Podcast: Farewell, Destiny

Destiny YouTuber Datto joins us today for what might be the last-ever Destiny-focused episode of Kotaku Splitscreen. Until Destiny 2, that is. First we’re talking the week’s news, from Palmer Luckey leaving Oculus (9:39) to Atlus blocking Persona 5 streaming (13:11) and Mass Effect: Andromeda’s big patch plans (17:20), followed by our first Amazing Game…

How EVE Players Trashed $17,000 Worth of Ships In Just Three Easy Steps

One of EVE Online’s most powerful alliances dealt a heavy blow to an opposing group yesterday, luring their opponents into a very costly trap that destroyed nearly $17,000 worth of virtual ships. Five Titan Class ships, the largest and most expensive ships in the game, were destroyed in just a few minutes, with the attacking…

Microsoft Reveals Xbox Scorpio’s Impressive Specs

Microsoft has promised that their next console, Scorpio, will be “the most powerful console ever,” and today the company delivered on that promise, revealing a set of beefy specs that, in terms of raw power, surpass any video game console on the market today. In a PR reveal with Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry, Microsoft unveiled that…

The Castle In The Sky Figure You’ve Always Wanted

The robotfrom Studio Ghibli’s iconic 1986 film The Castle In The Sky now has a fully poseable figure. Thank goodness for that! According to Famitsu, Bandai is releasing a “Full Action Ver.” Robot Solider this October, with pre-orders kicking off this week.  Priced at 7,560 yen (US$68), this isn’t the first Castle in the Sky…

Snow On Mount Fuji. Japan. By Robert Rubsam 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!

Hearthstone‘s Volcanosaur Launches Early, Causes 24 Hours of Mayhem

In the lead-up to this week’s launch of Hearthstone’s new Journey to Un’Goro expansion, Blizzard Entertainment ran a limited-time promotion that rewarded players with unique prizes for each day they logged in. April 5’s prize was a free Un’Goro card called the Volcanosaur. Giving the card away for free was certainly a generous move on…

Zarya, You Look…Balder

Genderbent Overwatch cosplay is good. Doubly so when it is strong, like Zarya. Cosplay by Thousand-Faces (with an assist on the armour and gun by Wulfgar Weapons), photos by Insomniac

A Dire Warning About Final Fantasy’s Black Magic

Let’s go back. To a time before Jack Thompson, before age ratings. Back to 1980s Canada, when the most pressing concern with video game content—and how it was destroying the youth—was the black magic found in Final Fantasy. “And once again, it’s about how you can get in touch with your wizard”. If you’re short on…

Gearbox Hit With Backlash For Partnering With Controversial Game Key Seller G2A

Recently, Gearbox announced that they’re partnering with game key re-seller G2A for a collector’s edition of Bulletstorm. Problem: over the years, G2A has been subject to widespread criticism for lax security, enabling fraud, and making money at developers’ expense. Predictably, Gearbox has taken serious flack for the partnership. G2A’s reputation has fallen so far down…

Computer Creates Fake Video Games That Sound Better Than Real Video Games

Remember how someone taught a nueral network to name Pokemon? Someone else has taught one to name video games, and I would buy almost all of them. Starting with a port of Sega’s hit 2008 arcade game Christ disexplications took this ambitious attempt to name every video game ever made and fed it to a…

SimCity 2000 Is The Most Important Game I’ve Ever Played

The same game can be different things to different people, with gender, history, age, cultural background and political beliefs working to influence and funnel its messages and meanings for every unique player. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK, on January 27, 2015 Games can provide us with many things: entertainment, escapism, an arena for…

Nintendo Fixed a 30-Year-Old Zelda Typo For the NES Classic

An extraneous “N” inserted into the English translation of The Legend of Zelda in 1987 has finally been removed, and it only took 29 and a half years. This actually happened a few months back, because it’s in the version of Zelda included on the NES Classic Edition. But I didn’t even notice until Clyde…

Here Is A Thing That Definitely Happens In Nier: Automata

I’m finally playing Nier: Automata, and can confirm that it is a very odd, very interesting video game. Take, for example, this thing I came across when I was playing last night. As you make your way through the game’s compact but layered open world, you’ll undertake a bunch of sidequests for various characters you…

Pro Counter-Strike Team Loses Round Due To Notorious Grenade Glitch

In Counter-Strike, nobody’s entirely certain how molotov cocktails are supposed to work when smoke grenades enter the picture. Sometimes smokes put out molotovs when they land on top of them, but not always. Other times, smokes magically douse flames through walls. Recently, it even happened in a pro game. During a StarSeries Season 3 match…

An Arcade Shooter Where Gravity Is Your Plaything

You’re In Space And Everyone Wants You Dead is a flashy arcade shooter where you survive against a horde of monsters while bounding across a dizzying landscape. It doesn’t just have a great name; it’s also damn fun. That’s why it’s this week’s Indie Pick. Made by adamgryu, You’re In Space… is an experiment in…

In 1982, People Were Streaming Games On Satellite

In 1982, a technology straight out of contemporary science fiction was on track to be the world’s first Twitter. Living and dying in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the cable service teletext brought 24/7, on-demand news directly to a television. Much like Twitter, teletext offered a stream of live, bite-sized information, but in a blocky, neon…