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CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Got Caught In A Silent Pokémon Go Battle With A Stranger A Few Feet Away
Like many people, I played Pokémon Go for a few months when it first came out in 2016, then I abandoned it for three years. Since I work from home and the game’s leveling mechanics revolve around a pedometer, I could never seem to level up my Pokémon fast enough. For the past six months,…
By Maddy Myers Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedU.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Loot Boxes And Pay-To-Win Microtransactions
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) today announced a bill that would ban loot boxes and pay-to-win microtransactions in “games played by minors,” a broad label that the senator says will include both games designed for kids under 18 and games “whose developers knowingly allow minor players to engage in microtransactions.” Hawley will introduce the bill, “The…
By Jason Schreier Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedMinecraft Is Now A Browser Game, Is Still Good
Now you can play some old-school Minecraft in your browser. Minecraft, a game developed by a disembodied spirit and dropped here on Earth under mysterious circumstances, was once the game people asked me about when I told them what my job is. “Oh you play games?” they’d ask. “Do you know about Minecraft?” Now that…
By Gita Jackson Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedNintendo Switch Online’s next batch of NES games arrives on May 15 and includes Donkey Kong Jr., Clu Clu Land, and VS. Excitebike The selection makes sense since it leans into the service’s online multiplayer. Still, it’s no substitute for finally getting SNES games on the Switch.
By Ethan Gach Published May 8, 2019 -
ReviewsPCDwarf Fortress: The Kotaku Review
Dwarf Fortress is a brilliant game, but it will make you work to find that out. It’s a game that loves its complicated world and the adventures it offers players, even when the odds of winning are slim. It rewards you for putting yourself in a sticky situation—a goblin siege, a forgotten beast with deadly…
By Gita Jackson Published May 8, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanNintendo Answer Questions About Its Plans For China
In the past, Nintendo released its consoles through a subsidiary called iQue. Even Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently admitted that they “cannot say these releases were a great success.” In a recent Q&A for investors, Furukawa was asked about Nintendo’s plans for China. Why all the China questions? Because the Switch is finally going on…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedNippon Ichi’s Coven and the Labyrinth of Galleria has been delayed in Japan. The official release says the PS4 and PS Vita game is being delayed to this spring to offer to the best possible experience to players. No word yet on an international release.
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedPaper Craft Makes For Impressive Yu-Gi-Oh Fan Art
Twitter user Yto makes incredible Yu-Gi-Oh fan art by cutting up paper. Just look! It’s glorious. Check it out for yourself. This Black Rose Dragon was made from paper purchased from Daiso for a couple bucks. Below is how Yto did it. Yto’s other Yu-Gi-Oh fan art, which involves cutting up cards and creating miniature…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedAh, If Only These Nintendo Games Were Real
It’s that time of year again! Time for indie Japanese games store Meteor to hold their annual Famicase exhibition, which asks artists from all over the world to create cartridge art for NES/Famicom games that don’t actually exist. These are all available to check out in-person if you’re nearby (the store is in Tokyo), but…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2019 -
CultureTotal RecallThere Were Plans For A Metroid Cartoon, With Samus As A Man
An estate sale for a former DIC Animation City employee has turned up promo art for four old Nintendo cartoons (like the Mario and Zelda ones) that never actually made it into production, including California Games, Castlevania and a very different take on Metroid There’s nothing else to go on other than the art itself,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2019 -
UncategorizedMelee’s Intro Remade Using Smash Ultimate’s Video Editor
The new video editor in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is good for many things, but none more so than using it to recreate the entirety of Melee’s intro sequence from the GameCube. This was done by Sass TwoFiveThree, and is an absolute work of art. “My goal was to recreate (in some sense) every shot…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2019 -
UncategorizedOverwatch’s newest map, Havana, is now live. Set in Cuba, it sees you push a payload through streets, a warehouse, and colonial ruins. Prior to today, Havana was on the PTR for three weeks. It’s now in all versions of the game alongside a patch that includes new Overwatch League All-Star skins.
By Nathan Grayson Published May 7, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsShakedown: Hawaii Offers A Breezy 16-Bit Farewell To The Vita
There are hundreds of missions in Shakedown: Hawaii, each one of them a bite-sized mashup of arcade violence and dark humor that takes aim at late capitalism. None of the missions overstay their welcome, but also, they don’t culminate into anything more rewarding than the experience of just driving around the game’s bright, lurid streets…
By Ethan Gach Published May 7, 2019 -
UncategorizedValve revealed Dota 2‘s 2019 battle pass today and as you would expect it’s packed full of trinkets for the most diehard and well-heeled players to collect. In addition to the usual new cosmetics and modes though, there are also some helpful new features, including a party finder for avoiding toxic players.
By Ethan Gach Published May 7, 2019 -
CultureSpeedrunner Shows Off What A ‘Perfect’ Ocarina of Time Run Looks Like
Most players take at least a few days to complete The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, especially if they’re collecting everything. Speedrunners do it in a few hours, using tricks and glitches to rush through the game. Every game has its limits, though: a peak of what’s possible for a human to perform. The…
By Heather Alexandra Published May 7, 2019 -
CultureSplitscreenGame of Thrones Is Starting To Make Less And Less Sense
Why is everyone on Game of Thrones making so many bad decisions all the time? Are the showrunners just sick of it? And why will nobody pet Ghost? This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, we discuss. We spoil the episode in its entirety, and also talk about differences between the show and the books. However, we…
By Jason Schreier Published May 7, 2019 -
UncategorizedMordhau, As Told By Steam Reviews
Games with good swordplay are rare. Multiplayer games with good swordplay are rarer still, like Excalibur of Arthurian legend. It’s no wonder, then, that Mordhau has cut through the clutter and laid siege to the Steam charts. Steam users are digging the heck out of it. Kotaku’s Ethan Gach described Mordhau as a game that’s…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 7, 2019
