Culture

Why Does Sriracha Taste So Good? Science Explains.

While snack traditionalists cling desperately to their ketchup and mustard, those possessing progressive taste buds have succumbed to the spicy siren song of Sriracha. What sorcery is this? It’s not magic — it’s chemistry. In the latest video from Bytesize Science’s wonderfully informative Reactions YouTube channel, we’re digging much deeper than spices, heat and garlic,…

The Week in Games: Garden Warfare and Thief

Thief arrives on the PC and both PlayStations and Xboxes this week, along with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare on Xbox 360 and Xbox One and the latest Castlevania for PC and the previous-gen consoles. Call of Duty fans on PC and the PlayStations get the Onslaught DLC this week, too. Tuesday, Feb. 25: Castlevania:…

Sunday Comics: Titanic Costs

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published Feb. 19. Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Feb. 17. Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by…

This Week in the Business: From a ‘Sea of Love’ to a ‘Pool of Hate’

QUOTE | “The Kickstarter experience had been wading in a sea of love … it was like being dumped from that into this cold pool of Internet Twitter hate.”—Tim Schafer of Double Fine, on the backlash to the announcement that the Kickstarter-funded Broken Age game would be split into two parts Elsewhere in the business…

The Art Of The Future, The Art Of The Past

Romanian artist Ioan Dumitrescu has been busy since we last some of his work. Very busy. In the two years since his last feature we’ve got a complete new gallery, mostly of some terrific sci-fi environment pieces that he’s done for games like Crysis 3 and Gears of War: Judgement. You can see more of…

Guy Beats Super Mario Bros. With The Lowest Score Possible

It’s always amazing to see people take a game, turn it inside out and bend it to their whims. Mario is no different, particularly when it’s beaten with the lowest score possible. In a heart-stopping run—allegedly performed with no tool assistance—YouTube user NotEntirelySure clears Super Mario Bros. with the lowest score possible: 500 points. A…

Four Chipotle Burritos. And A Diet Coke. In Three Minutes.

The Chipotle burrito — a massive, suppository-shaped bundle of vaguely Mexican things, weighing approximately five tons. Most people could not eat a single one in three minutes. Competitive eater Matt Stonie makes it look easy. Inside of Matt Stonie, the 22-year-old competitive eater from San Jose, California, there is a black hole which admits food…

An Artist’s Work On Uncharted & Star Wars

Polina Hristova is a concept artist who has worked on projects like Uncharted 2, Project Eternity (now known as Pillars of Eternity) and the Clone Wars TV show. You can see more of Polina’s work at her personal site To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you…

Track: Coffee | Album: Coffee/Dress | Artist: Sylvan Esso Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to—and gaming to—at the moment.

The Human-Crushing Art Of Titanfall

Hey, whaddya know. Titanfall, a good-lookin’ game about giant mechs, was born from good-lookin’ art showing giant mechs. The images you’re seeing will be part of a book celebrating the game’s art, due out later this month from Titan. You can grab it here. You can also see a flip through of the book from…

Track: El Coyote | Album: Flower Of Disease | Artist: Goatsnake Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to—and gaming to—at the moment.

Military Pizza Could Last Up To Three Years

The great wars of the past were fought with biscuits and bread. The great wars of tomorrow will be fought with some amazing science pizza. For years now, the US military has been asking soldiers what food they’d like to see added to the varieties of MRE (Meal, Ready-To-Eat) currently available. The winner has always…

‘Final Fantasy Has Arrived’

Via Steve Lin, a Nintendo employee newsletter from June of 1990. “Oddly enough, this first-of-its-kind blockbuster is called Final Fantasy, but you can bet that it won’t be the last.”

The Miraculous Progress of ‘Twitch Plays Pokémon’

It has been nearly five days since Twitch Plays Pokemon, a stream that lets users collectively control a Pokémon game via chat commands, started broadcasting to the world. Since then, the stream has had over sixty thousand people watching and playing at once—as you might expect, it’s been a chaotic, awe-inspiring ride so far. And…

The Week in Games: There’s Money in the Banana Stand

Rayman Legends makes its way to Xbox One and PS4 this week, followed by Strider’s long-awaited return to the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, plus PC. But the week’s big gorilla arrives on Friday, with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Wii U. Tuesday, Feb. 18: Earth Defense Force 2025 (PS3, 360) NASCAR 14 (…

Sunday Comics: Seems Legit

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 Feb. 13. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Feb. 10. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

This Week in the Business: Steam’s Importance to Independents

QUOTE | “I think Steam is … probably the most important thing that’s happened to indie games in the last 10 years.”—Fullbright Company co-founder Steve Gaynor on reactions to his game Gone Home and how indies must think about sales platforms Elsewhere in the business of video games this week … QUOTE | “We expect…

The Internet Reacts To Little Mac’s Smash Bros. Reveal

Did you wonder what caused all the changes in Sonic’s new design? Well there’s your answer right above. It has to be Little Mac, the newly announced character in Super Smash Bros. Wii U! Little Mac inspired a lot of fans, so here are some of the best reactions: He punched in, and hit Samus…

Chocolate Teeth Are Certainly Something to Chew On

It’s Valentine’s Day! And nothing says that like chocolate teeth. As noted on Togetter, a dental student named Matsumoto created chocolate-shaped chompers, with dark chocolate for the gums and white chocolate for the teeth. Today, Matsumoto planned to bring the Valentine’s Day chocolate to dental school for everyone to eat. The image of the sweet…

Lookin’ Sharp, Fish-Head Killer Robot Dude

Kait Kübar is a freelance Estonian artist who most recently worked with Guerilla Games on the Killzone series. You can see more of Kait’s work at his personal site 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…