Man Allegedly Kidnapped And Tortured After Dating An Akihabara Maid

Last August, the former manager of an Akihabara maid cafe was kidnapped and tortured after he had quit his job at the cafe without notice and was dating one of the maids. This, it seems, pissed some folks off. A group of men involved with the cafe’s management allegedly forced the victim into a car…

Miyajima. Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. By Justin Weegar | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line

The Battle Of Moria

Justin Gerard is an artist who has worked for everyone from Disney to Blizzard to Riot to Wizards of the Coast. You can see more of Justin’s stuff at his personal siteand ArtStation page

Red Dead Player Kidnaps Sheriffs, Shoots Them In Beautiful Locations

Red Dead’s the kinda game where after a while you have to learn how to make your own fun, which can sometimes involve visiting some of the game’s most breathtaking locations and taking some photos. And sometimes, along the way, kidnapping the game’s Sheriffs then duelling them for sport. That’s what Alex Tanaka has been…

Armed Robber Steals Over $130,000 Worth Of GameStop Merchandise

Frederick Lopez Jr., 28, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of robbing four GameStop stores at gunpoint in 2018. The news was announced today in a press release from the US Attorney’s Office (via Polygon), and says Lopez’s arrest came as a result of a joint investigation by both…

Animal Crossing Fans Are So Desperate For News That They’re Analyzing Obscure Stickers [Update]

Earlier today, fans spotted some Animal Crossing: New Horizons decals for the Switch on the Japanese HMV store website. Eager fans are now pouring over them trying to figure out which new characters will be in the game. The images were first shared by the Animal Crossing World fansite Twitter account, garnering thousands of likes…

NBA 2K Players Are Paying Their Respects To Kobe Bryant

The NBA 2K community has, as you’d expect given his impact on both the series and basketball itself, been deeply affected by Kobe Bryant’s death yesterday, with players (and the developers) spending the last 24 hours finding ways to pay their respects. 2K Director of Digital Marketing Ronnie Singh, the public face of the series,…

Being Muted In A Video Game Doesn’t Violate Civil Rights, Federal Court Declares

If you or a loved one has been muted in a video game, you may not be entitled to financial compensation. Exposure to muting might finally wake you up to the idea that there are consequences to your actions. Please do wait. Do not call now! This take on a weirdly beloved commercial from the…

Kingdom Hearts III‘s New Secret Ending Is Breaking My Brain

Kingdom Hearts III’s new DLC Re:Mind remixes the game’s finale into a series of altered events with additional boss fights and story beats. It also adds an additional chapter in which players can face off against highly difficult “data” versions of defeated villains. Diehard fans who push through these fights will find one final challenge…

Fallout 76 Players Who Had Their Inventories Hacked Say Bethesda Returned Their Stuff By Cloning Their Characters

Last month someone managed tosteal a number of Fallout 76 players’ items and gear using a cheat program. Now some of those players say Bethesda has finally managed to restore their lost valuables by giving them access to cloned versions of their characters from before the incident. Player IGN Romulox reported on Reddit last week…

Tekken 7 Finals Overtaken By Leroys At Evo Japan

Tekken 7 newcomer Leroy Smith is cool as hell, with a lovely dog companion to boot. He’s also very strong, so strong that almost every player in last weekend’s Evo Japan finals used him to get there. For many, this was the inevitable conclusion to a month of heated conversations concerning Leroy’s place in Tekken…

Putting Together Bandai’s Pokémon Models Is Fast, Fun, And Mildly Horrific

Earlier this month Bandai and Bluefin announced the North American release of Bandai Spirits Hobby’s Pokémon models kits, starting with Pikachu, Eevee, and Mew this spring. Last night I assembled all three. It only took me about an hour, and I was only slightly traumatized by Pikachu’s hollow plastic face. The PokePla kits are perfect…

While Other Evo Japan Winners Get Cash, Smash Bros. Ultimate Champion Gets Golden Controller

Shuto “Shuton” Moriya won his first ever Smash Bros. Evo Championship this past weekend. His prize? A special gold embossed Switch Pro controller presented by none other than series creator Masahiro Sakurai. It didn’t break, as some tournament-winning items tend to, but it did take a quick tumble. Who could blame the 23-year-old pro Smash…

Torchlight Spin-Off Is Now Officially A Numbered Torchlight Sequel

Announced in August 2018 as a free-to-play shared-world action RPG, Torchlight: Frontiers is now Torchlight III, a premium PC action RPG that developer Echtra Games considers a true successor to Torchlight I and II. According to Max Schaefer, founder of Echtra Games and co-creator of the original Torchlight with the now-defunctRunic Games, the change from…

Kentucky Route Zero: The Kotaku Review

After seven years, the haunting episodic adventure game Kentucky Route Zero is finally complete. The game’s first chapter came out on PC in 2013. Tomorrow’s Act V marks the end of the story. A new “TV Edition” for consoles collects all five acts—the main story pieces of the game—and four interludes—side content that ties back…

8 Fancy Atari-Branded Gaming Hotels Set To Be Built Across The U.S.

The current incarnation of Atari, France-based Atari SA, is far removed from the company founded by gaming pioneers Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney back in 1972, but the name and logo still carry plenty of weight. So much so that the company has signed a deal with a U.S. real estate developer to create eight…