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CultureWhat Are You Playing This Weekend?
Did you know the weekend was the best possible time to play an absurdist take on the traditional Japanese role-playing game? I just made that up, but it’s probably true. It’s time for Miitopia, a game that originally came out for the 3DS in 2017 at a tie when I was not playing games on…
By Mike Fahey Published May 21, 2021 -
CultureHey, They Got Mass Effect In Our No Man’s Sky
For the past week, No Man’s Sky players have been led on a mysterious expedition across the galaxy with no real idea where their journey would lead. Now the “Beachhead” expedition is complete, and it’s led players to a massive Mass Effect Easter egg. There is nothing procedurally generated about the latest addition to enterprising…
By Mike Fahey Published May 21, 2021 -
CultureHere’s An Original Xbox Easter Egg That’s Remained Hidden For Nearly 20 Years
A developer who worked on Microsoft’s original 2001 Xbox console, who wishes to remain anonymous, informed Kotaku of a hidden “Easter egg” in the Xbox Dashboard that’s remained undiscovered for nearly 20 years. They told us how to trigger the secret, which displays a previously unknown credits screen. Sure enough, it works. “I didn’t really…
By Alexandra Hall Published May 21, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanNew Japanese TV Drama About Manga Fan Who Loves Shipping
Baki The Grappler is a manga (and anime, pictured) about dudes beating the crap out of each other in an underground material arts tournament. In 2019, sociologist Junko Kaneda wrote a book about viewing it through a Boys’ Love lens. It’s now being adapted into a live-action TV series in Japan. Boys’ Love (BL) manga…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 21, 2021 -
AnimePikachu Just Got Arrested On The Pokémon TV Anime
Things sure got real on this week’s episode of Pocket Monster, the latest Pokémon TV anime series. As teased last week, Pikachu got arrested—cuffed and everything. Fittingly, the episode is titled “Yougisha Pikachu?!” or “Pikachu the Suspect?!” In it, large amounts of electricity are being stolen from houses in Vermilion City, and a Pokémon that…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 21, 2021 -
CultureBandai Namco Is Releasing A Peppa Pig Video Game [Update]
It’s coming maybe 5-10 years too late for peak Peppamania, and more than a few voice actors seem to have changed since my kids were into this show, but in 2021 we’re finally getting a proper Peppa Pig video game. My Friend Peppa Pig will let kids/you explore the show’s world and hang out with…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKonami, Please, This Is Excruciating
Euro 2020, the planet’s biggest football tournament outside the World Cup itself, was supposed to take place last year. It was instead postponed to this Summer for obvious reasons, and to celebrate, Konami’s official PES version of the tournament will begin by featuring…woefully inaccurate and/or out-of-date rosters. PES 2020’s Euro 2020 update, which was actually…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureA PS3 Version Of Gears Of War 3 Is Now Available
A build of Gears of War 3 that was developed by Epic as a way to test Unreal Engine 3 on the PlayStation 3 has been released online, letting anyone with a debug PS3 play the Xbox exclusive on Sony’s home console. Twitter user and digital archivist PixelButts celebrated the 10th anniversary of Epic creating…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureRatchet & Clank: Rift Apart Comes With A Huge List Of Accessibility Options
When Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart arrives on PlayStation 5 next month, it’ll do so with an extensive suite of accessibility options, designed to help folks enjoy the game no matter their personal limitations. “Insomniac Games is dedicated to creating games that have a positive and lasting influence on people’s lives,” the studio said on…
By Ian Walker Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryTeens Rescued My Pink Gamer Chair After It Fell Out Of A Truck, And I Died Of Embarrassment
Ka-thunk. I knew exactly what the sound meant, though I could barely believe it. I was in the process of moving, and I was driving a small handful of my belongings—including my (and my cat’s) pink gamer chair—to my new place in a U-Haul truck. Except the chair wasn’t in the truck anymore. It was…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 20, 2021 -
OpinionI Thought Resident Evil Village’s Dollhouse Was A Chill Time, Actually
The internet has been filled with folks sharing their thoughts about the dollhouse section in Resident Evil Village. Many call it scary or even terrifying. But, I didn’t find the location all that scary at all. In fact, I found the whole section rather calming and even fun. After you arrive in the titular village,…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureBlazing Strike Is A New, Old-School 2D Fighter
Because there’s no such thing as too many anime-inspired 2D fighting games, Aksys and RareBreed Makes Games just announced Blazing Strike, an homage to classic pixel-art fighters with modern game mechanics that’ll hopefully make it play as good as it looks. The passion project of solo developer Mark “RareBreed” Chung, Blazing Strike started life as…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureOverwatch 2 Will Only Have Five Players Per Team
Today, during an Overwatch 2 PVP livestream, Aaron Keller, Overwatch’s new game director taking over for Blizzard veteran Jeff Kaplan, announced that teams in Overwatch 2‘s PVP will be reduced from six players to five. “Overwatch has changed over time. We’ve gone from having no hero limits…to having a hero limit. We ended up introducing…
By Ash Parrish Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureJedi Outcast Is The Latest Classic To Get Ray Tracing
After teasing the project for months, self-described “ray tracing addict” Zyanide is finally ready to share his work adding the computationally intensive lighting technology to 2002’s Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. And gosh, it’s as impressive as the game’s title is awkward. While ray tracing brings obvious aesthetic benefits to Jedi Outcast’s lightsaber-heavy…
By Ian Walker Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureFinal Fantasy XIV Players Mourn Berserk Creator’s Death With Touching Tribute
Kentaro Miura, creator of seminal dark-fantasy manga Berserk, died on May 6 of an aortic dissection. When his death was made public on May 19, Final Fantasy XIV players paid tribute with spontaneous memorials honoring Miura, Berserk, and its impact on the Final Fantasy franchise itself. Miura’s work deeply influenced the Final Fantasy franchise so…
By Ash Parrish Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureValheim Was Made By 5 People And Sold Nearly 7 Million Copies
It’s a good year to be a Viking. Embracer Group, the Swedish video game holding company formerly known as THQ Nordic, released a financial report today showing that early access game Valheim has sold 6.8 million copies so far, with Embracer expecting it to sell up to 8 million copies in total by the summer.…
By Jonathan Lee Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureCall of Duty Mid-Season Update Adds ’80s Action Heroes, Die Hard‘s Nakatomi Plaza
Call of Duty’s mid-season “Reloaded” update has arrived for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, bringing Sylvester Stallone’s iconic John Rambo as an operator and some much-needed Zombies content and weapon tuning. Rambo isn’t alone—Season Three’s ‘80s action theme also includes the introduction of John McClane from Die Hard. (I believe the proper response to…
By S.E. Doster Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureThe Nintendo Download: Shin Miitopia Tiger Trio Xylophone HD
There are 36 games coming to the Nintendo Switch eShop this week. Among those 36 games are the remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, a Switch version of 3DS RPG Miitopia, a puzzle game about sushi-making tigers, and a $10 virtual xylophone. I restarted our weekly posting of The Nintendo Download to highlight some…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryReturnal Converted Me To 3D Audio
Returnal, a PlayStation 5 action game about dancing with death at an inescapable time-loop space rave, is a visual delight. It’s also an aural one. And at no time is that more apparent than when you play with a pair of 3D audio headphones. Let me put it this way: Before I picked up Returnal,…
By Ari Notis Published May 20, 2021
