The Xbox One X’s Hard Drive Can Fill Up Pretty Fast

Games optimized for the Xbox One X can look better on the new console than they do on older hardware, but adding HDR support, 4K textures and other enhancements takes a bit more space. With three games taking up over a third of my console’s drive, 1TB of storage isn’t gonna cut it. I’ve spent…

What We Liked (And Really Liked) About Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok dropped last Thursday night, and Mike Fahey and Gita Jackson had a chance to see it shortly afterward. We sat down to talk about the movie’s great jokes, Space Jeff Golblum, and where Ragnarok ranks for us amongst the other Marvel movies. Gita Jackson: Hi Fahey! We both got a chance to see…

Super Lucky’s Tale is a delightful take on Nintendo 64-era 3D platformers. The titular fox hero wanders through a mix of free-roaming 3D and 2D platforming levels, searching for coins, letters and other collectibles in a very pretty game with responsive controls. It could use a bit more personality, but otherwise it’s lovely.

Bot Studies Mario Kart Videos, Learns To Play

Ever wonder what it would be like for a bot to learn how to play Super Mario Kart? YouTuber and programmer SethBling’s newest creation MariFlow uses machine learning to create a bot that can zip through Donut Plains 1 just like a human. SethBling’s done some pretty impressive stuff before now. He’s put a working…

Video Games Are Embracing Being Weird

On this week’s Fave This, Gita and guest Heather Alexandra talk about how games can benefit from being campy. Whether it’s Metal Gear Solid’s Vamp or Deadly Premonition’s sinner’s sandwiches, lots of games embrace how weird they are to be more fun. (Get the MP3 here.) With Patricia Hernandez out sick, I’m joined by Kotaku…

The New Call Of Duty Could Learn A Thing From The First Call Of Duty

Call of Duty: WWII wants to tell a harrowing tale of heroes and sacrifice by following the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division throughout the war. The game’s squad-building mechanics are supposed to have impact, but they mostly mean having a dude sometimes toss you a medkit. In Call of Duty: WWII, your squadmates can assist…

Fortnite Player Snipes Opponents From Atop A Flying Pumpkin

Some streamers just discovered that, in Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode, rockets are both dangerous weapons and efficient modes of transportation. A Fortnite Battle Royale player named Zaccubuswas streaming the game, which just got a very cute Fall expansion, and stumbled upon the event’s rocket launcher, which shoots pumpkins. In the clip below, he and his…

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds: The Kotaku Review

Horizon Zero Dawn was a terrific game. Guess what? Its new expansion, The Frozen Wilds, is also good. For more on the many things that made Horizon Zero Dawn a good game, go read my colleague Patricia Hernandez’s review from February. Developed by Killzone studio Guerrilla Games, it was an open-world action game about a…

How Microsoft Almost Published Torchlight, And Other Memories From Runic Games

Last week, publisher Perfect World shut down Runic Games, the Seattle-based developer of Torchlight and Hob. To commemorate, we asked one of the studio’s co-founders to share some thoughts and anecdotes. Runic was founded in 2008 by Travis Baldree, Diablo co-creators Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, Peter Hu, and members of the defunct Flagship Studios,…

Delicious Recreations of Studio Ghibli Food

One of the things that makes Studio Ghibli movies so great is that they’re filled with delicious-looking food. But you can eat animated food! That’s why Instagram user En93 has been making them real.  Not only does she recreate the food, but she also does her best to make the dishes and the tableware. Her…

This Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Character’s Voice Is Complete WTF 

Musubi is a rare Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. She looks like an angel, but certainly doesn’t sound like one. Her voice is a total mismatch.  Have a listen for yourself. Redditor WildToeFu put it best: “I was expecting some angelic lady voice, but then I was hit with a little sister voice.” Kotaku East…

A New Version Of The Classic Pokémon Theme Song

When the English-language version of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! opens, the movie will get a new version of the iconic theme. The “Pokémon Theme” debuted in 1999 and is also known as “Gotta Catch ‘Em All.” Here is how the theme will sound when Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! comes out in…

In Japan, Call of Duty: WWII Ads Are Being Called “Dorky”

Call of Duty: WWII’s Japanese poster campaign sure looks different. Instead of battle hardened troops, it features young folks in dark clothing, holding controllers and saying things like “I’ll do anything for my team.” The posters look like they’re promoting anything but a WWII game. In English, the Japanese ad campaign’s slogan translates to “You…

There’s A Cosplay Show Held At The Beach

Oni-Con isn’t the biggest cosplay show on the calendar, but it’s one of the nicest, with the event taking place right across from the beach in Galveston, Texas. Below you’ll find a collection of images taken from the show, as well as a video, both courtesy of Mineralblu

BlizzCon’s Posters Were Great

Will Murai is an artist at Blizzard, who this year got to do the range of posters the company used to promote its annual fan party, BlizzCon. There’s one for each of the studio’s big games, and then one for the show itself that kinda smashes them all together. You can see more of Will’s…

The Week In Games: Gotta Drive Fast

The speed demons are back. If you’ve got a penchant for traffic violations and attitudes, you’re in luck cause both Need for Speed Payback and Sonic Forces are about to be unleashed. I for one think it’s about time we barreled through the rest of 2017 as quickly as possible. Elsewhere it’s a sea of…