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ReviewsPlayStationDemon’s Souls: The Kotaku Review
Demon’s Souls, released last Thursday for the PlayStation 5, is a monumental achievement for developer Bluepoint Games. While the From Software original on PlayStation 3 was already considered one of the best games of all time, Bluepoint’s acted like a tumbler, sanding away the 2009 cult classic’s rough edges and leaving behind a beautiful, next-generation…
By Ian Walker Published November 17, 2020 -
CultureAnimal Crossing‘s Winter Update Brings New Hair, More Storage, And Save Data Transfers
Along with the expected Turkey Day and Toy Day seasonal celebrations, the free winter update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, launching November 19, adds 800 more slots of home storage, a bunch of new emotes and hairstyles, and the long-awaited ability to transfer save data between systems. Why celebrate Thanksgiving by traveling and risking getting…
By Mike Fahey Published November 17, 2020 -
ReviewsToysLego Super Mario Kicks Off 2021 With A Bunch Of New Sets
The already expansive Lego Super Mario line expands even more come January 1, with the launch of a new series of character packs, Tanuki and Penguin Mario power-up packs, three new expansions, and a new creative toolbox called the Master Your Adventure Maker Set. Now that kids of all ages have figured out how to…
By Mike Fahey Published November 17, 2020 -
CultureMorning MusicSega CD Silpheed Was Largely Just Spectacle, But That’s Okay
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. I was hoping to write a quickie today, but Silpheed is so interesting that wouldn’t have done it justice. Ready to blast off? (Spaceship metaphor.) When I was a kid my shit-filters weren’t yet calibrated, so…
By Alexandra Hall Published November 17, 2020 -
Kotaku EastJapanTurning A PlayStation 5 Into A Yu-Gi-Oh! Character
When the PlayStation 5 was first shown, fans had a good time ribbing it for the console’s looks. In particular were those who made comparisons with Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh! Note the high, white collar and the black shirt. The character does look like a PlayStation 5—or maybe, a PlayStation 5 looks like Seto Kaiba.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 17, 2020 -
Kotaku EastJapanAn Excellent EarthBound Jacket With Nintendo History
Next February, an EarthBound (aka Mother 2) embroidered jacket will go on sale in Japan. This type of jacket is called a sukajan (スカジャン), which are very much Japanese—yet their American roots and influence are undeniable. The tops appeared in Japan during the Post War Occupation. American troops began getting Japanese designs sewn into their…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 17, 2020 -
CultureTrack: The Private Psychedelic Reel | Artist: The Chemical Brothers | Album: Dig Your Own Hole
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 17, 2020 -
CultureSuper Mario Sunshine Gets GameCube Controller Support In Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Super Mario 3D All-Stars was already pretty great, but a new update adds a feature that players have been clamoring for since its release last September: GameCube controller support in Super Mario Sunshine In addition to inverted controls across all three games, today’s Super Mario 3D All-Stars patch makes it so that you can play…
By Ian Walker Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureTwitchTwitch’s Digital Convention Was A Day-Long Commercial That Left Streamers Feeling Frustrated
Its location, size, and Pokimane pizza lines have varied, but since 2015, Twitch has hosted some form of convention every year. 2020 is not like other years, to put it mildly. Of all activities people could choose to perform in our pandemic-stricken nation right now, conventions might actually be the most out of the question.…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsDear Sony, Here’s Our PlayStation 5 Wishlist
The PlayStation 5 is officially out. It’s a tremendous boon for progress, a near-universal step above its predecessor, the PlayStation 4 (well, if you can look past the performance issues of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate). Still, the new user interface could use some improvements. Seeing as it’s the season for making wishlists, we at Kotaku thought…
By Ari Notis Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsHuh, Puma Has Some New Nintendo Sneakers, And They’re Alright
I’m not normally a Puma guy, and had some not very nice things to say about their recent Super Mario collab, but the two companies are pressing on with more sneakers, and some of them are OK! There are a ton of new pairs coming, and while not all of them are what I’d call…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureGoodbye To The Xbox One, The Most Pointless Console I Have Ever Owned
I moved house last year, and while packing everything away my wife and I made a simple rule: if anything was still in its box 12 months later, we would get rid of it, because that meant we never used it and didn’t need it. Last month, I sold my Xbox One. I remember lining…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFuser Is A Good Game, But An Amazing Music Creation Tool
Fuser isn’t Rock Band Blitz 2 or a new Amplitude. Instead, it’s a rhythm game about creating new music using classic and modern hits. It’s a joy to play, even when you make some truly awful stuff. Released last week, Fuser is developed by Harmonix, the studio behind popular music games like Rock Band, Guitar…
By Zack Zwiezen Published November 16, 2020 -
ReviewsVideo GamesCall Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: The Kotaku Review
Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launched on November 13 across multiple platforms, marking the first Call of Duty title to support cross-gen crossplay. Even during a pandemic and a shortened development cycle, we get all the Black Ops goodness we could expect from a Treyarch Call of Duty. There’s a paranoid-filled campaign with…
By S.E. Doster Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureNext-Gen Consoles Keep Crashing, But No Single Issue Seems Widespread
There’s nothing more frustrating than spending half a grand on a video game console and having it start failing within the first week, but that’s the exact problem facing several early PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X adopters. Since the next-gen machines arrived last week, social media has been inundated with anecdotes of them crashing…
By Ian Walker Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureWelcome To The Last Generation, A Look Back At Seven Years Of Video Games
Since November 2013 a lot of what we do here, and a lot of what you play at home, has revolved around two video game platforms: the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. As we’ve welcomed both console’s successors in the last week, first the Xbox Series X and then the PlayStation 5, now seems…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 16, 2020 -
OpinionAsk KotakuDid You Have A Gaming Buddy Growing Up?
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: Did you have a gaming buddy growing up? Ash I’m lucky in that I’ve had a lot of close friends I can call up to hop…
By Alexandra Hall Published November 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOnly One Of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Bonus Quests Is Good
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a big game, filled with things to do, places to go, and gear to collect. To add to this huge pile of stuff, if you pre-ordered the game or purchased the season pass, you get a bit of extra content in the form of extra quests. One of these bonus quests…
By Zack Zwiezen Published November 16, 2020 -
Tips & GuidesHow To Share Games Between Accounts On Your PlayStation 5
These days, with downloadable games being the norm, sharing your games isn’t as easy as handing your friend a disc. Maybe you’ve run into a situation on your PlayStation 4 where, even though a game is downloaded on your machine, you can’t play it, since the license is technically owned by a different user. The…
By Ari Notis Published November 16, 2020 -
CultureYour PS5 May Be Playing The PS4 Version Of Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Download bugs and weird defaults are making it a pain for some people to get the PS5 to install and play the next-gen version of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. As first reported by Eurogamer over the weekend, PS5 players with the Cross-Gen bundle or Ultimate Editions of the latest Call of Duty…
By Ethan Gach Published November 16, 2020