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CultureAnother Charizard Card Sells For Over $300,000
Pokémon cards have been having a bit of a boom lately, and nowhere is that more obvious than in auctions for the holographic Charizard card that acted as the base set’s crown jewel in 1999. A third card featuring the fire lizard recently sold for over $300,000. The eBay auction, which closed Sunday evening, started…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsThe Nintendo 3DS Was Released 10 Years Ago Today In North America
On March 27, 2011, Nintendo released the 3DS, its handheld successor to the uber-successful Nintendo DS. Since then it has sold over 70 million units worldwide and had a host of great games released for it over the last decade. I was lucky enough to snag a 3DS around the time when it launched. While…
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 -
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CultureAnimal Crossing Sanrio Amiibo Cards Sell Out Immediately, Make Everyone Sad
The Target-exclusive six-pack of Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sanrio Amiibo cards went on sale this morning at 9am and sold out almost immediately. Moments later the six-dollar packs started showing up on eBay for upwards of $100. Is anyone surprised? Despite Target restricting online orders to store pick-up and limiting sales to two per customer,…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureFormer Nintendo Of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé Leaving GameStop Board Of Directors
Serving on GameStop’s board of directors was just one of long time video game executive Reggie Fils-Aimé’s post-Nintendo of America pastimes, but less than a year into his tenure the company announced it expects him to step down in June. Fils-Aimé is one of eight other board members set to be replaced at GameStop’s 2021…
By Ethan Gach -
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CultureOdds and EndsSomeone Just Opened A Brand-New Nintendo 64DD Dev Kit
A private video game collector recently reached out to Rerez host Shane Luis for his help in documenting a new, in-box Nintendo 64DD development kit, which means we now have an idea of what it must have been like for developers in the ‘90s to get their hands on this rare piece of hardware. The…
By Ian Walker -
CultureSuper Smash Bros. Devotes An Entire Update To Nerfing Wii Fit Trainer
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate balance changes tend to come in waves. Whenever the developers add new content to the game, players can expect to be greeted by a handful of character adjustments across the expansive roster. But in the latest update, the decision-makers at Nintendo set their sights on just one fighter: Wii Fit Trainer.…
By Ian Walker -
OpinionImpressionsNew Pokémon Snap Is Like Old Pokémon Snap, Only Much Prettier
Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64 is a game about rolling through islands, leisurely taking pictures of pocket monsters. All the upcoming sequel needs to please fans of the original is more of that with nicer graphics. I am pleased to report New Pokémon Snap is exactly that. Nintendo recently held a preview event where…
By Mike Fahey -
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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 -
CultureOdds and EndsModded GameCube Keyboard Is The Controller Of My Dreams
In 2002 Nintendo released a ridiculous-looking GameCube controller with a keyboard embedded in it so that Phantasy Star Online players could type to their friends. In 2021 someone’s modded it into an equally impractical but much prettier custom keyboard that I wish I could use to type all of my shitposts. “Y’all thought the gamecube…
By Ethan Gach -
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CultureBreath Of The Wild Mod Aims To Add A Whole New Story Expansion
Breath of the Wild has gotten quite a few mods over the years, but few with the scope and ambition of Second Wind, a story-based expansion adding new characters, side-quests, and bosses. “Second Wind is a large-scale expansion for Breath of the Wild that aims to add new content to the game in a similar…
By Ethan Gach -
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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 -
OpinionSo, It’s Been A Year, Huh
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the growing outbreak of covid-19 a pandemic. In the year since, over 120 million people have been infected by the virus worldwide, and 2.5 million people have died because of covid-19. Life has forever been changed. We wear masks. Avoid crowds. Businesses have shut down, and…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureEverything We Saw In Today’s Square Enix Presents
Square Enix held its first Nintendo Direct-style “Square Enix Presents” showcase today, and while most of what was shown was stuff we’ve seen before, there were a few surprises. For one, Life is Strange: True Colors, the latest game in the visual narrative series, is coming later this year. Square Enix’s upcoming PS5 console-exclusive Project…
By Ethan Gach