-
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Birthday
It feels weird writing the words “Jeon Somi’s debut” in the year 2019, because as far as I’m concerned, she debuted all the way back in 2016 with Produce 101 and I.O.I. But I suppose Birthday is offically considered to be Somi’s first release, which is wild, because, well, what has she been doing all…
By Seung Park Published June 14, 2019 -
CultureE3Square Enix Doesn’t Know Where Some Of Its Old Games Are
Square Enix, one of the largest video game publishers on the planet, is interested in getting its entire back catalogue of games together so it can sell/stream them to you online. But there’s just this one tiny problem: some of the older games are missing. In an interview with Game Informer this week at E3,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2019 -
UncategorizedSecret Shenmue Punch Hidden In Game Code Found 20 Years Later
It’s been twenty years since Shenmue was first released, and for all the millions of times it’s been played and completed in that time, it’s taken until 2019 for somebody to find that there’s a homage to Street Fighter hidden in the game’s code. Via Shenmue fan site PhantomRiverStone, Japanese gamer nullpo posted the first…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureHow Is The Original Contra Still So Got Damn Good
Contra Anniversary Collection surprise launched earlier this week, and with it came the first official rerelease of the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Contra in a long while. And I have to ask: How is it that this game is still so freaking good? I try my best to not wear my rose-colored glasses when…
By Chris Kohler Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureValve’s Auto Chess Game Is Called Dota Underlords, Open Beta Next Week
A few weeks ago, Valve announced that it’d be making its own version of the massively popular Dota 2 mod Auto Chess. Today, it revealed that it’s called Dota Underlords, and it’ll go into open beta in “approximately” one week. And if you’ve purchased the Dota 2 International Battle Pass, you can already start playing…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureE3The Witcher 3 On Switch Runs 720p Docked, 540p Handheld
The Witcher 3 getting a Switch port is excellent news, as long as players are prepared for a version of the game that looks nowhere near as good as its console and PC cousins. Tweeted on Tuesday and confirmed to Kotaku by CD Projekt Red today, the Switch version of Geralt’s adventure runs a step…
By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureE3A Firefighting Game That Makes Fun Of The Gig Economy
Embr’s house groaned as fire licked away at its supports. Collapse was imminent. With a panicking resident slung over my shoulder, I sprinted for a second story window. Outside were three other residents I’d rescued. I took solace in the fact that, no matter what happened next, I’d done some good here. I jumped, and…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 13, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsForza Horizon 4’s Lego Expansion Is Gleefully Absurd
Lego is awesome. Driving the super realistic vehicles of Forza Horizon 4 is awesome. Driving the super realistic vehicles of Forza Horizon 4 through a brick-dotted landscape in the game’s Lego Speed Champions expansion increases the awesomeness exponentially. A couple of years back there was a Hot Wheels expansion pack for Forza Horizon 3. It…
By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureE3The Genesis Mini Is A Beautiful, Tiny Time Machine
Putting your hands on the controller for the Sega Genesis Mini is like traveling back in time, mushy D-pad and all. The Sega Genesis that I had growing up was actually my older brother’s. He wouldn’t let me touch it unless he wanted to play Sonic 2 or NBA Jam in our shared bedroom in…
By Gita Jackson Published June 13, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsAn RPG Where You Solve Puzzles By Bending Time
Cris Tales is a JRPG-inspired game that was announced on Monday during the E3 2019 PC Gaming Show. After spending some time with its free demo, I’m excited to see what’s next. Coming to consoles and PC in 2020, Cris Tales stars a young girl named Crisbell, a resident of an orphanage who discovers she’s…
By Riley MacLeod Published June 13, 2019 - CultureE3
Hollow Knight: Silksong Is Drawing Crowds At E3 For Good Reason
There’s been a long line of people queuing up at Nintendo’s booth every day here at E3 to play the sequel to Hollow Knight on the Switch. These people have good taste. Hollow Knight was a great modern execution of classic Metroid-style 2D exploration and combat, set in gorgeous, mostly subterranean areas. Its sequel, Silksong,…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureE3Empire Of Sin Is The Gangster Game Brenda Romero Always Wanted To Make
Empire of Sin, a complex tactics game about running a mob empire in Prohibition-era Chicago, is the game Brenda Romero always wanted to make. When you talk to John Romero, the renowned creator of Doom and now part of the husband-and-wife team Romero Games, he gushes about Empire of Sin. It’s a complex web of…
By Gita Jackson Published June 13, 2019 -
UncategorizedHori’s Grip Controller Turns The Switch Into An Absolute Unit [Update]
The Nintendo Switch in handheld mode is essentially a game controller cut in half with a display wedged in the middle. Hori’s Daemon X Machina Grip controller, launching in September in Japan, is a more literal interpretation of the concept. Update: And now there’s a North American Amazon listing for it. The Grip controller is…
By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2019 -
UncategorizedThe New York Times Has A New Puzzle Game For You To Obsess Over
It’s E3 week, which means it’s time to check in on the latest games from all the hottest game development studios, like the New York Times. That’s not a joke—the New York Times has stepped up its game development efforts in order to support its wildly popular crossword puzzle. Two new games have come from…
By Joshua Rivera Published June 13, 2019 -
UncategorizedBrand-New Hearthstone Legendary Card Is Already One Of The Most Popular In The Game
From time to time, Blizzard gives away free Hearthstone cards. Sometimes, they are good. But sometimes, as with the recently released free Legendary card SN1P-SN4P (pronounced “snip-snap”), they are great. Seriously, if you see this thing pop up while you’re playing a game of Hearthstone, you should be scared. The card is a 3-mana Mech…
By Joshua Calixto Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryCollection Of Mana Is 3 Amazing Games With Not Enough Extra Features
One of the first Switch games I bought, way back in the spring of 2017, was the Japanese version of Collection of Mana. It was a very simple package: emulated versions of the first three games in the Mana series, and little else. Two years later, the U.S. version is out, and not much has…
By Chris Kohler Published June 13, 2019