Late Night Walk. Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, Japan. By Butch Smith. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Halo: Reach, As Told By Steam Reviews

Halo: Reach, Bungie’s final entry in its second (of three, so far) series about armored space knights, is finally on PC. People are clearly excited, so much so that they managed to propel it to the third most-played slot on Steam earlier this week. But do they actually like the port? Yes and no. For…

RIP Gamerankings.com

Older heads might remember Gamerankings.com, a site that rounded up reviews from all over the place and gave them an overall aggregated figure out of 100, as a cornerstone of forum arguments the world over back in the day. Sadly, it’s about to close its doors. I’ll be honest: I wasn’t even aware the site…

Amazon Customers Buy Nintendo Switch, Get Sent Condoms, Tambourines, Electric Toothbrushes Instead

There are reports coming out of the UK that at least a dozen people who bought a Nintendo Switch as part of Amazon’s Black Friday sales did not get sent a Nintendo Switch. Instead, they’ve received everything from air freshener to photopolymer resin instead. The Mirror has been rounding up some of the complaints, which…

Snoop Dogg Is Now A Sports Game Commentator

Because why the hell not, Snoop is now an official commentator in EA Sports’ NHL 20 While this might sound like a random event generator got us to this point, there is a reason behind it: Snoop has done actual NHL commentary work in real games, which if you’ve never heard it is wonderful: Here’s…

Goodbye To Cecilia D’Anastasio, Planeswalking Cyber Sleuth And Aspiring Palutena Main

Cecilia D’Anastasio, Kotaku Senior Reporter and resident Overwatchologist, has completed her last sidequest around these parts today and is heading off to new adventures elsewhere. We’d like to wish Cecilia the best as she embarks on the newest chapter in her career and tries to sell a whole new group of strangers on the merits…

I Miss Cheesy Video Game Voice Acting

The decade is coming to a close, year and years of forward progress in design and production having transformed games as we know them. Professional actors fill video game casts and look so realistic that they might as well be right there. It’s a remarkable change, but I’ve gotta say, I miss the hammy voice…

Actually, It’s Good When Video Games Start With Your Character Waking Up

A whole lot of video games begin with your character waking up. It’s one of those things that you can’t stop noticing once you start. Most Zelda games start this way, as well as any number of classic role-playing games like Chrono Trigger. The awakening scene in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a popular meme.…

In Defense Of Hop, The Unlucky Pokémon Rival

I will not hear any more slander about Hop, your rival in Pokémon Sword and Shield Your rivals in the more recent Pokémon games have trended more towards “childhood pal” than the “bigtime assholes” you had to trounce in the older ones. I have strong memories of wanting to just beat the shit out of…

Goodbye

Three years after anime fan Dr. Steve Brule told me in a Kotaku comment to “fuck off” after I wrote the blog “Girls Fight With Their Butts And Boobs In This Wretched New Anime,” finally, I am taking his advice. Thanks, Doc. Today is my last day at Kotaku. I never once imagined that I…

Rocket League Replaces Loot Boxes With Pricey Item Shop [Update]

Rocket League players will no longer have to worry about grinding for new crates and the keys that unlock them in order to get the custom skins they want. But the new alternative will hurt their wallets. Yesterday, Rocket League’s Blueprint update went live, kicking off season 12 and adding a new item shop where…

The State Of PC Gaming In 2019

Sometimes, as borders erode, new fissures form in their wake. In 2019, more games flowed between PC and other platforms than ever before, but a single major division cracked the PC gaming landscape in half. This year’s central throughline was undoubtedly the titanic clash between Valve and Epic, with Epic snatching up every high-profile exclusive…

Alien: Isolation Is Too Frustrating On The Switch’s Small Screen

It’s a meme at this point to say that any given game is better on the Nintendo Switch. It’s often true: Having great games on the go means players can enjoy cult classics and new releases wherever they want. Alien: Isolation is a fantastic horror game, frightening and atmospheric—but it’s an exception to this rule.…