- Uncategorized
Now’s A Good Time To Clean Up Your PS4’s Hard Drive
We’re weeks into spring and finally free of the cold, damp reach of late winter. It’s time to clean out your closets, mow your lawn or at least get your PS4 running faster by rebuilding the system’s database. I did, and it made my console run faster. I tend to close a browser tab the…
By Ethan Gach Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
So Is It Okay To Kill A Westworld Robot, Or What?
The HBO show Westworld is largely focused on a single question: what does it mean for people to kill and abuse robots that look, act, and possibly even feel like humans? Westworld challenges viewers by showing “robots” who are played by flesh-and-blood actors. It tells us they’re not real, but of course, we all know…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
Fortnite‘s New Hop Rocks Are Making The Game Wild
Not a sticky-sweet candy or an obscure club drug, Fortnite’s new hop rocks are popping off in the survival shooter’s gameplay. The hop rocks, which developer Epic Games introduced yesterday, are a consumable item players can find in Fortnite’s new Dusty Divet crater. After using them, players jump through the map with low-gravity physics that…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
Struggle Just To Act Like A Normal Human In This Physics-Based Dating Game
I love going on dates. What’s not to like about nice food, a good movie, and someone cute to get to know? Check Please casts my assessment of dates into doubt. Billed as a “physics based dating sim,” the game is as painfully awkward and hilarious as your worst date ever. In this game you’re…
By Gita Jackson Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
FTC Warns Nintendo, Microsoft, And Sony To Review Warranty Terms
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gave Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony a 30-day window in to change their console warranty language to let consumers know they can make repairs or use third-party replacement products without voiding them. The FTC said in a press release on April 10 that various companies, including some in the video game…
By Ethan Gach Published May 2, 2018 - Esports
Bayonetta Dance-Off Backfires During Crucial Super Smash Bros. Match
Bayonetta might be too strong to live forever as a Super Smash Bros. character, but she’s been a fantastic addition to the cast for at least one reason: players have a ton of fun with her, sometimes even at their own expense. At last weekend’s Glitch 4 tournament, notable Bayonetta players Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth and…
By Ian Walker Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
My Battletech Pilot Died From A Heartbreaking Stray Shot
Battletech’s giant robot brawls can last a long time before one side claims victory. The recently released tactics game embraces a slow, deliberate pace that can lull the player into false comfort. Thanks to an unlikely dice roll, a single critical attack this weekend became one of the most shocking moments I’ve ever had while…
By Heather Alexandra Published May 2, 2018 - CultureKotaku Game Diary
Dating Sim Monster Prom Rewards Some Pretty Ghoulish Behavior
In most dating sims, it’s obvious how to romance your crush. You just talk to them over and over, selecting the nicest dialogue responses until your persistence is rewarded. Monster Prom flips that script by introducing both character stats and a competitive multiplayer component. In Monster Prom, you’re a monster attending a monster school who…
By Maddy Myers Published May 2, 2018 -
UncategorizedFar Cry 5‘s Faith Seed Embodies An Evangelical Double Standard
I hated fighting Faith Seed, the highest-ranking woman in Far Cry 5’s fictional cult. She was confusing, annoying, and—like all the game’s enemies—wanted to kill me. I was supposed to hate her, but I didn’t relish winning our final battle. Faith embodies the ugliness of the game’s cult, The Project at Eden’s Gate, but, more…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
Activision’s CEO Made $28.6 Million Last Year, 306 Times The Median Activision Employee
Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s compensation for 2017 was $28,698,375, according to filings the video game publisher submitted earlier this week to the U.S. Security and Exchanges Commission. Don’t be too jealous, though—that’s actually a pay cut. But it’s still over 300 times what the median Activision employee made. Kotick, who has long been one of…
By Jason Schreier Published May 2, 2018 -
UncategorizedHere’s Our Best Look Yet At Red Dead Redemption 2
Here’s the new trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2, a video game about cowboys that I think a couple of people might be anticipating. It’s our best look yet at the upcoming Rockstar western. Among other things, the trailer reveals that the next Red Dead Redemption is set in 1899 and that Dutch Van der…
By Jason Schreier Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
Nintendo’s new president Shuntaro Furukawa certainly wants the Switch to succeed, but according to Nikkei, he is aiming at a smartphone game to generate over $900 million in sales. “In what I can see now,” he said, “the thing I want to make the big are smartphone games.” Update May 2 – 9:00pm: An earlier…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
A Nintendo Labo Powered Wheelchair
Now that Nintendo Labo is out, people are doing cool things with it. Using the motorcycle Joy-Con to control a wheelchair has to be among the coolest of them. This was created by Japanese researcher and inventor Kentaro Yoshifuji. Since Yoshifuji was in high school, he has developed new technology for electric wheelchairs, and this…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2018 - Uncategorized
Before Space Invaders, Taito Made Vodka
Nintendo got its start making playing cards. Sega began making amusement machines for the U.S. military. And Taito? It was the first company to distil vodka in Japan. As pointed out in Chris Kohler’s book Power-Up and by game localizer Matt Alt on Twitter, Taito got its start in vodka thanks to its founder, the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2018 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Catallena
Oh, Orange Caramel, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You’re a sub-unit of After School, the best girl group of all time; You are wonderfully quirky and always manage to subvert my expectations with every new release; Everything you do is ridiculously catchy, from the one I decided to feature here…
By Seung Park Published May 2, 2018 - CultureCosplay
Post-Apocalyptic Cosplay Looks Like It Survived The End Of The World
Dimitri Zaitsev, from Nuclear Snail, built this piece of post-apocalyptic cosplay that’s so detailed it looks like it travelled back in time to warn us to save the bees while we still could. We’ve featured Nuclear Snail’s work before; rather than directly replicate costumes from stuff like Fallout, Mad Max and STALKER, he comes up…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2018 -
CultureStole Your Heart
Justin Chan is an artist who has worked for companies like Hasbro, Vlambeer and Nick Jr. You can see more of Justin’s art at his ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2018 - Uncategorized
Korean Overwatch Hackers Arrested, Hit With $10,000 Fine
South Korea’s new law that takes aim at those who hack online games in order to cheat at them, which went into effect last June, has hackers in hot water. Earlier this year, 13 Overwatch offenders were arrested, and now two have received their sentences. According to a post from Blizzard Korea—which worked with the…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 1, 2018