The Fraught History Of The Sims Introducing Same-Sex Romance Options

In design documents for the very first Sims game, renowned programmer Don Hopkins wrote that anyone offended by the game having same-sex romance needs to “needs to grow up and get a life.” According to a New Yorker article, programmer Patrick J. Barrett III added same-sex romance to the game without much input from anyone…

The Kyoto Animation Studio Was About More Than Just Anime

Back in April 2006, as an American living in Osaka, I had only been working here at Kotaku for a few months when a new anime took the internet by storm. At that time, cosplayers at otaku events across Japan were dressing up as the lead character in Kyoto Animation’s latest show, The Melancholy of…

Pick Up That Can

Alex Nice is an artist who has worked on stuff like Pacific Rim and John Wick 3 You can see more of Alex’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page

Nike Is Making Official Spongebob Squarepants Sneakers [Update]

While some of Nike’s recent pop-culture tie-ins have merely been inspired by something, this upcoming line of Kyries is a full and officially licensed collaboration between the athletics company and…Spongebob Squarepants. [Update: now with official product images] If that seems like an odd partnership, it’s actually a fairly predictable fit for Walking Galaxy Brain Meme…

Streamer Tries To Test PUBG Bug, Accidentally Lands Shot Of A Lifetime

Sometimes, there’s just no point in trying—for instance, when you’ve got to nail a shot on a target that’s several football fields’ worth of space away. Luckily for Twitch streamer Jake “ChocoTaco” Throop, he wasn’t trying at all. Or at least, he wasn’t trying to do that particular thing. Throop just wanted to demonstrate a…

Ignored By Nintendo, Brazilian Fans Film Their Own Nintendo Direct

If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself. As USGamer reports, a group of Brazilian Nintendo fans, fed up with the way the company has withdrawn from the market (which has left them paying big import prices for games and hardware), decided to team up and record their own Nintendo Direct. Led by…

In Dustnet, You Explore The Ruins Of One Of Video Games’ Most Beloved Maps

Even within the internet’s vast digital memory, nothing is guaranteed to last—especially not games. Maybe a company runs out of money and has to cut the cord. Or maybe disinterest turns servers into ghost towns, with not even a pixelated tumbleweed in sight. Dustnet takes the latter idea to its utmost extreme, positing a world…

Announced at Marvel’s games panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the first chapter in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 paid season pass is Marvel Knights, starring Moon Knight and three other guys. The other two chapters feature the Fantastic Four and X-Men, though not Colossus or Cyclops. Those two come to the game for free on…

Permadeath Doesn’t Matter If You Have Enough Save Files

From XCOM to Fire Emblem, it feels bad to watch your team die in a tactical game. It’s way better to save a million times so that you can re-do part of a battle to keep everyone alive. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, Kirk and I brought on Gita Jackson to talk about Fire Emblem:…

Apex Legends Will Make Cheaters Play Against Each Other

Since launching in February, battle royale Apex Legends has suffered its share of cheaters. Some are even making good money developing cheats for players to use. The game’s developers recently detailed some of the steps it’s taking to squash cheating, including a new system that will match known cheaters into the same games. Cheating is…

Please Let Me Buy Individual Joy-Cons To Mix And Match

Earlier this week Nintendo announced two new sets of Joy-Cons that will release in October. Once they’re out, the Switch will have over 100 different color combinations, an impressive number of options even by the standards of the most devoted Nintendo fan. But the Joy-Cons are still only sold in pairs, making true customization an…

In Night Call, You’re A Taxi Driver Who Has To Find A Killer

There’s a serial killer on the loose in Paris. The taxi that you drive is running low on gas, the police detective in your back seat is strong-arming you into gathering information, and if you don’t make rent, you’re gonna end up on the streets. This is Night Call, a slice-of-life mystery game that mixes…

Fake GTA Online Money Streams Are Popping Up Ahead Of Casino Update

Grand Theft Auto Online’s upcoming casino update has a lot of players hoping for expensive cars, new clothing items and lots of other things to buy. Some scammers are taking advantage of players’ excitement using fake online streams claiming to drop in-game money, sometimes in exchange for real money donations. Money drop streams aren’t a…

EVE Online Feels Empty After In-Game Event Hides Players In Chat

Parts of EVE Online have changed radically in the last week, altering the way that some people play the game. Typically, when a player’s ship enters a star system, they’re added to a shared chat channel called “Local.” This channel provides a list of every player who is in the star system, as well as…