The Neon Sunset. Montreal, Canada. By Guillaume Goudreault | Instagram | 500px JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Bang

Victor Harmatiuk is an artist from Brazil who has worked in video games, animation and board games. You can see more of Victor’s work at his ArtStation page Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional and personal portfolios. If you’re in the business…

Some 2K Players Are Getting Sent Custom Nikes

High scores and achievements are there to make you appreciate your feats, but some 2K players are getting a more material reward for their efforts this month. The Road To 99 is a part of NBA 2K18 that encouraged folks to take their lowly-ranked custom player and work them all the way up from a…

Sid Meier’s Colonization Is The Best 4th Of July Video Game

Don't like how the United States of America turned out? Go on, build your own then

What’s Your Favorite Game Ending?

I finally finished Persona 5. It took us about 90 hours (I played with my wife) but it was worth every minute. Each of the characters had a compelling arc and I felt their friendship get closer with every palace infiltration. The climactic reveal in Shibuya had me cheering for them. The music was brilliant…

The Brilliant Use of Fear And Scale In Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Scarecrow Levels

The Arkham games are Batman at his best, combining intense action sequences against an iconic gallery of villains with exploration elements via his detective skills. The dark knight isn’t just about brute force, but uses his intellect to gain an advantage over criminals. I loved soaring through Arkham City and reliving Batman’s past through Arkham…

How Harlan Ellison’s Most Famous Short Story Became An Amazing Video Game

The first time that Cyberdreams producer David Mullich showed author Harlan Ellison a page of the dialogue he’d written for the 1995 game based on his short story “I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream,” Ellison asked, “Who wrote this shit?” When Mullich replied that he had, Ellison got visibly embarrassed and apologized. “No,…

Finally Appreciating Pokémon Snap

Video game fans can be an entitled bunch. When they latch onto a popular series or genre it isn’t long before they begin demanding the next iteration meet certain criteria and levels of excellence. But game companies don’t always give fans what they want, and many times the most invested players can have a difficult…

The Story Behind Ultima’s Morality

When I think back on the games I played growing up, the Ultima series stands out as one of the most unique and compelling. These open-world fantasy RPGs helped define and establish many of the standards of the genre through nine main installments and multiple spin-offs on a variety of platforms. My first Ultima game…

The Magic Behind 1994’s Super Mario Mac & Cheese Commercial

With the Sega Genesis edging out Super Nintendo sales in the heated 16-bit console wars of the mid ‘90s, Nintendo decided it was time to unveil their groundbreaking secret project. Of course I’m speaking about Rare’s pseudo-3D Donkey Kong Country. But the same year that brought the barrel-tossing ape back into the spotlight also featured…

The Warped Expectations Surrounding Video Game Classics

It’s easy to pass over a great game. Not everybody has the time, money, or means to play every critically acclaimed title, and as the years go by, games considered to be “the best” can fall by the wayside. By the time I was old enough to afford my own consoles, I was stuck in…

Splatoon 2‘s Octo Expansion Gets Surprisingly Dark

Hidden under Splatoon 2‘s fresh gear and multiplayer madness is an outrageous backstory. Nintendo has done a fantastic job of releasing free content for the games’ online offerings, but their newest DLC is all about the single player struggle and adding some ridiculous plot twists to the colorful franchise. The original Splatoon used its hidden…

An Ode To Unused Items

Howdy Kotaku! Ben and Peter have returned to run Kotaku for the 4th of July. It’s a day of fireworks and rest. It’s also a day to bust out food and drinks we’ve been saving for special occasions, unlike in gaming where we always find ourselves hoarding special items that we end up never using.…

K-Pop Star Unfairly Accused Of Photoshop

Singer and actress Narsha was recently accused of Photoshopping several Instagram photos, because how the telephone pole looked in the background. Below are the photos in question. The telephone on the left is bent, and the implication is that the photo has been edited to change her appearance. Some photo processing tools, such as ones…

One Piece Easter Egg Character Finally Makes Official Appearance 

One Piece has no shortage of characters or Easter eggs. One character, Mr. Minamoto, was first revealed in the late 1990s, but never officially appeared in the manga’s storyline. Until now. Way back in 1998, a One Piece reader asked why a tavern door repaired after mountain bandits broke it down. Eiichiro Oda replied, “That’s…

Nintendo Attending The Tokyo Game Show, But Only For Business Appointments

Every fall, a common question people ask is why Nintendo doesn’t attend the Tokyo Game Show. This year, it apparently will. Sorta. Please don’t get excited. Japanese business research site BCN Retail reports that Nintendo plans to be at this year’s TGS. The show’s official site has confirmed this. The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association puts…

Tsukiji Market. Tokyo, Japan. By Chris Hatcher | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!