- Culture
Hacker Leaks 1.5 Million Profiles From Game Site After They Refuse To Pay $100,000
The ESEA is an esports community that runs a popular online Counter-Strike league. In late December, its security got breached in a big way. Now the details of that breach are coming to light, with 1.5 million users affected after the ESEA refused to pay a hacker $100,000. It all began with an announcement from…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 9, 2017 - Uncategorized
Triple-Screen Laptops Stolen From Razer’s CES Booth
Last week Razer debuted Project Valerie, a cutting-edge laptop concept that switches automatically between one and three displays. On Sunday, two prototype models were stolen from the Razer booth at CES 2017. The company is offering $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The news of the theft was posted…
By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2017 - Uncategorized
Overwatch Heroes Ranked, According To Pornhub Searches
Overwatch porn is a damn phenomenon. Our original report on the scene was one of our biggest stories of last year, and “Overwatch” ended up outranking “anal” on Pornhub’s top 20 search terms of 2016. I was curious, though: which heroes are most popular among the porn-seeking masses? Hint: not Bastion. Pornhub gamely complied with…
By Nathan Grayson Published January 9, 2017 - Uncategorized
Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries, released a statement on the Halo Waypoint forums clarifying the development of Halo/Mega Bloks project Haggar and confirming its development. She noted that Haggar was “just one example of several similar projects we have evaluated throughout the years.” Ross’ statement reads as follows: “Over the past few days, footage…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 9, 2017 -
UncategorizedPokémon‘s Team Skull Takes Over Magfest
Very important news, y’all—joining Team Skull is possible. Over the weekend, Magfest turned into Po Town as Team Skull cosplayers took over the con. Pokémon Sun and Moon’s “evil” Team Skull were the breakout stars from a game already packed with inventive and fun characters, so it’s no surprise that cosplayers would latch onto them…
By Gita Jackson Published January 9, 2017 - Uncategorized
Microsoft Cancels Scalebound [UPDATE]
UPDATE (3:36pm): Microsoft confirmed this afternoon that Scalebound is no more. Their statement to Kotaku and other press: After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for “Scalebound.” We’re working hard to deliver an amazing lineup of games to our fans this year, including “Halo Wars 2,” “Crackdown 3,” “State…
By Jason Schreier Published January 9, 2017 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy VII nearly had a lot more character deaths than Aeris, according to an oral history published on Polygon Director Yoshinori Kitase originally planned to kill off most of the party by the end of the game. The piece is an incredibly exhaustive retrospective on the game’s design, featuring interviews with dozens of designers…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 9, 2017 - Culture
Even Old Witchers Can Kick Your Butt
Lixin Yin is an artist based in China who has done work for companies like Blizzard, THQ, 2K and Legendary Pictures. The Star Wars pictures you see were Yin’s entries in ILM’s challenge held last year You can see more of Yin’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the images in…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2017 -
UncategorizedASCII dungeon crawler Brutal is coming to PC February 9th. We enjoyed the game a lot on PS4.
By Riley MacLeod Published January 9, 2017 -
CultureAGDQ’s Shovel Knight Speedrun Race Was Tense
Speedrunning charity event Awesome Games Done Quick is in full swing and already producing some amazing runs. Yesterday, a speedrun race between two Shovel Knight players stole the show. Awesome Games Done Quick or AGDQ showcases some of the best speedrunners in a week long charity drive for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. In addition to…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 9, 2017 - Uncategorized
Undertale Creator Shares Notebook Full Of Early Concepts And Art
Undertale creator Toby Fox took to social media yesterday to show off some early notes about the game’s creation. The notes feature early concepts for gameplay systems as well as early sketches of some beloved characters. The notes were scrawled in a notebook that Fox used in college. Some of the initial pages show the…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 9, 2017 -
ReviewsHatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone: The Kotaku Review
Now that the Western world’s had a couple of years to get used to games starring Japan’s premiere virtual idol, Sega drops the Hatsune Miku bomb. With over 220 songs to master, Project Diva Future Tone for the PlayStation 4 is one heaping helping of rhythm game goodness. In 2009, Sega brought the breakout star…
By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2017 -
UncategorizedFinal Fantasy XV Player Glitches Out Of Bounds, Explores Second Half Of The Game
The second half of Final Fantasy XV ditches the open world road trip in favor of a series of linear areas connected by train, which raises an obvious question: How much of that was meant to be bigger? One player did some digging to try to find out. Using an out-of-bounds glitch to escape the…
By Jason Schreier Published January 9, 2017 -
Kotaku EastThis Japanese Commercial Is Surreal
And honestly, that’s saying something. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, a major Japanese pharmaceutical company that’s been in business over a hundred years, has rolled out a new advertising campaign that’s…um. Just watch. The product is called Hananoa, and it’s to help those with pollen and dust allergies. There are two versions of this product: One that washes…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2017 - Kotaku East
Porn Company Opens VR Rooms In Tokyo
Japan’s most unfortunately named porn company Soft On Demand is offering virtual sexy time at its newly opened location in Tokyo’s Akihabara. The establishment’s billboard states that Soft On Demand is offering a “fulfilling environment,” “cleanliness,” and views hotels as its rivals. The locale rents rooms where folks can watch porn (dvds!), read manga, and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2017 - Kotaku East
Hidden Message Found In The Famicom Mini
Most game hardware is inevitably modded . That means if there are secret messages in the code, people will probably find them. While user Bakueikozo was modding the Famicom Mini, the following was apparently found in the console’s coding: This is the hanafuda captain speaking. Launching emulation in 3…2…1. Many efforts, tears and countless hours have…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2017 -
Kotaku East“PPAP” Singer Releases New Song
It’s called “I Like Orange Juice.” But does the tune answer whether or not Pikotaro likes pineapple juice? Nope! The tune doesn’t doesn’t answer that. The reaction to the new English tune seems mixed. As of writing, it has around 16,000 likes and 10,000 dislikes. Late last year, Pikotaro revealed that he had yet to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2017
