The Harvard + Stanford Genius Story Is Bullshit [Update]

The Korean media dubbed Sara Kim the “Genius Girl.” A young math whiz so brilliant that two elite universities, Harvard and Stanford, offered her dual admissions. Her father, an exec at Korean game company Nexon, must have been proud! Other people, however, were suspicious. Update: 6/12/16 – 4:00am. We’ve now also been able to directly…

Old Yakuza Are Tough as Nails in Beat Takeshi’s New Movie

Once a yakuza… Always a yakuza. From comedian, actor, director, and generational phenomenon, Takeshi Kitano (aka “Beat” Takeshi) is a new movie of generational conflict between old-school Japanese gangsters and current-generation scam gangs. Titled Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen, the movie focuses on a retired Japanese mafia member, Ryuzo, who is taken in by one…

GTA Truck Pulls Off Crazy Stunt, Sticks Landing

I’ve seen my share of fancy sports cars making ridiculous flips in GTA V. But I’ve never seen anything like this. The video above showcases a fantastic stunt jump performed by BlackSmoke Billy. Essentially, the semi grabs some air, the trailer unit detaches from the cargo and makes a front flip on its own, lands,…

David Cap does a very good Dragonborn. Photos by York in a Box

New York, You Look…Different

Michel Kooper is a veteran environment artist who has worked on games like Crysis 3, Homefront 2 and Ryse. He’s also helped out on that amazing Warhammer 40K fan movie, The Lord Inquisitor You can see more of Michel’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their…

Driving Game Turns You Into A Bloodthirsty Car Murderer

BeamNG.drive is a driving game with racetracks and rally courses and real-looking cars and the veneer of respectability. But it’s really just about murdering cars. Sure, you might race around a track or two—the game includes actual racecourses—and find that in its Early Access state these events are a little empty, a little boring. But…

Hi Riku

Riku—one of the best pieces of character/costume design to come out of the Nomura era— cosplay needs to make a more serious comeback. Hopefully AlyCatcan lead the charge. Photos by Douglas Chapin

The Real Mirror’s Edge

How to bring Mirror’s Edge to life: lift some visual cues and sound bytes from the game, stick a GoPro on your head and run around some rooftops like a maniac. Done. OK, so maybe that’s under-selling it a bit. Even with the effects work done around the edges, this is still some impressive parkour,…

Xbox 360 Emulation Is Coming Along

This is a video of 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360. Running on a PC. Well, “running”. As you can see, it’s a mess. But that’s not the point. The point here is that the team working on the Xeniaemulator are making good progress, and it’s progress that, however slight it seems in 2015,…

How Riot Made Teemo The Biggest Troll Champion In League Of Legends

The devil is real, and his name is Teemo. You’ll know him by the trail of poisonous mushrooms he leaves in his wake. You know what I’m talking about, right? These mushrooms: League of Legends developer Riot published an interviewtoday between Jeff Jew, Colt Hallam, and Brandon Beck—a designer, producer, and CEO at the company,…

Ambitious New Vegas Modders Rush To Finish Before Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is a real thing finally, and Fallout players are insanely excited about it. The team behind Fallout: Project Brazil doesn’t have much time left. They have to beat it to release. Project Brazil is a massive story mod for Fallout: New Vegas that includes its own campaign set in San Bernardino, California and…

One Year Later, Did Microsoft (And Friends) Keep Their E3 2014 Promises?

The gaming year’s biggest planned spectacle, E3, happens next week, which means that it’s time for us at Kotaku to once again check what the big console makers promised at E3 a year ago. Let’s see how Microsoft did. The Xbox maker had a simultaneously humble and aspirational press conference last June. They thanked fans…