Nintendo Devs Reminisce About Making The Leap To The SNES

The SNES is old. As much as I love the first Mario Kart, going back and loading up the Mode 7 graphics of Bowser Castle 1 feels quaint. A series of interviews with Nintendo developers from that era though serves as a good reminder of just how advanced the technology was at the time. In…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Autumn Game Harvest, Winners!

Everything’s falling, from the leaves to the President’s approval ratings, and even Assassins! If you live in the Northeast, autumn hit hard this week. Monday it was shorts and a t-shirt in the most humid 80s I can remember for the end of summer. By Friday I was closing windows and raking leaves after temps…

The Norwood Suite Is A Very Different Kind Of Music Game

Don’t expect high scores or top 40 hits in this jazz-fueled adventure. Music games tend to be fast-paced and twitch driven. Songs or techno rythms play in the background while your fingers or feet punch in buttons in intricate patterns dictated by what scrolls past on the TV screen. That’s the premise of games like…

Speedrunner Speculates About The Best Possible Super Mario Bros. 3 Time Humans Can Achieve 

Kirua recently broke the world record for glitching through to the end of the game and now believes the best possible time is only a few seconds away. Two years ago, the speedrunner set a personal best time for completing the game at just under four minutes. Earlier this week, he came in at 3:05.633.…

We’re going live with some giant robot action in Gundam Versus right now on Twitch. Fly, Gundam!

The Weekend In Esports: Smash Bros. Lights Up The Utah Jazz’s Arena 

Pro Smash Bros. gets some big prize pools and an even bigger venue with the GameTyrant Expo 2017. This weekend League takes a break ahead of the Worlds 2017 group stage. While things are mostly quiet across Dota, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike as well, big tournaments in Smash Bros. and Street Fighter are here to fill…

Splatoon Toilet Paper Joke Becomes Splatfest Reality

Next weekend, European Splatoon 2 players will have the chance to weigh in on how toilet paper should be loaded. Front roll or back roll? It’s a question that could only be asked by someone who’s never wiped their ass before. The event runs from 4:00PM CEST on October 7 to the same time on…

This Week In The Business: Parley About Piracy

QUOTE | “In general, the results do not show robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online copyright infringements. That does not necessarily mean that piracy has no effect but only that the statistical analysis does not prove with sufficient reliability that there is an effect.” – A European Commission report finds no proof…

The Original Fallout Is Free On Steam

If you didn’t take your first trip to The Wasteland until Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas and want to see where it all began, now’s your chance. For the next slightly-more-than 24 hours, the original Fallout is free to download and keep forever on Steam. It’s pretty hard and kinda wonky and very weird,…

Ripped Carts Of Star Fox 2 Are Already For Sale On Ebay

Nintendo’s absurdly anticipated SNES Classic console launched today, but somebody’s already ripped Star Fox 2 to a handful of original SNES cartridges, listed them on places like eBay and Etsy, and sold them. Star Fox 2 was completed decades ago, but not officially released until today. The seller of this homemade regular SNES version, lvretrogames,…

You Know What They Should Have Done With Mario Bros.?

Did you know that my uncle Billy Rogers used to review arcade games on a public access show that I hope and pray no one watching this video actually believes I want you to think was real? Well, he did! (Seriously, he didn’t.) He had a lot of neat ideas for how Nintendo could have…

Tips For Playing Divinity: Original Sin 2

Where some RPGs are a little bit fiddly, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is downright daunting. It’s got systems inside of systems inside of paradox barrels, and it gleefully throws you into the deep end with a minimal amount of explanation. If ever a game begged for tips, it’s this one. We’ve got you covered. These…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for picking up that clean laundry on the floor because you can’t step over it forever, or at least that’s what your mom would say. Also, video games. Last night, after a shamefully long time away, I hopped back into The Witcher 3. I have forgotten all the buttons. When I left…

Revisiting Radiata Stories, My Favorite Video Game As A Kid

When I was about ten years old, my brother Mike introduced me to my favorite game, a JRPG for the PS2 called Radiata Stories. It was a fantasy love story about a young man, Jack Russell (yes, you read that right) whose dreams of becoming a knight are shattered after his teammate, Ridley, is nearly…

Destiny 2‘s Struggle To Please Both Casual And Hardcore Players

I’m playing a lot less Destiny 2 than I was a week ago. I sense I’m not alone in that. That’s because despite—and occasionally because of—all the ways Destiny 2 has improved upon its predecessor, the game is struggling to balance between people who wish they could play it forever and those who worry they…