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CultureKotaku Game DiaryFriendship Ended with Azeroth, Now Final Fantasy XIV Is My Best Friend
I’ve done it. I’ve finally begun my journey with Final Fantasy XIV, after six years of aborted attempts I made it through the still strangely unfriendly onboarding process and am now roaming free in the world of Eorzea. This was a long time coming. This previously glaring omission in my Final Fantasy record lead to…
By Ash Parrish Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureStadia Leadership Praised Development Studios For ‘Great Progress’ Just One Week Before Laying Them All Off
Developers at Google’s recently formed game studios were shocked February 1 when they were notified that the studios would be shut down, according to four sources with knowledge of what transpired. Just the week prior, Google Stadia vice president and general manager Phil Harrison sent an email to staff lauding the “great progress” its studios…
Ethan Gach & Nathan Grayson Published February 16, 2021 -
Tips & GuidesYou Can Instantly Summon Bowser In Bowser’s Fury With An Amiibo
The most infuriating part of Bowser’s Fury is Bowser himself. King Koopa’s arrival can both ruin your day and grant access to previously inaccessible areas, meaning the bite-sized Bowser’s Fury is somewhat of a waiting game. But you don’t have to wait for Bowser to do his thing. You just need a Bowser Amiibo. Amiibo,…
By Ari Notis Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureSilent Hill Creator Returning To Horror With New Studio’s First Game
Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush series, left Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2020 to open his own company, Bokeh Game Studio. Now, he’s ready to pull the curtain back a bit on its first project, which he says is inspired by his past as a horror game designer. In a…
By Ian Walker Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureMarvel’s Avengers Receives Hawkeye, Next-Gen Versions On March 18
The Avengers can’t stop assembling. Clint Barton—also known as Hawkeye, or the “Really? Him?” Avenger—is coming to Marvel’s Avengers on March 18, alongside dedicated next-gen versions of the game. Marvel’s Avengers was initially planned for release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S alongside the launch of the new consoles. Three weeks before…
By Ari Notis Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureThank God, Blaseball Returns On March 1
The cultural event of Blaseball returns on March 1, developer The Game Band announced today. Blaseball is an absurdist baseball simulator that took the weirder corners of the internet by storm last year. It spawned a passionate community that contributed heavily to its complex lore—both through in-game voting and largely unofficial world-building—and was a great…
By Ian Walker Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureToday’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update Finally Adds Those Mysterious Skills
Last month, three skills mysteriously showed up in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but only if you disconnected your console from the internet. Now, those skills are officially available, included in the game’s 1.1.2 patch, out today for all platforms. The massive 1.1.2 update (it’s 10GB on PlayStation 4, 19.5GB on Xbox Series X and S) adds…
By Ari Notis Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureMicrosoft Announces The All-New Xbox Wireless Headset
Behold the new official Xbox Wireless Headset, a sleek and stylish-looking set of ear cups packed with fancy features like voice isolation and supporting spatial audio technology like Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos, and DTS Headphone: X. It’s even got auto-mute, which can be toggled on or off but should probably just be left on. On…
By Mike Fahey Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureThere’s A Nintendo Direct Tomorrow, Finally
Earlier today, Nintendo announced their first Nintendo Direct of 2021 will take place tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET. According to Nintendo, the showcase will run a beefy 50 minutes and feature news on already available games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as well as new games coming to the Switch in the first half of…
By Ash Parrish Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureReport: Epic Games Is Behind North Dakota App Store Bill
Lobbyists for Epic Games and other members of the Coalition for App Fairness drafted legislation that will be heard in North Dakota this week, attempting to bar app stores owned by the likes of Apple and Google from taking a cut of app sales, according to a report over the weekend by The New York…
By Riley MacLeod Published February 16, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanJapan Finally Gets Rules About Japanese Whisky
Japanese whisky isn’t yet one hundred years old. The country set up its first proper whisky distillery in 1923. And from then until this year, there were zero codified rules about what exactly Japanese whisky was. Compared to Scotch and bourbon, the regulations regarding Japanese whisky have been lax at best. There has long been…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 16, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanAfter Japan’s Earthquake, Rainbow Six Players Trade Bullets For Concern
This weekend, north-eastern Japan was rocked by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake. Considering how devastating earthquakes can be, people were worried. Some called loved ones, others sent messages. And in Rainbow Six Siege, one player smashed a wall to check in on the rival team. As seen in the Twitter clips below, about an hour after…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureTrack: Taiyo Te ni Tsuki wa Kokoro no Ryoute ni | Artist: Ua | Album: Petit
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 16, 2021 -
CultureBig Skyrim Mod Comes Back From The Dead
Wyrmstooth, a hugely popular mod for Skyrim, was taken down in 2016 when its author removed all traces of it from sites like Nexus Mods. This month, it returns! As PC Gamer reports, the mod is now back, having been uploaded by its original creator Jonx0r. And it returns with a new trailer, that in…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 15, 2021 -
CultureVice City & Grand Theft Auto III’s Source Code Has Been Reverse-Engineered
A team of fans have managed to reverse-engineer the source code for both Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto Vice City, making the files available for download This is great news! We’ve seen recently what reverse-engineered games can mean to modders, with Mario 64 being the biggest example, allowing it to be “ported”…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 15, 2021 -
CultureSomehow, Six Days In Fallujah’s Publisher Says The Game Is “Not Trying To Make A Political Commentary”
In 2009, Konami tried to release Six Days In Fallujah as an apolitical depiction of the Iraq War, before canning it when pretty much everyone said that was a bad idea. Now, with the game back from the dead, its publisher is trying to…peddle that exact same message? The game was originally cancelled not long…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 15, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat’s The Best Co-op Game To Ruin A Relationship With?
Fellow post-Valentine survivors, it’s 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’s the best co-op game to ruin a relationship with? That is to say, what co-op games might be risky to undertake with one’s romantic…
By Alexandra Hall Published February 15, 2021 -
CultureThor’s Teeth! Valheim Sells Two Million Copies In Two Weeks
Valheim, a Viking survival game made by a team of just five, has sold two million copies in under two weeks. That’s… carry the five… divide by nine… a million copies a week! It was only Friday that Nathan wrote a post celebrating the Norse nerve-wracker, an article so good I had the game installing…
By John Walker Published February 15, 2021 -
CultureThe Room 4: Old Sins Is Out For PC, And Prettier Than Ever
Long before you kids in your short pants and fashionable haircuts were escaping escape rooms, there was one developer far ahead of that curve. In 2012, Fireproof Games released their first game in their The Room series of puzzle games. Last week they just released The Room 4: Old Sins on PC, and it’s a…
By John Walker Published February 15, 2021
