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Looking Back On My Former Life In Star Wars: The Old Republic
I started playing Star Wars: the Old Republic at launch on December 20th, 2011. In the six years to follow, BioWare’s narrative-focused online RPG became a constant in my life, bringing me new friends, dear personal partners, and amazing adventures. I canceled my subscription on March 13th, 2017. It’s been a little less than two…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 24, 2018 -
UncategorizedAfter A Year Of Free Updates, The Switch’s Kirby Game Is Finally Very Good
Kirby Star Allies launched on Switch in March, and it was decent, but a significant drop in quality from 2016’s Kirby: Planet Robobot. Since then, Nintendo has given the game several significant updates. Combined, they have made Star Allies a vastly better game. Unlike most Kirby games, Star Allies revolves not just around Kirby but…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 24, 2018 - Culture
The Week In Games: Dynasty Core
It’s the last full week of the year, so there are a slim number of releases. Most of them are on the Switch. Like every year, a lot of games have released this year. I imagine that you, like me, have a dozen or so games that you’ve been meaning to get to that you…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 23, 2018 -
CultureBlindfolded Speedrunner Demolishes Outlast
I don’t care for first-person games that are heavy on jumpscares, and so speedrunner AcrohTheBeast’s 10:24 blindfolded run seems like the perfect way to play the game. While the actual time of the run would put it somewhere above 100th place in the official speedrun rankings of the game, I have a lot of respect…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 23, 2018 -
UncategorizedA Classic Christmas Song Interpreted Through Rollercoaster Tycoon
It’s the holiday season, and that means it is the time to listen to holiday songs. They’re universally terrible, so making “new” versions with pop culture objects is just fine by my book. And now we have “The Twelve Days Of Christmas” with Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic parks. A YouTuber with the simple name of “Stu”…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 23, 2018 - CultureShop Contest
‘Shop Contest: Everyone Is Santa
Christmas is coming, and that means Santa Claus. I want you to make all of the video game characters into Santa. For those who celebrate it, Christmas can be stressful. Families get together, travel is involved, and it can swing from wildly pleasant to incredibly bad. However, I think that most of us can agree…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 23, 2018 - CultureSplitscreen
Every Game Kotaku Splitscreen Played In 2018, Part One
It is now time forKotaku Splitscreen’s Game of the Year discussions. Except we don’t really want to pick a Game of the Year. We want to pick every Game of the Year. As has become annual tradition, this week we’re going back and talking about all of the games we played in 2018. Kirk, Maddy,…
By Jason Schreier Published December 23, 2018 - Culture
Sunday Comics: Wolf Elf
Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published December 17. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published December 20. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 23, 2018 - Uncategorized
Assassin’s Creed Origins Composer Posts Unreleased Tracks
Composer Sarah Schachner, whose credits include Assassin’s Creed Origins, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, and the upcoming Anthem, has released a number of previously-unreleased tracks from Origins on her Soundcloud page The tracks seem to mostly be songs that are in the game in some form but were not released on the official soundtrack for…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 22, 2018 - Uncategorized
Bethesda has announced on Twitter that anyone who logged into Fallout 76 during 2018 will receive a copy of the Fallout Classic Collection on PC. The collection contains Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics. It is currently unclear how the collection will be distributed.
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 22, 2018 -
UncategorizedModder Transforms Super Mario 64 Into Super Mario Bros.
The brain behind a number of Super Mario 64 mods has done it again by recreating lots of Super Mario Bros. levels inside of Super Mario 64. Modder Kaze Emanuar has taken the 2D level design of that older game and crammed it into the engine of Super Mario 64. Judging from the video that…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 22, 2018 -
UncategorizedDragon Quest XI is releasing for the Switch in Japan during 2019. It’ll be called Dragon Quest XI S, and while details are thin currently, it will have a significant amount of voice acting. There’s no word yet on a release date or whether it will release outside Japan.
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 22, 2018 - CultureShop Contest
‘Shop Contest: Watch Out In Firewatch, Winners!
Last week I asked you to pitch some secrets for the Switch version of Firewatch, and you all delivered things that are better, and more secret, than I could ever imagine. Let’s dig in. Our winner this week really went for the massive, composite secret experience. I mean, they really just jammed this universe full…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published December 22, 2018 - Culture
This Week in the Business: Gaming Is My Business, And Business Is Good
STAT | $134.9 billion – The total value of the worldwide video game market in 2018, according to market research firm Newzoo. Mobile platforms make up the largest portion of that ($63.2 billion), followed by console ($38.3 billion) and PC ($33.4 billion). STAT | 1.3 million – The Switch, PS4, and Xbox One all topped…
Brendan Sinclair Published December 22, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Best Toys Of 2018
2018 was a dark time in the toy industry, as one of the biggest toy retailers in the country closed up shop, forcing collectors to stalk the shelves of Walmart and Target for their fix. But Toys’R’Us’ demise didn’t stop some outstanding toys from being released. Let’s play! Toys’R’Us will be back one day, making…
By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2018 - Culture
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
The weekend is for wanting to cook yourself some fancy food for the holiday, which will most likely mean pulling all your cookbooks off the shelf and then staring at them indecisively, giving up, and playing video games. I haven’t had the time to sit down with The Long Dark’s overhauled story mode this week,…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 21, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Year In Relaxing and Stressful Games
With the year winding down, I thought it’d be great to look at three games you can chill with as the impending apocalypse—I mean New Year’s—rolls in. Or, if you’d like to prepare for the end times with some hectic games that get your heart rate up, Gita was nice enough to give me her…
Paul Tamayo & Gita Jackson Published December 21, 2018 - Uncategorized
With Activision’s Influence Growing, Blizzard Is Cutting Costs
Blizzard has spent the year taking big measures to cut costs as it prepares for a lean 2019. Those measures, as conveyed by people who work or have worked for the iconic studio, include employee buyouts in which workers are offered money to leave, a broadening of the finance department, and the limitation of budgets…
By Jason Schreier Published December 21, 2018
