Metroid: Samus Returns Feels Great To Play

Last week, Nintendo surprised everyone with the announcement of Metroid: Samus Returns, a remake of Metroid II. Here’s another surprise: It’s basically finished. And a fact that’s probably not so surprising: It looks and feels fantastic. At E3 in Los Angeles last Thursday, in a private room within Nintendo’s VIP booth, I sat down with…

Recent Japanese Pokémon Tournament Full Of Monsters You Rarely See

This weekend’s Japanese National Championships proves that competitive Pokémon plays almost like an entirely different game in the franchise’s home country. While every Japanese top eight team had some common picks you might spot at other tournaments around the world, players made plenty of choices that are almost never seen anywhere else. As an example,…

It’s A Good Time To Replay Wolfenstein: The New Order

It’s the summer of 2017. The flood of spring games has abated, and fall is still a ways away. The days are long, the nights are warm, and it’s a good time to replay Wolfenstein: The New Order In truth, it is always a good time to replay Wolfenstein: The New Order. It’s also a…

Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood Progress Report: Lost Connections

Since Final Fantasy XIV’s Stormblood expansion launched in early access on Friday morning, I’ve leveled a Red Mage from 50 to 60 and taken my first steps into the city state of Ala Mhigo. Imagine what I could have accomplished had the servers been anywhere near stable! While the crux of the Stormblood expansion involves…

After pulling in over 100 competitors in 2016, this weekend’s Capcom Pro Tour premier event in Jönköping, Sweden, DreamHack Summer, only saw 46 players in attendance. That enabled everyone to get points for the circuit rankings, moving them one step closer to qualifying for Capcom Cup in December.

Making A South Park Game Is Harder Than You’d Think

Last week, a poster on the message board NeoGAF asked why South Park: The Fractured But Whole was taking so long to develop. After all, isn’t 2D easy to draw? “First and foremost,” the poster wrote, “the game uses the same graphical style as the show. Which is probably the easiest to make.” Well, my…

Doctor Who, “Blink”: A Hell Of A Good Episode Of Television What it is: The tenth episode of the third series of Doctor Who, a Steven Moffat-written “Doctor-lite” episode commonly considered to be one of the best in the show’s history. It tells the story of a woman who stumbles across some terrifying monsters that…

Do You Own A 4K TV?

Both Sony and Microsoft are talking a big game about 4K gaming. The PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are primarily angled as 4K gaming devices, which means that to get the most out of either console you’ll need a 4K TV. So, do you? I do not own a 4K TV, nor do most…

Dota 2 Team Wins Tournament While (Almost) Never Picking The Same Hero Twice

At this last weekend’s The Summit 7, one team decided to challenge itself. Rather than lean on any one hero, Virtus.Pro would go the opposite way: Try to never pick the same hero twice. We’re don’t know why the team decided to play like this—the consensus seems to be it was either to prove some…

How To Unlock Red Mage And Samurai Jobs In Final Fantasy XIV

The Stormblood expansion for Final Fantasy XIV introduces two new jobs to the massively multiplayer RPG—Red Mage and Samurai. To access them you don’t have to rush through days of story quests and journey to new lands. You just have to be level 50 and talk to the right people. Rather than lock the new…

Rabbid Peach Has An Instagram Now, And It’s Unsettling

Much as I love derivative works, I prefer my fictional characters to remain fictional. The official Rabbid Peach Instagram account gives me the heebie jeebies. The all-purpose marketing account for the Rabbids franchise is now the personal Instagram for character Rabbid Peach, from the upcoming Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. In the trailers for the…

Attack On Titan‘s Third Season Airing In 2018

The wait between Attack on Titan’s first season and its second one was around four years. Thankfully, the wait for season three won’t be that long. Season three will begin airing next year. Below is the official teaser for season three. The teaser is only 15 seconds, but at least it’s something.

Pokémon Go Revamping Gyms, Adding Co-op Raids

In celebration of its anniversary, Pokemon Go is undergoing some major changes. Before you get too excited, no, player-vs-player battles aren’t among them. Gyms, though, are about to get more accessible, and you’ll soon be able to team up with friends to go on raids against mega-powerful Pokemon. The gym overhaul should launch at some…

Scarecrow Player Chips Opponent Down For The Win In Injustice 2 Finals

Two players who had faced the greats and came out on top clashed in tonight’s Injustice 2 grand finals, as WhiteBoi and his stellar Scarecrow bested Slayer at CEO 2017. The Injustice 2 top eight at Community Effort Orlando 2017 had featured a great variety of characters, a host of new and returning talent, and…

The Week In Games: More Machina, More Problems 

This year’s E3 showed off a bunch of interesting games. Unfortunately, none of them are coming out this week. The dog days of summer are here, as evidenced by the arrival of Chess Ultra on Xbox One. Don’t worry though, there are some gems in here I promise. You just have to hunt for them.…

Don’t Forget To Save Your Game, Especially If You’re Speedrunning Dark Cloud 2

“Uh oh, I haven’t saved yet.” That’s what Closetowar muttered nearly five hours into a multi-day attempt to beat the world record for speedrunning Dark Cloud 2 by collecting every medal in the game. The best time so far is 42:11:37. In fact, it’s the only time. The “All Medals%” category for the game is…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: A Little Mario In All Of Us

Super Mario Odyssey this week showed no one’s consciousness is safe from the little plumber. Thanks to Cappy, he can become a dinosaur or even a Goomba. The possibilities are endless( unlike my ‘shop talents). This latest ‘Shop Contest isn’t just about exploring the boundaries of Odyssey’s premise, it’s about searching for answers to the…

Help Hot Dads Find True Love In Dream Daddy

Dream Daddy is a dating sim headed to Steam on July 13. In it, you’ll help sexy dads hookup with other dads. Naturally, the game announced itself to the world on Father’s Day. While the dads themselves look varied enough—beard dad, dad bod dad, alcoholic dad—it’s the things they say that are really selling me…

Damn, This Overwatch Pro Is Good At Widowmaker

During yesterday’s European Overwatch Contenders group stage, Esporati player DIDS put together a highlight reel of Widowmaker shots in short succession to secure the round. In my own experience, a Widowmaker on offense is usually a bad sign. But utilizing Widow’s mobility and power, DIDS makes quick work of the low-health line-up of Team Expert.…