Culture

The Week In Games: Rolling To The Club 

It’s time to settle the age old debate about whether Sonic was actually fun or just something we all pretended to like to piss off our friends. I honestly can’t ever remember every enjoying the games. What I do enjoy are my memories of playing the games which have little to do with actually trying…

Speedrunner Successfully Completes Deathmarch Through Pokémon Emerald‘s Battle Frontier In One Sitting

Pokémon games area all about players collecting small creatures and commanding them in battle, but in the end-game section of Pokémon Emerald called the Battle Frontier it’s the Pokémon who call the shots. Always up for a mind-bending challenge, one speedrunner decided to speedrun it. Mark “Werster” McKenzie is no stranger to the series and…

Podcast: Love In The Age Of Splatoon 2

It’s time for a super-sized episode of Kotaku Splitscreen full of special guests, dating advice, and squid-kid conspiracy theories. Jason and I start out talking about how much he loves Final Fantasy Tactics on his phone and how impressed I’ve been with the first couple hours of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Then we talk about the…

Sunday Comics: Silent Strike 

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics that usually occurs on Sunday except when it doesn’t. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published August 8. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published August 7. Read more…

This Week In The Business: The Long Dark Road Out Of Early Access 

QUOTE | “We should be out there, and we want to be out there. But I’ll draw the line, also beyond a certain point, I don’t think I owe people to be a punching bag for them when they’re feeling upset.” – Hinterland Studio’s Raphael van Lierop talks about dealing with the toxic atmosphere on…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for cleaning the house. No, really. Really this time. Also, video games. I’ve got some games to check out for next week, but I’ll also be playing more The Long Dark, because there are a lot of places in the new map where I haven’t died yet. I’m also pretty keen on…

Zelda Speedrunners Are Mastering Breath Of The Wild’s New Difficulty

Breath of the Wild’s difficult Master Mode makes monsters tougher and the world much more dangerous than before. For speedrunners attempting to complete the game quickly, this provides new challenges and opportunities. Different speedrunning routes try to complete various challenges. Two popular categories in Breath of the Wild are Any%, which seeks to beat the…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: I’m Freaking Out About My Wife’s Orgasms

Hello all you petrochemical meerkats of the Noosphere, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column that helps you get the perfect Loot Box for your love life. Before we get started, a quick self-serving plug: I was a guest on this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen podcast! If you haven’t yet, go give…

Track: Sweet Virginia | Artist: The Rolling Stones | Album: Exile On Main Street  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Cosplay Heats Up Japan In August 

Today the summer Comic Market gets underway at Tokyo Big Sight. Where there are comics, there are cosplayers, and you can bet the bi-annual Comiket is crawling with those. As in the past, the cosplayers at year’s summer Comic Market run the gamut of incredibly accurate to incredibly silly. The result is some truly enjoyable…

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Anna Fehr is a concept artist and illustrator currently working at Avalanche, the studio behind the Just Cause series. You can see more of Anna’s work at her personal site 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…

No Rockets? Improvise

Today on Highlight Reel we have Michael Bay chase scenes, ladders, photo bombs, hockey 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! Friday The…

Arma III DLC Will Let You Play As A Humanitarian Worker

Games have been letting us play as soldiers and combatants for decades, but there’s far more to war than fighting. Popular war shooter Arma III’s upcoming “Laws of War” DLC will let you play as part of a new faction, the International Development & Aid Project (IDAP), and will introduce scenarios based on International Humanitarian…

Superhot VR Speedruns Are Some Terrifying Matrix Shit

Superhot is a badass shooter where time only moves when you move. Gunfights are bullet ballets where timing is crucial. The VR version is just as stunning, especially when speedrunners are pulling of moves straight from the best action movies Speedrunning in virtual reality adds a dynamic physical component to gameplay that you don’t get…

Nintendo Challenges The World With Beastly Speedrun of Splatoon 2 Level

If the ARMS tournament from earlier this year didn’t clue you in, here’s another incident that proves Nintendo is really good at its own games. Yesterday, the official Japanese Splatoon account shared a video of the “Octozeppelin Invasion” level, which they absolutely destroy in a record 1:09. Our own Tim Rogers translated Nintendo’s accompanying Tweet,…

Track: You’re So Cool | Artist: True Romance | Album: True Romance Soundtrack  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Track: Mighty Wings | Artist: Cheap Trick | Album: Top Gun Soundtrack Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

When Fallout Meets Judge Dredd

Dimitri Zaitsev wondered what it’d look like if you mixed the dystopian worlds of Fallout and Judge Dredd. So he put together this incredible outfit to find out. In the gallery below you’ll see the amount of work that went into the costume, not just in terms of its construction, but the weathering and other…

Yo Maybe Don’t Touch The Skulls At Baba Yaga’s House

Leia Ham is an illustrator from Singapore currently based in LA. You can see more of Leia’s work at her personal site 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…

Steam Has Added Over 1,000 Games Since Steam Direct Launched

When Valve first announced that it was taking a long-overdue crowbar to Steam Greenlight and replacing it with a new system called Steam Direct, people weren’t sure what would happen. Some thought Steam was about to get more exclusive again. Others feared that Valve was only widening the floodgates. Now we’ve got numbers. Since Steam…