Culture

How To Be A Great Dungeon Master

The idea of being a Dungeon Master in a tabletop RPG is, understandably, pretty daunting. A table full of people looking at you constantly, listening to your every word, stumbling clumsily through your well-crafted world with all the grace of an out-of-control semi-trailer? A nightmare by anybody’s standards. But don’t worry! You got this. We…

Twitch’s Budding Weed Stars Are Doing Their Best To Educate People, Whether Twitch Likes It Or Not

Twitch’s gardening section contains multitudes. Some people broadcast apple orchards. Others build birdhouses. Others play Stardew Valley. But at most times of the day, those streams are crowded out by one of the most instantly recognizable plants on earth: the seven-armed starfish, Beelzebub’s kale salad, other names I didn’t just make up. I speak, of…

Final Fantasy VII Remake Gave Me A Chance To Examine My Own Anger

Although I’ve been made aware of the major story beats in Final Fantasy VII over the years through osmosis, Remake is the first time I’ve experienced them personally. I wasn’t prepared for the impact Shinra’s attack on Sector 7 would have on me as I played over the weekend, and now more than ever am…

Super Mario Odyssey Gets Remade In Mario 64

Pack your bags—we’re going to New Donk 64. Mario modder extraordinaire Kaze Emanuar is back with their latest project: a Mario 64 mod called Super Mario Odyssey 64. As the name suggests, it recreates much of the Switch game inside its Nintendo 64 predecessor, resulting in a nifty demake that looks like it would be…

Another World Creator Shares Toy Car Footage He Used To Make Video Game Art

Over the weekend, game designer Éric Chahi shared footage of him playing with a toy car that was used to make one of the cutscenes in 90s scifi adventure game Another World come to life. It’s a cool look at what goes on behind the scenes of classic game animation. 1991’s Another World holds up…

Just Watching Games Done Quick’s Pump It Up Run Feels Like A Workout

This weekend, the folks at Games Done Quick put together a charity speedrun event to raise funds for covid-19 relief. Games Done Quick events are typically a speedrun showcase, meaning the games featured are meant to be completed as fast as possible. But every so often, an event will pop up on the schedule that’s…

How’s It Going?: First Drafts Edition

It’s Monday. Welcome back to another week of living in this particular version of the world, and also welcome back to our daily open thread. I had a pretty good weekend, all things considered. I spent most of Sunday working on a novel I’ve been kicking around. After spending my working hours in non-fiction, it’s…

The Week In Games: Aliens Vs. Predator

Prepare for an alien invasion as two different games featuring aliens both release this week. The launch of the surprise XCOM spin-off Chimera Squad and the asymmetrical multiplayer game Predator: Hunting Grounds. I dig taking popular franchises and building out weird and smaller spin-offs. This new XCOM game might be a total flop and that’s…

Track: PDLIF | Artist: Bon Iver | Album: PDLIF (single)

Blocky Building. Tokyo, Japan. By Jon | Official Site JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line

Please Enjoy Probably The Last Cosplay Show Gallery For 2020

In any other year this would be the time where we’d only just be ramping up our cosplay event coverage as we approached shows like Anime Expo and Comic Con, but in 2020, where everything is terrible, we are not. Instead, somehow, March’s PAX East is probably going to end up being the last show…

Oh Hey Samus, Long Time No See

Mattias Rotman is a VFX artist at Stunlock, the studio behind Battlerite, but he’s also a very handy pixel artist. You can see more of Mattias’ stuff at his ArtStation page

Former White House Press Secretary Blames China After Getting Bamboozled Over Bootleg PS4 Controller

With all that’s going on in the world, there are a lot of things to get upset about right now! Blaming China because you got suckered into buying a bootleg PS4 controller on Amazon is maybe not one of them, though, especially if you’re the former White House press secretary for the Bush administration, Ari…

$1,900 Death Stranding Jacket Released, Sells Out Instantly

An official tie-in jacket between Death Stranding and techwear label Acronym went on sale today for €1,750/$1,900, and even at that price, they sold out almost instantly. This is fairly standard practice for Acronym jackets at the best of times, to be fair, since they’re a highly desirable piece of clothing, but still. If you’re…

Darts Competition Moves Online, Players Withdraw Because Their Internet Sucks

While loads of athletes are keeping busy by playing the video game version of their chosen sport on TV, other sports, like darts, can just have players keep on playing at home. If, that is, their internet can handle it. The PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) Home Tour, which is being broadcast in England, involves pro…

Track: Police Truck | Artist: Dead Kennedys | Album: Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death 

‘Shop Contest: The Predator

A new game starring The Predator is coming out next week. The poor guy has had a rough gaming career. Remember Concrete Jungle? It wasn’t great. But some of the AVP games were fun! So in honor of The Predator returning to video games, let’s create some images tarring the hunter himself. Your challenge this…

How’s It Going?: HL:VR But The AI Is Self-Aware Edition

It’s Sunday! The week is over, but don’t worry about it. For only 6 PLAYCOINS you can comment in Kotaku’s daily open thread. “Half-Life VR but the AI is self-aware” is a long and weird name for one of the best things on Youtube right now. The name isn’t really accurate at all, beyond the…

Sunday Comics: Humans Happened

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published April 16. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published April 13. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…

‘Shop Contest: Easter Sunday 2020, Winners

Easter has come and gone. You might have totally missed it considering most of us are stuck in our homes, unable to see or invite over family and friends. But I still ran a contest using Easter as the theme because… I don’t know. Tradition? Our winning image this week comes from Mrichston who shows…