Culture

Alundra, My Big Beautiful Elven Son, Play Us Some Songs

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re listening to the soundtrack from Alundra, a 1998 PlayStation game in which you invade people’s nightmares and solve Zelda-like dungeons to help them wake up. Alundra’s a weird one (playlist /longplay /VGMdb). It was…

Old School Runescape Just Broke Its Concurrent Player Record

Hi, yes, the 2013 version of Old School Runescape (which is actually from 2007), which you may not have played or even thought about for a decade, is now as popular as ever thanks to some recent changes made by the development team. It was announced yesterday that 157,445 people were playing the game at…

Oh No, Watch Dogs: Legion

The biggest selling point of Watch Dogs: Legion is the vast array of randomized characters you can recruit to your underground army of revolutionary activists. But sometimes NPC professions and backgrounds line up in unfortunate ways. A pediatrician. Who recently ended a personal relationship with a patient. Okay, yeah, maybe don’t invite Shannon Dickey to…

My Heart Is Fully Open For The Nanny & Married With Children Cosplay

Look, I deeply admire the craft and ingenuity that goes into serious, elaborate cosplay, but I have a very special place in my heart for stuff like this. This isLadee Danger—who you might recognise as Ciri in the banner post for this sub—absolutely nailing Halloween as both The Nanny and Peggy from Married with Children…

Tearing Open A PS5 Controller To Feast On Its Insides

Wait, no, it’s just to take a look at how the new DualSense controller works, and how it all came together. Sorry, these teardown videos always get me feeling a little carnivorous. This great video by TronicsFix opens up the pad, very gently, and pokes around at all the components and pieces, partly so we…

When Even Mourning Is Live: What Happens To A Famous Twitch Streamer’s Channel After Death

Tuning into Byron “Reckful” Bernstein’s recent daily Twitch streams, you wouldn’t immediately suspect something’s amiss. He’s front and center, playing World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, League of Legends, or any number of other games. Fans frequently make playful remarks, use emotes, and laugh at or with him. But the illusion doesn’t last long, nor is it…

From Software Reminds Everyone Elden Ring Still Exists

A developer tweeting about an upcoming video game isn’t usually a big deal, but in the case of From Software’s Elden Ring, I’m willing to make an exception. “We also greatly appreciate all the enthusiasm and support shown for Elden Ring, our next Dark Fantasy Action RPG,” the official From Software account on Twitter wrote…

PC Mod Finally Gives Silent Hill 2 Thick, PS2-Style Fog

A mod for the PC port of Silent Hill 2 recently got a big update that adds new features, improves graphics, and most importantly makes the fog look just as dense and spooky as in the original PlayStation 2 version of the game. The mod Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition first came out in 2018…

The Steam version of Guild Wars 2 has been put on hold indefinitely, ArenaNet recently announced. The studio is instead focusing entirely on its next expansion, Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor will lose all of its online features on December 31. This includes vendetta missions where you can hunt down your friends’ nemeses as well as the forge which lets you transfer nemeses to the sequel, Shadow of War.

Fortnite Is Ready For PS5 And Xbox Series X/S

When the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles drop next week, so do new versions of Epic’s popular battle royale. Next-gen console Fortnite is prepped for launch, with 4K60 performance, faster loading, and enhanced visuals on each system. Not only does Fortnite run at 4K, 60 frames-per-second on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5…

Turn-Based League Of Legends RPG Coming Early 2021

Riot Games announced that Ruined King: A League of Legends Story will come to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC early next year, marking the first time anything League of Legends related has come to consoles. The company delivered the news with a new cinematic trailer during this year’s League of…

I Love How Banjo-Kazooie’s Music Changes As I Play

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re hopping into a blue backpack that is…being carried by a bear? Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie (playlist / longplay / VGMdb), released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, faced the near-impossible challenge of measuring up to another…

Track: Meant | Artist: Elizaveta | Album: Beatrix Runs

Giving Super Mario A Bloodborne Soundtrack

“Let’s make it satanic.” Here’s composer Alex Moukala taking some vintage Super Mario music and turning it into the kind of bone-chilling score you’d hear in Bloodborne If you dug this—and how could you not have—he’s done some similar stuff recently, like giving Final Fantasy VII some Sonic beats: And this Persona 5 banger: He’s…

Happy 20th Birthday, Jet Set Radio!

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of Jet Set Radio’s release on the Sega Dreamcast in the United States. This may interest you, make you feel incredibly old or, in some cases, both. While it was released in Japan in June 2000, the Dreamcast skating/graffiti classic wasn’t out in the US until October 31. There had…

Fantastic Ghostbusters Cosplay, Dogs And Cats, Living Together

Here’s cosplayer Knightmagewith a very good Ghostbusters outfit he made for Halloween. The ghost is Andi Serpenti, while the photographer is Blazek

The Week In Games: Kick Up Some Mud In Dirt 5

If you’ve been itching to slide around corners in fast cars, then this is a good week for you, as Dirt 5 drops on November 6 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Well, this is it folks, the last week before the next generation consoles start appearing on these weekly posts. This generation of current consoles…

‘Shop Contest: Halloween Never Ends!

Yes, I know that Halloween was yesterday, but 2020 has been such a shitty year I feel like I’m allowed to extend Halloween into November. Your challenge this week: Let’s celebrate Halloween in November. You could, I guess, make some jokes about it being November and we are still celebrating Halloween. Or you could just…

Half-Life’s Music Was Just As Brilliant As The Rest Of It

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we grab a crowbar and go hunting headcrabs in the PC shooter classic, Half-Life. Half-Life (playlist / longplay / VGMdb) is a game that has already had so many things written and said about it…