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CultureHow’s It Going?: Snakes Edition
Oh dear, it’s Monday again. Welcome back to our daily open thread. This weekend I read Salvation on Sand Mountain, a book about snake handlers. It might be the first time I read about a religion without at least briefly wondering what my life would be like if I joined it. I haven’t seen a…
By Riley MacLeod Published July 13, 2020 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Samurai Simulator 2020
This week, Ghost of Tsushima releases. This is one of the last big PS4 exclusives left before the PS5 comes out. I’m excited to play Ghost of Tsushima, but I’m going to hold off. I’m still finishing up Last of Us Part 2 and have to deal with moving and packing over the next few…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 13, 2020 -
CultureThe latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator is launching on August 18 on PC. The standard edition, with 20 planes and 30 airports, will be part of Xbox Game Pass for PC. The $90 deluxe edition has 25 planes and 35 airports. The $120 premium deluxe edition has 30 planes and 40 airports. I have…
By Mike Fahey Published July 13, 2020 -
ReviewsToysHasbro Is Making A 26-Inch, $350 X-Men Sentinel Figure
On Friday Hasbro launched a crowdfunding campaign for one of the most requested big-budget X-Men toys ever—a large-scale version of the iconic mutant-hunting sentinel robot. The company was looking for 6,000 backers to pledge $350 each to get the 26.34-inch figure made. It was funded in a day. It took Hasbro’s HasLab crowdfunding platform several…
By Mike Fahey Published July 13, 2020 -
AnimeJapan Sinks Is Grim But Relevant
This was supposed to be Japan’s year. The Olympics were to be held in Tokyo, and the whole world was going to turn its eyes to Japan. Things didn’t work out that way. The anime Japan Sinks feels like a reminder of that fact. Note: This review contains spoilers. Within the first few minutes of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2020 -
CultureLooks Like Lego’s Making A Brick-Built NES That Plays Mario On A Retro TV [Update: It’s Real]
Chinese website VJ Gamer (via Resetera) has uploaded a series of photos of what looks like Lego set 71374, a 2,646 brick recreation of a Nintendo Entertainment System complete with controller, cartridge, and a retro TV set that plays Super Mario Bros. when a crank on the side is turned. I’d buy it. While there’s…
By Mike Fahey Published July 13, 2020 -
CultureTrack: Prisoners | Artist: Doves | Album: The Universal Want
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2020 -
UncategorizedGiant Gundam Will Be Built In China
Next year, a one-to-one scale Freedom Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed will be erected in Shanghai. This is the first official life-sized Gundam to be built outside Japan. However, it’s not the first life-sized one to go up in China. Way back in 2009, a totally unofficial (and orange!) giant Gundam knock-off statue went…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2020 -
CultureThe upcoming Monster Hunter movie with Milla Jovovich has been delayed from September 4 to April 23, 2021. According to Deadline, if Los Angeles shuts down again next month, the August release schedule will move to the fall and reopening theaters would take time.
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2020 -
CultureFar Cry 6 Is Set On An Island Nation Inspired By Cuba
After some leaks earlier this week, Far Cry 6 got a proper reveal during today’s Ubisoft Forward event. It stars Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian) as the main villain, Anton, who is the ruthless dictator of a fictional small-island country heavily inspired by Cuba. (It is also set in the modern day, which means…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFour Hours With Watch Dogs: Legion, A Game That Might Be Too Timely For Its Own Good
Bands of protesters begging apathetic passersby to rise up. Officers detaining and brutalizing people, seemingly without cause. Fresh graffiti alluding to a dizzying array of injustices: xenophobia, the surveillance state, war. The first thing that struck me about Watch Dogs: Legion is that, despite a multi-year development cycle and a futuristic setting, its open-world city…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureEverything Ubisoft Announced Today During Its Not-E3 Event
Today, Ubisoft hosted its not-E3 event, “Ubisoft Forward.” Though the event was ostensibly about games, it was impossible to ignore the recent upheaval surrounding the French publisher. Last night, three high-profile figures—Serge Hascoët, Ubisoft’s chief creative officer; Cécile Cornet, the global head of human resources; and Yannis Mallat, the head of Ubisoft Canada—departed the company…
By Ari Notis Published July 12, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsEverything We Learned About Assassin’s Creed Valhalla After Playing It
Last Tuesday, I played a preview build of this fall’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for three hours by streaming it directly from one of Ubisoft’s computers. That’s how Ubisoft is doing E3-style previews this summer. It’s useful. Three hours is a lot of time to spend with a game that’s not even out yet, but it’s…
By Ethan Gach Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureToday, Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla will be releasing on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia on November 17. The company also confirmed that previously delayed Watch Dogs: Legion will release on the same platforms on October 29. Both will be released on next-gen consoles in the future.
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
UncategorizedUbisoft is ready to show off the new Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, and other new games. You can watch the Ubisoft Forward stream on YouTube or Twitch We’ve embedded the YouTube stream below. The preshow starts at 2:30 PM ET and the full showcase begins at 3 PM ET.
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureShop Contest‘Shop Contest: Digital Giancarlo Esposito
Oops! Far Cry 6 has leaked a little bit ahead of the official reveal, which is happening later today. Now we know that Giancarlo Esposito is the bad guy. So let’s have some fun with this digital Esposito! Your challenge this week: Add digital Giancarlo Espositio to video games. Let’s try to stick to games…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureHow’s It Going?: Packing Edition
Annnnddd….we…are…live!! Kotaku’s daily open thread is ready. Come on in and chat about how things are going, how you are doing, or anything else. At the end of this month, my GF and I are moving. I’ve mentioned this a few times before in previous posts, but now that we are about two weeks away,…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureUbisoft Says It Won’t Address Misconduct Issues During Today’s Digital Showcase
Ubisoft’s big gaming showcase event today will be full of hype for upcoming Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry releases, but it won’t mention the stream of allegations, resignations and overall upheaval happening as a result of weeks of reports about sexual misconduct across many parts of the publisher. A tweet posted on the company’s official…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureSunday Comics: I Have To Be There!
Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published July 9. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published July 6. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…
By Zack Zwiezen Published July 12, 2020 -
CultureTop Ubisoft Executives Out Amid Allegations Of Company-Wide Misconduct
Serge Hascoët has resigned as Ubisoft’s chief creative officer after weeks of damning accounts of sexual misconduct throughout the company’s various studios, according to a Saturday evening press release. Yannis Mallat, the powerful head of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios, is also out effective immediately, as is the company’s global head of human resources Cécile Cornet. Hascoët…
By Ian Walker Published July 11, 2020