Culture

Track: The Yabba | Artist: Battles | Album: La Di Da Di Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

DOTA’s Lina and Windranger, by Wicked Cosplay

For the next day, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee is totally free on Steam. Just add it to your account and it’s yours forever. The platforming adventure classic is grim, endearing, and above all else, odd. It’s a must-play, even if you were born after the year 1997.

Steam’s Big Picture Mode Is Now A Lot Nicer

The new Big Picture Mode is slick. I might actually use it now. Valve recently released a new beta update primarily focused on Steam Big Picture Mode, with changes running the gamut from subtle to “Good, good. This pleases the Eye Council greatly. We shall rescind our bounty on your miserable planet… for now.” The…

DOTA 2’s first Valve-hosted major is happening in November. Valve is hoping to give pros a more reliable source of income by hosting multiple events throughout the year (instead of just The International). This one will take place in Frankfurt, Germany, with $3 million on the line. More details here

The Story Behind Steam’s ‘Framerate Police’

Not all PC games run at 60 frames per second, and for some people, that’s a big problem. The Framerate Police group is, with nearly 100,000 followers, the tenth most popular curator on all of Steam. Their aim? To list the top possible framerate of any game that’s locked at 30 FPS or less. As…

Track: HYFR | Artist: Drake, Lil Wayne | Album: Take Care Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Track: Tokyo Ghoul – “Unravel” Metal Cover | Album: N/A | Artist: Per Fredrik “PelleK” Åsly Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Some excellent Guardians of the Galaxy cosplay. More shots here!

Track: Two Urns | Artist: Windhand| Album: Grief’s Eternal Flower Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Disney Infinity’s Toys Are Just The Best

I’ve said this before, but if they were a few bucks cheaper I think Disney Infinity’s toys are so cool that they’d be viable purchases as, well, just toys, the game be damned. So it’s a pleasure on Fine Art today to highlight the work of Ian Jacobs, Senior Character Artist at Disney Interactive Studios.…

Steam Fighting Game Takes Risks That Super Smash Bros Won’t

Confession: despite being mostly a PC guy, I adore Super Smash Bros. Now my lack of a Nintendo console isn’t much of an issue. Rivals of Aether—which just launched on Steam and rocketed straight into the service’s top ten best sellers—is not shy about its primary influence. It may not be wearing Mario’s trademark hat…

Building Halo 5 Is The Next Best Thing To Playing

With a little over a month to go before the release of Halo 5: Guardians, what’s a Spartan fan to do to pass the time? I have an idea. Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve playing the Master Chief Collection. Instead, let’s play with some toys—building toys, courtesy of the fine folks at Mega Bloks (unofficial…

Witcher 3 Cosplay Is Giving Me Chills…

I know, I know, we’ve run a ton of Witcher 3 cosplay lately, but they’ve all been based on the ladies of the game. This? This is some A+ Wild Hunt cosplay. It’s getting frosty in here… Both Eredin and Imlerith are by French cosplayer Tarrer, while the Wild Hunt rider is by compatriot Kuma.…

Stormtroopers vs Aliens

Guillem Pongiluppi is a freelance concept artist and matte painter from Spain. You can see more of Guillem’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 the top-left…

Track: Hold Back The Night | Artist: The Protomen | Album: This City Made Us Single Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Holy Shit This Metal Gear Cosplay

Japanese cosplayer Masazi dressed up as Raiden for this year’s Tokyo Game Show, and it is one of the most impressive cosplay outfits I have ever seen. I mean, the suit itself is enough to get hands clapping, but the work that’s gone into that motorized helmet just boggles the mind. You can see more…

Dick move, camptrigg22. But also… bravo. The Steam Community Showcase is a regular look at the cream of the Steam community’s boundless crop. Art, videos, guides—whatever. Each installment highlights a specific piece or person. If you find anything cool on Steam or would like to have your work featured, drop me a line. To contact…

Rust‘s Anti-Stream Sniping Mode Exists Because of Cheaters

Stream sniping is when someone watches your stream to get an upper hand—to essentially cheat—against you in a game. It sucks. Rust developer Facepunch is, to my knowledge, the first game developer to build a preventative measure against it into their game. They call it Streamer Mode. Here’s how it works, per a post by…

Counter-Strike Player Pulls Off Incredible Ace

Damn. Just… damn. The Counter-Strike community’s been freaking out about an economy round ace pulled off by EnvyUS player Happy—and with good reason. It’s completely ridiculous. First, just watch. It will make your eyeballs explode out of your head no matter how familiar you are with the game: Happy downed the entire opposing team in…