To Maintain High Ranks, Overwatch Players Will Need To Play Way More Often Now

Yesterday’s Overwatch patch will force players with high competitive skill ratings to play at least seven games a week or see their ranking decline. It’s a smart move to combat foul play, and in the comings weeks, top Overwatch players should see fewer “smurf” accounts and more fair skill rankings. In response to the patch,…

Horizon Zero Dawn Has A Small Death Stranding Related Quest

Fun fact: Horizon Zero Dawn uses the Decima Engine, which will also power Hideo Kojima’s future mindfuck,Death Stranding. Horizon gives a little nod to this partnership in-game, and it’s easy to miss given all the robot dinosaurs out and about. Arekkz Gaming walks us through the easter egg in the video below: Basically, there are…

And Now, A Cute Story From The Development Of Final Fantasy XV

One day during the development of Final Fantasy XV, as director Hajime Tabata was leaving for work, his six-year-old daughter came up to him and gave him a hug. “Without letting go,” Tabata said at a panel during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this morning, “she asked me, ‘How much longer will you…

The Genie Level In Aladdin Is Unadulterated Disney Magic

Disney is at its best when it abandons pretense. Every great Disney animated film has that moment when the wheels come a bit loose. A big burst of creative energy threatens to derail the whole production with its absurdity. Aladdin’s go-for-broke moment is “Friend Like Me,” the musical sequence where Genie introduces himself to Aladdin…

An RPG Where You Fight Using Burritos and Dynamite

Hylics is surreal RPG created by Mason Lindroth. Following everyday schlub Wayne on his quest to defeat Gibby, King of the Moon, it is a game that thrives on confusion. Bloody skull will instantly kill you, some of the best armor is literal garbage, and randomized text adds to the confusion. It’s this week’s Indie…

Hackers And Modders Will Keep The Wii U Alive

In many ways, the Wii U was a flop. Passionate modders haven’t given up on the system, however. Instead, many have spent the the last two years breathing new life into the neglected console, hacking new characters, new levels, and new modes into their favorite games. As far as the modding community is concerned, rumors…

Tearaway Unfolded, Disc Jam Headline PlayStation Plus Lineup for March

March’s PlayStation Plus offerings include the lovely-looking Tearaway Unfolded for the PS4 and Severed for the Vita, which we enjoyed. As usual, these games are only free if you have an active PlayStation Plus membership. PS4 Disc Jam Tearaway Unfolded PS3 Under Night: In-Birth Earth Defense Force 2025 PS Vita Lumo (crossbuy on PS4) Severed

Here’s What A Mission In Mass Effect: Andromeda Looks Like

Watching cutscenes and trying to woo our teammates is great, but the real meat of Mass Effect: Andromeda is in the gameplay. What’s that like? Watch a full mission play out and see. IGN has posted a nearly 18 minute video showcasing Pelessaria “Peebee” B’Sayle’s loyalty mission in Mass Effect: Andromeda, giving us a look…

Some YouTubers Are Overjoyed That Maker Studios Is Firing Them

When news hit that Disney subsidiary Maker Studios was dropping support for over 59,000 YouTubers, the mood for many was less “I’m fired” and more “I’m free!” YouTubers interviewed described their struggles against Maker’s detached management, late payments, high fee and undelivered features, painting the picture of an inflated network whose bubble may have popped.…

GTA V Players Are Turning Wind Turbines Into Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Maybe you’ve seen the recent viral tweet where a wind turbine causes chaos on a busy GTA V freeway. It’s pretty good! That said, using wind turbines to wreck havoc in GTA V is a time-honored tradition. Let’s look back on some of the more outstanding creations, shall we? The wind turbine farm in GTA…

Screenshots That Look Like Photos

Rense de Boer is a former DICE artist who is now doing his own thing in the name of “video game graphics that you’d think were photos if we hadn’t told you they were video game graphics”. We’ve featured some of his stuff previously on Kotaku, but he’s recently shared a collection of his 2016…

Fans Are Covering The Songs From Night In The Woods‘ Rhythm Game

Mae, the main character from Night In The Woods, is in a band with her friends, which is represented by a rhythm game. These songs are catchy, but playing them well is pretty hard. Not content to master a rhythm game, however, some players are recording covers of the songs on actual instruments. The crown…

VR Machine Powered By…One Strong Dude 

Most VR machines I’ve seen recently are elaborate and high-tech (here and here, for example). This one, however, is different Via Toychan, the man on the platform is watching a VR rollercoaster simulator, which is made realer thanks to some analog elbow grease. Well, it’s probably more responsive than your typical VR set up. Kotaku…

Cheering Up Twitter, One Cheap Cosplay At A Time

Thought Thailand had the market cornered on amazingly inexpensive and creatively odd cosplay? Nope! Japan has a contender of its own. Meet Takaya In the past few months, his low cost cosplays have started get traction on Twitter, sometimes getting thousands of retweets. Here are some of Takaya’s best costumes—many of which seem to result…

Lucky Japanese Nintendo Fans Accidentally Got The Switch Early

The Nintendo Switch will be released on March 3 worldwide. Today, however, is March 1. Yet, a couple lucky folks in Japan apparently got their consoles delivered two days early. Via Splatoon Nawabari, here is a Switch that was sent out early. As the label says, it was slated to be delivered on March 3,…

First Look At The Final Fantasy XIV Themed TV Show’s Opening Credits 

In Japan, there’s an upcoming TV drama centered around Final Fantasy XIV. Previously, all we’ve seen were stills from the show. Now, we have the show’s intro sequence. Called Final Fantasy XIV: Daddy Of Light, the show follows the bond that develops between a son and a father while playing the popular MMORPG Final Fantasy…

Shinjuku Gyoen. Tokyo, Japan. By Tim Shill. 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!

New Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Trailer Puts Old Game Tech To Good Use

If you’re old enough to have played Mattel’s classic handheld football game, you’ll get a kick out of this reference. The rest of you will have to settle for the other Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 footage in the movie’s latest trailer, like Star-Lord meeting his dad. I still have one of those little…

NBA 2K17 vs Real Basketball

On the right, actual footage from Demar DeRozan’s clutch game-winner the other night against the Knicks. On the left, the same play recreated by Shady00018 in NBA 2K17. This is a good sports video game