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ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Jackbox Party Games Are Some Of The Best Games Of The Decade
For Christmas this year, my GF and I went to her parents’ home and chilled out all day there. We ate brunch and dinner, opened gifts and relaxed. It was nice. But what made it even better was Drawful 2. And this ability to make nearly any party, gathering or hangout better is why The…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 28, 2019 -
UncategorizedMario Maker Contest: Happy New Year!
The year is ending! Let’s close out this year with one last Mario Maker Contest before 2020. And to celebrate the new year, why not get big and loud! Your challenge this week: Create levels featuring explosions, parties, ball drops, fireworks, cheering, etc! Theme: New Year, 2020, New Year Party, Happy New Year, Goodbye 2019…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 28, 2019 -
CultureWhat Did You Get For Christmas?
Christmas is over and a few days have passed since then. So most folks have, by now, finished all the other Christmas days that happen during this season. You know, stuff like going to multiple families homes across the week or visiting divorced parents separately. So, what did you all get? I don’t want a…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 28, 2019 -
CulturePokemonGirafarig Has A Second Head That Never Sleeps
Every Pokemon is interesting and worth talking about. I don’t play a ton of Pokemon, but I do enjoy the universe and I love learning more about the creatures in it. So, Here’s Another Pokemon! It’s Girafarig! Girafarig Details Type: Normal/Psychic Average Height: 4′ 11″ Average Weight: 91.5 lbs. First Added In Generation II Did…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 28, 2019 -
CultureMorning CheckpointWhat A Sad Way To Die
Hello! This week we say goodbye to 2019, figure out what the difference is between Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds, guess the wrong Pokemon, figure out what video game characters had the worse fashion crimes of the last decade and discover a PS3 sitting in the rain. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week Video…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 28, 2019 -
CultureA Programmer Lost A Game He Made As A Kid, Until Someone Streamed It On Twitch
If you’re interested in game design, you’ve probably made a few side projects or prototypes. If you were lucky, you might have had the means to start early in life and made a few games as a kid. These usually end up deleted or lost on rotting hard drives. You definitely don’t expect them to…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 27, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Year In Tiny Video Game Text, 2019
Games are cheaper than ever, but the three cataract surgeries I paid for this year in order to read the words in them has made the hobby itself way more expensive. In all seriousness, it’s 2019 and so many games, both big and small, are still impossible to read without squinting until a blood vessel…
By Ethan Gach Published December 27, 2019 -
OpinionEvery Game Should Let You Skip To The Side Quests
During my holiday travels, I’ve been messing around with the Switch port of The Witcher 3, partly out of morbid curiosity and partly because I’ve never actually played its two expansions. Much like the Complete Editions on other platforms, the Switcher lets you jump straight to the DLC by generating a save in which the…
By Joshua Rivera Published December 27, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewVideo Game Fashion Disasters Of The Decade
Video game clothes are usually either very good—like every single thing Bayonetta wears, or all of Jesse Faden’s boss bitch suits in Control—or they are very, very bad. This is a celebration of the decade’s fashion blunders in video games. May they all rest in piss. Low Rise Pants In The Sims 4 Low rise…
By Gita Jackson Published December 27, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewWhat Are Your Video Game Resolutions for 2020?
The year is ending and a new decade is upon us, which means a chance to reinvent ourselves and embark on new adventures. It also means more video games. As the new year approaches, we ask: what are your video game resolutions? Resolutions are largely arbitrary, but there’s still fun in setting a goal. Head…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 27, 2019 -
CultureWhat Are You Playing This Weekend?
The weekend is for needing to go to my pharmacy in a different borough, but also needing to go on a long run, so…running to the pharmacy? The fun never stops, kids. The weekend is also for playing video games. A friend of mine has just gotten into Red Dead Online, so I’d like to…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 27, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsMy Boyfriend Keeps Pranking Me With The Theme From Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
There is no greater pleasure than owning one’s significant other. Here’s how Assassin’s Creed Odyssey helped me do that this holiday season. My dad, an extremely normal guy, got himself an Echo Show this Christmas. Last night as my Jewish boyfriend and I were making latkes, we started fooling around with it—mostly screaming at it…
By Gita Jackson Published December 27, 2019 -
UncategorizedOne Year Later, Battlefield V Still Can’t Please Fans
Battlefield V should have worked out. It’s a return to the World War II setting that Battlefield players love, with a fast pace that tests their reflexes and tactical thinking. Instead, it’s been a rocky ride, even as new content has been added to the game. A continuing controversy over the “time to kill” mechanic…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 26, 2019 -
CultureBethesda Patches Fallout 76 Cheat After Hacker Uses It To Steal Players’ Items
Last weekend, someone managed to steal items from hundreds of players in Fallout 76 using a new hack. While Bethesda patched the worst parts of the exploit, some of the affected players are still waiting to hear if the company will be able to restore their lost loot. A video posted Sunday on YouTube showed…
By Ethan Gach Published December 26, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryMy Favorite Casual Game Became My Hardcore Obsession
We all have games that we play to relax. They’re waiting for us when we get home, with low stakes and a casual atmosphere that invites us to unwind and forget our worries. For my mom, that’s Solitaire. For me, it’s Hearthstone. But its latest expansion has changed how I approach my long-time relaxation game.…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 26, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewGita Jackson’s Top Ten Games Of 2019
I hate writing top ten lists. At the end of a year, I’m so exhausted that I can barely remember which games came out that year. I’ll start writing a list and then realize that half the games on it came out in 2012. Luckily, I played a lot of great games that stuck in…
By Gita Jackson Published December 26, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Year In Video Game Skies, 2019
Despite video games’ best efforts to make me spend my time staring down at the floor and picking up random junk, I keep looking up to the skies above and the stars beyond. 2019 was full of lovely depictions of both. This is the third annual collection of video game skies, and each year I’m…
By Ethan Gach Published December 26, 2019 -
ReviewsToysCyberpunk 2077’s Keanu Action Figure Is Mildly Breathtaking
Today McFarlane Toys announced a three-year agreement to produce action figures based on CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. The first wave includes two different sizes of Keanu Reeves’ character Johnny Silverhand, because who cares about any other Cyberpunk 2077 character at this point? Oh, and there’s a generic male figure as well. Retailing for $24.99…
By Mike Fahey Published December 26, 2019 -
UncategorizedFortnite Has Blizzards Now
Fortnite has gotten into the winter spirit. Snow covers sections of the map, there are Christmas trees to dance in front of, and the Winterfest event features a cabin with presents to open. As of today, blizzards are occasionally whiting out portions of the map. I didn’t encounter any blizzards during the inexcusable amount of…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 26, 2019 -
UncategorizedTips For Playing The Video Games You Just Got
The end of the year is gift-giving season for many people, so chances are good that you, dear reader, just received at least one brand new video game. You’ve installed that thing, and you’re ready to dive right in. You just have a couple of questions about, uh, how to play it. We’re here to…
By Maddy Myers Published December 26, 2019