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CultureKonami, Please, This Is Excruciating
Euro 2020, the planet’s biggest football tournament outside the World Cup itself, was supposed to take place last year. It was instead postponed to this Summer for obvious reasons, and to celebrate, Konami’s official PES version of the tournament will begin by featuring…woefully inaccurate and/or out-of-date rosters. PES 2020’s Euro 2020 update, which was actually…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureA PS3 Version Of Gears Of War 3 Is Now Available
A build of Gears of War 3 that was developed by Epic as a way to test Unreal Engine 3 on the PlayStation 3 has been released online, letting anyone with a debug PS3 play the Xbox exclusive on Sony’s home console. Twitter user and digital archivist PixelButts celebrated the 10th anniversary of Epic creating…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureRatchet & Clank: Rift Apart Comes With A Huge List Of Accessibility Options
When Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart arrives on PlayStation 5 next month, it’ll do so with an extensive suite of accessibility options, designed to help folks enjoy the game no matter their personal limitations. “Insomniac Games is dedicated to creating games that have a positive and lasting influence on people’s lives,” the studio said on…
By Ian Walker Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryTeens Rescued My Pink Gamer Chair After It Fell Out Of A Truck, And I Died Of Embarrassment
Ka-thunk. I knew exactly what the sound meant, though I could barely believe it. I was in the process of moving, and I was driving a small handful of my belongings—including my (and my cat’s) pink gamer chair—to my new place in a U-Haul truck. Except the chair wasn’t in the truck anymore. It was…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 20, 2021 -
OpinionI Thought Resident Evil Village’s Dollhouse Was A Chill Time, Actually
The internet has been filled with folks sharing their thoughts about the dollhouse section in Resident Evil Village. Many call it scary or even terrifying. But, I didn’t find the location all that scary at all. In fact, I found the whole section rather calming and even fun. After you arrive in the titular village,…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureBlazing Strike Is A New, Old-School 2D Fighter
Because there’s no such thing as too many anime-inspired 2D fighting games, Aksys and RareBreed Makes Games just announced Blazing Strike, an homage to classic pixel-art fighters with modern game mechanics that’ll hopefully make it play as good as it looks. The passion project of solo developer Mark “RareBreed” Chung, Blazing Strike started life as…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureOverwatch 2 Will Only Have Five Players Per Team
Today, during an Overwatch 2 PVP livestream, Aaron Keller, Overwatch’s new game director taking over for Blizzard veteran Jeff Kaplan, announced that teams in Overwatch 2‘s PVP will be reduced from six players to five. “Overwatch has changed over time. We’ve gone from having no hero limits…to having a hero limit. We ended up introducing…
By Ash Parrish Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureJedi Outcast Is The Latest Classic To Get Ray Tracing
After teasing the project for months, self-described “ray tracing addict” Zyanide is finally ready to share his work adding the computationally intensive lighting technology to 2002’s Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. And gosh, it’s as impressive as the game’s title is awkward. While ray tracing brings obvious aesthetic benefits to Jedi Outcast’s lightsaber-heavy…
By Ian Walker Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureFinal Fantasy XIV Players Mourn Berserk Creator’s Death With Touching Tribute
Kentaro Miura, creator of seminal dark-fantasy manga Berserk, died on May 6 of an aortic dissection. When his death was made public on May 19, Final Fantasy XIV players paid tribute with spontaneous memorials honoring Miura, Berserk, and its impact on the Final Fantasy franchise itself. Miura’s work deeply influenced the Final Fantasy franchise so…
By Ash Parrish Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureValheim Was Made By 5 People And Sold Nearly 7 Million Copies
It’s a good year to be a Viking. Embracer Group, the Swedish video game holding company formerly known as THQ Nordic, released a financial report today showing that early access game Valheim has sold 6.8 million copies so far, with Embracer expecting it to sell up to 8 million copies in total by the summer.…
By Jonathan Lee Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureCall of Duty Mid-Season Update Adds ’80s Action Heroes, Die Hard‘s Nakatomi Plaza
Call of Duty’s mid-season “Reloaded” update has arrived for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, bringing Sylvester Stallone’s iconic John Rambo as an operator and some much-needed Zombies content and weapon tuning. Rambo isn’t alone—Season Three’s ‘80s action theme also includes the introduction of John McClane from Die Hard. (I believe the proper response to…
By S.E. Doster Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureThe Nintendo Download: Shin Miitopia Tiger Trio Xylophone HD
There are 36 games coming to the Nintendo Switch eShop this week. Among those 36 games are the remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, a Switch version of 3DS RPG Miitopia, a puzzle game about sushi-making tigers, and a $10 virtual xylophone. I restarted our weekly posting of The Nintendo Download to highlight some…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryReturnal Converted Me To 3D Audio
Returnal, a PlayStation 5 action game about dancing with death at an inescapable time-loop space rave, is a visual delight. It’s also an aural one. And at no time is that more apparent than when you play with a pair of 3D audio headphones. Let me put it this way: Before I picked up Returnal,…
By Ari Notis Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureNi No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Is Coming To Switch
A version of Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom that includes both expansions is coming to Switch on September 17, Bandai Namco announced today. The role-playing game was previously only playable on PlayStation 4 and PC. First released in 2018, Ni No Kuni II is set centuries after the original, but wipes the slate clean…
By Ari Notis Published May 20, 2021 -
ReviewsToysLego Celebrates Diversity With A Rainbow Of Minifigures
Going on sale on June 1, “Everyone is Awesome” is a 346-piece Lego set meant to celebrate the diversity of Lego fans and the world around them. It features 11 faceless monochrome minifigures arranged in the colors of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow flag. It’s a bit on-the-nose, but I dig it. According to the video accompanying…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2021 -
Kotaku EastSouth KoreaSouth Korean Politician Wants To Protect Esports Leagues From Sudden Shutdown
In order to protect esports players and fans from the mercy of companies, South Korean Congressman Dong-su Yoo has proposed a bill to prevent esports leagues from being suddenly shut down unilaterally. Inven Global reports that the bill requires game companies to first make an announcement or even try to switch hosts for the leagues.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 20, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanWoman Arrested For Allegedly Sending Customer Bottled Water Instead Of PS5
Ikuko Tokuoka, a 41-year-old unemployed woman in Shiga, Japan has been arrested for fraud after allegedly sending a customer two bottles of water instead of a PlayStation 5. FNN reports that another woman had purchased the PS5 from the suspect for around 65,000 yen ($596) earlier this year. The PS5 arrived cash on delivery, but…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureTimesplitters Is Coming Back
Classic shooter series Timesplitters, which hasn’t seen a new release since 2005, will be coming back after publisher Deep Silver announced the creation of a new (well, kinda new) development studio dedicated to working on the series. It’s not an entirely new studio, though. Deep Silver is “reforming” original developers Free Radical Design, who shut…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureKentaro Miura, Creator Of The Berserk Manga, Dies Aged 54
On May 6, Kentaro Miura died from acute aortic dissection. The editorial department of Young Animal Comics announced the news today through the official Berserk Twitter account. One of the best-selling manga of all time, Berserk debuted in 1989, with an eighth volume slated to be released this summer (Eds note: this is the Dark…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 20, 2021 -
CultureTime For A Little Golf Journey, Just Some Chill Golf, No Stress
Actual golf can be super stressful, but video game golf? It’s often (with exceptions) very zen, which is why I’m interested in A Little Golf Journey, a game coming to the Switch and PC later this summer. It’s just you, a ball, the hole, some trees and some some relaxing piano. No commentary, no sponsors,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 19, 2021