Street Fighter V’s Bearded Ryu Is The Hottest Ryu

Well hello there, rugged Ryu. Did you lose your razor blade? I don’t mind. What you’re seeing above is not Joe Manganiello, contrary to what it may seem. Actually, it’s the special Gamestop “Battle Costume” pre-order skin for Street Fighter V. Here’s another look: Normally, we’re pretty wary of posting about pre-order incentives, but this…

What Was Your Worst Experience At A Video Game Store?

Have you ever experienced a particularly pre-order-pushy sales associate at GameStop, a seriously unknowledgeable Best Buy employee or just a straight-up rude Walmart worker? I’d like to hear your stories. Personally, I’ve managed to skirt any potential social mishaps while purchasing my video games and their accessories by putting all my trust in Amazon, and…

I’ve Played 30 Hours Of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain And It’s Friggin’ Great

For the past few days, I’ve done very little but play Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, a new video game made by the well-known spa company Konami. I’ve been sneaking and shooting through deserts and forests. I’ve infiltrated bases, crippled soldiers, and taken four showers. It has been wonderful. UPDATE (8/31): I’m now…

My Nightmares Are Gonna Miss You, Wes Craven

In the middle of the show floor at PAX, a text message glared back with a brief message: Wes Craven had died. I stopped a moment, took a breath, and sighed. Few humans have made me laugh and scream the way filmmaker Craven did over the years, and I’ll miss him terribly. Craven had apparently…

Heroes Of The Storm Matchmaking Isn’t Really Working Right Now [UPDATE]

Heroes of the Storm has been running very well for the most part since I started playing it earlier this year. It’s suddenly gotten a lot worse over the past few days, though. I first started to notice an issue with my personal HOTS game when I was unable to queue up for a few…

The results of the Autobots Vs. Decepticons Splatoon event are in, and obviously someone’s been paid off. Splatfest? This is bad comedy.

You Probably Cannot Beat My Threes Score

Many in the world are unfairly skilled at piano, or fishing, or programming, or other hobbies that can be used to create great things and enrich people’s lives. I am good at the video game Threes This morning on a red-eye home from Seattle, I finally got a 6144 tile, beating my previous Threes high…

Keytarist Does Amazing Things To Sonic‘s Green Hill Zone Music 

The flashing colored lights. The energy. The majesty of the keytar. Rush Coil’s Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill keytar performance is my new inspirational jam. I’m not being facetious. I am not poking fun. I’ve watched this video a dozen times since former co-conspirator Owen Good posted the video on Polygon yesterday, and it keeps…

My Five Favorite Kotaku Stories From Last Week

August is nearly over, and what do we have to show for it? Among other things, another week of good Kotaku stories. I recommend reading (or in some cases viewing) these: Well, The Witcher 3 Sure Proved A Point – Shrewd news analysis by Luke: “In many ways, a game like The Witcher 3 doesn’t…

World of Warcraft Addon Changes Questing Radically

One of the most popular new addons for World of Warcraft right now is something refreshing: It’s called “Storyline” and it fully revamps the quest UI by changing it to an interactive experience. While the questing framework in WoW has improved a lot over the years, it always remained a wall of text sort of…

In June, designer Karolin Gu started drawing one Pokémon a day, posting the results on Instagram in what she calls “The Tiny Monsters” series. She’s currently at Tentacool, ie. #72, and plans to eventually draw every Pokémon in existence. Only a few hundred more to go! You can follow her progress here Thanks to Tianlin…

There’s a Live-Action Attack on Titan TV Miniseries. It Sucks.

I don’t know why I expected otherwise… As part of the live-action adaptation of the immensely popular people vs. giants series, Attack on Titan, there is a three-part TV mini-series currently available in Japan on demand. Titled Attack on Titan: Signal of the Counterattack (進撃の巨人 反撃の狼煙), the series acts as something of a supplemental side…

Final Fantasy Agito Is Dying, But Will Be Reborn

Today, Square Enix announced that free-to-play mobile title Final Fantasy Agito is shutting down. But don’t fret, this isn’t the end of Agito. Originally, the “Agito” named first, years ago, was a FFXIII spin-off title that later became Final Fantasy Type-0—but the name was resurrected for Final Fantasy Agito, which launched on iOS and Android…