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CultureOdds and EndsThankfully, The Boat Is Still Stuck In Microsoft Flight Simulator
Ever Given, the massive container ship that captivated the world after blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for more than a week, is free as of 3:05 p.m. local time, but the ridiculous incident will live on forever in Microsoft Flight Simulator Over the last few days, the dedicated Microsoft Flight Simulator community has released several third-party…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsHalo: Infinite Devs Destroyed A Piano To Create Some In-Game Sounds
As my great uncle often said, “To create art, sometimes you must destroy an old, unwanted upright piano.” He was a strange man. In the latest Inside Infinite blog, 343 Industries shared a bunch of details and information about how it’s creating the sounds in the upcoming Halo Infinite. There’s a surprisingly large amount of…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureMorning CheckpointGhost Of Tsushima Film Announced, Back 4 Blood Delayed, Xbox Live Name Change, And More
This week on Morning Checkpoint we talk about how great SonicFox is, dunk on Shinra, find out what games are now delayed, fondly remember demo discs, and say goodbye to Xbox Live and hello to Xbox Network. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week SonicFox is the best and I’m so happy to see them…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureHades Wins Best Game At The 2021 BAFTA Game Awards
In addition to prestigious accolades like Best Indie Game at the 2020 Game Awards and Best Game Times 10 at the 2020 Ari Notis Awards, Hades just picked up top honors at today’s online-only BAFTA Games Awards. Hell yeah, Hades Here’s the full list of nominees, with winners in bold. Congrats to everyone involved. Best…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Sign Up For The ‘Xbox Insider’ Program
Yesterday, Microsoft announced that party chat, previously only available to members of Xbox Live Gold, will soon be free to all Xbox players. The company revealed the news in a tweet with phrases like “Alpha,” “Alpha Skip-Ahead,” and “flighting.” Meanwhile, an accompanying blog post featured a string of numbers: 2104-210323-0000. What the hell does all…
By Ari Notis -
CultureXbox Controllers Now Come In Tasty Limeade And Cherry Camo
Microsoft calls them Electric Volt and Daystrike Camo, but that’s not important. What is important is there are two new Xbox wireless controllers coming out next month, both sporting candy-colored analog sticks I want to chew right out of their housings. The Xbox Design Lab is still on hiatus, so for the time being we’re…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionSo-Called Pirates Are Doing The Work When Publishers Fail To Preserve Their Games
Yesterday, TheGamer reported that Sony has plans to shut down the online PS3, PS Vita, and PSP stores that service those older consoles. While this has yet to be confirmed, and Sony has not responded to Kotaku’s request for comment, the internet discourse around this potentially troubling news immediately began to swirl. If these stores…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureRIP, Xbox Live (2002-2021)
The name “Xbox Live” is dead. You’ll still be able to play Xbox games online, but the suite of Xbox’s online services will now be known as “Xbox network,” Microsoft confirmed today to The Verge This morning, many Xbox users noticed a small change on the the Xbox dashboard. While uploading a screenshot to Xbox…
By Ari Notis -
CultureShop Contest‘Shop Contest: Bethesda+Microsoft, Winners!
You got Halo in my Fallout! You got Doom in my Forza! Well, this is a giant mess. At least we get more Game Pass games out of it all. And a fun contest! Our winning image this week comes from…. KaputNoob! Yes, we have a back-to-back winner once again folks! Will they be able…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionXbox Smart Delivery Turned Out To Be A Pretty Big Deal
When Microsoft started slipping the made-up phrase “Smart Delivery” into all of its Xbox Series X/S marketing last year, it seemed like just another pair of empty buzzwords. Surely all games would just simply work after you installed them on your expensive new hardware, whether they supported Microsoft’s catchphrase or not. Not quite! Nothing has…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureXbox Game Pass For PC Finally Gets EA Play Tomorrow
Planned for release late last year but delayed until now, EA Play comes to Xbox Game Pass for PC tomorrow at no additional cost to subscribers, complete with the newly-added Star Wars: Squadrons. The cycle that started with an announcement last September is finally complete. Starting tomorrow, EA Play for PC becomes part of Xbox…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureOdds and EndsSony Chose PlayStation’s First Office Location With Late-Night Drinks In Mind
When Sony Computer Entertainment first established its flagship PlayStation brand in 1993, its executives’ chief concern was making sure the company’s first offices were located in an area with late-night bars. At least that’s the story Ken Kutaragi, who’s widely known as father of the PlayStation, told Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada on the latter’s new…
By Ian Walker -
OpinionImpressionsStubbs The Zombie Remaster Retains That Classic Jank
Zombies have been a big part of video games for a long time now. Mostly we kill them in droves. But back in 2005, Stubbs The Zombie shook things up and let you take on the role of a zombie devouring people in a futuristic city. That game is back on modern consoles via a…
By Zack Zwiezen -
ReviewsHeadsetsThe New Xbox Wireless Headset Is A Good Option At A Great Price
I’m not a fan of wireless headsets, mainly because I’ve had some bad experiences with them. So I was hesitant about Microsoft’s fancy new $100 wireless Xbox headset. Luckily, this new headset, while not perfect, is a solid piece of gear with some nifty features and a great design. Microsoft provided this headset ahead of…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureShop Contest‘Shop Contest: Bethesda+Microsoft
It’s official. Microsoft has completed its purchase of Bethesda. They had a whole roundtable discussion about it and everything. (More importantly, it was officially approved by regulators.) Let’s have some fun with these two companies now stapled together like some hideous mega-beast. Your challenge this week: Mix Xbox and Bethesda together. Feel free to mix…
By Zack Zwiezen
