Culture

Podcast: Learning To Love Speedrunning

Just what makes speedrunning so appealing? Why is it so much fun to watch people break the hell out of games we love? PODCAST TIME! Kotaku’s resident Australian Luke Plunkett joins me and Kirk on this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to talk about everything from Assassin’s Creed to Arkham Knight. We discuss the appeal…

Iron Man Figure Is Actually Iron (Well, Close Enough)

Plastic Iron Man figures are all well and good, but its hard to maintain the illusion of metal armor when your toy is light as a feather. Weighing in at four pounds, Comicave’s Iron Man Mark XXXVIII Igor figure is pretty heavy metal. Courtesy of my friends at Bluefin Distribution, bringers of all things amazing…

Track: Leaving Hogwarts | Artist: John Williams | Album: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Original Soundtrack Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Oh, Don’t Give Me That Look

Zezhou Chen is a freelance artist from China working in the video game business. You can see more of Chen’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), click on the “expand” button in…

Trash Talk Generator Has Produced Some Wicked Insults On Steam

“You know all those times your parents said video games would get you nowhere? They were right.” Last week, I spoke with the creator of the Shittalk Generator, a crowdsourced effort to create sick (read: actually decent) burns that can be automatically queued up in games like Counter-Strike, DOTA 2, and Team Fortress 2. I’ve…

Watch Someone Murder Everyone In Undertale At Record Speed

Killing everyone in Undertale is a harrowing experience, one that will likely bring you to tears and lead you to question all of your life’s decisions. Unless you do it really fast Speedrunner TGH, who has spent the past few months trying to beat Toby Fox’s indie gem as quickly as possible, set a new…

Steam VR Stealth Game Looks Like A More Violent Portal

It’s always interesting to see old genres learn new tricks. Stealth—with all its methodical maneuvering and frantic flights—might seem like an odd fit for Valve and HTC’s only slightly mobile virtual reality face squid, but that’s just forced the folks behind Budget Cuts to get creative. So, a few things set this one apart. Let’s…

Steam’s Latest Hit Has You Manage A Starving Kickboxer

Punch Club first got everyone’s attention with an extremely transparent Twitch-based marketing scheme. Ever since its release, however, it’s been one of the top games on Steam. Is it actually any good? With some reservations, I’m gonna say yes. Punch Club is a boxing (or fighting, really; there are also kicks involved) management tycoon game…

Expert Mario 64 Player Demonstrates His Most Advanced Techniques 

Ever wondered how some of the best players pull off their ridiculous tricks? Super Mario 64 player pannenkoek2012, known for beating the game in as few button presses as possible, made a video explaining his process. It’s amazing. pannenkoek2012 walks through a bunch of his techniques in this video, though the one he initially focuses…

One Punch Woman

Simple crossplay, excellent execution. Cosplay by Anna Lynn, photo by Kitten Cabada

The Concept Art Of XCOM 2

XCOM 2 isn’t out yet, but the game’s hardcover art book is, and the publishers were kind enough to pass some images along to Fine Art for a little showcase of the Firaxis artist’s work. There’s a nice mix here of character art, environment stuff and even some animation tests, which we don’t get to…

Goal Celebrated Prematurely

Today on Highlight Reel we have vehicle splatters, oblivious witchers, near misses, early goal celebrations, accidental ladder kills, and much more! Watch the video above, 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. Witcher 3 – “Witcher Senses??”…

Some Of The Best Star Wars Cosplay From The Past Five Years

Over the last five years, Beat Down Boogie has been all over the country filming cosplayers at sci-fi shows and nerd conventions. And wherever there were cosplayers, there were Star Wars cosplayers. This video catalogues the best of them. I love the mix! Yes, there is film-quality cosplay on show, but there are also a…

Players Duped By Steam’s Winter Sale ‘ARG’ Send Valve An Actual Red Herring

Steam’s big winter sale included an alternate reality game that… really wasn’t. After following a rather unsatisfying breadcrumb trail, players unlocked a Steam badge titled “Red Herring.” Very funny, Valve. Now, though, joke’s on them. A member of the subreddit dedicated to untangling Valve’s web of steamy secrets confirmed that a) they sent Valve some…

To The Moon, the 2011 story game that made everyone cry, is finally getting a sequel. Titled Finding Paradise, it’s about traversing the memories of another dying patient to fulfill their last wish. This time, it’s the boy (now grown-up) from spin-off A Bird Story. The game will be out late 2016 or early 2017.…

Track: Compendium | Artist: Elder | Album: Lore Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

When A Final Fantasy Artist (And Neil Gaiman) Did Sci-Fi David Bowie

I know Mike already wrote a piece on the sad passing of David Bowie, but for tonight’s Fine Art I wanted to talk about/show something as well, one of the cooler times the great man’s work intersected with both video games and comics. In 2004, an unlikely pairing saw comics superstar Neil Gaiman and renowned…

Octonauts Cosplay!

It’s the best, because Octonauts is the best. Cosplay by pineappleundies

One of the World’s Best Speedrunners Can’t Speedrun Anymore

Narcissa Wright used to be the fastest Zelda: Ocarina of Time player. Her best run was nearly perfect, the stuff of, well, legends. Cut to now: Wright has developed hand problems and can’t speedrun. She’s also decided to undergo hormone replacement therapy. Her life is fraught with change, and some of her viewers aren’t taking…