Culture

It Takes Two Director’s ‘Fuck The Oscars’ Rant Is Hidden In The Game

Josef Fares’ new game, It Takes Two, apparently includes audio from the director’s infamous “fuck the Oscars” rant in all its incoherent glory. After the game’s release last week, some folks discovered that It Takes Two’s space level includes a hidden Easter egg that allows players to hear snippets of Fares’ profanity-laden appearance at the…

New Magic: The Gathering Card Accused Of Using Stolen Artwork [Updates]

Strixhaven: School of Mages, a new set of Magic: The Gathering cards, is due for release next month, but one of its cards is already generating controversy. It has emerged that the artist responsible for drawing it sure did borrow a lot of stuff from another, uncredited artist. Veteran artist Jason Felix is credited on…

Nike Suing Over Lil Nas X’s “Satan” Sneakers

To go along with the release of his new video for Montero—in which he gives Satan a lap dance—Lil Nas X has also teamed up with a customs company for the release of a range of Hell-themed Nike Air Max sneakers. Only problem being that now Nike is suing. The company responsible for the shoes,…

A Lot Of Stuff Is Coming To Black Ops Cold War This Week

Call of Duty’s Season Two Reloaded mid-season update is bringing some much-needed changes to Black Ops Cold War. Season Two started on February 25 with a focus on zombies-themed content, including the fun addition of the Zombies “Outbreak” mode. Now we’re already at the halfway point, and the latest update will bring more maps, another…

Thankfully, The Boat Is Still Stuck In Microsoft Flight Simulator

Ever Given, the massive container ship that captivated the world after blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for more than a week, is free as of 3:05 p.m. local time, but the ridiculous incident will live on forever in Microsoft Flight Simulator Over the last few days, the dedicated Microsoft Flight Simulator community has released several third-party…

Another Charizard Card Sells For Over $300,000

Pokémon cards have been having a bit of a boom lately, and nowhere is that more obvious than in auctions for the holographic Charizard card that acted as the base set’s crown jewel in 1999. A third card featuring the fire lizard recently sold for over $300,000. The eBay auction, which closed Sunday evening, started…

Sony Closing PlayStation Store On PS3, Vita, And PSP This Summer

Sony has confirmed today that the PSN digital stores on PlayStation 3 and PSP will be closing on July 2. The PS Vita store will also shut down on August 27. Players will still be able to download games after the stores shut down. Today, Sony updated the important notice section of its official site…

Media Molecule Talks Curation And The Future Of Dreams

More than a year out from release, Dreams stands apart for its unique combination of game creator and sharing platform. But one aspect that has attracted much criticism over the past year is its curation. For the longest time, memes and unfinished “Dreams” buried the best of what the platform had to offer, giving the…

A Decade-Long Affair: The Making Of Maquette

I need to tell you about Maquette No, really. It’s a need. I’ve played a lot of wonderful games while working at Kotaku, but none have resonated with me as much as Maquette, a first-person “recursive puzzle game” released this month for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Were I to review the game, the…

PAX East 2021 Canceled, Replaced With PAX Online In July

While convention organizers held out hope until the last minute, it turns out early June was still a bit too soon for thousands of gamers to descend upon Boston for PAX East 2021. The live event has now been canceled, replaced with a special PAX Online event running July 15-18. Last year’s PAX East in…

Genshin Impact, Six Months Later

Genshin Impact was a landmark game for 2020, and for global awareness of Chinese-developed video games. Its impressive graphics, compelling fantasy world, and charming characters impressed and attracted millions of players. While the game had an exciting launch, gacha games are typically designed to have a long lifespan. Only two out of seven planned regions…

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch Gets Notes But Still No Release Date [Update: It’s Live]

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has released patch notes for the game’s upcoming 1.2 patch, which was revealed in mid-March. CDPR did not provide a timeline for when the patch will go live in-game. (Update, 12:30pm—According to the Cyberpunk Twitter account, the patch is now live “on PC and consoles,” with a Stadia version coming…

Oh Yeah? Well EA Is Making Its Own Damn Golf Game Again

Two weeks ago 2K announced it signed Tiger Woods, the long-time face of EA’s defunct PGA Tour series, to an exclusive long-term contract for its PGA Tour 2K series. Now EA announces it’s bringing back EA Sports PGA Tour for its first new installment since 2015. We got us a good old-fashioned video game golf…

The Week In Games: Outriders On The Storm

Outriders, the next big online looter shooter, releases later this week for consoles and PC. See, the headline is a pun based on the classic song “Riders On The Storm.” BUT also, there is a deadly anomaly storm featured prominently in Outrider’s intro. So there are really multiple layers to the joke, which according to…

Killer Loops With South Asian Flair Helped Skyblazer Stand Apart

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. We haven’t been covering many chiptunes lately, so today let’s start remedying that by checking out a somewhat unknown SNES gem with a sound all its own. It feels surprisingly rare to find a game that’s…

Goodbye

Michael Kenji is an artist based in Vietnam. You can see more of Michael’s stuff at his ArtStation page and Patreon

Control’s Architecture Is More Than Just Saying “Brutalism” Over And Over Again

The defining visual signature of Control isn’t its enemies or weapons but its setting. The Oldest House, which has been lauded for its take on brutalism, is a concrete-heavy architectural style from the latter half of the 20th century. But for a moment, let’s look a little beyond that. OK, maybe a little longer than…

Track: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name | Artist: Lil Nas X 

Someone Made A PS5 Out Of Brass

After watching this video, I still think the hardest part of making a brass PlayStation 5 is actually finding a PS5 to modify. The all brass PS5 was created by YouTuber DIY Perks using a standard, boring plastic console. He removed the outside plastic bits and used them as guides, remaking the pieces in shiny,…

‘Shop Contest: National Something On A Stick Day

Oh hey, you probably expected something about a boat or a canal. Nah. We doing food on a stick! To celebrate National Food On A Stick Day! Your challenge this week: Take food (on a stick) and give it to video game characters. Or perhaps they go on a stick? Yes, I know. You all…