Culture

The Internet Reacts To Pokémon‘s Biggest Loser

Last night’s episode of Pokémon XYZ sure is good at eliciting opinions from the internet. [Note: The article has spoilers] As Kotaku first reported, Ash just competed to win the Kalos League in the most recent Pokémon XYZ episode. In nearly two decades, this was his best chance to win his first official league championship.…

Valve Forbids Coaches From Helping Out During Pro Counter-Strike Matches

As time has passed, coaches have become increasingly invaluable parts of pro Counter-Strike teams. During matches, some keep track of strategies, monitor the in-game economy, and call plays. Valve has decided this doesn’t gel with their goals for Counter-Strike In a move that took many by surprise, Valve has banned coaches from communicating with players…

Podcast: The NFL’s Biggest Nerds

Former NFL punter and prolific Kinja user Chris Kluwe joins us on today’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to talk No Man’s Sky, Path of Exile, and nerd war stories from the National Football League. We also take some reader questions and talk about our new corporate overlord, Univision. You can find this week’s episode on…

A Stranger Things Anime Is Not The Worst Idea

A young girl with mysterious powers, nerdy kid heroes, a grizzled old cop, a creepy older brother…swap out Toto and Foreigner for some J-pop and you’re practically there. This piece and everything below are the work of Yuan Lan, an artist from China. You can see more of Lan’s work at his personal site and…

Artist: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | Track: Heart in Your Heartbreak | Album: Belong Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

D’ya Like Dags

Topi Pajunen is a concept artist from Finland working in the video games business. You can see more of Topi’s work 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, showcasing…

Cosplay For Fans Of Old Lara Croft

2016’s take on Tomb Raider has a lot going for it, but there are still folks out there—cosplayers included—who remember the original Lara Croft. Russian cosplayer Anastasya Zelenova is one of them, and while she’s actually cosplayed as the modern Lara (and the Underworld version), it’s her 90s takes that are the best. You can…

Track: Sabotage Rogue One Trailer | Artist: Beastie Boys Star Wars | Album: Ill Communication Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Geraltina of Rivia

Czech cosplayer Alzbeta Trojanova might have Ciri’s hair, but she’s got Geralt’s steel. We’ve actually featured her Witcher cosplay before, but these new shots were so good I figured they were worth a second look. She had some help this time, with Baty Alquawen playing the part of the Bruxa. Photos by Lifestalking

Biggest Counter-Strike Betting Site Drops Betting

After Valve’s cease-and-desist letter, the owners of CSGO Lounge held out as long as they could. They even tried to get an official gambling license. It apparently didn’t work. They announced the pendulous pivot in an update post: “Today we are announcing that we are closing our virtual items betting functionality with immediate effect. Depositing…

The Internet Reacts To Konami’s New Metal Gear Game 

Here we go. Konami is making a new title called Metal Gear Survive. And you better believe the internet has opinions about it! Taking place in an alternative universe, it’s a co-op survival game that’s set after Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. This is the first Metal Gear Solid console game, notpachi-slot remake, that…

Some Concept Art From Fallout 4

This is a treat. Ilya Nazarov is a senior concept artist at Bethesda, and we’re about to take a look at some art from Fallout 4 (and its expansions). We actually featured some of Ilya’s work back in 2012, but that didn’t have any robots or gas stations in it. This collection does. You can…

Track: Spit On A Stranger | Artist: Pavement | Album: Terror Twilight Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Track: Remnants / Shadow Scheme | Artist: Marconi Union | Album: Ghost Stations Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

We’d Like This Aliens Cosplay In Bay 12, Please

I covered this earlier in the year when it was just a make-up test, but ver1sa’s Ripley (from Aliens) cosplay is now done and it’s just the best. She even got a Jones! All photos by kmitenkova You can see more of ver1sa’s work at her DeviantArt page

Life Unfolds crams an entire lifetime into 30 minutes. You go from the womb to the grave, experiencing everything from childhood friendships, to your first kiss, to marriage, to raising a kid of your own. It looks cute, but your time is painfully limited. Every choice counts. It’s on Steam Greenlight right now, and it’ll…

The Concept Art Behind Game Of Thrones: Season 6

Karakter, a German studio who have worked on games like Black Ops III, the lastKillzone and Ryse, also got to once again help out on Game of Thrones’ sixth season. Their art, like the episodes themselves, was epic. SPOILERS Here you’ll see the visual origins of all the shit that went down. Dragons burning boats,…

Women Sported Some Killer Overwatch Cosplay At Baltimore’s Otakon

Last weekend, I hopped a train to Baltimore to report at Otakon, an anime convention with upwards of 20,000 attendees, many of whom were decked out in mind-meltingly good cosplay. One thing I noticed was that, on the whole, Otakon’s women were absolutely killing it cosplaying Overwatch heroes. One of Overwatch’s main draws is its…

Samus Pharan

Come on, Nintendo. Let Blizzard use this. Just for one skin. Amber Harris is a freelance artist who has worked in video games and tabletop games. You can see more of Amber’s stuff at her personal site To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine…

Venusaur gets a lot of flak for being a gross, warty toad who’s kind of trash after the third Pokémon gym. He’s also my favorite Pokémon (fight me). At Otakon last Saturday, Chelsea (@lordcreepypeepee) cosplayed the cutest damn Venusaur I’ve ever seen. Now, look me in the eye and tell me Venusaur isn’t the very…