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ReviewsHardwareGame SystemsNintendo Switch Lite: The Kotaku Review
The Nintendo Switch Lite is one of the finest handheld gaming devices I’ve ever used. It’s sturdy, stylish, and comfortable. It launches with a library that’s already over 2,500 games strong. If all you’re looking for from the Nintendo Switch is personal, portable play, it’s perfect. But is that all you’re looking for? From its…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsMultiplatformSayonara Wild Hearts: The Kotaku Review
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a shining example of using a game’s design to say something meaningful while also making it look cool as hell. The game controls simply with the analog stick and a single button. What makes it stand out is its music, its look, and its mood. Sayonara Wild Hearts tells the story…
By Paul Tamayo -
ReviewsControllersBig, Beefy Switch Controllers For Big, Beefy Hands
Joy-Cons are small. They are designed so that Switch can be a sleek, nearly-seamless handheld gaming device. Hori’s Split Pad Pro is what happens when ideas like “small” and “sleek” and “not ridiculous” are tossed out the window. The more I play with them, gripping them in my larger-than-average hands, the less I mind their…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysI Have Several Issues With This Year’s Halloween Pokémon Toys
Pikachu as Mimikyu. Charmander as Cubone. Lucario and Celebi as live-action role-players. This year’s batch of special Halloween-themed “Pumpkin Parade” plushies from The Pokémon Company are adorable at first glance. But if you look closely, the cute facade begins to crumble. Let’s start with Charmander wearing another Pokémon’s dead mother’s skull as a costume. Depending…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysLego’s Gingerbread House Holds Disturbing Secrets
Every year around this time, Lego unveils the latest expansion to its ever-growing Winter Village line of sets and I bemoan not having a massive basement to deck out in blocky holiday cheer. This year’s addition, the $100 Gingerbread House, looks like the perfect standalone piece for brick fans with limited room. Whereas sets like…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsHardwareGame SystemsSega Genesis Mini: The Kotaku Review
Sega was always more loved than it was successful. At no point was the maker of the Genesis and Dreamcast the worldwide leader in video games. When it succeeded in America, it fell short in Japan, and vice versa. The Genesis Mini is an encapsulation of that moment when it came closest to victory—a reminder…
By Chris Kohler -
ReviewsXBoxGears 5 Campaign: The Kotaku Review
Gears 5 has the longest and most ambitious campaign that Gears of War has ever done and, for the most part, that ambition pays off. In a series first, the story focuses on a female character, putting the player in a woman’s shoes for the majority of the game. Gears 5 heroine Kait Diaz’s journey…
By Maddy Myers -
ReviewsToysThis Fallout Vault Boy Figure Is A Whole Mood
Good Smile Company’s newly announced Nendoroid Vault Boy action figure includes four different faces and several arm and leg pieces for Fallout’s famous mascot. Seems like a waste to me. They had me at angry middle finger. Just look at that face. The brow. The frown. The entire posture just screams sass. I am not…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsSwitchAstral Chain: The Kotaku Review
“Action game.” That’s what Astral Chain’s publisher Nintendo calls it. That’s what its developer Platinum Games calls it. That’s what we called it when we first reported on its existence. But Astral Chain is so much more than just an action game. I’d go as far as saying that “action game” is the least of…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsControllersThe Scuf Prestige Is The Next Best Thing To The Xbox Elite Controller
In 2015, Atlanta-based Scuf Gaming licensed its patented controller technology to Microsoft, resulting in the creation of the outstanding Xbox Elite Wireless Controller. Scuf’s new Prestige controller for the Xbox One and PC incorporates a lot of the same technology, as well as the option for customization. It’s quickly become my second favorite Xbox One…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsPCEliza: The Kotaku Review
Eliza, a visual novel from development studio Zachtronics, revolves around a therapy service of the same name, powered by machine learning. At one point in the story, an old woman who visits Eliza—mostly to have someone to talk to—unknowingly signs over access to her emails and text messages. As Eliza’s proxy, Evelyn Ishino-Aubrey, I read her…
By Gita Jackson
