Australian Animals That Won’t Kill You, Ranked

I am Australian. I have noticed online that people who are not Australian seem to work under the assumption that this is an island of death, where every step you take you run the risk of being bitten, stung, impaled or eaten alive by a murderous wild creature. I am here today to tell you…

Our Favorite Things About Overwatch‘s Big Winter Update

This week on our semi-regular Overwatch show, Cecilia, Heather, and I discuss the big Winter Wonderland update. Come for a surprisingly heated debate about Roadhog’s holiday skin, and stay for in-depth talk and tips for Mei’s Snowball Offensive and nu-Symmetra. Are you digging the new update? What do you think of Mei’s Snowball Offensive? How…

The Internet Reacts To Tracer And Her Girlfriend

Yesterday, Blizzard released an Overwatch comic for the winter holidays that revealed something important about the character Tracer: she doesn’t need to wear her chronal accelerator at all times! Oh, also she has a girlfriend. If you haven’t read the comic, here’s a brief recap: If you’re still not getting it, Tumblr user greatlordfluffernutter has…

Please Help Me Assemble This Star Wars: Rogue One Model Kit

Inspired by the space battles of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I’ve decided to take a stab at model building. And though Bandai Hobby’s Red Squadron X-Wing Starfighter set is a simple snap and sticker affair, I’m really worried about screwing it up. Got any pointers? The folks at Bluefin started bringing over Bandai…

Why Is The 3DS So Hard To Find Right Now?

Tiny Tim or Little Timmy might not get their Nintendo 3DS for Christmas this year. The handheld console is facing a shortage in brick and mortar stores across the country and online. At Best Buy, GameStop and Target, the console is low-stock or unavailable in stores throughout and proximate to America’s six most populous cities.…

What We Didn’t Like–And Really Didn’t Like–About The Assassin’s Creed Movie

Two of us saw Ubisoft’s attempt at transmedia franchising, and we did not care for it. Not one bit. Gita Jackson: Here’s a good place to start, I think: was there anything you liked about this movie? Mike Fahey: I’d heard you were a tough interviewer, but I didn’t think you’d hit me with such…

Another Pokémon Fan Game Says Nintendo Shut Them Down

The creator of Pokémon Prism, afan made hack for Pokémon Crystal that was due to release on Christmas, says he’s received a cease-and-desist from Nintendo and will have to shut down the project for good. On Twitter early this morning, Pokémon Prism creator Koolboyman broke the news and shared a copy of the letter he…

The Art Of Weta Workshop: Mad Max, The Hobbit & More

New Zealand’s Weta Workshop is probably most famous for their work on the Lord of the Rings series, but in the years since they’ve also been involved on stuff like Mad Max, District 9 and the upcoming Ghost in the Shell Weta’s design studio is the starting point for much of the company’s work, where…

Super Mario Run: The Kotaku Review

If you were worried that Nintendo’s move into mobile gaming would change the quality of their games, Super Mario Run should be a relief. Auto-running and screen orientation aside, it’s a full-featured Mario game that just happens to run on your phone. Originally posted 12/21/06: Now that everyone on iOS is done playing, Android gets…

The Year In Kotaku East 

It’s been quite a year. Lots of Kotaku, plenty of East. Let’s take a look back at our favorite stories of 2016. Good times. This year isn’t quite over just yet! We look forward to what the next one brings, and in the meantime, wish you Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year! Kotaku…

Meaty Japanese Hamburger Is All Burger, No Buns

While I enjoy a good bun while eating a burger, really, who needs them? Especially when you swap them out for meat patties. This is the “Wild Out” burger. It’s two juicy beef patties, cheese, fixings, and a big slice of tomato. Served up at a Tokyo restaurant called Shake Tree, the staff ask you…

Sunset. Marsala, Sicily. By Henry Vance [Maybe NSFW]. 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 Gordon Hunt, Uncharted’s Motion Capture Director

Gordon Hunt, director and father of actress Helen Hunt, has died at the age of 87, THR reports. In recent years, he’d been doing a lot of very important video game work on series like Uncharted Hunt, who oversaw voice work on The Smurfs, The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo at Hanna-Barbera before going on to direct episodes…

Civilization VI Gets Big Updates, New Civ

Civilization VI dropped some new stuff today. The first is a “Winter Update” that makes a bunch of tweaks and fixes to the core game. The second are some paid pieces of DLC that introduce new scenarios and the game’s first post-release Civ, Poland, who are led by Jadwiga. You can read about all the…