How’s It Going? Chillin’ Edition

Who doesn’t love a simple game you can lose yourself in for hours? Welcome back to our daily open thread. While I do love a big-budget blockbuster game with lifelike graphics and complex moral themes, sometimes all I want is the right combination of music, some stylized art, and gameplay that doesn’t take much more…

Xbox Boss Appears In Animal Crossing, Discusses Halo Delay

The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, took to the popular Animal Crossing talk show hosted by former PC Gamer Editor-in-Chief Gary Whitta last night to chat about Halo: Infinite’s delay, next-gen hardware, and what makes Nintendo such a special company in the gaming industry. Spencer had already been slated to appear on Whitta’s Animal Talking…

Jumping Flash! 2 Is One Of PlayStation’s Most Pleasant Listens

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s new, daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re listening to Exact’s Jumping Flash! 2 for the PlayStation. Mind the exclamation point! A lot of U.S. folks will remember the first Jumping Flash! as the best demo included on the PlayStation Picks…

VR Boxing Is More Fun When Punching Rocky In The Nuts

When doing the training session in PlayStation VR game Creed: Rise To Glory, take a few potshots at Rocky Balboa in the face and in the nards. The sound effects are excellent as is Rocky’s look of disappointment.

The official Mother (Earthbound) merch Twitter announced that on August 17 it will be making an announcement. Previously reveals have been goods-related so expect the same here.

The Anti-Mask Protesters And Covid-Deniers In Tokyo

In pre-pandemic Japan, mask-wearing was a way of life. If you got sick, the polite thing to do was wear a mask to avoid wearing infecting others. If you were suffering from seasonal allergies, you would don a mask to help protect yourself. Mask wearing was not uncommon. Even before covid, it was normal and…

The Art Of Ghost Of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima isn’t just a pretty game, it’s a game that went above and beyond trying to be as faithful to a foreign culture as the developers could manage. And few were as important to that brief as the art team. They did an amazing job, earning praise not just from critics, but from…

I’m Better At Fall Guys When Blasting Death Grips

I prefer games that don’t require much auditory attention so that I can listen to music while I play. Fall Guys is perfect for this since I can grind out match after match and not really miss out on anything. And while I generally prefer softer fare like The Mountain Goats or Phoebe Bridgers, I’ve…

The Root ‘Billie Holiday Is Probably One of Our First Civil Rights Leaders’: Lee Daniels Discusses His Upcoming Biopic at The Root Institute | Gizmodo These Are Some of the Rarest Creatures Ever Caught on Camera | Lifehacker 10 Film Classics That Will Make You Love Black & White Movies | Jalopnik The 911 Targa…

Final Fantasy XIV‘s Latest Patch is Surprisingly Full of Hope

After waiting through COVID-related delays, the newest patch of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is finally available. Reflections of Crystal has had heavy expectations placed on it, with the patch’s trailer teasing the post-Shadowbringers storyline hurtling towards a well-earned conclusion, backed by the consistently excellent writing we’ve seen since the expansion’s release last year. But patch…

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 Renames Trick To Properly Honor Its Deaf Creator

While the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater remasters are pretty similar to the original games apart from a fresh coat of paint, a longstanding trick has had its name changed to better honor the man who invented it. In skateboarding—both real and virtual—a “Mute Air” is when you grab the front of your board with…

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2‘s Two-Minute Warehouse Demo Is Damn Good

The warehouse level demo for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is pretty bare bones. It’s just one skater, Tony Hawk, running two minute sessions through the remake’s version of the very first level from the original THPS. It immediately and without fanfare answers the question “Is this a good Tony Hawk game?” Yes…

Delisted Scott Pilgrim Game Still MIA, Frustrating Creators And Fans

Although beloved independent comic book Scott Pilgrim concluded in July 2010, it received film and video game adaptations shortly afterward that firmly lodged the series in mainstream pop culture. The movie is fine, but the game is considered a lost gem due to its delisting from digital storefronts only a few years post-release. Now, on…

Existing Copies Of Control Won’t Be Upgradable To The Next-Gen Console Versions

We were so close to cross-gen game upgrades being a simple and painless ordeal across the board, but now 505 Games has gone and announced that while Control is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, people who already own the current version of the game will need to buy it again on next-gen. The…

Ringer Alert: Overwatch League Free Agents Can Now Compete In Playoffs

Now that the pandemic’s torpedoed all of Blizzard’s plans for the Overwatch League 2020 season, the League’s head office is making significant changes to its roster construction rules ahead of the 2020 Playoff season. “The League Office has established the following guidelines in place for roster construction, which includes significant changes to contract lengths and…

Destiny 2’s Solstice Of Heroes Grind Is Back And Oh God Why

Hello darkness my old friend, please just give me the cool-looking Destiny 2 armor before I get too angry, tired, and full of regret. Destiny 2 has all sorts of grinds, but the annual Solstice of Heroes event has always felt uniquely pernicious to me. It’s supposed to be an end of year victory lap…