- Esports
Counter-Strike Pros Refuse To Play After Former Cheater Joins Team
Back in 2014, Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian was cut from a major CSGO team called Titan after he got VAC banned for using a cheat program out of competition. The team collapsed not long after. At the time, he remorsefully declared his career “over.” Now he’s back, and people aren’t happy about that. Recently, an organization…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 1, 2017 - Uncategorized
There Sure Are A Lotta Soda Machines In Video Games
Reader Jess should know, he’s been cataloguing them and putting them all on a website This story was originally published in August 2016. The Video Game Soda Machine Project is his attempt to archive the appearance of the trusty beverage vending machine in our digital entertainment. From Monkey Island to Batman, he’s now catalogued 1000…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2017 - Uncategorized
Metroid Fans, You Should Read This Comic
I was in a “catch up on a bunch of comics I’ve missed” mood over the weekend, so I set aside time for some reading. One of the books I picked up, Corey Lewis’ Sun Bakery, had a very nice surprise inside. I’d grabbed it because it promised a Shonen Jump-style run of highlighting a…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2017 -
EsportsKiev Major Concludes With Weird Montage Of Women; Production Company Later Deletes Video
Last weekend’s Kiev Major crowned OG as a four-time Majors winner and celebrated the CIS region’s Dota 2 history. After the closing ceremony, however, the last thing viewers saw was an unexplained montage of women simply watching the matches. Since then, that footage has been critiqued by some of the community for making women feel like…
By Eric Van Allen Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedNotorious Elite: Dangerous Troll Ruins Historic In-Game Event
Over the weekend, Elite: Dangerous’ years-long Formidine Rift mystery transformed from a pseudo-ARG into a full-blown event. A character named Salomé, carrying precious info, was set to traverse a treacherous route. Players could protect her ship or try to blow it up. A notorious troll decided to do both. As outlined by Ars Technica, a…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 1, 2017 -
CultureBattlefield 1 Player Just Trying To Reload
Today on Highlight Reel we have nutsmiths, Battlefield 1 reloads, Titanfall Spiderman, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 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! Dishonored…
By Chris Person Published May 1, 2017 - Uncategorized
Thimbleweed Park‘s Plot Hole Problem
Thimbleweed Park, a great new adventure game by some of the key talent behind Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, sets up several mysteries that are never quite resolved. Does that matter? Director Ron Gilbert argues not. WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIMBLEWEED PARK Thimbleweed Park starts off with a dead man in a river,…
By Jason Schreier Published May 1, 2017 -
EsportsStreet Fighter V‘s ‘Alpha Of Teabagging’ Still Winning, But More Politely
Victor “Punk” Woodley, the self-proclaimed “alpha of teabagging,” climbed ever higher up the world rankings in Street Fighter V by placing first last night at Dreamhack Austin. But despite his wins, Punk’s “alpha” side was nowhere to be seen in his final matches. Punk is known for taunting opponents, both in matches and during post-game…
By Maddy Myers Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedMusic Makes Mario Kart 8‘s Best Level Even Better
The first time I played Mount Wario, I thought, “Holy shit, that was a really good Mario Kart track.” In the weeks since then, my estimation of the track has only increased. It’s a doozy of a run, a rare single-lap race that doesn’t repeat, but instead is a straight shot through a lengthy and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2017 - Uncategorized
A Bug Has Been Killing Lego Worlds Save Files For Nearly Two Months
While neither console version of Lego Worlds has been performing particularly well since the game’s launch, Xbox One players have been dealing with a particularly nasty bug that’s been irreparably damaging save files since mid-March. Lego Worlds is basically Minecraft with Lego bricks. Players explore randomly generated worlds, scanning in Lego buildings, objects and characters…
By Mike Fahey Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedSailaway Lets You Explore The World’s Oceans In Real Time, Which Is More Fun Than It Sounds
As I’ve said on this site before, I used to live on a boat, but it wasn’t a sailboat. Playing Sailaway, a sailing simulator that came out on Steam early access last week, I’m learning what it could have been like if we’d had sails: bigger waves, the same absurd amount of ropes, and a…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedToys-to-Life RPG Lightseekers Is Pretty Good Without The Toys
Games that interact with toys generally release around the same time as their plastic counterparts. Lightseekers figures aren’t out until July 1, but you can play the mobile and card games today. Or I can, and you can watch. Either way. Lightseekers is an ambitious toys-to-life (they call it “connected play”) project from a company…
By Mike Fahey Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedTherapists Are Using Dungeons & Dragons To Get Kids To Open Up
Adam Davis, co-founder of the Dungeons & Dragons therapy group Wheelhouse Workshop, thinks kids with social issues aren’t being asked the right questions. In a dreary school counselor’s office, it can be hard to engage with “Why aren’t you doing your homework?” and “Have you tried joining clubs?” For Davis, more fruitful lines of inquiry…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published May 1, 2017 - Uncategorized
Someone Bought The Most Depressing Top Gun Game Collection
Everyone makes purchases they regret. You might buy an expensive toy, binge on cartons of ice cream, get a fancy dress, or you might buy too many copies of a Top Gun video game. On March 23rd, games archivist and Video Game History Foundation director Frank Cifaldi noticed an unusual auction on eBay. The listing…
By Heather Alexandra Published May 1, 2017 - Esports
Report: Reigning Champs Of Dota‘s International 6 Retire
Team Random, better known as the former Wings Gaming, will disband prior to this year’s International. According to Jack Chen, a translator for the Dota Chinese scene familiar with the team, four players will retire while one will continue trying to play professionally, at least for now. Wings Gaming were the champions of The International…
By Eric Van Allen Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedThat Time A JRPG Ended In The Middle Of A Final Boss Battle
Over the past few years, there have been many complaints about video game endings—that they’re rushed, that they’re unsatisfying, that it feels like the developers spent more time on other parts of the game (usually true). But no unfinished ending holds a candle to Saga Frontier Saga Frontier, a quirky role-playing game that Square released…
By Jason Schreier Published May 1, 2017 -
UncategorizedHalo 3 Players Spent Almost Ten Years Trying To Get Into Empty Cage
In 2008, a fan with the username OTfor2 issued a challenge to a forum: in Halo 3’s Sierra 117 level, get inside a barred-off room. For years, Halo fans tried to nail the stunt, but nobody could complete it…until now. Within the Halo community, there’s a concept known as “tricking challenges,” where players dare each…
By Patricia Hernandez Published May 1, 2017 -
CultureHelping Move Blizzard’s Awesome Cinematics
Casey McDermott is a Senior Animator at Blizzard Animation, where he gets to work on all those incredible shorts and cinematics that the company releases for games like Overwatch. Below you’ll see his latest showreel, highlighting the work he’s done on stuff like Bastion’s short film, Sombra’s reveal and StarCraft II You can see more…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2017
