The First Order’s TIE Pilots Are Lookin’ Sharp

We get a lot of Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren cosplay around here, but master props builder Shawn Thorsson has turned his eye towards one of the cooler and more obscure designs from Force Awakens: the new TIE pilots. Beginning with 3D models, Thorsson built a few suits from scratch, making everything from the helmets…

Popular League Of Legends Streamer Banned For Trolling

Tyler1, a popular League of Legends streamer who recently made a name for himself as a poster boy for toxic behaviour in the game, has been “indefinitely” banned by Riot. Previously a relatively small-timer on Twitch, Tyler1’s popularity exploded earlier this month after word got out that his streams featured non-stop trolling, including everything from…

Virtual Prison Does Not Sound Like A Fun Afternoon

Companies like Facebook aren’t pouring billions into VR just for games. They see the wider possibilities for the tech. As do media outlets like The Guardian, who have released a VR app called 6×9 that simulates the “psychological damage of extreme isolation” in a solitary confinement prison cell. “Right now, more than 80,000 people are…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Civil Skirmish

Sure we’re dealing with some super-powered being sand Spider-Man isn’t in the art to represent Team Tony, but this is hardly a war. If they want a war, we’ll give them a war. Captain America: Civil War arrives in my brain this Thursday night, taking the massive Marvel Comics event I didn’t like and whittling…

Hidden Object Games Are Mindless Fluff, And That’s Why I Love Them

It’s looks a bit like BioShock concept art, but it is most definitely not. This is a screenshot from Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden, one of the finest examples of hidden object games, the trash novels of casual games. I love them so. Many casual game genres can trace their roots back to titles that…

The Week In Games: Big Bad Battleborn

For some reason every time I hear the name Battleborn the theme song to Big Bad Beetleborgs gets stuck in my head. I expect there’ll be a lot of that this week. Misery loves company. I’m looking forward to playing some Beetleborgs when it launches in North America tomorrow at midnight. Sunday, May 1 Michael…

The Weirdly Dark And Insightful StarCraft Visual Novel Is Getting A Sequel

One of the most honest looks at competitive gaming, the literally-named StarCraft visual novel SC2VN, is getting a Brood War-themed sequel: Don’t Forget Our eSports Dream It might seem odd that a visual novel ends up being one of the best pieces of media about esports and pro gaming. But one reason why Team Eleven’s…

Toy Time Plays With Captain America: Civil War LEGO Sets

Team Steve and Team Tony don’t face off on the big screen until May 6, but the battle has already begun on my desk, courtesy of LEGO’s trio of Captain America: Civil War sets. Expect really big things. Originally published 3/14/16. More Civil War Toy Time coming later this week! Before you watch the video…

The GSL StarCraft 2 Final Was Everything That’s Still Good About The Game

Following a pretty lousy winter for StarCraft, Korea’s GSL ended on a high note Sunday morning as two teammates fought a pitched-battle across six games in an instant-classic StarCraft final. Joo “Zest” Sung Wook was the favorite heading into the final, especially because his opponent was a Terran. He has pretty much owned the Protoss…

Happy Mythical Darkrai Day, Pokémon Fans

It’s May 1, which means the mythical 20th anniversary Pokémon celebration says goodbye to Jirachiand helloto Darkrai. But to get a level 100 version of the dark creature you’re going to have to head to a dark place: GameStop. After few months of Toys’R’Us exclusive plushies and figures and mythical Pokémon easily accessible over the…

Podcast: Nintendo Is Bumming Us Out

Even for longtime Nintendo fans, it’s hard not to feel burned by the Wii U, a console that never quite lived up to its potential. Sucks for people who bought one just for Zelda! Originally posted 4/28/16 Today on our podcast, Kotaku Splitscreen, Kirk and I talk about this week’s disappointing Nintendo news, and how…

Please Stop Doing This, Massively Multiplayer RPGs

You know what I love about massively multiplayer online role-playing games? Losing myself in the fiction of a fantasy world. You know what completely ruins that feeling? The MMORPG equivalent of licensed Happy Meal toys. I’ve been playing MMORPG games for about 18 years. I’ve always found them to be a pleasant alternative to whatever…

Sunday Comics: Nice

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published April 28. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published April 25. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

Here’s the New Godzilla’s Prototype Model 

This July, Toho Studios is releasing a brand new Godzilla film in Japan. We’ve see the teasers (here and here), but now, let’s get a close-up look at the production maquette. According to Famitsu and Kaiju-Japan, the first maquette was on display at the recent Nico Nico Chokaigi event in Chiba, outside Tokyo. Artist Takayuki…

This Could Be the Last Pokémon Jet 

Since 1998, a small handful of Pocket Monster themed airplanes have flown in the ANA fleet. The current iteration, the only remaining Pokémon plane, recently took its final flight. Sankei News and Pokémon Memo report that the Boeing 777-300 Pokémon Jet, the last of its kind, made its closing trip on April 14 as part…

Spider-Man as a Samurai

This works way better than I thought it would. Via Japaaan, Bandai is releasing a samurai version of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Previously, Bandai did the same for Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and a Sandtrooper. Very cool how Spider-Man’s web motif is incorporated into the samurai armor. The samurai Spidey will be out this August…

Pikachus with Lasers Shooting from Their Eyes

This isn’t only cool and hypnotic, it’s also terrifying Spotted at a club in Taiwan, here we have an inventive use of Pikachu costumes: LASER BEAM EYES. After bopping their heads up and down, this happened. No doubt destroying everything in sight. Here’s the full clip from Twitter user Kazutaka. Damn. Just. Damn. Kotaku East…

Dusk. Tokyo, Japan. By Drew Atkins. 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!

Early Footage From Assassin’s Creed Creator’s 1666: Amsterdam

In 2010 Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Désiletsleft Ubisoftto form his own studio within THQ to work on a game called 1666: Amsterdam. Here’s our first look at how that game was shaping up before being sold back to Ubisoft and left in limbo for three years. According to the description of the YouTube video below…