Watch Us Blow Up Giant Robots In Battletech

Battletech is a really good tactics game that combines giant mechs with X-COM. I’ve spent many hours building experimental robots and taking dangerous jobs to keep my mercenary corps afloat. Kotaku video producer Paul Tamayo was curious about the game, so I ran him through a mission to learn the basics. This mission is a…

After Yesterday’s Overwatch Update, Being A Hanzo Main Isn’t So Bad

Sometimes, Overwatch force-feeds its playersunwanted changes, like giving its robot turret Bastion an overpowered self-healing arm or breaking porcine tank Roadhog’s hook. On these days, the sky falls. Other days, it’s Overwatch Christmas, complete with a big ol’ sack of crowd-pleasing balance changes. Yesterday was one of those days: Blizzard solved its two-year-old Hanzo problem.…

Why Star Wars Episode 1: Racer Is Still One Of The Best Racing Games Ever

It’s May the 4th, and that means there’s no better time to talk about one of the best racing games ever: Star Wars Episode 1: Racer. Recently re-released for the PC, wannabe podracers and grizzled veterans can return to the tracks once more. Staff writers Heather Alexandra and Ethan Gach look back at what made…

Despite Haters, Fortnite Players Fill Enormous Dusty Divot Crater 

Now that the Fortnite comet has hit, the map is doted with craters. The biggest crater, as we all know, is located at Dusty Divot. You can’t really go to Dusty without entering a fight now. Regardless, one group of fearless Fortnite fans challenged themselves to build over the entire crater, and it turned into…

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Is Delightfully Difficult

It is incredibly fun to die in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, a game that assaults your senses with enough cute animals, wonderful animations, and lovely music to make you forget that it’s beating the hell out of you. Tropical Freeze, which came out for Wii U in 2014 and launches again for Switch today,…

Korean League of Legends Player Retiring After Traumatic Time In Japan

Yesterday, Jeon “Dara” Jeong-hoon announced he was retiring from professional gaming. According to Dara, incidents that happened regarding his foreigner resident card were “truly frightening.” Dara most recently played for SCARZ Burning Core, but before that, he was a member of the Tokyo team Pentagram, which was previously known as Rampage. According to Inven, Japan’s…

Can Someone Please Help This Crow Buy A Train Ticket? 

Why fly places when you have access to excellent Japanese public transportation? While this crow probably wasn’t thinking that, it did look like it needed help buying a ticket. It even took a woman’s charge card. Have at look at the footage Twitter user Kinoshita filmed. The whole thing even made the news! Crows are…

How Nintendo Labo Is Doing In Japan 

Last year, it was seemingly impossible to get a Nintendo Switch in Japan. The console was always selling out. What about Nintendo Labo? Right now, you can easily pick one off the shelf. Well, it’s made of cardboard, so Nintendo can make a whole bunch, right? True, it’s not as complex to make as game…

Otaku Art At Hori Benny’s Studio Osaka, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft | Twitter 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! 

If The Second World War Dragged Into The 1950s…

Michael Kus is a concept artist from Poland who between jobs has been working on a personal project called 1952, which draws a line through Second World War technological development and imagines a conflict that, into its third decade, is being fought with fancy jet aircraft and mechs. You can see more of Michael’s work…

Emotes Mocking Dr Disrespect Disappear From Twitch

Late last year, Twitch’s most popular wig-wearing angry man, Dr Disrespect, went on a hiatus after announcing that he’d been unfaithful to his wife. Inevitably, certain pockets of Twitch turned his indiscretion into a meme. Now, many of the emotes they used to make fun of him have disappeared. Yesterday, people noticed that a series…

Far Cry Plane Nails Difficult Parking Job

Today on Highlight Reel we have Far Cry terror, racing moments, Titanfall 2 shots, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on…

Some Actual Reasons Why The Star Wars Theme Is So Good

Star Wars’ opening theme is about as memorable as it gets, but have you ever wondered why, exactly, that is? There are a few reasons, which Dan Golding (who has written about Star Wars and music before) explains in this short video for the ABC. Turns out you might be missing the old 20th Century…

198X Is Every 80s Game In One

198X, an upcoming game by a Swedish studio and team of international pixel artists, isn’t just set in the 80s. It’s visiting most of the decade’s biggest genres in the one game, from arcade driving to beat-em-ups to JRPGs. The project is up on Kickstarter—I know, I know—but I’m digging the art so much I…

My Hopes And Dreams For Super Smash Bros. On Switch

Lock a crowd of Super Smash Bros. fans in a room and make them agree on what they want in the series’ next game and it’s likely that, when you open the door again, there will be blood. People ask a lot of Nintendo’s 20-year-old fighting game franchise. With the game’s fifth iteration on the…

Hawaii’s Big Island Is Building A Fighting Game Community From The Ground Up

The fighting game community has never been as expansive as it is right now. Just a few years ago, it would have been impossible for players from regions like the Caribbean and the Middle East, for instance, to make a name for themselves on the global stage. Despite the explosion of popularity driven by the…

For Honor‘s Creation Ended With A Behind-The-Scenes Break-Up

The most interesting moment from a new documentary about the making of For Honor comes just over 70 minutes in when the team at Ubisoft Montreal is celebrating the game getting certified on Xbox One and PS4. Speeches have been made and the champagne is flowing freely when the game’s then creative director Jason VandenBerghe…

I Hate How Much I Want A PlayStation 4 Pro

When I first heard about the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, I thought they were the dumbest things. Upgrading a console at the midpoint of a generation was unfathomable to me, and I think developers should design for whatever framerate they want rather than whatever gamers demand. But as more games come out…

Kotaku Reacts To God Of War

Almost everyone at Kotaku is playing God of War, and we cannot stop talking about it. Here’s what we’re saying. Here’s something I need you to know about Jason Schreier. He will sometimes drop messages like this into slack with no provocation or follow up: He offers no details. He sits directly to my left,…