The Best In Video Game Concept Art For 2018

My favourite feature here at Kotaku is Fine Art, a daily look at the concept art that goes into our favourite games. With the end of the year fast approaching, I thought it was time to look at some of the best work we’ve been able to showcase this year from some of the biggest…

Imperial Settlers Is A Damn Good Card Game

After what feels like years of gentle pressure (the game was released in 2014), I finally got around to playing some Imperial Settlers the other day. I regret not playing it sooner. A simple card game built around the idea that you’re an ancient civilisation expanding into new lands, Imperial Settlers is nominally based on…

War Has Changed

Scott Zenteno is a prop and environment artist based in Pasadena. You can see more of Scott’s work at his ArtStation page

Hearthstone Just Got Some Of Its Biggest Nerfs Yet

Yesterday, Blizzard dropped a Hearthstone balance update that could easily qualify as the most significant set of nerfs the game has ever seen. The Druid class, which from Hearthstone’s launch has been defined by the ability to “ramp” up its Mana pool and play more expensive cards at a faster rate than the opponent, will see…

Smash Ultimate‘s Big Boys Finally Kick Butt

There was a time when a popular Smash flex was showing someone that you could even beat them with Bowser, the hulking, slow-to-move Mario monster. Before Bowser’s huge form had even initiated an attack, it’s likely his opponent had already gotten in a shot or two. It’s not that he wasn’t powerful—he was, when he…

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe‘s Peachette Is Even More Interesting Than Any Of Us Predicted

Nintendo told us we could only stream New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch for exactly twenty minutes. So that’s what me and Paul did. You can relive our frantic act of improvised content-creation right here in this convenient YouTube archive. The game’s not out until January 11th, 2019, though we have…

FBI Seizes 15 DDoS-For-Hire Websites

Today, the FBI announced it took action against 15 domains that allegedly helped take down other people’s websites, game servers and other online services through distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The seizures comes a week before Christmas, which, the FBI says, is “a period historically plagued by prolific DDoS attacks in the gaming world.” The FBI…

Toy Somehow Makes Overwatch‘s Lucio Even More Adorable

The folks at Japanese toymaker Good Smile Company continue their quest to chibify the entire Overwatch roster with the Nendoroid version of Lucio. Look at his tiny tats! As Overwatch characters go, Lucio strikes me as one of the more confident, fun-loving members of the group. Good Smile’s tiny version captures his self-assured swagger perfectly.…

This day in history: Kids play the Epoch Cassette Vision, an early Japanese home gaming console, in a Tokyo department store on December 20, 1981. Cassette Vision was the most popular game console in Japan until the Nintendo Famicom came along in 1983.

Save The World By Building The Perfect Date For A Rampaging Monster

In the distant future, the world is beset by ferocious kaiju. These giant beasts threaten to destroy everything we hold dear. They are too strong to fight, which leaves only one option: romance. In Kaiju Super Datetech, which you can play on PC, Mac, or Linux, up to ten players work together to assemble a makeshift…

Gita’s Top 10 Games Of 2018

2018 has been a blur for me. It may just be that I’m in the last year of my twenties, or it could be that extreme events just did not stop happening this year. As with any year, I took refuge in games when I wanted to relax, enjoy myself, socialize with friends, or just…

Nier Automata‘s 2B Is Too Good For SoulCalibur VI

When SoulCalibur VI launched with The Witcher’s Geralt as a playable character, I was like, “Okay, that makes sense. He’ll fit in.” This week Bandai Namco added Nier Automata’s android protagonist 2B to the mix, and well, I feel bad for the rest of the roster. She’s too much for them. It’s not YoRHa No.…

Celeste Headlines January’s Xbox Live Games With Gold

I’m not the best at Celeste, but my colleagues’ love of it sure makes me wish I were. If you’ve been meaning to give this platformer a shot, it’s part of January’s Xbox Live Games with Gold lineup. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription. January’s Xbox…

Surprise: The ‘Sam Raimi’ Suit Is Now In Spider-Man PS4

In a last-minute holiday present to Spider-Man fans, publisher Sony said today that it is indeed adding the iconic ‘Sam Raimi’ suit—you know, the one from the Tobey Maguire movies—to the recently released PS4 game. It’s free for everyone with a copy of Spider-Man There’s a lot of drama attached to this one, as some…

And The Winner Of The Highlander Cosplay Competition Is…

Rascals are an art and animation studio who have recently helped out on games like Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales and Vermintide II You can see more of the studio’s work at their ArtStation page THRONEBREAKER: THE WITCHER TALES VERMINTIDE II

Terrace House’s Perfect Couple Are Now In PS4 Ads

If Terrace House fans have been wondering what Shion and Tsubasa (aka the Greatest Love Story Of Our Time) have been up to since leaving the house, here is your answer: they’re making very long, strange PS4 commercials. Done for Oricon—think Billboard, but for Japan—the videos are for a variety of PlayStation games and hardware,…

GTA Online Players Find Easter Egg By Tipping Bathroom Attendant At Least 500 Times

GTA Online’s latest update, Arena War, added a new deadly reality show to the game, and with it some dangerous new vehicles and game modes. But this latest update is hiding a secret outfit that players have discovered back in their nightclubs. To unlock this secret, players will need to repeat a small action over…

Frostpunk’s Christmas Update Does Not Bring Good Tidings

In Frostpunk’s frozen apocalypse, there is little room for festive cheer. Which is why the game’s Christmas update, which could have been a chance for a rare moment of joy in the lives of the game’s freezing inhabitants, is instead just another chance for the developers to make you feel like shit. The Christmas Carol…