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CultureLooney Tunes Gacha Game Exhumes The Corpse Of Big Chungus
Remember Big Chungus? He’s back, in gacha form. Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem is a mobile game in the vein of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and Marvel Strike Force that apparently launched in 2018. I say “apparently” because I only just heard about it today, which I suppose is the reason the developers are…
By Ian Walker Published March 30, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Wish Genshin Impact Cared About My Time As Much As Its Story Seems To
Reused NPCs. An environment you’ve already spent dozens of hours in. Contrived progress gating based on time. On paper, Genshin Impact’s current event, the Windblume Festival, sounds like it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. In reality it’s a chill yet inventive exercise in making an in-game holiday feel like, well, an event. But it…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 30, 2021 -
CultureHere’s April 2021’s Xbox Live Games With Gold
Despite recent changes to Xbox Live(or at least its name), April’s Games with Gold are here (whew!). As ever, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription. April’s Games with Gold are: Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One Vikings: Wolves of Midgard (April 1-30) Truck Racing Championship (April 16-May…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 30, 2021 -
CultureSummer Games Done Quick Returns In July As Online-Only Event
Annual charity speedrunning festival Summer Games Done Quick will return as an online-only event, running from July 4 through 11. “With the health and safety of all in mind, #SGDQ2021 is now SGDQ 2021 Online!” the organizers wrote on Twitter today. “Expect the same weeklong charity speedrun event you know and love!” This year’s submission…
By Ari Notis Published March 30, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryMonster Hunter Rise Is Tough To Get Into As A Newcomer
Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t get into Monster Hunter Rise. Fans of the kaiju-killing series are legion, and this latest entry, out last week for Nintendo Switch, is arguably the buzziest game in the world right now. But it sure doesn’t make things easy for newcomers. For all intents and purposes, I am…
By Ari Notis Published March 30, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsEVE Online‘s Latest Front Is A Battle Of The Bands
EVE has been torn apart by war between the game’s largest factions for close to nine months. The war is raging on every imaginable front: massive fleets wreaking untold destruction, economic powers exerting their influence over the game’s markets, players vying for karma on the EVE subreddit. Recently, two maestros on opposing sides have begun…
By Lee Yancy Published March 30, 2021 -
CultureActivision Blizzard Hires Former Trump Administration Member Once Decried As ‘Bully’
Today, Activision Blizzard announced the promotion of Blizzard chief commercial officer and the chief operating officer Armin Zerza to CFO of the whole company. What it did not announce to the public is that it has also hired a new chief administrative officer: former Donald Trump administration member Brian Bulatao. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureV-Commandos, One Of My Favorite Board Games, Is Getting A Fancy Upgrade
I’ve written multiple times about V-Commandos on the site, a tactical WW2 stealth game made by some Ubisoft guys, that is very good. About the only bummer with the game was that it used fairly basic cardboard tokens instead of plastic miniatures, but hey, they’re now fixing that and then some. V-Commandos Deluxe is the…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureSega Lawyers Threaten Wrong Website Over Yakuza Piracy [Update]
There are lawyers somewhere out there working for Sega HQ in Japan who have been tasked with hunting down the people responsible for pirating Yakuza: Like a Dragon. And they are not doing a good job. UPDATE March 30: A Sega representative tells Kotaku “Earlier this week, one of our games was incorrectly flagged on…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsIt 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…
By Ian Walker Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureNew 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…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureNike 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,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureA 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…
By S.E. Doster Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsThankfully, 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…
By Ian Walker Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureAnother 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…
By Ian Walker Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureSony 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…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureA 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…
By Ari Notis Published March 29, 2021 -
CulturePAX 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…
By Mike Fahey Published March 29, 2021
