Culture

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Final Postcard, Winners!

Too soon? What can I say, there were a lot of great entries for this week’s ‘Shop Contest, but I’ve had Final Fantasy VII on the mind and Lionheart227‘s entry hit me just right. It’s been a long journey for Noctis, Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto; one that’s taken them to many strange places, including the…

Planet Coaster Player Recreates Firewatch As A Roller Coaster

Firewatch was a slow-paced, contemplative indie hit about people. So of course, somebody decided to turn it into a roller coaster. Here’s the ride in action in Planet Coaster: Steam user sammy put some serious work into his high-flying homage. He explained: “There are over 1300 triggered scenery events for this ride. Main features are…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Happy Friday! Soon it shall be the weekend, that glorious time when you can sleep in and wear sweatpants all day and cancel your plans to play video games. I’m finally going to try to check out The Division’s Survival DLC, which my colleagues have been having a lot of fun with. I love survival…

When Making The Costume Is Easy, But The Prop Is Not

In anime Durarara!!, bodyguard Shizuo Heiwajima is known for his amazing strength. His outfit, a bartender outfit and sunglasses, is easy to pull off. The improvised weapons he wields, however, are not. Heiwajima often uses street signs for battling, but when typical cosplayers dress as him, they carry a stop sign. While difficult to make,…

Valve Still Hasn’t Fixed Steam Curators

As part of the recent Steam front page revamp, Valve gave curators an even more prominent spot and added functionality so that they can list games as “not recommended” or provide Steam users with neutral information. Sounds good on paper. Doesn’t really work in practice. Recently, I decided to search for Steam curators—that is, (often…

That’s Some Impressive Chocobo Riding

Today on Highlight Reel we have empty oceans, an untranqil Zenyatta, kills, broken physics 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! Battlefield 1 –Conker37…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: My Guy’s Missing Ex Just Reappeared Out Of Nowhere

Hello, all you galloping Internet sex weasels. Welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating column that’s part animal, part machine. This week, we’re talking about those niggling anxieties that plague us in our dating lives. We all have those fears that plague us in the long dark nights of the soul, whether it’s of…

Jump Right In

Mike Redman is an artist based in the UK working in the video game business. You can see more of Mike’s stuff 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,…

Build-A-Bear Does The Best Sonic The Hedgehog It Can

Designing a licensed stuffed animal is tough enough when you don’t have to worry about it being stuffed and sealed by retail employees. While he’s a little frumpy, Build-A-Bear’s Sonic the Hedgehog is filled with love, so he gets a pass. Available now as part of a limited online bundle (via Polygon) but racing to…

Podcast: Final Fantasy Never Left

Lots of people are saying Final Fantasy is back. Those people should go play Final Fantasy XIV. Still, FFXV is pretty good, and we’re talking about it on today’s Kotaku Splitscreen On today’s show, we dig deep into the adventures of Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and Richard. We talk about what we like about Final Fantasy…

Track: The Mountain Will Fall | Artist: DJ Shadow | Album: The Mountain Will Fall  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

LoL Cosplay As Radiant As The Dawn

Well. This is impressive. This is Aoime as Leona (the Radiant Dawn) from League of Legends. It took her over a year to put this together, but its detail and heft looks 100% worth the trouble, especially when you see (below) how she had to move the thing around.

PC Company Accused Of Stealing Cosplay Image For Ad

On the left, a photo of cosplayer Lindze A’la Mode. On the right, an advertisement for PC and hardware company MSI. Aside from the crime that it’s a terrible photoshop job, MSI is being taken to court in Georgia because the cosplayer and photographer involved in the original shot say it was made (and used…

Well Played, Witcher 3 Cosplay

Just when you thought Witcher 3 cosplay couldn’t get any better, along comes a recreation of some of the game’s best fan art, Ástor Alexander’s noir take on Geralt and friends The photos were taken by Milligan. Toph is Ciri, Iris is Yennefer, Anna is Triss and Andrew as Geralt.

Track: Youth of America | Artist: The Melvins | Album: Electroretard Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Run!

Col Price is an artist from the UK who has worked on series like Wipeout

Counter-Strike Adds Buyable Glove Skins

Gun skins, knife skins, and sprays not enough for you? Wait, really? Well OK then, Counter-Strike’s got you (and your hands) covered. As part of the latest big Counter-Strike update, Valve added a Glove Case, with 24 cosmetic glove skins as special items. They look pretty snazzy, ranging from dirt bike couture to “I saw…

Track: Get Up Lucy | Artist: Thee Michelle Gun Elephant | Album: Chicken Zombies Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

No Man’s Sky Update Is Bringing Thousands Of Curious Players Back

Before the big “Foundation” update that surprise-launched this weekend, No Man’s Sky wasn’t in a great place. On Steam, the game’s concurrent player count hovered mostly between 200 and 500. It wasn’t even within spitting distance of Steam’s top 100 most-played games. What a difference a solid update (after months of silence, which drummed up…

Changing Weather Puts New Spin On Classic Counter-Strike Maps 

Counter-Strike’s best maps are finely tuned staging grounds for battles of tactics, will, and hair-trigger reflexes. A slight change can have a tremendous impact on how they play. Even something as seemingly insignificant as the weather, as this mod demonstrates. Lewis Palfrey and Luke Millanta’s Changing Weather Collection (via Eurogamer) adds a slew of weather…