-
CultureTwitchNew Twitch Rules Ban The Confederate Flag, ‘Unwelcome’ Comments About Streamers’ Appearances
Today, Twitch announced a “significant” update to its harassment and hateful conduct policies. The update takes aim at multiple blind spots in Twitch’s previous rules, adding clearer language about membership in hate groups, symbols like the Confederate flag, and sexual harassment. In a blog post, Twitch outlined the impending changes, which will go into effect…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureXbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Windows PC and iOS devices this spring. Available now for Android devices as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft today announced an official release window for PC and iOS (via web browser), furthering the value divide between regular and Ultimate Game Pass subscribers.
By Mike Fahey Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureSome People Are Playing Cyberpunk 2077 A Day Early On Xbox By Switching Time Zones
Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t officially release until 12:01 a.m. on December 10, but Xbox owners are already playing the game by manipulating their console’s time and location data. As Video Game Chronicle’s Andy Robinson pointed out on Twitter overnight, players can simply change the location on an Xbox One or Series X/S to New Zealand, where…
By Ethan Gach Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureScuf Gaming Is Making Headsets Now
Atlanta-based Scuf Gaming makes some of the best high-end controllers for the Xbox and PlayStation 4. Now the company makes a gaming headset to match. The Scuf H1 is an adorable set of hearing cups that can be configured with different cushions, colors, cables, mics, and around 30 different speaker tag designs. As with Scuf’s…
By Mike Fahey Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureMorning MusicYakuza: Like A Dragon’s Best Boss Theme Makes Me Wanna Break Stuff (In A Good Way)
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today, we’re looking at what I think is the best boss battle theme in modern history. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (playlist /longplay) is an incredible game that arguably improves on its beloved predecessors shifting to a…
By Ian Walker Published December 9, 2020 -
AnimeOnce Again, Hikaru Utada Is Singing The Rebuild of Evangelion Theme
Next January, the fourth and final film in the Rebuild of Evangelion series will hit Japanese movie theaters. And of course, Hikaru Utada will once again sing the theme. The theme for Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time will be Utada’s “One Last Kiss.” Previously, she sang the themes for the earlier three films in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureSake Brewery Teams Up With Japanese Burger Chain For Alcohol-Free Milkshake
Dassai, one of Japan’s most famous brands, is joining forces with Mos Burger, Japan’s best burger chain, for a non-alcoholic milkshake. As Asahi Shuzo, the makers of Dassai, point out, this is the first time Mos Burger has ever collaborated with a sake brewer. It’s based on the fast-food chain’s vanilla shake, but with a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureTrack: All Things Must Pass (2020 Mix / Audio) | Artist: George Harrison | Album: All Things Must Pass
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 9, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsMaking Battle For Middle Earth Sounded Terrible
If you think the conditions developers are working under now are bad, imagine what they were like 16 years ago. Actually, don’t imagine it, you could just read this account of what it was like making the classic Battle For Middle Earth instead. EA’s RTS is one of the best licensed games of the last…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 8, 2020 -
Culture‘Free’ Gears 5 Expansion Highlights Growing Divide For Game Pass Subscribers
Gears 5 is getting a new campaign expansion next week. It’ll be available at no extra cost for members of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a $15-monthly subscription. Everyone else will have to pay up. It’s just one more perk suggesting a growing gulf between the entry-level and premium tiers of Microsoft’s games-on-demand service. The new…
By Ari Notis Published December 8, 2020 -
CultureA Lot Happened In Destiny Today
New content, upgrades for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and new information about long-awaited features coming in future seasons: Destiny 2 had a big day today, so let’s break it all down. First, the big one: Destiny 2: Beyond Light has now been optimized for next-gen consoles. I’ve played dozens of hours of Destiny 2…
By Ethan Gach Published December 8, 2020 -
CultureHalo Infinite Isn’t Coming Out Until Fall 2021 At The Earliest
343 Studios just announced that Halo Infinite—a game that was supposed to launch alongside the Xbox Series X last month—now won’t be released until at least Fall 2021. The lengthy delay was made in a long post on the studio’s site, and while it goes into all kinds of detail on features being added to…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 8, 2020 -
ReviewsMultiplatformYakuza: Like A Dragon: The Kotaku Review
After an exhausting run of seven main games, some spinoffs and the sandwiched-but-excellent Judgment, the Yakuza series entered a new era in 2020 with the release of Like a Dragon, which is trying to be something completely new, only it’s also not. It sure seems new. The star of Yakuzas 0-6, Kazuma Kiryu, snuck off…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 8, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsKate Bishop Makes Avengers Exciting Again, At Least For A Few Hours
The Kate Bishop version of Hawkeye has arrived as a new playable character for Marvel’s Avengers, bringing with her three or four hours of fresh single-player content to Square Enix’s stale co-op superhero game. To be fair, any new playable character would have had the same effect, but Kate is pretty damn great. Following the…
By Mike Fahey Published December 8, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsIt’s Super Easy To Make Kanye West In Demon’s Souls
Unlike the original Demon’s Souls, the PlayStation 5 remake includes a fairly robust character creation system. While I was mostly content to make a generic, purple-skinned lady for my first playthrough, folks have been able to craft some interesting characters. Someone also figured out how to make a decent Kanye West, if you want to…
By Ian Walker Published December 8, 2020 -
CultureFacebook’s New Program Pays Black Streamers To Help Them Go Full-Time
Facebook Gaming is far from the biggest video game streaming platform out there, but it has at least shown a tendency to put its money where its mouth is—a practice Twitch and other industry leaders could learn from. Today, Facebook announced a program to aid Black creators in their pursuit of full-time streaming careers. The…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 8, 2020 -
Tips & GuidesHow To Avoid Burnout And Finish Any Open-World Game
Do you ever feel like there are too many open-world games, and too many of them take up too much time? Just consider some offerings from this year alone. There’s Ghost of Tsushima, the gorgeous samurai action game, which can take you more than 60 hours to check off every objective. Ubisoft released not one…
By Ari Notis Published December 8, 2020 -
CulturePrince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Remake Pushed Back To March 18
The upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake won’t be able to make its original January 2021 release window, developer Ubisoft announced today. It will now arrive on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 18, 2021. “2020 has been a year like no other,” Ubisoft’s official statement reads. “We believe this…
By Ian Walker Published December 8, 2020 -
CultureReport: Cyberpunk 2077 Causes Seizure, Doesn’t Contain Prominent Warning [Update]
Game Informer associate editor Liana Ruppert reported yesterday that she suffered a grand mal seizure while playing a review copy of Cyberpunk 2077, due to the game’s use of various flashing visual effects. She wrote an articlefor the site advising players on how to avoid similar experiences, which in some rare instances can be life…
By Ethan Gach Published December 8, 2020