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CultureReport: Microsoft Wants To Buy Discord For “Over $10 Billion”
Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft is one of several companies “in talks” to purchase chat and community platform Discord, for a price said to be in excess of $10 billion. The report says Microsoft is “in the running”, but that talks are continuing and no deal has yet been made. It’s not clear who those…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsHalf-Life & BioShock Come Together In A Very Strange Mod
Return to Rapture is a “campaign” made for Half-Life: Alyx that takes Valve’s star and drops her into the completely unrelated first-person world of 2007’s BioShock There’s a “plot” to explain this—basically, the Combine have found Rapture—but in essence you’ll be using the same controls and VR stuff you did in Alyx, against the same…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 22, 2021 -
OpinionMy New Xbox Elite Controller Has A Long Shortcoming
Having used an Elite controller on my PC almost every single day for years, it finally started showing signs of serious wear and tear, so last week I got an Elite Series 2 controller. I am mostly happy with it, but there’s one bizarre shortcoming with its interchangeable sticks that has me stumped. The original…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureA Pikmin Game Is Coming To Phones
Nintendo and Niantic, the same pair behind mobile juggernaut Pokemon Go, are going to release a new augmented reality game later this year that’s all about Pikmin It’s going to launch “globally later in 2021″, and doesn’t even have a name at this point. Indeed all we know is that it’ll use Pikmin and augmented…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureGlobal Chip Shortage, Affecting Everything From PS5s To Graphics Cards, Is Becoming A “Crisis”
While anyone reading this will know it has been hard finding a PS5 lately, loads of other markets are experiencing shortages as well, thanks to a global “crisis” affecting the supply of semiconductor chips to—well—anything that uses them. And that’s a lot of stuff. As The Guardian reports, while the supply of chips should be…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureRIP, Xbox Live (2002-2021)
The name “Xbox Live” is dead. You’ll still be able to play Xbox games online, but the suite of Xbox’s online services will now be known as “Xbox network,” Microsoft confirmed today to The Verge This morning, many Xbox users noticed a small change on the the Xbox dashboard. While uploading a screenshot to Xbox…
By Ari Notis Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryGenshin Impact Won’t Let Me Spend Money Anymore, And I’m Finally Free
I have a complicated relationship with Genshin Impact. I adore its vast, lovingly handcrafted world and charming characters. I hate how its intertwining systems whisper to me in a million different voices: “Spend money.” But there’s no denying that the system works; to date, I’ve probably spent around $60 on the technically free game. Now,…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 22, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuHave You Ever Successfully Returned To An Ancient Save File?
It’s Monday and time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take. This week we Ask Kotaku: Have you ever successfully returned to an ancient save file? Ethan Short answer: No, it’s never worked. Long answer: Last summer I tried to go back…
By Alexandra Hall Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryFinal Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Is Even More Heartbreaking In French
I do not speak a lick of French, and yet the first thing I did upon (finally) unlocking Heavensward, Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion, was switch to French audio. It was a recommendation of a dear friend who’s further into her first journey through FF14 than I am. Neck-deep in Heavensward’s main story quest, (I…
By Ash Parrish Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureTekken 7’s Newest Fighter Is The Fictional Prime Minister Of Poland
The real prime minister of Poland, 53-year-old Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki, does not look like much of a fighter. Fictional Polish prime minister Lidia Sobieska, joining Tekken 7’s roster on March 23, seems a much more sensible choice. Teased seemingly forever and the subject of a recent Bandai Namco press mailing which included an official invitation…
By Mike Fahey Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureFallout 76‘s 2021 Roadmap Shows More Story Content Coming This Summer
Fallout 76 needs some new content, and based on today’s roadmap players will have to wait until the summer to get it. While welcome new gameplay features and continued quality-of-life improvements are planned throughout the rest of the year, new story quests aren’t coming to Fallout 76 until closer to July at the earliest, based…
By Ethan Gach Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureWhat’s New In Fall Guys Season Four Today
Fall Guys neon-soaked season four is officially out today. The update introduces a number of changes to the platformer royale, including seven new levels: Basketfall: Yes, Fall Guys is getting another team-based ball-tossing mini-game. Didn’t we already learn this lesson with Egg Scramble? Skyline Stumble: Earlier this month, Mediatonic showed off Skyline Stumble as the…
By Ari Notis Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureBreath Of The Wild Mod Aims To Add A Whole New Story Expansion
Breath of the Wild has gotten quite a few mods over the years, but few with the scope and ambition of Second Wind, a story-based expansion adding new characters, side-quests, and bosses. “Second Wind is a large-scale expansion for Breath of the Wild that aims to add new content to the game in a similar…
By Ethan Gach Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureSteam Flat-Out Refuses To Sell Sleazy Pick-Up Game Super Seducer 3
The third game in dating guru and author Richard La Ruina’s Super Seducer series of full-motion-video dating sims will not be releasing on Steam, because the service does not “ship sexually explicit images of real people,” just tons and tons of anime porn. After weeks of back-and-forth between La Ruina and Steam, much of which…
By Mike Fahey Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Monster Hunter Rise Arrives
Get your big sword ready, we going monster hunting this week in Monster Hunter Rise, releasing for Switch on March 26. One day I’ll play a Monster Hunter game for more than 40 minutes. Probably. They do look neat and I know loads of people who have fun with them. But none have clicked with…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureMorning MusicFamicom Graffiti‘s Metroid Remix Kills, But Oh Dear, That One Zelda Track…
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today’s vintage selection from Nintendo has a real unpredictable streak and features one of the best Metroid covers you’ll hear. And, well, other things. Video game soundtrack albums were kind of a wild west in the…
By Alexandra Hall Published March 22, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsThe Incredible Story Of A Trackmania Shortcut 13 Years In The Making
I know almost mothing about Trackmania, but this video about the quest for a particular shortcut is one of the most fascinating video game clips I have ever seen. Put together byTrackmania YouTuber Wirtual, it goes for 18 minutes. I, too, wondered, “What the hell could make this go for 18 minutes, I’ve got stuff…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 21, 2021 -
CultureBomberman Board Game Cancelled, Which Sucks
Of all the video games out there being turned into board games, few are as perfect a fit for the tabletop treatment as Bomberman. So it sucks to hear that, having originally been planned for a 2020 release, IDW and Konami’s Bomberman board game has been cancelled. Designed by Sean McDonald at Tower Games—the same…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 21, 2021 -
CultureAssassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Post-Launch Woes Continue
I loved Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. So much so that, had I been given more time with it during the calendar year, it would have made a serious run for my Game Of 2020. But boy, at the same time, I have not been happy with the support the game has got after launch. The game…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 21, 2021 -
CultureOdds and Ends25 Years Later, Doom II’s Super Shotgun Is Still The Best Video Game Shotgun
Recently, I played through the newer ports of Doom and Doom II. And playing Doom II again, I was reminded of a simple fact: The super shotgun is amazing and is still the best video game shotgun ever made. Doom II’s Xbox One port was one of many Bethesda games that ended up on Game…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 21, 2021