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CultureOverwatch Cheaters Are About To Get Games Automatically Shut Down
Blizzard is currently testing a new and interesting way of dealing with cheaters in an Overwatch match: whenever cheating is detected, they’ll just automatically shut the game down, no questions asked. They call it the “next evolution of cheat detection” in the game. Normally that would suck, because everyone else would be punished for one…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 15, 2019 -
CultureTwitchSome Streamers Are Boycotting Twitch In Support Of The Amazon Prime Day Strike
Unless you’ve got the world’s most powerful ad blocker, you’re probably painfully aware that it’s Prime Day, a holiday that Amazon made up because it could. Deals parade naked in the streets and the company hosts glitzy concerts, all to encourage Amazon Prime subscribers to stick around. For the second year in a row, however,…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 15, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsEven A Motorcycle Stunt Race Can’t Make Days Gone Feel Less Gloomy
Every week this summer, Days Gone developer Bend Studios has rolled out a new challenge for its single-player zombie survival game. The latest challenge, added over the weekend, tests how well you can drive your motorcycle. As a single update, it’s not much. As the third of 12 planned free challenges? It’s still a little…
By Joshua Rivera Published July 15, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsIn My Sims World Of Only Women, Marge Simpson Is Married To Taylor Swift
I’ll let you in on a secret: I only work in the games industry to bring it down from the inside, like the insidious woman-spy I am! Bwahaha! Mine is an evil laugh! Turns out that all those threads about me on various terrible corners of the internet had it right all along, and I’m…
By Kate Gray Published July 15, 2019 -
UncategorizedUbisoft Invites Fans To Make Music For Watch Dogs: Legion, Sparking Exploitation Debate
Last week, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt announced on Twitter that his music production company, HitRecord, would once again partner with Ubisoft, this time to help the publisher create 10 songs for its upcoming open world hacker game, Watch Dogs: Legion. This immediately re-ignited an old debate about the ethics of soliciting work for big budget games…
By Ethan Gach Published July 15, 2019 -
ReviewsToysHasbro Wants To Make A 2-Foot-Tall, $575 Transformers Unicron Toy
The biggest threat in the Transformers multiverse is Unicron, the planet-sized world eater who debuted in 1986’s animated Transformers: The Movie. Despite his popularity among fans, Unicron has never gotten a toy befitting his stature. The 27-inch-tall Transformers: War for Cybertron Unicron being crowdfunded via Hasbro’s HasLab could change that. Hasbro has attempted to make…
By Mike Fahey Published July 15, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Fire Emblem: Three Houses Battle System Is Elegant In Its Complexity
At its best, combat in Fire Emblem games is like an elegant game of chess. At its worst, it’s a morass of numbers that don’t feel like they mean anything. Three Houses leans more closely to the former than the latter, though it’s also easy to get lost in statistics and variables. Allow me to…
By Gita Jackson Published July 15, 2019 -
UncategorizedA recent Samurai Shodown tournament in Japan was won by a cosplayer dressed as his main character, Ukyo. The player, Shingo “K2″ Kito, has also been known to dress as combat butler Hein during King of Fighters XIV events. Must be quite the power-up!
By Ian Walker Published July 15, 2019 -
ReviewsKeyboardsMy Favorite Split Gaming Keyboard Is More Colorful And Comfortable Now
In 2017, Ergonomic keyboard maker Kinesis launched its KinesisGaming label with the Freestyle Edge, a split keyboard with tons of customization and a pleasant no-frills aesthetic. This week, Kinesis launches the Freestyle Edge RGB, an updated version with flashing colored lights and comfy padded wrist rests. This one’s for the frill-seekers. Split keyboards are great…
By Mike Fahey Published July 15, 2019 -
CultureFour-Year Effort To Beat Ocarina Of Time In Under 17 Minutes Finally Succeeds
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is well-known for impressive speedruns, even among casual players. Every time it seems there are no improvements left to make, a new glitch or intense session of play shaves seconds off the best time. Last week, the fastest completion time slipped under 17 minutes, marking the culmination of…
By Heather Alexandra Published July 15, 2019 -
UncategorizedFans Are Remastering Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is one of the more difficult Resident Evil games to get a hold of on current consoles. If you wanted to play it today, your only real option—short of tracking down a hard copy of the original game —is dusting off a PlayStation 3 or Vita to download the PlayStation Classic…
By Joshua Rivera Published July 15, 2019 -
CultureYouTubeFour Videos For Phoenix Wright Fans Who Can’t Get Enough
Lately, I’ve been going back and enjoying some games in the Phoenix Wright series, which I personally like to call Perjury Gaiden. Because it is a good series of games, there are lots of videos about it, and I’ve picked some of my favorites here, which will be best enjoyed by people who’ve played Phoenix…
By Natalie Degraffinried Published July 15, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryAfter Years Of Confusion, I Finally Understand How To Play Bridge
This weekend I faced my oldest nemesis: the card game Bridge. I don’t remember the first time my mom tried to make me play Bridge with her. In my memory, this cursed card game has been the bane of my existence since I was old enough to hold cards in my hand. I’ve never been…
By Gita Jackson Published July 15, 2019 -
ReviewsToysI Wish I Could Wear This Wee Arkham Asylum Batman Cowl
When I heard that DC Collectibles was making a replica of the distinctive cowl the Dark Knight wore during Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum video game, I imagined skulking about my house as a masked vigilante, striking fear into children and cats alike. The final product is lovely, but not the wearable cowl I’d imagined. The Batman:…
By Mike Fahey Published July 15, 2019 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Avengers And Everyone Else, Assemble!
The Avengers, their friends and some of their foes are hitting the Switch this week with the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. Pick your favorite hero and argue with your friends who is getting stuck playing with the right Joycon. I really loved that first Ultimate Alliance game. Played a lot of it back…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 15, 2019 -
UncategorizedMakers Of Horror Game That Was Removed From Steam Say It’s Not Coming Back Anytime Soon
When it released in February, Devotion received thousands of positive reviews on Steam and was becoming popular with viewers on Twitch. But it was taken down after only a couple weeks when fans discovered art in the game that appeared to make fun of China’s president. Five months later, the studio behind the game says…
By Ethan Gach Published July 15, 2019 -
UncategorizedEarly Access game Dota Underlords now has an Early Access battle pass. Called the Proto Pass, Valve says it’s a test to determine what exactly the game’s real season one battle pass will look like, but for now it’s free to all players and lets you earn custom portraits, banners, and boards.
By Ethan Gach Published July 15, 2019 -
CultureFan-Made Smash Bros. Ultimate Level Features Dueling Snakes
Snake’s remote-controlled missiles are some of Smash Bros.’ most entertaining projectiles, and one player recently decided to make a Smash Bros. Ultimate stage that focuses entirely on guiding them through tiny labyrinths of death. Created by user xzAsiankidzx and shared on the game’s subreddit over the weekend, the stage is named Nikita Weave War, and…
By Ethan Gach Published July 15, 2019 -
UncategorizedParents Name Their Baby ‘Google’ After…Google
Baby names are important. If you need suggestions, you can always try Google. Or, as one Indonesian family did, you can skip the looking on Google and just name your kid after it. The Jakarta Post (via AsiaOne) reports that parents Ella Karina and Andi Cahya Saputra decided to name their son “Google.” Ella was…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 15, 2019
