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The New Lego Harry Potter Line Starts With Hogwarts’ Great Hall

Lego returns to JK Rowling’s Wizarding World later this year, with new sets based on the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series. Like the Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall, a $99 set featuring ten minifigures, two buildable creatures and a ridiculous amount of detail. From the original Lego Harry Potter line that launched in…

One Way Japanese Drivers Are Polite

I’ve been driving in Japan for over 15 years now. One of the things that always resonates is how polite people are on the road, especially the way drivers say thanks with their hazard lights. I don’t think this practice is unique to Japan. It probably isn’t. While living in the US, however, I never…

The Debate Over Whether Anime-Style Characters Look Japanese

The above image shows two characters, one done in the “anime style” and the other in an American comic book style. What follows is an explanation as to why Chie Satonaka “looks Japanese.” Before moving on to the full comparison, which was originally posted on a 2ch thread, there are several things to consider. The…

Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro just announced he is making a new game with Arc System Works with his studio White Owls making it in-house. The game is called The Missing, and Swery says, “Frankly, this title will blow your mind.”

The Birth of a Buddha. Monywa, Myanmar. By Quinn Levandoski | Official Site JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Let’s Take A Nice Slow Walk Across Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s Entire Map

Kingdom Come: Deliverance has some problems, but its quaint countryside certainly isn’t one of them. In fact the map is maybe the nicest thing about the entire game, so let’s all see how long it takes to walk across it, taking in the sights and trying not to fall off a rock and break a…

The Way You Learn Abilities In Fe (Pronounced ‘Fee-Ya’) Is My New Favorite Thing

Of all the different ways I’ve gained new abilities in video games, singing softly to animals as a baby fox is definitely my favorite. In Zoink’s Fe, players control a small fox-like creature named Fe as it runs, climbs and glides its way through an otherworldly forest. To defend the wilderness from the mysterious “Silent…

I Answered 18 Of Your Questions About Bayonetta 1 & 2 On Switch

This is not a review of Bayonetta. Oh no, my friend. This is something else entirely. Bayonetta—and its sequel Bayonetta 2—are action video game masterpieces that are out on Friday for the Nintendo Switch. I’ve been playing them for a couple of days. I asked you (on Twitter!) to ask me anything about the games.…

U.S. Senator Asks ESRB To Re-Examine Loot Boxes

Yesterday, Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, sent an open letter to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) urging it “to review the completeness of the board’s ratings process and policies as they relate to loot boxes, and to take into account the potential harm these types of micro-transactions may have on children.” This…

Kingdom Come: Deliverance‘s Xbox Patches Are A Mess [UPDATE]

Due to a confusing and opaque updating process, Xbox One players are still trying to figure out how their version of Kingdom Come: Deliverance compares to the one on PS4 and PC. Mixed messages from developer Warhorse Studios don’t seem to be helping. The newly released game made waves earlier this week due to an…

Shroud of the Avatar, the Ultima spiritual successor from Richard Garriott’s team at Portalarium, is finally coming out next month. The fantasy RPG has been in early access since 2014, and while its path to launch has not been without controversy, it’s now set to launch on March 27.

Big Layoffs Hit Mafia III Developer Hangar 13

Mafia III developer Hangar 13 laid off a significant number of staff today, in yet another example of the video game industry’s brutal churn. Publisher 2K confirmed the move when reached by Kotaku this afternoon. “2K can confirm that there have been staff reductions at Hangar 13 in order to ensure that the studio’s resources…

Revisiting Dead Space’s Perplexing Final Boss Fight

Dead Space brims with apprehension and panic—its tight spaceship corridors provide little place to run as monsters challenge the player to adapt quickly or get torn to shreds. The game’s final boss, a giant zombie slug, throws all of that out. Dead Space’s final boss fight is a loud, bombastic battle that clashes with the…

Zelda Fan Breaks Down BOTW’s Most Overpowered Move

Ever heard of Breath of the Wild’s “bow spin”? It’s an advanced technique that helps Link terrorize his enemies, perhaps in ways that Nintendo never intended. Here’s how you do it. The bow spin entered the general public consciousness with RinHara5aki’s phenomenal Zelda video “27 obscure combat secrets and tricks,” which he uploaded at the…

Modder Makes $6,000 A Month Adding Drugs To The Sims 4

In The Sims 4, you can become an astronaut, make friends with ghosts or turn into a vampire. One thing you can’t do is smoke weed, which is why one player has spent months working on a mod to bring that and other drugs to the game. He’s earning thousands of dollars in donations for…

Monument Valley Designer’s New Game Shows What Digital Comics Could Be

Florence, out this week for iOS, bills itself as an “interactive story” about a young woman’s first love. I’ve never played anything like it. Florence is a tale made for the smart phone age. You aren’t just reading the story, you’re swiping to move through the scene, you’re interacting with objects, you’re customizing elements as…

Who ever said video games don’t teach you anything? With Night Shift, Schell Games and Dr. Deepika Mohan are changing the way doctors learn in critical situations.

Man Says Switch Helped Him Find A Tumor In His Hand

Thanks to the Nintendo Switch, a man was able to detect a tumor in his hand. Chris is a 28-year old programmer living in Sydney, Australia. He was planning on getting a Switch as soon as it was announced: He’s owned every Nintendo console since the Wii, and seeing footage of Breath of the Wild…

Xbox mobile apps now include party chat functionality. The feature rolled out yesterday, allowing people with either the android or iOS Xbox app on their phone to create or join an Xbox Live Party even when they’re away from their console.

McFarlane Toys is teaming up with Activision to create a series of Call of Duty action figures. Due out this fall, the series features fully-articulated six-inch recreations of some of the series’ most recognizable heroes. Like these two. Ah man, these two. The times we had.