Culture

Stardew Valley’s 1.1 update, the first big one since launch, is now live. Highlights include new marriage options (Shane and Emily), divorce, new farm maps, new areas, new building types, magical construction. See all that stuff in action above.

Digital Homicide Drops $18 Million Lawsuit Against Steam Users, Says Their Company’s Been ‘Destroyed’

A couple weeks ago, notorious developer of crappy Steam games Digital Homicide made waves by suing 100 anonymous Steam users, who they deemed a “hate and harassment group,” for $18 million. Now, however, the suit’s been dismissed. In a motion to dismiss filed last week, Digital Homicide said that their business had been “destroyed,” rendering…

Massive Overwatch Cosplay Steals Show At TwitchCon

There was a cosplay competition at TwitchCon last week, and it was won by this enormous Reinhardt getup that just gets better the closer you look. I mean, yes, it’s huge! Impressive scale. But there’s so much more to it. It moves, for one, as you can see when Chad from Hoku Props goes to…

Track: Rings | Artist: Tycho | Album: Epoch Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

World Record For Super Mario Bros. Broken By A Single Frame [UPDATE]

UPDATE – 10/2 8:30pm: After Kosmic’s speed-run was reviewed further, it was discovered that his time was actually off by exactly one frame. His actual speed-run was 4:57.244, the same as Darbian’s, with whom Kosmic now shares the world record In a follow-up, Kosmic explained where the original recorded time was incorrect, “Basically we know…

The Week In Games: Don’t Drink The Paint

The Paper Mario series got started fifteen years ago on the N64. In light of the fact that Super Mario RPG never received a proper sequel, it was welcome compromise. Even if the series seemed to have lost its way during the Wii era and more recently with Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS,…

Margaery Tyrell, Is That You?

This is Russian cosplayer Xenia Shelkovskaya, doing one hell of an impersonation of English actress Natalie Dormer/Westeros Deal Wheeler Margaery Tyrell. Just goes to show that while a costume certainly helps, any cosplayer looking to get really authentic can get as much from a wry smile and a turn of the head as a 1:1…

Sunday Comics: Sacrifices Must Be Made

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published September 29. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published September 26. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

This Week in the Business: “Some Poops In Every Group”

QUOTE | “There’s some poops in every group but generally speaking we really have a very wonderful fan base.” – Cyan Worlds’ Rand Miller, suggesting the slower pace of games like Myst and Obduction have selected for a particularly reasonable group of players QUOTE | “I think the idea that games have to be defended…

Keep Your Eyes Peeled For These Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Retailer Exclusives

Think yourRogue One: A Star Wars Story toy shopping adventure is over? Have you been to Kohl’s yet? How about Walgreens? Entertainment Earth? Here are six sets of retailer-exclusive Hasbro Star Wars toys to add to your shopping list. The shorter versions of Hasbro’s premium Star Wars Black line of figures are so much better than…

Track: Bring Da Ruckus | Artist: Wu-Tang Clan | Album: Enter the 36 Chambers Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

It’s the weekend! I have so many chores to do: laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the bathroom—which means I’m going to think about doing those things and then just play some video games instead. I’m excited to finally check out the latest episode of Hitman, which many of Kotaku’s staff has been enjoying. I’ve also been playing…

The Art Of Total War: Warhammer

It’s always a pleasure when I get to showcase the work of an entire team on Fine Art, and doubly so whenit’s a game that I really, really like Total War: Warhammer may have been a game based on someone else’s property, but that didn’t mean the artists working on it had any less work…

Fighting Game Has Useless DLC That Players Buy To Support Devs

Honey Rose: Underdog Extraordinaire is newly released Steam game that fuses fighting games and visual novels. It’s a game about choice, something that even extends to its pricing model. The game is about Red, a university student who’s also an amateur fighter. You have to juggle both of her lives and all the complications that…

Why Inside Is One Of The Best Games Of The Year

Have you played Inside? I hope you have. If not, go play it. If so, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast, in which Jason Schreier and I discuss the many, many reasons we love it. I reviewed Inside when it first hit the Xbox One back in June, but Jason hadn’t…

Business Fish Is Here For Cosplay Pleasure

Here is a video of Business Fish, still the #1 sticker pack on Facebook, heading down to DragonCon and doing his thing. Which, being a social networking sticker, is mostly just REACTING to everything happening around him. We actually featured a photoshoot of Rundaria’s costume last year, but the vid below is way better.

Track: Arise | Artist: GosT | Album: Non Paradisi Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

A Game About Throwing Spears At Penguin Vikings And Hipster Giants

I liked Lichtspeer before I even started playing it. The menu screen, if you’ll believe it, is what sold me. Here’s what it looks like: Where the exit button would normally be, Lichtspeer has a button that reads, “Go home and eat strudel.” And when you press it, a god-like voice triumphantly belts out, “STRUDEL.”…

Battlefield 1 Player Makes A Damn Fine Toss

Today on Highlight Reel we have impressive intros, corpse sleds, grenade tosses 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! Forza Horizon 3 – RadiantPup43215…

Speedrunners Finally Pull Off The ‘Holy Grail’ Of Mario 64 Glitches

Since it came out 20 years ago, Super Mario 64 has been cracked open, turned inside-out, and put back together in all sorts of weird configurations, but people keep figuring out new ways to warp its candy colored reality. The latest is being billed as the biggest speedrun breakthrough since 2007. A crew of speedrunners…