ESRB Says It Doesn’t See ‘Loot Boxes’ As Gambling

Over the past few weeks, as randomized loot boxes have dominated the conversation surrounding this fall’s video games, there have been calls for the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to classify them as gambling in its back-of-the-box ratings. But the ESRB says that’s not going to happen—because according to a spokesperson, loot boxes don’t fit…

Doki Doki Literature Club Scared Me Shitless

Doki Doki Literature Club is a free visual novel that presents itself as a totally normal game, where you’ll meet some cute girls at an after school club. There’s more than meets the eye to this one, though. When I saw a few weeks ago that Doki Doki Literature Club was one of the most…

A Closer Look At The Dust 2 Revamp For Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Dust 2 is one of the most famous Counter-Strike maps of all time, and it’s coming back to the newest version of that game. Valve revealed a reworked version of the iconic bomb defusal map, and it’s looking pretty great. Earlier this year, Dust 2 was removed from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s competitive playlist. The popular…

I Wasn’t Expecting To Love Stardew Valley

I was trimming the weeds on my overgrown Stardew Valley farm when I heard a mumbled “Canal Street” over the subway intercom. Shit, I thought, looking up from my seat on the J train. I should have gotten off two stops ago I collected my belongings and dashed out of the closing doors and onto…

Nintendo Just Registered A New Game Boy Trademark In Japan [Update]

Let’s review. Nintendo released a Classic Mini NES. It released a Classic Mini SNES. And now, a new Japanese trademark for for the Game Boy has been filed in Japan. Hrm… Update October 12-6:50am: An earlier version of this story stated that the filed trademark read “Classic Mini Game Boy.” That was incorrect. Ninten-Switch.com reports…

Studio Ghibli’s Sequel To My Neighbor Totoro

Did you know this? Maybe you did! It’s called Mei And the Kittenbus. The nearly 14-minute film has never received an official theatrical or home release. Note: This article contains images that might be considered spoilers. As Otaku News points out, images from the sequel recently were posted on Twitter, getting retweeted over 67,000 times. …

The Umbrella Blew Away. Easter Island. By Alexander Hoffman. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!   

Valve’s Orange Box Is 10 Years Old

On October 10 2007, Valve didn’t just release a video game, they released three. All came in the one package, and it was called The Orange Box Included was a copy of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, a copy of Team Fortress 2 and a copy of Portal. Oh, and copies of Half-Life 2 and HL2:…

Civilization VI Is Getting Around To Fixing Some Of Its Bigger Problems

It’s been almost a year since Civ VI was released, and in that time Firaxis has been trying to address some of the issues fans have had with the enormous and otherwise excellent game. The upcoming Fall Updatecontinues this process. Coming later in…the Fall, it’s going to flesh out religion by adding some new beliefs…

1994 Nintendo Documentary Gives Us A Look At Miyamoto’s Desk

In 1994, Jean-Jacques Beineix made a documentary called Otaku. It features a nine-minute tour of Nintendo’s offices, and it is wonderful to watch. The original recording is in French (and has circulated online for a while), but ComputerTales recently uploaded a version featuring machine translation into English, which while jarring still at least lets you…

Another Final Fantasy XIV Player Housing Nightmare [Update]

Today’s 4.1 update to Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood introduced new player housing in the scenic, Far Eastern-themed district of Shirogane. Servers went online at 6AM, putting 720 new housing plots on the market. The choicest locations were gone before many players could even clear the login queue. In order to acquire one of the new…

Video Game Error Tricks Bolivia Into Claiming French Football Player

Ruben Aguilar is a young French footballer who plays for Montpellier in Ligue 1. He is French, but an error in the Football Manager series of video games has given cruel, false hope to a South American nation starved of international talent. As discussed in this inteview with Goal (in French), there’s a mistake in…

Overwatch’s Most Popular Player Talks Overwatch League (And Bastion)

Brandon “Seagull” Larned has had quite a year, going from esports player to full-time streamer and back again, all while continuing to grow a fandom of millions who love him for his easygoing demeanor and gravity-defying Pharah and Genji plays. Over the weekend, his new team, EnvyUs, swept the finals of the $100,000 Overwatch Contenders…

Rude Pass Forza Guy

Today on Highlight Reel we have close finishes, aquatic landings, FIFA invisibility cloaks and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on all…

Cosplayer Transforms Into Wonder Woman

Alyson Tabbitha, a regular around here for her astounding make-up and costume work, returns with this temporary diversion where she ceases to be a human cosplayer and becomes an Amazonian ass-kicker. Note that as amazing as this outfit is, it’s not yet done: the shot began as a simple test, because she still hadn’t done…

NIS America Is Redoing Ys VIII’s Shoddy Localization

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a great action role-playing game marred by a shoddy localization. Following fan outcry over grammatical errors, inconsistencies and typos, NIS America announced today it’s doing the whole thing over again. In a letter addressed to “All Customers of Ys VIII,” NIS America president and CEO Takuro Yamashita acknowledged that…