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! 

Fallout cosplay by cosplay_scp048, photo by booker_stx

Bumbling Canadian Robbery Video Is Even Better With Metal Gear Solid Sounds

That botched Canadian convenience store robbery was funny enough on its own, but set to Metal Gear music and sound effects—thank you, Omar Villegas—it’s a work of art.

Cool Robots

Kejun Wang is a concept artist at Respawn, developers of the Titanfall series. You can see more of Wang’s art at his personal site and 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 and…

Madden’s 99-Rated Players Got Some Sweet Cleats

There will be seven players rated 99 overall in this year’s Madden. Good for them, but especially for the three that were sent these fancy cleats by Nike to commemorate the occasion. Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski and Luke Kuechly were all given these gold & white cleats, each emblazoned with a silhouette of the player…

Guillermo del Toro Gets His Own Action Figure

Oscar-winning filmmaker and best friend of Hideo Kojima Guillermo del Toro has had a lot of action figures made for characters in his movies, but he’s now getting one of his very own. Via Toy Ark, NECA is releasing this figure as a San Diego Comic Con special, standing at around 8″ tall and featuring…