Splatoon Player Becomes A Ninja Squid

In last night’s Splatoon 2 exhibition match between Eclipse and Saikai on InkTV, one squid decided to hide and wait in ink, until the perfect moment came to spring their trap. Saikai was pushing up on Eclipse’s turf with the Rainmaker when, as their teammates fell, Eclipse player “10sion” dove into the safety of their…

This Week In The Business: Censorship 

QUOTE | “If a game like You Must be 18 or Older to Enter is considered porn by a platform, then players lose a non-violent alternative to horror. If anyone trying to expand the palate of experiences is being treated poorly on account of untempered yet taught player behavior, that developer is liable to leave…

Some Of The Best Anime References In Hip Hop

As I listened to pop singer Charli XCX’s latest mixtape, I perked up at rapper Mykki Blanco’s verse on “Fembot,” a song about being a horny robot. Blanco opened by describing herself as a “ghost in the shell and a beast in the sheets,” and goes on to reference going super saiyan in a feature…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for going to a work holiday party with a mysterious theme and a dress code you can’t meet because all the clothes you own are either black or grey, which are not the approved colors. Also, video games. There’s a closed beta for The Darwin Project this weekend (check out Kotaku’s video…

Splatoon 2’s Lobby Ain’t What It Used To Be

Splatoon 2’s hub world of Inkopolis is a place to relax, try out new gear, and share awesome art. When the game launched in July, it was a metropolis brimming with positive illustrations. Five months later, it looks like a shitpost disaster town. The quality of art in Splatoon 2 has long been dependent on…

GTA Online’s New Heists Are Killer, If You Can Afford Them

GTA Online has become more outlandish over the years, and the newest Doomsday Heist only adds to the absurdity. Through this free update, you get to fly jet packs, drive submersible cars, and kill kill clone armies. It’s exciting enough that I’ve noticed a lot of players booting up the game again after being away…

Cat Dating Sim Purrfect Date Is Not What I Expected

Purrfect Date is a cat dating sim, but it’s not like that. There’s a little romance, sure, but there’s also drama, mystery and a fair bit of humor, twisted together in a cleverly-unfolding tail. Tale. Sorry. That one might expect Purrfect Date to be a game about having sex with cats is understandable given the…

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Has A Really Cool Take On The Force

Last night, a bunch of us went and saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Today, three of us sat down and talked about it. On this bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, I’m joined by my co-host Jason Schreier as well as our colleague Heather Alexandra to talk about the highs and lows of writer/director Rian…

The State Of Anime In 2017

In 2017, anime is being stretched in all directions. With a glut of new live-action anime adaptations, it’s being stretched into reality. With the airing of Naruto’s 720th (and final) episode, it’s stretching into the future. With behemoth streaming channels nabbing up licensing deals, it’s stretching into the mainstream. And by moving into the mainstream…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Is Approaching Women Fundamentally Unethical?

Hello all you exploding bed cobras, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column ready to give you the love advice you need while you’re in line for The Last Jedi Last week we talked about approaching women without being a jerk. This week, we’re going to dive a bit deeper. Is…

New Ocarina of Time Glitch Lets Players Roll Through Fire and Water Temple

Throughout Link’s adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time he must find new tunics in order to survive the extreme heat and cold. These items have been considered essential for completing dungeons, but speedrunners have found a risky way to never use them thanks to a new glitch. In order to survive the…

Steam Purged Of Pepe Emoticons After Creator Files Copyright Claim

If, for some godforsaken reason, you’ve been trying to collect every achievement and emoticon featuring Pepe The Awful Meme Frog on Steam, I’ve got some bad news for you: many of them are gone. Yesterday, Steam users began to notice something odd. According to a thread on the Steam subreddit, Pepe emoticons began disappearing from…

Sorry, I Don’t Like Okami

I don’t like Okami. It’s taken me 11 years to admit that. I captured the confession in this video, which I present for your watching. Okami is one of the most breathtaking visual experiences yet committed to video game graphics, and a new version, Okami HD was just released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and…

It’s The Little Things That Make Final Fantasy XIV‘s 4.2 Update Great

New story quests, side missions, dungeons and raids are always nice, but the coolest changes coming in January’s “Rise of a New Sun” update to Final Fantasy XIV involve more inventory space, new ways to store special outfits and new ways for Bards to rock out. As excited as I am for fresh content coming…

Inside, the mysterious puzzle-filled side-scroller that we’ve raved about a lot, is now out for iOS. You can play the first part for free and pay $7 for the rest.

Rockstar has officially announced a new GTA Online mission that will unlock a gun inRed Dead Redemption 2, as we reported yesterday.

Overwatch‘s Zarya Got Me To Start Lifting Weights

Overwatch features characters with body types and backgrounds that are not often seen in pop culture, let alone first person shooters. For many of us who rarely see ourselves reflected in media, this cast can seem radical and even life-changing—especially in my case. Zarya, Overwatch’s Russian strong-woman tank, inspired me to start weightlifting. This piece…