At This Japanese Bar, You Drink And Play In A Ball Pit

As a kid, I remember the Chuck E. Cheese’s ball pit being fun. A new bar called Ball Pool Bar Dive in Osaka recreates that experience for boozy adults. Earlier this year, a pop-up ball pit bar opened in San Francisco for two days. This new ball pit bar in Osaka, however, isn’t a pop-up…

Marugame Castle. Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. By Wilhelm Donko. 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!

Oculus Rift Founder Palmer Luckey Funding Trump Shitposters [UPDATE]

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus Rift, has been keeping busy since he sold the company to Facebook in 2014. One thing he’s done to pass the time, as reported by The Daily Beast, is to financially back (and be named Vice President of) a non-profit dedicated to alt-right meme shitposts. UPDATE – 9/23, 10:30…

If Nintendo Won’t Make A New Advance Wars, These Guys Will

Since developers Intelligent Systems are too busy these days on Fire Emblem (and other stuff) to make any more of their brilliant Advance Wars games, a team of Japanese developers have decided to do their work for them, announcing a new PC title that is Advance Wars in everything but name. Tiny Metal, billed as…

Some Cool Stories About The Making Of Super Mario 64

Mario 64 is one of the best games of all time. You probably know that, but have you ever wondered about the specifics of why that is? Here, let the game’s creators explain to you that it’s stuff like the momentum of Mario’s movement, the placement of the camera and the feel of Mario’s jumps.…

After Backlash, Riot Is Changing How Pros Are Paid

League of Legends publisher Riot Games announced major changes to their revenue structure today, addressing concerns waged against Riot by esports figureheads last month. In an open letter, Directors of Esports Whalen Rozelle and Jarred Kennedy describe steps Riot is taking to ensure stability for esports players and teams. Riot is actively soliciting long-term investment…

So That’s What Leaving Fallout 4‘s Vault Actually Looks Like

Today we have Fallout 4 secrets revealed, death star trench discoveries, soothing basketball, Overwatch needle threading, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! For…

On last week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, Jason and I answered a reader question about Dragon Age: Inquisition Given how big that game went over when it launched, why don’t more people talk about it now? Find the full episode here

Massive Spaceship Battles Make A Very Cool MOBA

When you replace traditional arenas for the depths of space and swap out colorful characters for massive capital ships manned by crews of 5,000, suddenly the term “MOBA” feels somehow inadequate. Yet that’s what Fractured Space is. A giant spaceship MOBA. Launched out of Early Access today on Steam, Fractured Space is a free-to-play multiplayer…

YouTubers Agitated Over Crowdsourced Content Moderation [UPDATE]

YouTube’s latest initiative, “YouTube Heroes,” is gamifying viewer participation in content moderation, angering several content creators who believe incentivizing crowdsourced moderation isn’t a great approach. Announced Tuesday, “YouTube Heroes” will allow enrolled YouTubers over 18 (or over 13 with a guardian’s consent) to receive points for sharing knowledge on videos, captioning videos or moderating content.…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Should I Tell My Girlfriend I Lost My Virginity To A Sex Worker?

Greetings, you corrupting porn tentacles, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the first dating advice column to compete in the Kumite. This week we’re talking about sex, sexual shame and the intense emotions that run rampant when we start getting busy. How important is it to disclose your entire sexual history? Is an infidelity in…

Fans Restore Abandoned Half-Life Project

A long forgotten Valve project is now playable after 13 years in limbo. Based on an old school Quake mod, Half Life: Threewave is a multiplayer capture the flag game that was initially discovered in 2003 during the infamous leak of Half Life 2‘s beta. It was unplayable. Not anymore. The folks over at Valve…

Smash Bros. Player’s Sexual Consent Guide Ignites Debate In Community

The Super Smash Bros. community is having a conversation about sexual assault, whether they want to or not. Last week, that discussion came to a head when a female competitive Smash player published a guide attempting to educate the community around the famous Nintendo fighting game about consent. Now, the Smash community is debating whether…

Snacktaku Eats Burger King’s Cheetos Chicken Fries

After setting the snack mash-up world on fire with Mac N’ Cheetos and bathrooms everywhere alight with the Whopperrito, Burger King follows it all up with the tamest combo yet, orange chicken fries. They are chicken fries. They are orange. Basically Burger King has taken the Cheez-It flavored breading that protected Mac N’ Cheetos tasty…

Video Game Fashion, Reviewed By People Who Know Fashion

Today we’re doing something weird. We’ve asked a team of fashion experts to judge the outfits of video game characters. Think of this as Video Gaming’s Next Top Model. This post originally appeared on Kotaku Australia and on Kotaku on 2/3/16. Their opinions on Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V will (probably not) shock you.…