Xbox

Here are the patch notes for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s first two patches, both available for download as soon as you get the game. Capped from a PS4. For the record our reviewer had no major performance issues with his version of the game, which we believe was running with at least the first patch (the…

The Evolution Of A Destiny Character

In a game about collecting guns and armor (and shooting aliens), everything you put on your character should make you look cooler, right? To test that theory, I took 54 screenshots of my Destiny character over the past month, as she leveled up. I got the idea shortly before the September release of Destiny’s big…

Deadspin’s Albert Burneko is having the toughest time with his new-gen console. Dude probably needs more firmware updates or something. Feel his pain, and enjoy his bonus capsule review of The Witcher 3

One GIF Sums Up Star Wars Battlefront‘s Modern Multiplayer Potential

Plenty of non-canonical moments will be possible in the upcoming multiplayer game Star Wars Battlefront. Above, a scene from YouTuber Jackfrags’ recent session with the game. A beta for Battlefront will be playable on PS4, Xbox One and PC starting this Thursday The game can be played in first or third-person. Here’s more: To contact…

Here Are My Best Mad Max Screenshots. Show Us Yours.

Someone smart recently told me that every video game should have a photo mode. Now that I’ve finally become obsessed with one, I agree. I can’t stop taking screenshots in the new Mad Max game. And that was before I even discovered the filters. Here are my best shots so far: Clearly I am a…

Mad Max‘s High-Level Jacket Should Look Cooler Than This [Update: There’s A Hidden, Better Jacket!]

In a world filled with uncertainty we are able to cling to few sure things. One rock we can grasp to pull us through our days is the expectation that the more advanced clothing and armor that we obtain for our video game heroes will look more impressive than their starter gear. If only this…

If Ever a Game Needed Explaining, It’s Gal Gun

Two words: Orgasm. Gun. Welcome to the latest in Kotaku’s series of explainer articles where we drag in a random disembodied voice and have a little intimate chat about a game, comic, or something else our readers might find interesting. However, this time I am just exploiting the system. After spending two solid days doing…

What To Make Of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, One Month Out

Less than a month from release, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is likely to be judged as much on its own merits as on how well its publisher listened to fan discontent about the flagship series and what it’s been willing to change. Companion apps are out. Platform-exclusive DLC is back. The overall plan for the…

The First Gameplay Footage From The South Park Xbox Game That Never Was

The original Xbox never got a South Park game, but if it had it would have looked something like this. The raw work in progress was allegedly discovered on a debug original Xbox procured in August by Nintendo Age forum moderator qixmaster, who posted a few screenshots and a single cutscene from the game. Sometime…

Pausing In A Porta Potty In Metal Gear Solid V Makes Me Happy

As I write this, Venom Snake is waiting in a Porta Potty north of Kabul during a sandstorm. I feel a little bad about it, to be honest. I’d rather leave him at Mother Base or with Pequod in his helicopter. In a pinch, though, when Snake is in the field conducting an operation and…

Madden NFL 16’s Best Mode Almost Turns Football Into Hearthstone

Ten years ago, I wrote one of the most wrongheaded articles of my career. In a review of 2005’s Blitz: The League for Slate, I predicted that Madden NFL’s then-new monopoly on the National Football League’s license for video game football would restore variety to the virtual gridiron. Surely the single-minded pursuit of NFL realism…

Legendary emote!

Here’s the trailer for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s Jack the Ripper DLC campaign. It’ll be available as part of the game’s season pass, and it will feature Jack the Ripper as its villain, with Scotland Yard chief inspector Frederick Abberline trying to hunt him down (with your help, of course).

Madden NFL Should Be a 22-Player Game

It is one of the oft-old tales in the three-decade (!) history of Madden NFL: When Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts, approached John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster, about collaborating on a new version of video game football, Madden stipulated that any game with his name on it would include…

Shovel Knight dev Yacht Club Games has announced the release date for their game’s upcoming expansion: September 17. Plague of Shadows will feature a new character, the Plague Knight, and will be released for all versions of Shovel Knight in a free update. Trailer for it is above, in case you missed it last month.

Take A Break From Metal Gear And Play Nova-111

Have you heard of Nova-111? I barely had, but now I must show it to you. It’s a wonderful surprise of a video game. It’s partially turn-based, partially real-time. It’s action mixed with puzzles. Its on Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Vita, PC and Mac and is coming to Wii U. It just came out. It’s…

I Can’t Stop Collecting Stuff in Video Games

Here’s something I wish more game designers understood: If you put an interaction in your game, I am going to interact with it. Anytime a game responds to its players, the rats—or at least this rat—are going to press the lever for more cocaine pellets. Jenova Chen, during a talk about the design of Journey…

Batman Arkham Knight DLC Still At A Drip-Feed, Still Needs Something Great

We’ve been hard on the six-month downloadable content roll-out for Batman Arkham Knight, because, so far, it just hasn’t been that good. The newest morsel, released yesterday, isn’t much of an improvement, but this month does bring promise of a potential turnaround. Yesterday’s addition was a $1.99, 76.2MB bundle of extra battle maps called the…

FTC Slams YouTube Group For ‘Deceptive’ Xbox Marketing Campaign

Around the launch of the Xbox One, the YouTube network Machinima held a special campaign for its clients: Make a positive video about Microsoft’s newest console, and you’ll get paid extra. Also, you’re not allowed to talk about any of this. Seems sketchy, right? The U.S. Federal Trade Commission certainly thought so, and after an…

Mad Max: The Kotaku Review

A little more than 10 years ago, not long after I quit my job to become a freelance writer, a colleague warned me that sometimes the work could be grueling and unrewarding. “I want to talk to you when you’re writing a story only for money,” he said. It took a decade, but I finally…