Splitscreen

Former BioWare Studio Head Talks About Life Under EA

At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Jason Schreier and I sat down with Aaryn Flynn, formerly of BioWare, to talk about his time working under EA on games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Anthem Among other things we discussed the cultural shift when EA bought BioWare, leaving a studio after spending most of…

Why We Loved The Leftovers

What is there left to say about HBO’s fantastic, now-concluded show The Leftovers? Maybe nothing. But that didn’t stop us from trying. Jason Schreier and I are in San Francisco to talk with game developers at the Game Developers Conference, but we still made time to meet up with IGN editors Andrew Goldfarb and Marty…

It’s Finally Time For Telltale To Shake Up Its Formula

Today in Austin, Texas, we put on a live episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to talk about Telltale’s formula and much more. Joining me and Kirk on stage was Kotaku freelancer and The Guardian games editor Keza MacDonald as well as Telltale’s vice president of creative, Leah Hoyer. We talked about storytelling in video games, games…

Kotaku’s Splitscreen podcast is live at SXSW at 12 pm ET. You can listen to it here

Black Panther Shows Us The Power Of A Good Villain

Straight out of Austin, we’re bringing you a bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to talk Black Panther and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Former Kotaku and current io9 writer Evan Narcisse, who’s also writing a six-issue Marvel comic called Rise of the Black Panther, reunites with me and Kirk to talk about the adventures of T’Challa…

The ‘Magic Formula’ Behind Horizon: Zero Dawn‘s Success

SURPRISE! It’s a bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, featuring Guerrilla Games’ boss Hermen Hulst, who shares some insight as to how Horizon: Zero Dawn turned out so special. In this 20-minute interview, Hulst and I talked about how Guerrilla went from the dark gritty landscapes of Killzone to the vibrant world of Horizon, how they…

The Loot Box Madness May End On Its Own

Is Donald Trump going to take away our video games? Are loot boxes going to go away? Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, let’s discuss. First, Kirk and I talk about Trump, loot boxes, and Diablo for Switch (6:27). Then we dig into some of the games we’ve been playing (41:14), like Dishonored: Death of the Outsider,…

The Secret Hunters Of Destiny

Imagine there’s a video game that you’ve played for hundreds and hundreds of hours. It’s the only game you really play. You think you’ve seen everything there is, and then one day, you see a YouTube video, or a thread on Reddit, or maybe a tweet. Someone says they’ve found something new. Someone says they’ve…

It’s Hard To Go Back To Sub-60 FPS Gaming

On today’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we’re talking about noir games, how to get your husband into The Witcher 3, PC vs. consoles, and much much more. First, Kirk and I jump into news on Mafia 3‘s developer laying people off, Kentucky’s governor blaming video games for shootings, and the System Shock reboot facing development troubles. Then…

Next Time You Play A Video Game, Ask Why You’re Enjoying It

Why do we play video games? That question and many more, tackled on today’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen First, Kirk and I break down the news of the week before getting into some nitty-gritty about what we’ve been playing (25:48), including Civilization VI, Dragon Quest Builders, and Into The Breach. Why do we play games,…

Divinity: Original Sin 2‘s Director Wants The Game To Kick Players’ Asses

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen we’re talking to the director of Divinity: Original Sin 2, one of the best role-playing games we’ve ever played First, Kirk and I talk about Nintendo Labo and The Leftovers before getting into the news of the week (18:37) on Counter-Strike’s co-creator getting charged with commercial sexual abuse of a minor,…

The Most Important Part Of Writing A Video Game Is The Tools

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen we’re talking Monster Hunter, Nolan Bushnell, and what it’s like to write video games. First we tackle news (16:44) on the Nolan Bushnell controversy, a revoked Dragster world record, and Paragon shutting down because Fortnite was just too popular. After that, writer Leigh Alexander joins the show (34:27) to talk about…

Parents Tell Us How They Control Their Kids’ YouTube Habits

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen we’re answering YOUR questions about character creation, backlogs, Nintendo’s E3 2018, mobile whales, and much more. We’ve also got stories from parents about how they monitor their kids’ YouTube addictions. First, Kirk and I talk about Nintendo Labo, Xbox Game Pass, and my recent BioWare story (11:03). Then we read some…

What We Liked (And Didn’t Like) About Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Story

Here at Kotaku, several of us have finally been wrapping up Assassin’s Creed Origins. That means we can get together to talk about it, spoilers and all. Yesterday afternoon, I got on the horn with fellow Kotaku Assassin’s Creediphiles Luke Plunkett and Stephen Totilo to record a special bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen all about…

Why The Last of Us‘s Game Director Left Naughty Dog

The Last of Us and Uncharted director Bruce Straley joins today’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to talk about burning out, how he feels about not directing The Last of Us 2, and why he left Naughty Dog after 17 years. First, Kirk and I talk about news of the week (5:46) on Quantic Dream’s toxicity,…

People Are Still Finding New Ways To Break Classic RPGs

What’s it like to speedrun huge role-playing games like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger? What kind of tricks are people still discovering? Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, we talk to a speedrunner to find out. First, Kirk and I talk about news of the week (14:35) on Cyberpunk 2077, Overwatch League, and the elusive Nintendo…

Our Video Game Predictions For 2018

Assuming we don’t all die in a nuclear holocaust, what will video games bring in 2018? This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, it’s time for some predictions. First Kirk and I talk about the news of the week (13:46) including Gravity Rush 2 fans, an innocent man dying to a police swatting call, and Logan Paul’s…

Assassin’s Creed Origins Is Better If You Play It Slowly

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, we’re revisiting our predictions for 2017 and seeing what we got right (aka: mostly wrong). We also talk about Danganronpa V3, Leeroy Jenkins, and the delights of Assassin’s Creed Origins First up, Kirk and I go through the news of the week, talking about Final Fantasy’s 30th anniversary, the truth behind Leeroy…

Podcast: Every Video Game Of 2017, Part Two

It is time for part two of our annual Kotaku Splitscreen tradition, where we talk about EVERY VIDEO GAME OF THE YEAR. This week, Kirk and I go from July to December, covering this summer’s gems (Pyre, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age) and then getting into the big games of fall, from Star Wars…

Podcast: Every Video Game Of 2017, Part One

It is time once again for an annual Kotaku Splitscreen tradition: going through EVERY VIDEO GAME OF THE YEAR. This week, Kirk and I talk about all the major game releases in January, February, March, April, May, and June, a list that includes Persona 5, Horizon Zero Dawn, the Nintendo Switch, and many more gems.…