- Culture
Ask Dr. NerdLove: We Survived A Cult, But Our Marriage Didn’t
Hello all you gentlemen bastards of the Internet, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column that helped tame the wild, wild west. This week, we’re tackling the challenges of marriage and long-term relationships. What do you do when you don’t work as a couple but you can’t leave your relationship? What…
Harris O'Malley Published December 14, 2018 - Uncategorized
Rockstar Starts Selling Red Dead Online Gold For Real Money
Red Dead Online’s economy is based on two currencies: cash and gold bars. At launch, it was only possible to get these currencies by playing the game but gold also became available today as a premium currency purchasable with real money. You can just plop down $9.99 for 25 bars instead of earning them in-game,…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 14, 2018 - Culture
Discord Thinks It Can Woo People With Yet Another PC Game Launcher
Last week, the store wars began, but now they’re really getting spicy. With Epic’s store up, running, and offering an 88 percent cut of earnings to developers (compared to Steam’s industry-standard 70 percent), Discord has fired back with an even more appealing offer: 90 percent. The revenue split will come to Discord’s game store in…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 14, 2018 - ReviewsHeadsets
Victrix Pro AF Gaming Headset: The Kotaku AF Review
I am not sure what I like more about the Victrix Pro AF universal gaming headset. Is it the way it sounds, or the way its active noise canceling makes everything else shut up? Or maybe it’s the fact that they called it “Pro AF.” It’s kind of a ballsy naming convention, putting “Pro AF”…
By Mike Fahey Published December 14, 2018 - Uncategorized
Blizzard Abruptly Kills Heroes of the Storm Esports, Leaving Players And Casters Fuming
Last night, Blizzard announced plans to scale down Heroes of the Storm, moving its developers to other games and putting an end to its Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC) esports league. The news came as a shock to hundreds of Heroes of the Storm players and broadcasters, many of whom say they now…
By Jason Schreier Published December 14, 2018 - OpinionImpressions
Below Is Finally Out, And It’s Not Screwing Around
Below came out today on Xbox One and PC, after five years in development. I’ve spent about five hours with the game. Despite going in with very few expectations, the game still managed to defy them. First revealed at E3 2013, Capybara Games’ minimalist roguelike dungeon crawler has been in development for over five years,…
By Ethan Gach Published December 14, 2018 - CultureKotaku Game Diary
Forza Horizon 4‘s First Expansion Is Dull, At Least Right Now
Though I appreciate the rocky cliffs and craggy hills of Forza Horizon 4‘s new Northern Isles-inspired Fortune Island, I worry that once I finish all the expansion’s treasure hunts I’ll lose my appetite for brown emptiness. Fortune Island is Forza’s newest DLC. Located somewhere to the north of the main game’s English countryside, it’s a…
By Mike Fahey Published December 14, 2018 - Uncategorized
Smash Ultimate patched the game last night to make its crappy online experience significantly less crappy. After some time with the game post-patch, it appears that Smash made players’ preferred online play rules “more highly prioritized.” We have updated our article on Smash online to reflect that change.
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 14, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of Fandom In 2018
In 2018, the meaning of fandom is in flux. The relationship between fans and creators is in some ways more tense than ever before, even while fandom itself has reached a point where a simple piece of fanart can become an international sensation overnight. Fans Gain New Powers, For Better And For Worse The relationship…
By Gita Jackson Published December 14, 2018 - Uncategorized
Kill la Kill‘s Character Designer Illustrated… A Japanese Dentist Sign
If you passed this billboard in Tokyo, you might think this is an advertisement for a new anime. You would be wrong. This is a real sign for a real Tokyo-based dentist called Momoi Dental Clinic. It went up this week, and people online have been noticing. The billboard has the name of the clinic…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 14, 2018 - Uncategorized
Sega’s New PS4 Game Shows A Different Side Of A Japanese Superstar
Previously Kotaku mentioned how Judgment, the PS4 game with Japanese superstar Takuya Kimura, lets players beat up enemies with a sex toy. That was just the beginning. Takuya Kimura is one of the most famous celebrities in Japan. He was a member of the boy band SMAP, he appeared in some of the highest rated…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 14, 2018 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Sometimes I Want To Hug You Like Crazy
Autumn Vacation is a two-member Korean indie group active since 2009, and Sometimes I Want To Hug You Like Crazy (that might be the longest-ever title in the history of this column) is from their first eponymous album. The vocalist absolutely makes this track; her name is Im Soo Jin (stage name Cinnamon), and prior…
By Seung Park Published December 14, 2018