Culture

The Witcher 3 Is Getting Ported To PS5 And Xbox Series X

The beloved 2015 role-playing game The Witcher 3 will get a next-gen port that includes faster loading times, development studio CD Projekt Red announced this morning. The expansive open-world RPG has no release date, but, come on, this is the next-gen where nothing has release dates, anyway. In its announcement, CD Projekt notes that the…

Pilotwings’ Mellow Jazz Showed SNES Had A Sound All Its Own

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s new, daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today our ears will take flight with one of the very first soundtracks composed for the Super Nintendo. It was not a banger. Pilotwings (longplay) was one of the very first games for the Super…

Track: Drive-In Saturday (Live) | Artist: David Bowie | Album: Something In The Air

Welcome To China Town

Liang Mark is an artist from China who has worked for companies like Gameloft. You can see more of Liang’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Oh Man, Look At Nike’s “Doraemon” Dunks

Dropping later this month—or maybe even later this week—this upcoming colourway of Nike’s resurgent Dunk line has been dubbed the “Doraemon”. It’s not an official licensed deal between Nike and the blue cat, hence the lack of overt branding, but thenlike Nike’s “Gundam” Air Max 98, it doesn’t need to be when the homage is…

Nearly Every Super Mario Game Posing For A Family Photo

In case you’ve ever wanted to see it, here is every major game from the Super Mario series (and some spin-offs), all gathered together for a beautiful group shot. So yes, that’s why Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Kart aren’t there, which despite the names aren’t members of the Super Mario platforming family. (It…

Skullgirls Developer Lays Off Everyone Who Hadn’t Already Quit

Lab Zero Games’ controversial owner Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont fired the studio’s entire staff last week following a series of high-profile departures, leaving several full-time employees and contract workers scrambling for support. News of these mass layoffs became public yesterday thanks to former Lab Zero artist Jonathan “Persona” Kim, who helped promote fellow departee Marial…

Valorant Temporarily Jettisons Omen After Accidentally Making Him Godlike

Team-based shooters like Valorant regularly add new heroes, but they’re not generally in the business of banishing them. Unfortunately, after a recent update, Valorant’s shadow-dwelling Reaper riff, Omen, transcended the game’s figurative and literal boundaries, which forced Riot to give him the (temporary) boot. This week, a Valorant patch not intended to make Omen briefly…

Nintendo Just Threw Super Mario Galaxy 2 Down The Memory Hole

One of the best mainline Mario games ever was nowhere to be found during today’s Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct Nintendo celebrated 35 years of Super Mario Bros. today by announcing that a number of the most beloved games in the series would finally make their way onto Switch, including Super Mario All-Stars, Super…

Halo 3 Mod Turns Everybody Into Rats

Halo 3 has a rat. It looks like what would happen if you genetically modified a potato to give it legs. So of course, the rat is beloved by the Halo community. Now, thanks to the magic of modding, you can play Halo 3 as the Halo 3 rat. Originally just a background prop in…

Serious Sam 4 Devs Dropped ‘Planet Badass’ Subtitle Because It Wouldn’t Make Sense In Other Languages

The latest installment of the tongue-in-cheek Serious Sam franchise was first announced in 2018. While the game was known then as Serious Sam 4: Planet Badass, it will arrive on PC and Stadia later this month without the subtitle. Why this happened is different depending on who you ask. According to a comment on the…

School’s Out In Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Due To Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned schools into a very different place, with numerous countries closing schools or adding new safety measures and rules for children and teachers. These changes are a part of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2’s reimagined School level. The new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game, out tomorrow, takes all the levels from…

Nintendo’s New Mario Games Have A Purchase-By Deadline, And It Sucks

No one does things more strangely than Nintendo. In an ambush Mario Direct this morning, the 35th birthday of the world’s worst plumber was celebrated with all manner of surprise announcements. The most surprising feature of all being that two of the products would be time limited. Both the triple-pack of remastered Super Mario 3D…

Everything Nintendo Just Announced In Its Mario Showcase

In celebration of Mario’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo released a Super Mario Bros. Direct stuffed with all Mario everything. Here’s a look at all the goodies the company announced. A New Novelty Handheld Coming November 13, 2020 is a new Game & Watch-style handheld loaded with the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost…

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit Turns Mario Kart Into An AR Game With Real Toys

For some time, Mario Kart has famously been playable in virtual reality, which you can do at the VR Zone, in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Now, Nintendo’s long-running racing series is getting the augmented reality treatment. Announced today during a Mario-themed video presentation, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit will bring Mario Kart to the entire living room.…

Mario Is Getting A Battle Royale Game Called Super Mario Bros. 35

Mario is finally getting the battle royal treatment in an online multiplayer game called Super Mario Bros. 35 that’s coming to Switch on October 1. In it you’ll battle against 34 other players across what look like levels from the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES. Defeat enemies and they’ll be transported to other…

Nintendo Finally Announces 3D Mario Collection For The Switch, Out This Month

Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and other classic 3D Mario games are coming to the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo confirmed today. The collection has been rumored for months and now looks to be the Switch’s premiere release for the fall season. The collection, called Super Mario 3D All-Stars is out for Switch on September 18…

VVVVVV’s Old-School Chiptunes Are Flippin’ Fantastic

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s new, daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. VVVVVV was one of the top indie games of 2010, and its tremendous soundtrack played no small part in elevating the already-great material. VVVVVV (longplay / VGMdb) is hard to pronounce, but easy to play:…

The Division 2 Is Getting A 100-Story Skyscraper Mode

One of the most common criticisms of The Division 2—at least in terms of its game design—is its lack of a repeatable but varied endgame mode. That would be something that players of the urban third-person shooter could keep returning to for a fresh experience. The first Division had been expanded to offer two of…

My What A Big Sword You Have

Karl Sisson is a matte painter at WETA. You can see more of Karl’s stuffat his ArtStation page