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Kotaku EastJapanNorah Jones And Manga Are A Good Combination
For Norah Jones’s latest album, Pick Me Up Off The Floor, the singer has released a manga-version music video of her single “I’m Alive” featuring panels from Rumiko Takahashi’s Maison Ikkoku According to Viz Media, “’I’m Alive’ features Maison Ikkoku’s main character, Kyoko Otonashi, as she shares many similarities with the lyrics, which reflect finding…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2020 -
CultureGoogle Backs Slowly Away From Stadia Guy’s Very Bad Tweet
Earlier today Alex Hutchinson, creative director at Typhoon Studios (bought by Google last year to make Stadia games), made a tweet suggesting that Twitch and YouTube users should be “paying the developers and publishers” of the games they stream. It blew up, and the reaction went about as well as you’d expect. It’s a Very…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureSurviving The Aftermath Is A City-Builder At The End Of The World
It’s not enough these days for a city-builder to just be about building a city. There’s always a catch, or a weird setting, and I like it, because it’s giving us all kinds of new and weird ways to enjoy the genre. The latest example: Surviving the Aftermath Now out in Early Access on Steam,…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsSo Far, Immortals Fenyx Rising Is More Than Just Ubisoft’s Take On Breath of the Wild
I like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey quite a bit; in fact, I think it’s the second-best game in the entire franchise. Immortals Fenyx Rising seems to be a natural evolution of Odyssey, and also makes it seem like some folks at Ubisoft have played a lot of Breath of the Wild. After spending an hour or…
By Zack Zwiezen Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureThe Art Of Hades
Ah, this is exciting. Welcome to The Art of Hades, a look at the work that went into what’s easily one of the best-looking video games of 2020. The team at Supergiant were kind enough to send in a ton of pieces from the development of the game, from early sketches through to the character…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureXbox Brazil Host Says She Was Let Go In Part Due To Fan Harassment, Though Microsoft Denies
Last Friday, Xbox Brazil video host Isadora Basile announced that Microsoft had severed ties with her. In a tweet, she said she’d been regularly harassed by members of the local Xbox community since being hired in early September, and that that mistreatment was part of the decision to end her contract. Kotaku has been in…
By Ian Walker Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryThanks To My Childhood, I Can’t Throw Out My Console Boxes
My first console was a PlayStation, a gift from my mother’s boyfriend. I don’t remember asking for it; I think it was a gift to curry favor. My mother had an antipathy towards video games that bordered on hostility, so while she didn’t outright ban my sister and me from playing them, it was very…
By Ash Parrish Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryCozy RPG Ikenfell Uses Cats As Save Points
Ikenfell, released earlier this month on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC, is an excellent little RPG that puts a tactical spin on the reflex-based battle mechanics of the Mario franchise’s role-playing spin-offs. It also uses cats as save points which, come on, of course I’m going to write about. Cats snooze in every…
By Ian Walker Published October 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsRed Dead Online’s Halloween Update Is Disappointing
Last month, Red Dead Online dataminers found what appeared to be zombies buried in the game’s files after an update. These new zombie models, along with other creepy content found via datamining, pointed towards a new Halloween event. That event is finally, here and it’s pretty disappointing. The Red Dead Online Halloween update went live…
By Zack Zwiezen Published October 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsDodging Death In Disc Room Is A Lot Of Fun
Disc Room is top-down puzzle game where you dodge giant saw blades. That’s pretty much it. It’s also fantastic. The combined work of Jan Willem Nijman (Nuclear Throne), Kitty Calis (Minit), Terri Vellmann, and doseone (who both made Sludge Life), Disc Room is frenetic, precise and oozing with sound and color. Planning and forethought are…
By Ethan Gach Published October 22, 2020 -
Culture30 Years Later, The Original Fire Emblem Is Getting Localized For Switch
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the game that kicked the turn-based strategy series off, is finally getting an English version on Switch on December 4. The game will be $6 to download, but Nintendo is also releasing a special 30th Anniversary edition of the game for $50 complete with a replica…
By Ethan Gach Published October 22, 2020 -
OpinionMarvel’s Avengers Is Fantastic Once You’re Fully Powered Up
When I first played Marvel’s Avengers, I thoughtit had a fun campaign and some great moments of escapism, but was hobbled by a repetitive, slow-paced endgame. Since then, I’ve put many additional hours into the game and changed my mind. Once your superhero is fully powered up—with the best Gear and all of his or…
By Kevin Wong Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureMorning MusicFake MMO CrossCode Sounds Like A Real SNES RPG
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re listening to the soundtrack from CrossCode, a 2018 game that sounds like an early ‘90s RPG classic. Radical Fish Games’ CrossCode (playlist / longplay / VGMdb) is a thoroughly modern action role-playing game that’s…
By Mike Fahey Published October 22, 2020 -
Kotaku EastJapanFormer Japanese Prime Minister Wasn’t Thrilled With The Mario Olympics Stunt
During the 2016 Rio Olympics closing ceremony, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared out of a large green Warp Pipe, wearing a red Mario hat emblazoned with Tokyo 2020. But what did Abe think about the whole experience? In a recent interview with Nikkan Sports, Abe was frank, honest and refreshing about the whole…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsLook At These Metal Gear Solid Air Jordans
Last year, film director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) showed off some epic Pikachu Air Jordans. Now in 2020, he’s back with a pair of excellent Metal Gear Solid themed ones. Vogt-Roberts posted the custom AJ1s this week on Twitter to mark the anniversary of Metal Gear Solid’s PlayStation release in North America. Bud Sanfilippo…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureTrack: Wednesday Campanella | Artist: Shakushain | Album: Wednesday Campanella (single)
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 22, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsNintendo Nerfs Steve’s Meat
Steve Minecraft, the latest addition to the ever-growing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, has been nerfed. He’s lost his mojo, so to speak. When Steve joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate last week, players were surprised to see him holding a piece of grilled meat in a very…let’s say provocative position. So provocative that we here…
By Ian Walker Published October 21, 2020 -
CultureEA Accused Of Running “Unlicensed, Illegal Gaming System”
A pair of Canadians have filed a class action lawsuit against Electronic Arts, alleging that the company’s use of loot boxes violates the country’s Criminal Code. As The Patch Notes report, the civil action has been instigated by Mark Sutherland, who bought some stuff in Madden, and Shawn Moore, who did likewise in NHL. The…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2020