Culture

Hey, Making Video Games Is Really Friggin’ Hard

This week, we learned the whole messy story of what really happened to Destiny. But how often does that sort of thing happen in the games industry? Let’s discuss. Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, we’re joined by Amazon Game Studios’ Kim Swift, best known as the lead designer of games like Portal and Quantum Conundrum. Kirk…

The Steam Stream Plays Murder, A Gorgeous Cyberpunk Adventure [Update: Finished]

Murder is a cyberpunk adventure with a great look and an interesting concept. Watch me play it right now. After a few months of hiatus (I moved, I didn’t have reliable Internet for a while, it was A Whole Thing), The Steam Stream is back! Today I’m gonna play Murder—probably all the way through, because…

Fan Creates Sequel To Undertale… In A Wrestling Game

Some games have fans. Undertale, the RPG in which you don’t have to hurt anyone, has a bonafide fandom. They make some weird, wonderful stuff. Case in point: Alfredo Dizon, prolific re-creator of other video games in WWE video games, made an entire Undertale saga in WWE 2K14. This isn’t just, like, “Oh hey, I…

The Taken King’s Art, Like Destiny’s, Is Killer

Yes, there’s a Destiny concept art mega-post, but this new Taken King stuff is so good I think it deserved its own feature. It’s by Ryan DeMita (via concept art world), and Destiny players will recognise some of it from the expansion’s cinematics, others as concepts for the Taken, the amazing black & white sketches…

Steam’s Latest Hit Is Basically Firefly: The Video Game

Spaceships? Weird characters? Endless amounts of cheesy cowboy music? Alright, Rebel Galaxy, let’s do this. Rebel Galaxy is Steam’s latest surprise top seller, and its start screen might be the most bluntly apt summation of a game I’ve encountered all year: “COWBOY MUSIC. SPACESHIPS. LASERS. FUCK YOU, YOU’RE GOING TO PLAY NOW BECAUSE THERE IS…

Destiny Players, Did You Buy Any Emotes?

A week ago, Bungie made it possible for Destiny players to buy in-game emotes for their character. The emotes are the first cosmetic microtransactions to be added to the game. I’m curious how successful the whole thing has been so far. I put together a couple of polls. I’m very interested to see the numbers…

Fantastic Metal Gear Solid V Cosplay Has A Real Diamond Dog

Look, I’m not trying to take anything away from Maul Cosplay and Maja Felicitas’ incredible work as Snake and Quiet respectively, but having actual live wolves in the shoot steals the show. We never actually find out what breed of hound the game’s D-Dog is, but when grown up he looks pretty wolfish, so these…

Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles. Cosplay by Dusk Till Dawn

Darksiders Is Gone, But Not Forgotten

WAR and DEATH, in the flesh, taken at the Dutch Comic Con. Cosplay by Smurrie and Deathstrike. Photo by Arian_fotografie

He’s Just A Poor Boy, From A Poor Family

Words elude me. What was already perfect is made moreso by the game on the badge. Photo by York in a Box. If you know the cosplayer, let me know!

X-Wing, Y-Wing…Z-Wing?

Pablo Carpio is a concept artist and illustrator from Spain. He,like the rest of the planet, has some Star Wars fever right now That pic up top is his take on the Z-Wing, a Rebel fighter mentioned in fiction only by name, and never actually depicted (at least in canon sources). Looks like an X-Wing…

Ark: Survival Evolved, As Told By Steam Reviews

Ark: Survival Evolved is one of the biggest games on Steam. It’s also still in Early Access. Most importantly, though, it has dinosaurs. And poop. Ark’s definitely not done yet, but it already has more than 40,000 Steam reviews. They’re mostly positive, with a not insubstantial number of negatives dinging the game for too much…

What’s Your Best Video Game Dating Story?

People can joke all they want about how gamers are all loners. Truth is, video games bring people together. It’s time to tell some video game dating stories. Have games ever played a major part in a date you’ve been on? Is “Xbox and chill” your new late-night text? Ever had a date suddenly start…

New First-Person Shooter Will Lock Out Your Steam Account When You Die

It’s called One Life, naturally. One Life recently joined the roster of hopefuls on Steam Greenlight, and it’s got a—I see what I really didn’t mean to do there; too bad it’s impossible to delete words on the internet—killer concept. Die once and you’re done. One Life, its developers told me, will lock out your…

Big Boss Reinvents Walking

Today on Highlight Reel we have lucky shots, great goal defenses, intense Mad Max shotguns, silly walks, and much more! Watch the video above, then link any of your favorite highlights in the comments, and be sure to check out, like and subscribe the original videos via the links below. GOW:UE – What goes up…

The Forward-Thinking Genius Of Neuromancer

It’s astonishing to think how much of the world has changed thanks to the internet. It’s difficult to think of another recent technology that has so totally changed how people experience the world – the invention of the telephone well over 100 years ago is probably the only thing that comes close. This post originally…

The Banned Pokémon Episode That Gave Children Seizures

On December 16, 1997, an episode of the then-unstoppable Pokémon animated series was broadcast in Japan. Barely thirty minutes later, nearly 700 children were on their way to hospital. Total Recall is a look back at the history of video games through their characters, franchises, developers and trends. The episode, called “Electric Soldier Porygon”, is…

Track: Oddloop | Artist: Frederic | Album: Oddloop Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment. To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter@Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest…

Who Doesn’t Love GIANT TANKS

Al Brady is a concept artist based in the UK who has worked on games like Battlefield Hardline, and movies like Guardians of the Galaxy. You can see more of Al’s stuff here and here. Oh, and you can buy prints here! To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big…

Track: Neighborhoods | Artist: Yppah | Album: Tiny Pause Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.