Culture

Firewatch Is Looking Very, Very Pretty

All we’ve seen so far of Firewatch is some art. Usually that’s not much, but that’s OK, because Fine Art is a feature about…art. And rarely do we get stuff that looks as good as this. Internet-famous designer and artist Olly Moss, whose work has appeared on stuff like the Resistance 3 box art, is…

Yes, Handsome Jack, You’re Very Handsome

Photographer Mike Dosik tells Kotaku he has a “very dramatic style”. He’s not kidding. Most of his shots are up-close, and also skip busy backgrounds in favour of keeping the focus entirely on the cosplayer. You can see more of Mike’s work at his personal site KINGDOM HEARTS | dookie4617 FROZEN | Chibi-Nekos BORDERLANDS |…

Ah, So This Is The Guy Who Made One Of Last Year’s Best Jokes

Tal Peleg is senior cinematics animator at Naughty Dog, where he worked on The Last Of Us. If you ever wondered where the wonderful Joel-does-the-Banderas animation came from, well, Tal’s your man. Prior to that, Tal worked at Visceral Games (Dead Space), and also did some stuff for space viking flick Outlander. In his spare…

The Fastest Ocarina Of Time Player Beat His Own World Record

Not content with his previous world-record speedrun of Ocarina of Time, noted speedrunner Cosmo Wright is now back with a faster, more impressive playthrough of Zelda—and you can watch it here. The speedrun clocks in at eighteen minutes and fifty six seconds (EDIT: versus the previous record of 19:00 held by skater82297, and before that,…

Madonna Dressed As Daenerys Targaryen. For Real.

Your eyes do not deceive you. This is Madonna, dressed not as an ageing pop star, but as Game of Thrones’ Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen. And while she probably had some very professional help putting everything together, the end result is still pretty impressive. She wore the costume to help celebrate the Jewish…

The Most Badass Weapons In Final Fantasy

As cool as the Buster sword and Gunblades are, they’re not the only memorable weapons in Final Fantasy, you know. IGN here walks us through their pick of the 15 coolest weapons in Final Fantasy, though I’m curious as to what y’all would vote as the best weapons in the game. Mind, I don’t mean…

A Pirate’s Life For Me (And These Guys)

Johan Grenier is a French character artist who has done work for companies like Ubisoft, Paizo and Privateer Press. In his time at Ubisoft, Grenier contributed to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Revelations, III and IV. You can see more of Johan’s work at his personal site To see the larger pics in all their glory (or,…

The New Godzilla Movie Will (Sadly) Not Look Like This

Mike K runs eleventhphotograph, a cosplay photography studio. He was most recently snapping pics at Katsucon last month, and those pics were great You can see a selection of them below, with a lot more at Mike’s site Living in Canada, Mike works in TV as a producer and is a freelance photographer in his…

The Week in Games: Second Son Of A Second Son

Every week video game publishers release video games into the retail and digital marketplace. What makes this week different? Nothing, really. Oh look, it’s Infamous: Second Son! Nice. TUESDAY, MARCH 18 Deus Ex: The Fall (PC) Final Fantasy X-X2 HD (Vita, PS3) Luftrausers (PC, Mac, PS3) Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4, Xbox One,…

Pi Ain’t Nothing Special

As Kotaku‘s new weekend editor I am now off Thursday and Friday, so I missed the celebration of Pi Day on 3/14. I felt bad about it. Then I saw Vihart‘s latest anti-Pi rant. Now I feel much better, thanks to colored markers rapidly sketching out Pi’s overwhelming plainness. I think the whole affair is…

Sunday Comics: A Time And Place For Rainbow Ponies

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 March 14. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published March 10. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

The Cookie Dough Oreos Are Lying To Us. Why We Don’t Care.

The recently released (and recently reviewed) limited edition Cookie Dough Oreos do not contain actual uncooked cookie dough. What they do contain, is a clever bit of mental marketing called ‘permission’. Permission is the art of using certain cues to convince the consumer that, while the product they are putting into their mouth does not…

This Week In The Business: It’s Anybody’s Game

QUOTE | “If we need games for 10-year olds do we need to hire 10-year olds to make games? If I can’t make a game for someone else I’m a shitty designer.” – Laralyn McWilliams, veteran game designer, explaining why hearing ‘If we want more games for women we need more women in game development’…

Track: Black Smoke | Album: Immortal Legacy | Artist: Hirax Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Major Kusanagi, Reporting In…

Miss Sinister is one of the best cosplayers around. And you’re about to see why. One of the coolest things about her cosplay is that she isn’t afraid to branch out and try characters that you wouldn’t expect. Cosplaying as Mary Jane Parker and Major Kusanagi, OK, that’s understandable, but Sagat? Vaas? Awesome. You can…

This Is The End…

Metal Gear cosplay that’s as dramatic as it is hilarious. Cosplayers are SquallWolfheart(The End) & Kieran Kerrigan

Mechs Punching In Space? You Have My Attention.

Zombot are calling their first game, Project Galaxy, a “AAA, next-gen” mobile title. The studio is made up of devs who have worked at Rockstar, Bungie, Ubisoft and 2K, and while there’s little else to show other than a trailer and some concept art, both of those are looking great. Alex Chu is Zombot’s creative…

​Ask Dr. Nerdlove: How Do I Ask Out The GameStop Girl?

What’s up, Kotaku? Welcome to the latest installment of Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column that understands what to do when your prince or princess isn’t just in another castle, they’re also not returning your calls. This week, we’ve got stories of office-fling etiquette and an answer to the burning question: What do…

Dreaming Of Giant Transforming Fighter Planes

Eddie Del Rio is a veteran concept artist who has worked for everyone from Lucasarts to THQ, Activision to Disney. He’s also worked more recently with 2K on the XCOM series, as well as on Chris Roberts’ Star Citizen. You can see more of Eddie’s work at his personal site and CGHub page To see…

We’re Buying More PC Games Than We Can Play

As another Steam Holiday Sale comes to a close, I have spent roughly $100 to purchase 22 games. In the past 2 months I have picked up 3 Humble Bundles. Not a month ago I spent around $50 on 11 games in the Steam Fall Sale. By the time the next Steam Holiday Sale rolls…