In 2012, Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo looked at the case for video games as an Olympic sport Could Counter-Strike or League of Legends ever be part of the Olympics?

Twitch Cracks Down On Cheating Pokémon Go Streamers

Twitch announced today that they’ll be cracking down on Pokémon Go streamers who rely on third-party cheats. Streamers who play the game aided by software that tracks Pokémon or spoofs their GPS location will “receive a strike on their account.” Three strikes results in a ban. Niantic defines cheating as “using modified or unofficial software;…

Nice Bikes

Al Crutchley is an artist from the UK who has worked on games like Elite: Dangerous and Homefront: The Revolution You can see more of Al’s work at his ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the…

World Of Warcraft Expansions Revisited: Lich King It’s Cold Outside

Our trip through the first five World of Warcraft expansions on the way to Legion continues into Northrend, the frozen continent no one was paying attention to for the first four years of the game’s existence, but is actually a major threat to all existence. This piece originally appeared 8/6/16. InThe Burning Crusade the Dark…

Why ‘Day-One Patches’ Are So Common

This blog post, by game developer Rami Ismail, was originally published on his website. We’ve republished it here with his permission. No Man’s Sky didn’t send out review builds because the game wasn’t done. No Man’s Sky gets leaked by resellers breaking street date. Polygon, Kotaku, and numerous streamers obtain a copy before release date…

Pikachu lights up a Ferris Wheel in Japan. To help celebrate the now seemingly annual “Pikachu Outbreak” event, everybody’s favorite electric rodent is appearing on Cosmo Clock 21 wheel in Yokohama.

The 2020 Olympics Could Change Tattooing In Japan Forever

The 2016 Rio Olympics are underway, and athletes from around the globe are competing for gold. Many of those Olympians are inked, as are those spectators who have flocked to the games. All are giving hope to those who want Japan, host of the next Summer Games, to become more open-minded about tattooing. Numerous Olympic…

The Best Resident Evil Cosplay Of 2016

Nothing will top this. Nothing. That is, unless cosplayer Gaidoes another outfit, then maybe it will be surpassed. If not, this cosplay of William Birkin’s Stage 1 transformation will safely secure the top spot. If this looks familiar, that’s because Gai previously did Birkin’s Stage 2 transformation. Japanese website Gigazine took the above images. Ditto…

Senso-ji. Tokyo, Japan. By Facundo F. Lleventon. 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!

The Power Of Cosplay Make-Up

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve posted some quality cosplay here and some commenter has wailed “oh that’s PHOTOSHOP” when, in reality, most of the visual sorcery is actually taking place thanks to some amazing make-up work. This shot above is a good example of how that work is done. Alyson Tabbitha,…

Look At This Amazing D&D Diorama

Suddenly a nice table and some beers just doesn’t seem good enough. This incredible tabletop setup was posted by Amazing Tabletop Terrain over the weekend. It belongs to (and was built by) Ryan Devoto, featuring the detailed and almost lifelike ocean work of Micheal Tiskus from Terranscapes The scale of it all just crushes the…

“Pay To Win” Protests Hit The Streets Of Black Desert Online

Korean MMO Black Desert Online—yes, the pretty one—recently made a change to the game’s economy. To say players are pissed would be to sell it a little short. The change, which lets players buy items using real money then turn around and sell them for in-game currency, has caused literal in-game protests. Like, characters marching…

Iran Becomes First Country To Ban Pokémon Go

Iran’s Supreme Council of Virtual Spaces, which is a real thing and not the dystopian government from a sci-fi TV show, has announced that Pokémon Go has been banned in the country. As the BBC reports, the ban is related to “unspecified security concerns”, and comes following a short deliberation where the Council “were waiting…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Mario And Sonic At The Real Olympic Games

With the real Olympic games going on, there’s no reason Mario and Sonic need to remain trapped inside their colorful fantasy land. Let’s send them to Rio, and hope they survive. What I’m looking for in this week’s contest, which might be my last for awhile, is Sonic and Mario characters inserted into real images…

More A-Mei-Zing Overwatch Cosplay

Still not sorry Cosplay by Henchwench, photos by R.A Photography Like…this is absolutely perfect. From the fur to the quality of the props and accessories, I cannot see how you can do Mei better than this. UPDATE: It can’t get better, but it can get just as good. Cosplay by Bananzers, photo by Mojo