Culture

Well, This Is Awkward…

This week on Snapshots a lion taking a bath, a cool looking car, a creepy dude in a chair, a disturbing bonfire party, a happy baby, an ax-wielding killer in Animal Crossing and way too many Stormtroopers. “Boys, I’m lost. Can you kind folks help a Jedi out?” Kotaku Snapshots is a weekly look at…

Crustle Is Only Confident When It’s Thicc

Every Pokemon is interesting and worth talking about. I don’t play a ton of Pokemon, but I do enjoy the universe and I love learning more about the creatures in it. So, Here’s Another Pokemon! It’s Crustle! Crustle Details Type: Bug/Rock Average Height: 4′ 07″ Average Weight: 440.9 lbs First Added In Generation V Confidence…

How’s It Going?: Cookies Edition

The weekend is here. Welcome to another Saturday and another open thread. Let’s chat about cookies. Most folks like cookies, even if we don’t all enjoy the same ones. I am very lucky to be stuck at home with my girlfriend. I can’t imagine staying home every day without her around. Not only does she…

Nintendo Switch Shortage Can Partially Be Blamed On Resellers Using Bots

The current shortage of Nintendo Switch consoles is frustrating many and it seems resellers and bots are partly to blame for the current situation. Over the last month or so it has become extremely hard to find and buy a Nintendo Switch. Part of the reason it has become so tricky to snag a Switch…

Dog Or Helicopter?

Hello! This week we check out the new Spongebob game, learn what NPCs do in Fallout 76 when you drop a nuke on them, find out who Selena Gomez is suing for $10 million, get rid of annoying villagers in Animal Crossing and watch a dog fly away. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week…

Riot Offering Up To $100,000 For Finding Vulnerabilities In Valorant’s Anti-Cheat System

Riot has posted one of the biggest—if not the biggest—bounties in gaming, offering people up to $100,000 if they can find a security flaw in the company’s controversial Vanguard anti-cheat system. The bounty, announced today, is being hosted on HackerOne, where users can earn some scratch from tech companies for pinpointing flaws in their security.…

This Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox Is Too Much

Happy Friday: this special edition Xbox One X comes with glow-in-the-dark graffiti that says “No Future.” It’s probably right. I wasn’t down with this Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X when it leaked on the Canadian Walmart website yesterday. Instead of something bright and neon-fueled, it looked to me like the sort of colorful scrap metal…

Aerith Is My Favorite Party Member In Final Fantasy VII Remake

As a complete newcomer to the world of Final Fantasy VII, I’m meeting (and, in some cases, falling head over heels for) its cast members for the first time in the updated and reimagined Remake. I’ve grown to appreciate every character Cloud has met during his journey, but one stands head and shoulders above the…

Blizzard Extends World of Warcraft’s Double XP Event After Fan Outcry

With players in the game forums and Reddit clamoring for an extension, World of Warcraft’s double experience point event, originally scheduled to end on Monday, will now last right up until the pre-patch for the game’s Shadowlands expansion. The Winds of Wisdom buff grants all World of Warcraft characters 100 percent bonus experience for killing…

Paul Haddad, Voice Of Leon Kennedy In Resident Evil 2, Dies At 56

Paul Haddad, who voiced Leon Kennedy in the character’s Resident Evil 2 debut, has died at the age of 56, according to an announcement from Invader Studios. “Paul Haddad, our dear friend and an icon among the Resident Evil community, has passed away recently,” the statement reads. “We’ve been truly honored to have the chance…

Games Done Quick Is Holding A Speedrun Marathon For Coronavrius Relief

This year’s Summer Games Done Quick charity event has been pushed back to August due to covid-19 concerns, but you can’t keep a good group of speedrunners down. Starting today and running through Sunday, Corona Relief Done Quick is an online speedrunning marathon benefitting global response organization Direct Relief. Sounds like the perfect way to…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for needing to cut my hair, something I’ve been doing for years but which never leaving the house has caused me to put off until it’s actually going to be a pain to do. The weekend is also for playing video games. Fortnite’s season getting extended gives me more time to catch…

Kirby’s Art Book Is Beautiful, Just Like Kirby

I wouldn’t say what the world needs now is a 272-page book of Kirby artwork, but it certainly can’t hurt. Published by Viz Media in English earlier this week, the Kirby Art & Style Collection is a $30 hardbound tome filled with official art, concept art, box art, and sketches spanning 25 years of Kirby…

Track: Miss Misery | Artist: Elliott Smith | Album: Good Will Hunting (OST)

Cyberpunk Crepes. Dontonbori, Osaka. By Justin Weegar | Instagram  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

A Well-Spent Youth

Shabeer MV is a 3D artist from India. You can see more of Shabeer’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Valorant Tournaments Will Have To Turn Off Blood

In a recent blog post detailing their plans for Valorant esports, Riot esports director Whalen “Magus” Rozelle provided a long list of guidelines community organizers will need to follow in their competitions. These include restrictions on event sponsors and a requirement to disable in-game blood. Valorant, despite its fantasy elements, is still very much a…

Selena Gomez Suing Game For $10 Million For Stealing Her Likeness

Selena Gomez has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the companies responsible for Clothes Forever – Styling Game, a phone game that will, by its own account, “allow you to live out all your fantasies and become the fashionista you were born to be!” In reality, it’s a cheap dress-up game that, like most mobile…

Final Fantasy VII Devs Wanted Sephiroth To Feel Like Jaws

Like many things in Final Fantasy VII, the main antagonist Sephiroth is an iconic part of gaming history. He’s a striking, menacing presence throughout the classic roleplaying game. Much of Sephiroth’s reputation has to do with the way the developers took cues from an entirely different piece of media: Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller, Jaws During…

Fallout 76’s NPCs Don’t Care About Getting Nuked

This week’s Fallout 76 Wastelanders update added human non-player characters to the game for the first time. Naturally, one of the first things players tried to do was nuke them. Players have been finding all sorts of curious new details in the game thanks to its burgeoning populace, from the return of pizza rolls to…