New Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Speedrunning Trick Shaves Three Hours Off Previous Record

Grand Theft Auto games are huge, which makes speedrunning them a time-consuming proposition. A complicated new trick discovered for San Andreas has shortened a run that normally took almost four hours to under 30 minutes. The new trick—whose name, “Arbitrary Jump In Skip,” could honestly use some work—is only doable on the Windows Store version…

When I Was A Kid, Spider-Man On Genesis Was The Scariest Shit

Like a lot of people around this time of year, I spend a lot of October thinking about being frightened. This is pretty new for me. I was a nervous, fearful kid who grew up as a teen in a religious home, so I spent my entire youth avoiding horror either by choice or by…

There’s A Whole Damn Rollercoaster Hiding In Borderlands 3

It’s so easy to miss things that are hiding right under your nose, especially in a video game as big as Borderlands 3. I did manage to find, for example, the microbrewery dungeon that’s completely optional. But I completely missed this fully-functioning roller coaster that you can ride, despite the dozens of hours I’ve spent…

PewDiePie Is Having Second Thoughts About The Whole YouTube Thing

A profile of YouTuber Pewdiepie in the New York Times titled “What Does Pewdiepie Really Believe?” does not quite answer that question. In fact, Pewdiepie himself does not seem to know. New York Times writer Kevin Roose spoke to Pewdiepie, nee Felix Kjellberg, in the aftermath of March’s shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a…

Pokémon Masters Producer Knows His Game Is Boring, Apologizes

Yu Sasaki, producer on mobile game Pokémon Masters, recently issued a public apology for the game’s lack of content. His lengthy statement acknowledges a list of player grievances, which includes poor battle design and usability, and promises to address them. “We’re disappointed we did not meet the expectations of our community, and for this, we…

Monster Hunter World Finally Adds Rajang, A Notorious Ape That Will Smack Your Teeth Out

Ask a Monster Hunter player to name a beast that evokes equal parts dread and excitement and you’ll get one name: Rajang. The freaky brute-ape is one of the series’ oldest and most difficult monsters, a perfect challenge for a cocky hunter. He arrived in Monster Hunter World today and is already kicking all kinds…

I Succeed At This Game By Trying The Silly Shit You’d Be Punished For In Other Games

I love old-school adventure games so damn much, but sometimes I just can’t manage to finish them. I get stuck on puzzles but I’m often too stubborn to consult a guide, or I lose patience with their pacing, or sometimes I’m just tired of looking at my laptop screen (most of the adventure games I…

Indie Developer And Her Boyfriend Talk About Making A Game About Their Relationship

Nina Freeman’s calling card as a developer is allowing a player to enter into her life. Some of her games, like Cibele, which is about a relationship that takes place over an MMO, have been semi-autobiographical. Now, Freeman and her real-life partner, Jake Jefferies, have turned their relationship intoan intimate video game called We Met…

Mill Decks In Magic: The Gathering Are A Goddamn Bummer

“Dishonorable” isn’t a word you hear a lot in Magic: The Gathering. It’s good to win and bad to lose, and whatever strategy most consistently gets you that win is good in itself, too. Knights know that’s not the case—that there are both honorable and undignified ways to win—which is a little ironic, because ever…

Soon, Steam Will Let You Play Local Multiplayer Games Online

Sometimes, you’d rather stretch out on the living room couch in your underwear than be the deli meat in a couch co-op sandwich. Valve today shared its plans to make Steam’s local multiplayer games playable online, so from now on, you won’t have to elbow your way into some personal space when you’re already screaming…

In Japan, Man Arrested For Modding And Reselling PS3

Forty-four-year-old Tadaaki Abe has been arrested in Kagawa, Japan, for modding a PlayStation 3 and then selling it. According to NHK, Abe is accused of jailbreaking PS3s so game discs could be copied and then played without re-inserting them. He was arrested for selling a modded PS3 for 15,555 yen ($145) to a Tokyo man…

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The Inevitable Cosplay Of Overwatch‘s Mei Supporting Hong Kong [Update]

Yesterday, when Kotaku reported that Overwatch’s Mei had been turned into a symbol of the Hong Kong resistance, one commenter wondered if there would be cosplay of this at next month’s BlizzCon. Probably! But we don’t have to wait that long. Redditor Zephronica uploaded these photos to r/HongKong of what has to be the first…

More Dramatic Readings Of Video Game Patch Notes, Please

We’ve all been there: Your favorite game drops a big update, and you’re desperate to find out what’s changed. Then you slam face-first into the wall of text that is the patch notes, and your enthusiasm deflates like a punctured whoopee cushion. Reading is a lot of work. What if someone could just read the…

Someone Please Figure Out What All These Weird Destiny 2 Rabbits Are For

There are more than a few mysteries tucked away in Destiny 2’s Shadowkeep expansion, some more obvious than others. It’s one of my favorite things about the game: You’re wandering around, chasing some bounty or quest, and then you spot something. Something that maybe shouldn’t be there, something that you could interact with somehow if…

Twitch Explains How Another Shooting Got Livestreamed On Its Site

Today, an armed gunman in Halle, Germany attacked people outside of a synagogue on Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar, killing two and injuring at least two others in the process. He livestreamed his attack on Twitch, during which he referred to himself as “Anon” (likely referencing 4chan or 8chan)…

Popular Hearthstone Caster Quits In Protest Of Blizzard’s Hong Kong Punishment

Collectible card game legend Brian Kibler, who casts for Hearthstone, announced today that he will no longer be involved in the digital card game’s Grandmasters competition. In a post on Medium, he blamed Blizzard’s “incredibly harsh” punishment of Grandmasters competitor Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai. Yesterday, Blizzard announced it would suspend Chung for one year and…