Podcast: A Rain Of Games From Japan

This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, Jason’s out so I’m joined by our own Luke Plunkett to talk Nintendo Switch, Yakuza 0, and the hard rain of big new games coming out of Japan. It’s wild that in the space of a few months, we’ve gotten Final Fantasy XV, The Last Guardian, Gravity Rush 2, Resident Evil…

Meet Some of Your Mass Effect: Andromeda Teammates

Two Mass Effect: Andromeda trailers dropped today, revealing new teammates, aliens, backstory and—gasp—a kissing scene. The game will be released on March 21st. Andromeda follows the Pathfinder Team, whose job is to “find and secure potential golden worlds, identify settlement sites and start the process of building our new home” for 20,000 people marooned in…

Obsidian Announces Pillars Of Eternity II

The original Pillars Of Eternity was an excellent revival of classic-style PC RPGs (think Baldur’s Gate, but shinier). It also made gobs of cash on Kickstarter. Now Obsidian’s making a sequel, and they’re tapping the ol’ crowdfunding well one more time. Instead of going back to Kickstarter, Obsidian’s crowdfunding Pillars Of Eternity II on Fig,…

A Playlist Of Songs That Overwatch’s Reaper Would Die For

At Overwatch fan site Kotaku, we have a whole Slack room dedicated to the eponymous first-person shooter/dating sim. In it, we post memes and strategy tips and argue over who to ship Lucio with. One day in Kotaku_Overwatch Slack, Gizmodo writer Bryan Menegus asked whether Reaper would be into the metal band Slipknot. Somebody, and…

Thousands of People Get Banned From Pokémon Sun and Moon For Cheating

Cheating is rampant inPokémon thanks to tools which allow players to create fake monsters with impossible stats from scratch. Well, it looks like some of the people messing around with their save files have gotten the hammer from The Pokémon Company. According to leading Pokémon news site Serebii, 5,954 people have been banned from going online…

Square Enix Is Making The Avengers And More Marvel Games

Marvel’s move back into console gaming takes a huge step today, as the comic book company announces a multi-year, multi-game partnership with Square Enix, beginning with The Avengers Project Developed by Crystal Dynamics in collaboration with Eidos Montreal, The Avengers Project is the working title for the first game to come from the newly-announced partnership.…

Japanese Vigilante Group Picks Shitty Acronym 

Surely, there were better options available than “SHAT.” You know, “shat” as in the past tense “to shit.” According to Asahi News and NetGeek, Japanese government employees in the city of Odawara donned these rogue jackets to protest alleged welfare cheaters. The acronym “SHAT” stands for “Seikatsu Hogo Akubometsu Team” (生活保護悪撲滅チーム) or the “Livelihood Protection Evil…

Today In Japan, Hundreds Of People Lined Up For….PlayStation VR

Wait, what? Isn’t PSVR already out in Japan? You bet it is. And yet, this morning, there were long lines at retailers across the country. The reason being that a new shipment of PSVR headsets hit Japanese shops today. Demand was so high at some locations that people had to line up for a chance…

Trademark Squatter Goes After “PPAP” In Japan

Last fall, “PPAP” singer Pikotaro claimed hehadn’t made any money off his viral sensation. A trademark squatter in Japan certainly isn’t helping things. According to Japanese legal site Bengoshi.com, 53-year-old Ikuhiro Ueda has submitted multiple trademark applications for “PPAP” as well as “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” in both English and Japanese. Pikotaro’s record label, Bengoshi.com…

Rainbow Bridge At Night. Tokyo, Japan. By Victor Cuesta. 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! 

RIP Xbox One Snap Mode

Snap Mode, that gimmick on the Xbox One that let you “snap” something else onto the side of your screen while you were watching a movie or playing a game, is no more. Microsoft is ditching the feature to make the console’s dash run faster. The Xbox One’s dash has always been a tad sluggish…

Look At This Damn Star Wars Cosplay

We see a lot of Star Wars cosplay around these parts. Rarely do we see it done with such artistry and attention to detail. This is JediMandawith her 1:1 Queen Amidala outfit that looks like something a team of professionals would have spent thousands on, and gone and made for the actual movie. Instead, it’s a…

Resident Evil 7’s Secret Sneaker Fetish

If an artist is going to model a single shoe to fill a game’s drawers and dark corners with, they may as well make it a good one. lordtrapula opened up a drawer in Resident Evil 7 and found it full of musty shoes. They’re not some random design, though, or jumbled collection of leather…