Street Fighter II Sure Looks Inspired By This 1975 Charles Bronson Movie

Here’s something I’d never noticed before: two of the most memorable stages from Street Fighter II are likely a tribute to Hard Times, a 1975 Charles Bronson movie about…street fighting. There are multiple fights in the movie, but as Guerilla’s Dennis Zopfi pointed out in the tweet below, two in particular influenced the design of…

Shadow Of Mordor Cosplay Is A Twofer

This is not photoshop, this is Jechtssplitting himself in two for some A++ Shadow of Mordor cosplay. The results are even more impressive when you see the rest of him. Photos by Britany Quin

Suspected Drug Dealers Arrested Hiding Cocaine, LSD Inside Fake Nintendo Cartridges

Four people were arrested in The Netherlands last week after a police raid on a premises that had been using 3D printers to create fake Nintendo cartridges, inside which were hidden a variety of drugs like LSD, cocaine and MDMA. As De Telegraaf report, Dutch police raided a dark web drug dealing setup last year…

Some absolutely jaw-dropping Zelda cosplay here from Hannah Éva

Anastasia Is The Duchess Of Cosplay

Taking inspiration from actual royal photo shoots, these Anastasia shots by Alexandra Lee are a sight to behold. The incredible cosplay—check out the detail on that dress—is by JediManda You can see more of Alexandra’s photography at her Patreon page

Dragon Ball FighterZ Titans Collide Again In Extraordinary Finals

It was only fitting that Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Goichi “Go1″ Kishida meet again in this weekend’s Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament. Avoiding each other all the way until the grand finals, it was the anime legend Goichi who managed to edge out the young prodigy and cement his status at the top of the FighterZ…

Historians Discuss The Real-World Inspirations For The New Colossus

2017’s Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is a game that trades on the grand spectacle of alternate history. Like Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle or Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Years of Rice and Salt, it asks us to consider a bombastic “what if” that is, nonetheless, grounded in some kind of…

Pokkén Player Invades Broadcast, Cuts Fire Promo, Loses Every Match

During pool play at Final Round 2018 yesterday, one Pokkén Tournament player took the opportunity to take the mic and deliver some choice words for his next opponent. Whether a work or a genuine mic-grab, Franke “2PlayRough” Sisto delivers a WWE-caliber promo about determination and proving his mother wrong. “I’m put up against an opponent…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: A New Challenger Appears

Geralt is coming to Soulcalibur VI, and that means that anything is possible. What other characters could be coming to the beloved franchises of your dreams? Fighting game crossovers are nothing new. I fondly remember fighting through Soulcalibur II on my original Xbox as the beloved Todd McFarlane creation known as Spawn, and I’ve even…

Watch Us Play Video Games All Day

Today from 10am to 6pm Pacific (1pm-9pm Eastern), Kirk and I will be streaming video games. We’ll be speedrunning Super Mario World, killing bosses in Mega Man X, and trying to figure out if Red Dead Redemption is a good enough real-life version of Westworld You can watch it all on our Twitch channel right…

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is headed to PS4 on August 28, 2018 for $49.99. A recreation of 2008’s Yakuza 2, it will also feature new minigames and an additional campaign in which you play as Majima. Check out the trailer

The Texas Overwatch League Teams Are Having A Rough Go Of Stage 2

The Dallas Fuel and Houston Outlaws both had matches to play last night. Both teams needed a win, and neither found one. It was a tough evening for Texas fans that highlighted both teams’ ongoing issues in the second stage of the Overwatch League. The Houston Outlaws had an incredible showing in stage one, surging…

It’s Finally Time For Telltale To Shake Up Its Formula

Today in Austin, Texas, we put on a live episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to talk about Telltale’s formula and much more. Joining me and Kirk on stage was Kotaku freelancer and The Guardian games editor Keza MacDonald as well as Telltale’s vice president of creative, Leah Hoyer. We talked about storytelling in video games, games…

Sunday Comics: Betrayer Toad

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published March 12. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published March 15. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

A Malaysian City Recreated In Cities: Skylines

I love a good Cities: Skylines build, and this cinematic flythrough of a recreation of the Federal Territory of Putrajaya in Malaysia is something special to see. There’s real care taken by the creator, Gilbert Plays, to make something that models the feeling of an actual city. While I’m no expert on Putrajaya (and so…

Finally, A Tool For Figuring Out How To Jump In Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons has some complex rules, and a studious fan has created a tool to help you figure out exactly how jumping works. There are a few things in 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons that are tough for a Dungeon Master to handle. Last night, for example, I had to figure out the a…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Amiibo Gold Rush, Winners!

The triumphant return of the ‘Shop Contest brought many entries, but the capricious soul of victory chooses the best of the best! Thanks to everyone who spent the last week making images of amiibos. I don’t own any of those fun little toys, but I would be more likely to buy them if they were…

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Jason Schreier and I (Kirk) are going to spend the day streaming video games from my place in Portland. Schedule is above; tune in to the Kotaku Twitch channel to watch.

Two Dragon Ball FighterZ Pros Finally Settle The Score

After a few public call-outs, two fighters finally clashed last night in Atlanta, Georgia. Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Goichi “Go1″ Kishida met in the ring at Final Round 2018 for a first-to-10 wins exhibition. The result was electric. McLean has been dominant in the western Dragon Ball FighterZ, and after a win at Winter Brawl…