes in. Bug bounty programs are common among major tech companies like Microsoft and Facebook. They task so-called “white hat” hackers—aka…

Turns Out We Have Thoughts On Brooklyn Nine-Nine Getting Canceled

Today, Fox announced that Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s fifth season will also be its last. As it turns out, many of us Kotaku and Compete watch the show, and we have some thoughts. Here’s a lightly edited transcript of how we reacted in our work Slack channel when the news dropped. Also, we found out which of…

VR Is A Real Trip

Today on Highlight Reel we have trippy VR, good audio cues, Thanos moments, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on all…

Get ‘Em, Zangief

Antonio De Luca is a freelance concept artist and illustrator from Italy. You can see more of Antonio’s work at his 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…

Tomb Raider Cosplay Strives For Accuracy

Loads of people faithfully cosplay as the new Lara Croft because she is a strong character with an outfit that is relatively easy to replicate. When it comes to the original Lara, beebinchknows how to do likewise in the most PS1-authentic way possible. You can see more of beebinch’s cosplay at her Instagram page, like…

Soon, You’ll Be Able To Play Steam Games On Your Phone

Ever wanted to play a game from your Steam library, but also felt like, if you got out of bed, you’d have to face a spiteful, uncaring world? Soon, Steam will have a solution to that: free apps that let you stream Steam games (and movies) to your phone. The Steam Link app, coming out…

Track: Barbarians| Artist: Armand Hammer | Album: Rome Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Chefs Of Iron

Alexandre Diboine is a freelance artist from France who worked on Revolting Rhymes, an animated short that was nominated for an Oscar this year You can see more of Alexandre’s work at his ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is…

Player Crushes Atari Record Using A Glitch Thought Impossible

A speedrunner using a glitch never performed on consoles has set a new record time in the Atari 2600 game Barnstorming. The glitch creates a new speedrun category for the game, whose scores were once held by the controversial video game player Todd Rogers. The 1982 game Barnstorming has various mode to play. The goal…

The Internet Reacts To Celebrities Wearing JRPG Outfits At The Met Gala

Last night was the annual Met Gala, where celebrities go to have a very expensive dress-up party. This year’s theme inspired a lot of the guests to dress like your next Dungeons & Dragons character. Last night’s theme was “Heavenly Bodies and The Catholic Imagination,” and like every year, a lot of people whiffed it.…

A Game That Turns Item Shops Into Torture Chambers

I love video game item shops. Even when I can’t afford the curios on display it’s always fun to examine them, read the flavor text, and plan a wishlist of future acquisitions. Item shops also often act as respites from a long and tiring video game journey. In the PC game Roulette Knight, though, they’re…

Track: Music Is Worth Living For (Live) | Artist: Andrew W.K. | Album: You’re Not Alone Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Cafe Latte Flavored Water Released In Japan 

This week, Asahi Soft Drinks is releasing cafe latte flavored water. For a country that already has yogurt flavored water, this should surprise no one. Asahi’s Clear Latte, which is described as “clear espresso and milk,” has zero caffeine, no fat, and is low calorie. It’s apparently made from expresso extract, whey minerals from raw…

The Best Cosplay From Gold Coast Supanova

Cosplayers from all across Australia converged on the Gold Coast last weekend for Gold Coast Supanova, giving us whole lot of great new costumes and fantastic cosplay photography. While the Gold Coast doesn’t have much in the way of big cosplay competitions, it does have a reputation as a great social event, so some of…