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CultureKotaku Game DiaryTeens Rescued My Pink Gamer Chair After It Fell Out Of A Truck, And I Died Of Embarrassment
Ka-thunk. I knew exactly what the sound meant, though I could barely believe it. I was in the process of moving, and I was driving a small handful of my belongings—including my (and my cat’s) pink gamer chair—to my new place in a U-Haul truck. Except the chair wasn’t in the truck anymore. It was…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureBlazing Strike Is A New, Old-School 2D Fighter
Because there’s no such thing as too many anime-inspired 2D fighting games, Aksys and RareBreed Makes Games just announced Blazing Strike, an homage to classic pixel-art fighters with modern game mechanics that’ll hopefully make it play as good as it looks. The passion project of solo developer Mark “RareBreed” Chung, Blazing Strike started life as…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureOverwatch 2 Will Only Have Five Players Per Team
Today, during an Overwatch 2 PVP livestream, Aaron Keller, Overwatch’s new game director taking over for Blizzard veteran Jeff Kaplan, announced that teams in Overwatch 2‘s PVP will be reduced from six players to five. “Overwatch has changed over time. We’ve gone from having no hero limits…to having a hero limit. We ended up introducing…
By Ash Parrish Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureJedi Outcast Is The Latest Classic To Get Ray Tracing
After teasing the project for months, self-described “ray tracing addict” Zyanide is finally ready to share his work adding the computationally intensive lighting technology to 2002’s Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. And gosh, it’s as impressive as the game’s title is awkward. While ray tracing brings obvious aesthetic benefits to Jedi Outcast’s lightsaber-heavy…
By Ian Walker Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureFinal Fantasy XIV Players Mourn Berserk Creator’s Death With Touching Tribute
Kentaro Miura, creator of seminal dark-fantasy manga Berserk, died on May 6 of an aortic dissection. When his death was made public on May 19, Final Fantasy XIV players paid tribute with spontaneous memorials honoring Miura, Berserk, and its impact on the Final Fantasy franchise itself. Miura’s work deeply influenced the Final Fantasy franchise so…
By Ash Parrish Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureValheim Was Made By 5 People And Sold Nearly 7 Million Copies
It’s a good year to be a Viking. Embracer Group, the Swedish video game holding company formerly known as THQ Nordic, released a financial report today showing that early access game Valheim has sold 6.8 million copies so far, with Embracer expecting it to sell up to 8 million copies in total by the summer.…
By Jonathan Lee Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureCall of Duty Mid-Season Update Adds ’80s Action Heroes, Die Hard‘s Nakatomi Plaza
Call of Duty’s mid-season “Reloaded” update has arrived for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, bringing Sylvester Stallone’s iconic John Rambo as an operator and some much-needed Zombies content and weapon tuning. Rambo isn’t alone—Season Three’s ‘80s action theme also includes the introduction of John McClane from Die Hard. (I believe the proper response to…
By S.E. Doster Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureThe Nintendo Download: Shin Miitopia Tiger Trio Xylophone HD
There are 36 games coming to the Nintendo Switch eShop this week. Among those 36 games are the remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, a Switch version of 3DS RPG Miitopia, a puzzle game about sushi-making tigers, and a $10 virtual xylophone. I restarted our weekly posting of The Nintendo Download to highlight some…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryReturnal Converted Me To 3D Audio
Returnal, a PlayStation 5 action game about dancing with death at an inescapable time-loop space rave, is a visual delight. It’s also an aural one. And at no time is that more apparent than when you play with a pair of 3D audio headphones. Let me put it this way: Before I picked up Returnal,…
By Ari Notis Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureNi No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Is Coming To Switch
A version of Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom that includes both expansions is coming to Switch on September 17, Bandai Namco announced today. The role-playing game was previously only playable on PlayStation 4 and PC. First released in 2018, Ni No Kuni II is set centuries after the original, but wipes the slate clean…
By Ari Notis Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureTimesplitters Is Coming Back
Classic shooter series Timesplitters, which hasn’t seen a new release since 2005, will be coming back after publisher Deep Silver announced the creation of a new (well, kinda new) development studio dedicated to working on the series. It’s not an entirely new studio, though. Deep Silver is “reforming” original developers Free Radical Design, who shut…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKentaro Miura, Creator Of The Berserk Manga, Dies Aged 54
On May 6, Kentaro Miura died from acute aortic dissection. The editorial department of Young Animal Comics announced the news today through the official Berserk Twitter account. One of the best-selling manga of all time, Berserk debuted in 1989, with an eighth volume slated to be released this summer (Eds note: this is the Dark…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureTime For A Little Golf Journey, Just Some Chill Golf, No Stress
Actual golf can be super stressful, but video game golf? It’s often (with exceptions) very zen, which is why I’m interested in A Little Golf Journey, a game coming to the Switch and PC later this summer. It’s just you, a ball, the hole, some trees and some some relaxing piano. No commentary, no sponsors,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureSaves Don’t Matter When You Can Beat Returnal In Less Than 5 Minutes
Returnal speedrunner MentalToast set a new world record yesterday, becoming the first person to beat the game in under five minutes. I’m at a bit of a roadblock in my own Returnal adventure, so it’s incredible to watch MentalToast jump and dash through the more difficult Act 2 levels with such grace and ease. Starting…
By Ian Walker Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsIt’s Just Lovely Playing Days Gone On PC
Having never played the game on PS4, I settled in with Days Gone on my PC this week and found myself pleasantly surprised. Not necessarily with the game itself; it does some fun survival stuff and the zombie horde system is very cool, but I also hate everyone in it and am mystified how a…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureBethesda Is Moving Its Forums To Discord, And That Sucks
In a blog post made earlier today, Bethesda—home of everything from Elder Scrolls to Wolfenstein—announced plans to “sunset the forums on Bethesda.net.” Or, in more precise terms, shut them down. “When the forums first started on Bethsoft.com, they were a great place for everyone to discuss amazing games, share stories, and come together with similar…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryResident Evil Village‘s Dollhouse Almost Made Me Quit
I almost quit Resident Evil Village yesterday. It wasn’t because the game’s limited field of vision finally made me blow chunks across my living room, but because fear—true, gripping terror the likes of which I had never felt before—seized me while in Donna Beneviento’s Dollhouse. I knew going into the Dollhouse was going to be…
By Ash Parrish Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureLies Of P Is A (Checks Notes) Pinocchio Souls-Like
Round8 Studio and Neowiz today announced Lies of P, an upcoming Souls-like based on the classic story of Pinocchio, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Just typing that out makes me feel a little like I’m losing my mind. “Play as Pinocchio, a puppet mechanoid, and fight through everything in your path to…
By Ian Walker Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsA Big Lady Needs A Big Hat
Apart from her height, Resident Evil Village villain Lady Dimitrescu’s most striking feature has got to be the fashionable hat she wears while chasing you down. But what if it was (pardon me while I attempt my best Jeff Gerstmann impression) bigger? In the video below, content creator Kallialee showcases a mod that provides the…
By Ian Walker Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureStreet Fighter V Devs Fix Dan’s Infinite Combo By Making Him More Random
As you may already know from our previous story, Dan Hibiki has an infinite combo in Street Fighter V. The fact that a perennial joke character would have such a powerful ability is delightful, which might be why it survived for so long. But now, months after his arrival, Capcom has finally seen fit to…
By Ian Walker Published May 19, 2021