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CultureThe Half-Life 2 RTS Is Finally “Out” After 13 Years Of Development
For over a decade now, a group of fans have been working on Lambda Wars, a real-time strategy game set in the Half-Life universe. Originally a Half-Life 2 mod, and later a standalone beta, the thing is now finished, or as finished as a game ever gets these days, anyway. Having begun development in 2007,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureDon’t Worry: There Are Enough Analogue Pockets For Everyone
Last August, many of us missed out on pre-ordering a Pocket, the beautiful all-in-one handheld console from Seattle-based hardware manufacturer Analogue. With a restock now confirmed for 2021, the company has promised to beef up its servers and crack down on resellers to help ensure folks are able to buy the coveted system rather than…
By Ian Walker Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureIncredibly Rare Sega Arcade Game Found Rotting In A Field
Sega’s R360 was perhaps the most bombastic example of the company’s arcade 1980s arcade flex–a cabinet that only supported two games and of which only 200 units were ever made. Those two games were 1990’s G-LOC: Air Battle, followed by Wing War in 1994. While most of of the surviving R360s are being preserved in collections…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureEpic Settles Real Lawsuit With Fake Money
Fortnite players who purchased one of Save The World’s randomized Loot Llamas will receive 1000 V-Bucks, developer Epic announced today. The move comes as part of a preliminary class action settlement regarding loot boxes. “Whether you were a fan of random item Loot Llamas or not, with preliminary approval for a class action settlement, we’re…
By Riley MacLeod Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsHacker Rewrites Crappy SNES Racer To Improve Its Framerate Sevenfold
Brazilian software engineer Vitor Vilela has, for almost a decade, sung the praises of Nintendo’s SA-1 enhancement chip, but never before have the benefits of the souped-up Super Nintendo processor been more obvious than when applied to Race Drivin’, the lackluster 1992 SNES port of Atari Games’ 3D arcade racer that originally ran at a…
By Ian Walker Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureLumines: Electronic Symphony Was Almost Daft Punk Lumines
Daft Punk, the famed French electronic music duo formed in 1993, has broken up. While many of their fans are obviously upset by the news, Q Entertainment producer (and ex-game journalist) James Mielke took the opportunity to share his own fond memories of the musicians, explaining that they were meant to be part of a…
By Ian Walker Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureWhy Diablo IV Is So Obsessed With Ears
Ears. If you watched the debut trailer for Diablo IV’s rogue class, that was your main takeaway—at least, if you’re anything like me. The rogue showed up to “confession” with a big ol’ bag of ears. The priest had a whole darn trophy case of ears. This might have struck you as strange—most regular people…
By Nathan Grayson Published February 22, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat Was Your Best-Ever Year For Gaming?
It’s Monday and time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take. This week we Ask Kotaku: What was your best-ever year for gaming? John Walker There is only one correct answer to this question, and then there are egregiously wrong ones. The…
By Alexandra Hall Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureGoogle’s Facing A Class-Action Suit Over Stadia’s Lack Of True 4K Gaming
There’s another gaming-focused class action lawsuit in the works, this one against Google Stadia over whether or not Stadia can run games at 4K resolution. The suit was originally filed in October, but had a development earlier this month when lawyers for co-defendants id Software filed a notice of removal with federal court. As noted…
By Ari Notis Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryWe Gotta Talk About This Main Story Quest In A Realm Reborn
My journey through Final Fantasy XIV continues apace. My bard and black mage are now at level 46, and I’m currently questing through the icy Coerthas, which seems oddly French with all the names ending in -x and -eau. When I first started playing, my circle of FF14-playing friends all told me to be patient.…
By Ash Parrish Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureDoom Eternal Director Has ‘Put A Lot Of Thought’ Into Making A Female Doom Slayer
During a playthrough stream earlier this month, Doom Eternal director Hugo Martin was asked if the team had ever considered developing a female Doom Slayer for the game. His answer was surprisingly thorough. “I’ve thought about it, actually,” Martin told Bethesda community manager Joshua Boyle following a viewer question. “I think if we did it,…
By Ian Walker Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsDestiny 2 Players Are Jumping Off Cliffs To Avoid Playing Trials Of Osiris
It happened to me: I was looking for groups on the Destiny 2 app to play Trials of Osiris with, joined one, and then found myself jumping off a clif for the next few minutes in a tribute to just how unfun the game’s competitive PVP loot grind can be. Trials of Osiris was lauded…
By Ethan Gach Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureWatch Dogs: Legion Gets Co-Op On March 9
Watch Dogs: Legion is about to become legion. The multiplayer mode for Ubisoft’s open-world hacking game comes out March 9. The multiplayer mode was initially planned to launch on December 3, 2020, but was delayed to a broad 2021 release in order to allow developers time and space to patch out the game’s many bugs…
By Ari Notis Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureNiantic Announces Bonus Pokémon Go Event After Players Let In Free To The Kanto Tour
Saturday saw one of the biggest paid international events Pokémon Go has hosted, the Kanto Tour. Costing a not-cheap $11.99, it was a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Pocket Monsters, with the hit mobile game going back to the series’ origins for a 12-hour celebration of the OG 151 Pokémon. Except, they accidentally let…
By John Walker Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureReport: CD Projekt Red Issuing DMCA Takedowns To Keep A Lid On Hacked Source Code
Maker of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, is hitting Twitter users with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns for sharing links to Gwent source code, according to a recent report by Vice Multiple Twitter users reported that their tweets, at least some of which linked to source code likely leaked in…
By Ethan Gach Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Persona 5 Strikers Arrives In Style
Persona 5 Strikers is one stylish-looking game and it comes out later this week for PS4, Switch, and PC. I don’t have much to say about Persona 5 Strikers, as I’ve never played a Persona game. Instead, I point you towards the fantastic review of the game. It honestly makes me want to give it…
By Zack Zwiezen Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureMorning MusicForrest 64 Is What A Fictional Nintendo 64 Game Sounds Like
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. We’ve got an odd one today: the soundtrack to a make-believe Nintendo 64 game hidden away in the Switch version of Firewatch Yep, if you’ve got the (I’m told, lovely) adventure game Firewatch on the Switch,…
By Alexandra Hall Published February 22, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanDelicious Looking (And Totally Fake) Super Mario Sushi
This is like the fake food you see in front of Japanese restaurants, but with Nintendo characters. YouTuber Nendo Zaiker-Snail created this Mario sushi from polymer clay. You can see the process in the 12-minute Japanese language clip below. What really sticks out is how this seems somewhat possible with real sushi. Make the Mario…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 22, 2021