Final Fantasy XIV’s Glorious Rak’tika Greatwood Song Takes Me Back In An Instant

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we take shelter from Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers’ everlasting daylight under the canopy of twisted trees in the Rak’tika Greatwood. Under the watchful eye and skillful ear of sound director Masayoshi Soken (interview), hundreds of…

In Japan, KFC Installs Lockers For Contactless Ordering

At four locations in Japan, KFC is rolling out pick-up lockers for contactless ordering. Customers order and pay via their phones, and their meals will be put into lockers. After the order code is entered, the door opens, and the customers can take their food. You can see it in action below: It can be…

Joy-Cons are getting a price cut in Japan. Nintendo announced that as of November 6, the standalone Joy Cons will be reduced to 3,740 yen ($35) from 4,480 yen ($42) each. No word yet whether price cuts will be in effect elsewhere.  

Digital Mask Lets You Express Anime Emotions

Say hello to the E2-Mask Z. This face-covering headset uses AI to read expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, and more and then render those emotions via an anime avatar. Developed by the Hirata Takegawa Lab, it certainly should be possible to change the avatar from an anime girl. The idea is that this digital face…

Track: New World Coming (darkDARK Remix) | Artist: Nina Simone | Album: New World Coming 

Bloodborne Modder Plans To Release 60 FPS Hack, But Is Waiting To See If Sony Will Upgrade The Game First

Lance McDonald, who for some time has been working on getting Bloodborne to run at 60 frames per second, recently shared a video with new gameplay footage of his achievement. That said, he’s willing to let Sony itself take a crack at updating the famously frame-y From Software game to run at a smooth framerate…

The A.V. Club 10 episodes that lay out the warped ethical calculus of Tales From The Crypt | Deadspin Joe Morgan, championed by the analytics he hated, passes away at 77 | Gizmodo These Luxury Cruise Ships Are Being Sold for Scrap Metal | Jalopnik This German Amusement Park Is Inside A Nuclear Power Plant…

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Take On Gods In Smite’s Latest Battle Pass

In action MOBA Smite, gods and creatures from various mythological pantheons battle each other in an all-out war for divine supremacy. Next month, the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles join that battle. I’m sure they’ll do just fine against Odin, Bastet, King Arthur, and Cthulhu. Partnering once more with Nickelodeon, who lent developer Hi-Rez Studios…

Fall Guys’ Crossover With Sonic The Hedgehog Is, Uh, Something Else

Despite the horrorshow that’s supposedly hiding beneath its contestants’ bean-shaped facades, Fall Guys is a pretty cute game with some neat costumes. I’m not quite sure how I feel about the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog crossover, though. Fall Guys will get a Sonic-themed costume on October 14, Mediatonic and Sega announced during a joint stream…

What’s Your Preference: Japanese-Style RPGs Or Western-Style RPGs?

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’s your preference: Japanese-style RPGs or Western-style RPGs? (Note that “JRPGs” are not necessarily RPGs made in Japan but RPGs in the Japanese console-game style. And…

Crackdown 2 Developer Is Now Called Rockstar Dundee

According to documents filed on the UK’s Companies House registrar, Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games is now operating as Rockstar Dundee and has become part of the large stable of worldwide Rockstar studios. As first reported by TheGamer, Ruffian Games became Rockstar Dundee on October 6, with Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, taking ownership of…

New Guilty Gear Character Is Wildly Normal

Over the weekend, Arc System Works announced a new character for Guilty Gear Strive. She isn’t Zappa, but she’s pretty neat nonetheless. Giovanna is overwhelmingly normal, especially for a Guilty Gear character. Apart from a ghost dog with what appears to be a retweet symbol on its head, she’s just, like, a normal lady with…

Pet Fish Discovers Glitch In Pokémon Sapphire

A YouTuber’s pet betta fish accidentally stumbled into a rock duplication glitch in Pokémon Sapphire that doesn’t appear to have been previously reported. Lala, who belongs to Japanese YouTuber Mutekimaru, was wandering around the 2002 Game Boy Advance game’s Seafloor cavern when it made the discovery. The fish was pushing boulders around with the help…

The San Francisco Shock beat out the Shanghai Dragons, the Philadelphia Fusion, and the Seoul Dynasty to become 2020’s Overwatch League grand champions. This win is the second championship for the Shock and marks the first time an Overwatch League team has won back-to-back titles.

Genshin Impact will get a series of updates and events over the next several months, its developers announced over the weekend. The game’s post-launch future begins with a version 1.1 update and Unreconciled Stars event in November.

Star Wars: Squadrons Players Want Star Wars: Squadrons Players To Stop Ramming Ships

Crashing spaceships into each other is fun, but some Star Wars: Squadrons players would rather you focus on completing the mission than recreating your childhood fantasies. Star Wars: Squadrons features large fleet battles between small fighters, mid-ranged frigates, and large capital ships. It has its problems, but the game is full of small touches in…

The Week In Games: Mario Kart In Your Living Room

You’ve played Mario Kart on your phone, on a GameBoy, on a home console at even at a local arcade. Now, you can play Mario Kart using weird plastic toys in your living room and annoy your cats at the same time. I have no interest in ever playing Mario Kart Live, but I’m extremely…