- Esports
12 Smash Tournament Organizers Quit After Leader Accused Of Multiple Acts Of Sexual Harassment
Several core members of the BEAST crew, an organization that hosts an annual Super Smash Bros. tournament, announced their departure today in the wake of sexual harassment allegations brought against BEAST head organizer Lolex. In a statement posted on the r/smashbros subreddit, the group says they were shocked and upset to learn about Lolex’s behavior,…
By Eric Van Allen Published March 11, 2017 - Esports
The Highs And Lows Of Hearthstone, Embodied In One Turn
Disguised Toast did nothing to disguise is joy and disgust at a particularly torturous turn of luck during last night’s stream Soaking up damage throughout a match against a Priest deck, Toast finally unleashed Twisting Nether to clear the board and relieve some pressure. He also had Atiesh equipped, a weapon that summons a random…
By Ethan Gach Published March 11, 2017 - Uncategorized
Overwatch Glitch Lets Mercy Unleash Her Inner Phoenix
In the latest version of Overwatch, using Mercy’s “hello” emote while floating through the sky can yield some wicked results The discovery was shared on Reddit by user Rosilia who was able to help the beloved healer nearly double her wing span and also make it glow bright green by quickly deploying the emote while…
By Ethan Gach Published March 11, 2017 -
EsportsSpeedrunner Completes Zelda: Breath of the Wild In Less Than One Hour, A New World Record
One week after release, the speedrun for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has fallen under one hour thanks to a slew of optimizations and new techniques. Yesterday, speedrunner gymnast86 completed the game with a time of 58 minutes and one second. It is a significant time difference from the game’s first completed…
By Heather Alexandra Published March 11, 2017 - Esports
American Dota 2 Team Moves To Southeast Asia For Qualifier, Loses Every Match
The regional qualifiers for the next Dota 2 major have been exciting, with over 100 matches played in the last 48 hours. The Kiev Major boasts a prize pool of $3 million, and so everybody and their grandmother has been competing to earn a spot, including one team that made a desperate move to somewhere…
By Eric Van Allen Published March 11, 2017 - Esports
The Weekend In Esports: The World Cup Of Killer Instinct Returns
This weekend Killer Instinct fighters across the country will descend on the Tobin Center in San Antonio, Texas to rip each other’s digital guts out. But no tea bagging please, that would be disrespectful. But qualifiers for Dota 2‘s Kiev Major, Street Fighter V’s Final Round 20, and the last qualifiers for the next season…
By Ethan Gach Published March 11, 2017 -
UncategorizedUndead Cafe Game Necrobarista Was Made Out Of Frustration With The State Of Anime
Recently, a game called Necrobarista caught my eye. It’s about a cafe the dead return to for one last cup of coffee, and it’s got an art style that screams Persona. That’s no coincidence. Necrobarista’s developers told me the game arose from their “love-hate relationship” with anime and visual novels. “Back in the ‘90s, you…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 10, 2017 -
UncategorizedA Musical Indie Game Starring A Teen With A Cosmic Guitar
Game designer Johnny Galvatron first doodled the monsters of The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti in his student math book, years ago. “I wasn’t a great math student,” he said, delightfully pointing out The Artful Escape ’s space whale and “suborbital jellyfish.” The short PAX East demo of The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti showed…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published March 10, 2017 -
UncategorizedKotaku’s Buffy Fans Pick Their Favorite Episodes
Today, Buffy the Vampire Slayer celebrates its 20th anniversary. To honor this occaision, the Buffy-likers at Kotaku talk about their favorite episodes. Spoilers for… Pretty Much Everything In Buffy Kirk Hamilton — “Hush” You may expect me to pick “Once More, With Feeling” for this, but oh no, I will not be so predictable. I’ll…
By Gita Jackson Published March 10, 2017 - Culture
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
Weekends are for returning those shoes you bought because you keep putting it off and if you end up running out of time on the return you’re gonna feel like an idiot. Also, video games. I’m going to tinker around in Ghost Recon Wildlands a bit more. I don’t love playing it solo, but it’s…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 10, 2017 -
UncategorizedZelda: Breath Of The Wild Is Full Of Amazing Little Details
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild manages to be both massive and unusually detailed. The sprawl of Hyrule will take weeks or even months for most of us to explore, not just because of its square mileage but because of how much there is to see and do in a given field or…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 10, 2017 -
UncategorizedBlaster Master Zero For Switch Is An Excellent Retro Remake
A good remake of a retro gaming classic has to evoke the feeling of playing the original while making the game feel fresh and new. Blaster Master Zero for the Nintendo Switch is a very good remake of a retro gaming classic. So good. You may have seen the name on release lists. You may have…
By Mike Fahey Published March 10, 2017 - Esports
Team Liquid Brings In League Star To Try And Avoid Relegation
Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng will be playing for Team Liquid for the rest of the League of Legends spring split, after a last-minute trade from Team SoloMid earlier this week. The game’s all-time leader regular season kills, he’ll need to start racking them up in a hurry. The trade mirrors the concept of loaning out players…
By Eric Van Allen Published March 10, 2017 - Culture
Steam Review Scores No Longer Count People Who Didn’t Pay
Steam reviews are changing again. This time, it’s a subtle thing that could have big reverberations. If you got a game for free—say, as a gift, during a free weekend, or what have you—your review no longer counts toward that game’s overall score. Valve, uh, didn’t really explain their rationale in-depth, but here’s the standout…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 10, 2017
