- Kotaku East
The Seven Samurai Looks Glorious in 4K
Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai is over sixty years old. Film prints have become worse for the wear, which is why movie studio Toho is going back and restoring the picture in 4K, making it more beautiful than ever. NHK and AV Watch report that Toho converted the film’s nearly 30,000 frames into digital data…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 26, 2016 - Kotaku East
The Most Anticipated Games in Japan
Every week, Japanese game magazine Famitsu releases a list of the most anticipated games. The list varies somewhat from week to week, but it does give you a good idea of what Japanese gamers are looking forward to. The poll is done via postcard forms that come with magazine, and one section asks readers for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 26, 2016 - Kotaku East
The Snorlax Cushion of Your Dreams Costs $460
Enormous, officially licensed Pokémon cushions aren’t cheap. According to Inside, Premium Bandaiis rolling out a huge Snorlax cushion. You might remember that Kotaku previously introduced a Snorlax pillow (which was official) and a Snorlax bed (which was not). This cushion if an officially licensed product. It’s also huge. How huge? [Image: Bandai] It’s bigger than…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 26, 2016 - Culture
Heya Fran, Been A While
James Strehle is an artist currently working at VOLTA, a studio whose members we’ve showcased here on Fine Art a bunch of times You can see more of James’ work at his personal site and ArtStation page, while you can check out his Patreon page here To see the larger pics in all their glory…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 25, 2016 - Culture
Remember Punch Club, the game about managing a starving kickboxer? It’s getting a free expansion. It’ll be about three hours long. The plot sounds great. “New storyline where you find a suitcase that pinpoints crimes in the city. Only logical thing to do is put on a mask and start fighting crime.” Truth.
By Nathan Grayson Published February 25, 2016 - Uncategorized
Valve will never release Half-Life 3. But what if other developers could take a swing at it? PC Gamer asked Cliff Bleszinski, Tripwire’s John Gibson and Bluepoint’s Kynan Pearson for their ideas, which range from VR adventures to time manipulation.
By Luke Plunkett Published February 25, 2016 -
Uncategorized1999 PS1 Game Launch Party Was A Wonder Of The 20th Century
Masaya Matsuura, of Parappa the Rapper fame, uploaded a video yesterday of the launch party—complete with live performances—for PS1 rhythm game UmJammer Lammy. It’s from 1999. It’s awesome Come for the late-90s wonder. Stay for Jeff Gerstmann winning a plastic guitar.
By Luke Plunkett Published February 25, 2016 -
CultureGiant Cat Eats Caveman Dick
Today on Highlight Reel we have savage prehistoric cats, close street fighter calls, quiet meetings between muscular men, killer streaks, and much more! Watch the video above or on our Youtube page, then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the…
By Chris Person Published February 25, 2016 - Uncategorized
I was forced to tell the truth while playing Undertale today. #animeisnotreal
By Patrick Klepek Published February 25, 2016 -
CultureModder Is Trying To Make XCOM 2‘s Snake Ladies Sexier
I suppose this was inevitable. Somewhat notoriously, XCOM 2 has snake lady enemies called Vipers. They’re alien snake monsters with boobs, which of course flies in the face of hella biology, but whatever. Aliens. They don’t play by our silly, boob-less rules, apparently. Maybe they store venom in there. Or maybe Firaxis didn’t take time…
By Nathan Grayson Published February 25, 2016 - Culture
Valve Is Making Counter-Strike Look Better
After a lengthy update drought, Valve is suddenly lobbing Counter-Strike news like a first-time player haphazardly tossing grenades. First there was the new Nuke (Newke) and Operation, then $1 million CSGO majors, and now new graphical effects. Valve has introduced a whole host of new lighting and shader effects to CSGO (the nitty gritty elements…
By Nathan Grayson Published February 25, 2016 - Reviews
Superhot: The Kotaku Review
Some games only need a single good idea to work. For example: Superhot, a punishing first-person shooter in which time only moves when you move. It’s a single, good idea. And it works. Each of Superhot’s twenty-odd levels recreates an archetypal action-movie setpiece: The office raid, the drug deal gone wrong, the hallway brawl, the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 25, 2016 - Uncategorized
In Defense Of XCOM Save Scumming
It’s true, I’m one of those people: a save scummer. And I’m not ashamed of it. XCOM was a difficult game, and XCOM 2 is even harder. Missing shots is the least of your problems in the early hours, moments filled with enemies capable of wrecking teams in a single turn. It makes sense, as…
By Patrick Klepek Published February 25, 2016 - CultureSplitscreen
Podcast: Kirk’s Only Friends Are Fire Emblem Characters
“It’s not sad if it’s anime,” Kirk says on this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, explaining his love for Fire Emblem characters. OK, Kirk. On today’s show, we take a deep dive into Fire Emblem Fates and all of the waifus it has to offer. We also talk about Final Fantasy XIV, Destiny 2, and…
By Jason Schreier Published February 25, 2016 - Uncategorized
The Real Metal Gear
Metal Gear is a series that’s (at least partly) about giant mecha and Cold War drama. It may be pure fantasy, but in the early 1960s, the US did actually build a giant two-armed military machine: the “Beetle”. This story was originally published in June 2010. Built by Jered Industries in Detroit for General Electric’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 25, 2016
