- Culture
Sunday Comics: Hey Big Boo!
Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics that usually occurs on Sunday except when it doesn’t. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published December 22. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published December 24. Read more…
By Ethan Gach Published December 26, 2016 -
UncategorizedFinal Fantasy V Retrospective: Wildly Underrated
Final Fantasy V, a video game about four warriors who get together and beat up a giant tree, doesn’t try particularly hard to be innovative. In fact, it doesn’t try at all. Final Fantasy V is essentially an enhanced version of Final Fantasy III, proving rather definitively that Final Fantasy games don’t have to be…
By Jason Schreier Published December 25, 2016 -
UncategorizedGuy Gets Working Gjallarhorn For Christmas
There are hardcore Destiny players, and then there is Redditor jagger393939, whose incredible wife built him a WORKING GJALLARHORN. It shoots nerf darts and plays the Gjallarwing honking noise. Witness: Sadly, the Wolfpack Rounds don’t activate. Must be bugged. THANKS, BUNGIE.
By Jason Schreier Published December 25, 2016 - Uncategorized
Happy Holidays, Kotaku
Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or just the general feeling of being alive, happy holidays to you and yours from all of the staff here at Kotaku! Use this post as a place to discuss: Sweet new presents you got Sweet new presents you gave other people Video games you’re playing today The best video…
By Jason Schreier Published December 25, 2016 -
UncategorizedAttack On Titan Season Two Gets Official Trailer
Why are the muscle dudes punching the other muscle dudes through trees? Why are some of them naked? What’s with all the weird faces? I have no idea. I know nothing about Attack on Titan or anime, so this trailer is indecipherable to me, but hey, I know you guys love this series so HERE…
By Jason Schreier Published December 24, 2016 - Uncategorized
Kickstarter Backers Are Not Reacting Well To Unsung Story
On Friday night at around 10pm ET—optimal time to release news—the developers of Unsung Story put out yet another update for their longrunning Kickstarter failure. Backers were… not happy. In case you haven’t followed the ongoing Unsung Story debacle, here’s the short version: In January of 2014, the developer Playdek raised $660,000 for a strategy-RPG…
By Jason Schreier Published December 24, 2016 - Uncategorized
Jason Schreier’s Top 10 Games Of 2016
From puzzlers to JRPGs to, uh, more puzzlers, this was a good year for video games. And my top 10 list will probably not surprise any of you. In no particular order, here are the best games I played in 2016: The Witness If I were to tell you that the best video game of…
By Jason Schreier Published December 24, 2016 -
UncategorizedThe Best WWE Matches Of 2016
In 2016, WWE turned towards the future. The WWE Network expanded both its user base and its program offerings. The NXT developmental program graduated a new class of Superstars to the main roster. The main roster split into a Raw brand and a SmackDown brand, a healthy move for a company that had gotten complacent…
By Kevin Wong Published December 24, 2016 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy XIV Gets A Raid In Ivalice
As if Final Fantasy XIV wasn’t rad enough already, last night Square Enix announced that one of the game’s next raids will head to Ivalice, the world of Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. And, most importantly, the raid will be designed and written by Yasumi Matsuno, the director of those games The Return…
By Jason Schreier Published December 24, 2016 -
UncategorizedOnce You Can Afford It, GTA Online‘s Newest Expansion Is Terrific
Last week I started sizing up the new GTA Online update, Import/Export. It added a ton of new missions and wacky cars. But a lot of this content was inaccessible if you didn’t have a lot of in-game money. You’d have to be rich (virtually, at least) to play it. So I spent the last…
Zack Zwiezen Published December 23, 2016 - Uncategorized
On Its Fifth Anniversary, Star Wars The Old Republic Is Interesting Again
Star Wars: The Old Republic is celebrating its five year anniversary right now and has added some major changes. BioWare’s narrative heavy online experience keeps expanding. Last year, they began a large storyline that’s continuing forward in the new Knights of the Eternal Throne expansion. I sat down with producer Ben Irving to talk about…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 23, 2016 -
UncategorizedThe Gravity Rush 2 Demo Is A Good Time
Between the Nier: Automata demo we played yesterday and this dizzying 20 minute slice of Gravity Rush 2, PlayStation 4 owners have some pretty amazing trying-before-buying to do over the holiday weekend. Bright, colorful and cheery, the demo for SIE Japan Studio’s Gravity Rush 2 is a lovely complement to Nier: Automata’s monochrome post-machine invasion…
By Mike Fahey Published December 23, 2016 - Uncategorized
Steam Is Down [UPDATE: Steam Is No Longer Down]
UPDATE (2:06pm): Steam has returned. Carry on. Original post follows: Happy holidays. Steam is down. We don’t know why. Could it be back up by the time this post goes live? Absolutely. But for now, rest assured that A) it’s not just you and B) Half-Life 3 is never coming out. As we all wait…
By Jason Schreier Published December 23, 2016 - Culture
A Year’s Worth Of Dating Advice For The Modern Geek
Another year is on the record books, and with it another couple dozen Ask Dr. Nerdlove columns. Such love, loss, and heartbreak! So much bad sex, so many toxic partners and jealous exes! It was a lot to unravel. I’ve really enjoyed editing Harris O’Malley over the last few years, mostly because I get to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 23, 2016 -
UncategorizedYouTube Views Are Down, Analysis Says
For months, YouTubers have complained that their view counts are down. New data from the third-party stat tracker SocialBlade confirms what YouTubers fear: viewership is lower “across the board.” SocialBlade crunched some numbers for Kotaku and determined that, since the first half of the year, YouTube views are now 5-7% lower. Between July and September,…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 23, 2016 - Uncategorized
Luke Plunkett’s Top Ten Games Of 2016
I played a lot of games in 2016, and as someone who loves strategy titles, it was a very good year. So drawing a line in the sand like this is always tough. Ah, who am I kidding, half the fun of these end of year lists is pitting your favourite (and often entirely unrelated)…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 23, 2016 -
UncategorizedWhy Did Nobody Tell Me About This Incredible Dragon Quest Builders Commercial
I am extremely disappointed in you, Kotaku readers, for not bringing this Japanese Dragon Quest Builders commercial to my attention a year ago when it first aired. It is perhaps the most informative and helpful look at Dragon Quest Builders one could find. (Skip to 0:29 here.) If, after watching this, you still don’t see…
By Jason Schreier Published December 23, 2016 - Culture
Nice Jacket, Robot Assassin
Alex Figini is a concept artist at Bioware. He made this robot, and I want his jacket very much. Figini, whose art we’ve featured before, has also worked at Sony. The robot you’re seeing below wasn’t made for a game, it was actually made for a ZBrush course over on Learn Squared, so if you’re…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 23, 2016 - Uncategorized
Krunch From Diddy Kong Racing Is Real, Lives In Florida
A Florida woman has won a battle which will allow her to keep her pet alligator. An alligator which wears a jacket, rides an ATV and looks a lot like Diddy Kong Racing’s Krunch. The alligator, which is named Rambo, was the focus of a disagreement between its owner, Mary Thorn, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 22, 2016