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Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Zimzalabim
Red Velvet, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists of all time, just released their newest title track, Zimzalabim. And it’s… hmm. Part of the reason why I’m so struggling to encapsulate my feelings for Zimzalabim is, I think, because the song is quite literally all over the place. It kind of reminds…
By Seung Park Published June 20, 2019 -
CultureTwitchLeague Of Legends‘ Version Of Auto Chess Has Taken Over Twitch
We have a habit, in the gaming industry, of declaring things “The Year Of ___.” 2013 was The Year Of Luigi. 2014 was The Year Of Luigi’s Death Stare. 2019 is The Year Of Gooigi. However, if Gooigi had not transformed into an unassailable, medium-defining phenomenon, we might also be tempted to call this The…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedYou Can Now Play Mass Effect 2 In First-Person
The Mass Effect games are third-person by design, but that hasn’t stopped LordEmil1 from creating a mod that lets PC gamers play the best of them—Mass Effect 2—from a first-person perspective. You can’t play the whole game like this, as combat isn’t working properly due to clipping issues, but everything else, from wandering to conversations,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedFake Magic: The Gathering Card Names Are Fantastic
Jason Rohrer (Passage, Sleep Is Death) thought it’d be fun to train an AI to create fake Magic: The Gathering card names. It was a good hunch. To do it, he created a database of 18,978 card names, which the AI would then use to jumble all the words up and come up with new…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedFan-Made Half-Life 3 Is Coming Along Nicely
Last year, a group of Half-Life fans announced that they were going to be taking former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw’s Episode 3 synopsis and turning it into an actual game. A year later and things are looking good! The team behind Project Borealis have released this update video that shows all the work they’ve been…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedEA: Our Loot Boxes Are Actually ‘Surprise Mechanics’ That Are ‘Quite Ethical’
Given that 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront II is broadly considered the tipping point in an anti-loot-box conversation that has recently led to a loot box bill in the United States senate, you might be forgiven for thinking that Electronics Arts games have loot boxes. Not so, says its VP of legal and government affairs; they…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedIsabelle Player Proves She Can Take Solid Snake In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Upset
In fighting games, appearances can often be deceiving, but one Super Smash Bros. Ultimate matchup is exactly what it looks like. Solid Snake, the rugged protagonist of “tactical espionage action” franchise Metal Gear, has a clear advantage in many fights, especially when facing the cute Animal Crossing secretary Isabelle. But this lopsided matchup didn’t stop…
By Ian Walker Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedApex Legends Has Dragons Now
There are dragons in Apex Legends. I don’t know why they’re in the game, but they’re pretty cool. As pointed out by PCGamer, dataminers previously found mention of flying enemies in the game’s code. Dragons were also seen at the end of Apex Legends’ Season 2 teaser during EA Play at E3. We’re still a…
By Riley MacLeod Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedWe Quiz Borderlands 3‘s Art Director On Video Game Screenshots
Here’s another dispatch from Tim Rogers at E3 2019. This time, Tim sat down (or kneeled down in this case) with Borderlands 3 art director Scott Kester and tested out just how many games he could identify by their screenshots alone. For more of Tim Rogers at E3, check out this handy YouTube playlist
By Chris Person Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedAssassin’s Creed Odyssey Players Are Creating Custom Quests To Level Up By Doing Nothing
Earlier this month, Ubisoft released a free new Story Creator mode for players of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. It’s a simple tool that lets you stitch together your own original quests in Odyssey using a limited set of options and assets. Yet even in its rudimentary state, you can still add experience and monetary rewards to…
By Joshua Rivera Published June 19, 2019 - Uncategorized
The smart moves for Destiny 2 continue. Starting this fall, Bungie will be converting all of the Eververse armor (the stuff you buy with real money) into Universal Ornaments that can be added to the armor you earn, allowing you to customize gear without worrying about Eververse perks. More on that (and other Eververse changes)…
By Jason Schreier Published June 19, 2019 -
CultureE3Pokémon‘s Creators Tell Us What Kind Of Pokemon Gym They’d Run
I’ve always fantasized about what kind of gym leader I’d be in the world of Pokémon. The series’ producer Junichi Masuda’s and Pokémon Sword and Shield director Shigeru Ohmori’s hypothetical gyms both sound like places I’d want to visit. In Pokémon games, every gym leader specializes in a certain Pokémon type. Misty from Red and…
By Gita Jackson Published June 19, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsRhythm Games Don’t Get Much Simpler And Sweeter Than Muse Dash
Rhythm games can be pretty complicated, twisting players’ fingers into knots as they try to keep track of four to six lanes, each delivering a brutal barrage of notes. PeroPeroGames’ Muse Dash has all the quirk and charm of a DJMax or Superbeat: Xonic, but it controls with just two buttons. Already a hit on…
By Mike Fahey Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedCult Classic Alpha Protocol Removed From Sale On Steam
Obsidian Entertainment’s 2010 spy-thriller Alpha Protocol has been removed from sale on Steam at the “request of the publisher.” According to a Sega representative, rights to publish the cult-classic RPG have expired. While players who previously bought a copy can still access and download the game, it’s unclear when or if it will go back…
By Heather Alexandra Published June 19, 2019 -
CultureSplitscreenThe Ranger Class Is Getting Some Changes In D&D (And Baldur’s Gate 3)
How is Baldur’s Gate 3 going to implement the modern rules of Dungeons & Dragons? Last week in Los Angeles, we sat down with creative director Swen Vincke and D&D head honcho Mike Mearls on a bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen to discuss. One thing you can definitely expect: the ranger is getting some changes.…
By Jason Schreier Published June 19, 2019 -
UncategorizedBody-Bending Dancers Do A Mean Mortal Kombat Routine On America’s Got Talent
A four-man dance squad called Adem Show from the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan put on a breathtaking Mortal Kombat-inspired routine on last night’s episode of America’s Got Talent. The Raiden-like leader manipulating a trio of contortionist ninja is stunning (and often painful) to watch. Judging from the production and staging of the clip posted…
By Mike Fahey Published June 19, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryBloodstained Made Me Fight The Disembodied Head Of My Dog
In Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, you play as a woman who must traverse a labyrinthine castle full of monsters and possessed paintings. That is to be expected: as the spiritual successor to the Castlevania series of games, it faithfully recreates many of that series’ tropes, which include monsters and possessed paintings. That’s normal. Then…
By Joshua Rivera Published June 19, 2019