The Weekend In Esports: The World Cup Of Killer Instinct Returns

This weekend Killer Instinct fighters across the country will descend on the Tobin Center in San Antonio, Texas to rip each other’s digital guts out. But no tea bagging please, that would be disrespectful. But qualifiers for Dota 2‘s Kiev Major, Street Fighter V’s Final Round 20, and the last qualifiers for the next season…

This Week In The Business: Nintendo Gives Indies An Itch To Switch

QUOTE | “The way we’re looking at Switch is this is a complementary platform. If it’s on Steam, then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be on Nintendo Switch as well.” – Nintendo head of publisher & developer relations Damon Baker explains the mindset behind the company’s indie outreach STAT | 80,000 – Number of…

BlazBlue Player Makes 100% Sure He Won Before Celebrating

One competitor at this weekend’s Final Round 20 fighting game tournament was so astonished by his win that he double (and triple) checked that he was moving on before letting his excitement show. After securing his victory against Evo 2014 runner-up Ryo “Dogura” Nozaki in a tense BlazBlue: Central Fiction match, Glyn-Mikl “Doza” Mendoza initially…

Undead Cafe Game Necrobarista Was Made Out Of Frustration With The State Of Anime

Recently, a game called Necrobarista caught my eye. It’s about a cafe the dead return to for one last cup of coffee, and it’s got an art style that screams Persona. That’s no coincidence. Necrobarista’s developers told me the game arose from their “love-hate relationship” with anime and visual novels. “Back in the ‘90s, you…

A Musical Indie Game Starring A Teen With A Cosmic Guitar

Game designer Johnny Galvatron first doodled the monsters of The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti in his student math book, years ago. “I wasn’t a great math student,” he said, delightfully pointing out The Artful Escape ’s space whale and “suborbital jellyfish.” The short PAX East demo of The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti showed…

Kotaku’s Buffy Fans Pick Their Favorite Episodes

Today, Buffy the Vampire Slayer celebrates its 20th anniversary. To honor this occaision, the Buffy-likers at Kotaku talk about their favorite episodes. Spoilers for… Pretty Much Everything In Buffy Kirk Hamilton — “Hush” You may expect me to pick “Once More, With Feeling” for this, but oh no, I will not be so predictable. I’ll…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Weekends are for returning those shoes you bought because you keep putting it off and if you end up running out of time on the return you’re gonna feel like an idiot. Also, video games. I’m going to tinker around in Ghost Recon Wildlands a bit more. I don’t love playing it solo, but it’s…

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Is Full Of Amazing Little Details

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild manages to be both massive and unusually detailed. The sprawl of Hyrule will take weeks or even months for most of us to explore, not just because of its square mileage but because of how much there is to see and do in a given field or…

Blaster Master Zero For Switch Is An Excellent Retro Remake

A good remake of a retro gaming classic has to evoke the feeling of playing the original while making the game feel fresh and new. Blaster Master Zero for the Nintendo Switch is a very good remake of a retro gaming classic. So good. You may have seen the name on release lists. You may have…

Team Liquid Brings In League Star To Try And Avoid Relegation

Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng will be playing for Team Liquid for the rest of the League of Legends spring split, after a last-minute trade from Team SoloMid earlier this week. The game’s all-time leader regular season kills, he’ll need to start racking them up in a hurry. The trade mirrors the concept of loaning out players…

A Perfect Video Game Loading Screen

Thanks for the tip, Ghost Recon. I sure wouldn’t want to frighten any civilians.

Steam Review Scores No Longer Count People Who Didn’t Pay

Steam reviews are changing again. This time, it’s a subtle thing that could have big reverberations. If you got a game for free—say, as a gift, during a free weekend, or what have you—your review no longer counts toward that game’s overall score. Valve, uh, didn’t really explain their rationale in-depth, but here’s the standout…

Aloy Has Flawless Skin And Brows In Horizon Zero Dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn is set in a far future, post-apocalyptic world. Can someone explain to me why Aloy looks like an ad for Glossier, then? Beauty trends in 2016 and 2017 have been gravitating to an idea of a “no make up” make up look. This doesn’t mean not wearing any make up—what are we,…

Players Are Making Art With No Man’s Sky New Photo Mode

No Man’s Sky was updated this week to add a new photo mode, and players are using it to make their procedurally generated planets and space battles look dope as hell. The new photo mode allows players free movement of the camera, a series of filters, and even the ability to change the time of…

Exodemon Is Another Take On Games Like Quake

Every now and then, you just want to leap around and blast some robots. Exodemon is a first person shooter that channels some of the best old school classics to create a stunning shooting gallery. It’s this week’s Indie Pick. Designed by Brazilian studio Kuupu, Exodemon is a real treat to play. Dashing about with…

‘Let Him Fix It’: The Battle Over Who Gets To Repair Your Consoles

In a gritty vintage video games store in Manhattan’s East Village, a man who would only be identified by GorillaStomp, his PlayStation username, firmly explained why he should fix your video game console. Long before it was his livelihood, it was his fascination, and one he’d never asked for permission to do. Now, as the…

We’re at PAX East—well, some of us and a lot of you! Kotaku reporters are in Boston to play some video games. Bonus points if you can find Waldo in this shot.