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The Last Great Cosplay Event Of 2017
It’s late December, almost January. And at the end of every year in Japan, there is one event in which cosplayers can strut their stuff. The twice-yearly Comic Market not only is a gathering for doujinshi fans, but also cosplayers. Here are some of the best—and most amusing—cosplay from Comiket’s first day! Kotaku East is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2017 -
Overwatch Fan’s Cairo Map Looks Good Enough To Be In The Game
Overwatch already has one map set in Egypt, but fan Joshua llorente has made a very good case for the addition of another. llorente spent two months creating his own Cairo map from scratch in Epic’s Unreal Engine. “All assets including textures and models are created by me,” he said on Reddit. “No downloaded content.” It’s…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 28, 2017 -
Cecilia D’Anastasio’s Top 10 Games Of 2017
My game of the year for 2017? Obviously Overwatch. Oh—sorry. *Puts finger to earpiece*. That came out last year? Well. Hm. In all honesty, I’ll echo the “2017 was a stellar year for games” consensus. This was a year for experiments that worked and exceeded expectations. So many games blew me out of the water.…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 28, 2017 -
Man Loses Switch, Meets Person Who Found It Via Reddit
A Frankfurt, Germany man who lost his Nintendo Switch at one of the busiest airports in the world was reunited with his console in mere hours after posting about it on Reddit. Juan, who asked that we not use his last name, was looking forward to whiling away the time on his flight with Floor…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 28, 2017 -
Bloodborne Hackers Find Way To Fight Two Hidden Bosses
Bloodborne’s chalice dungeons offer hundreds of thousands of possible crypts to explore. Dedicated players have found lost enemies and keep looking for more. Thanks to dataminers searching the game’s files, a new group of dungeons have been found containing developer test areas and unused bosses. Earlier this month, dataminers finally managed to unlock Bloodborne’s files…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 28, 2017 -
Why We Love The Disaster Artist
The Disaster Artist, the incredible true-ish story behind the making of one of the worst movies of all time, came out in theaters earlier this month. Allow me and Gita to tell you why it’s fantastic. Jason Schreier: Gita, today we are going to talk about The Disaster Artist, which might be my favorite movie…
By Jason Schreier Published December 28, 2017 -
Saving Japan’s Games
A Tokyo non-profit organization is dedicated to preserving Japan’s earliest video games before they die. On a Sunday morning in September, Typhoon Talim was flooding the western part of Japan with a torrential downpour, but at Todoroki Station in Tokyo on the other end of the country, its effects were limited to a light rain.…
By Chris Kohler Published December 28, 2017 -
The Adventures Of Bruce Lee And Freddie Mercury Figures
For years, collectors have been taking amusing photos of their figures. So while this isn’t new, these images show how well the S.H. Figuarts versions of Bruce Lee and Freddie Mercury go together. These images are from Twitter user Suekichiii. They are wonderful, with the top image set being retweeted over 20,000 times. Of course,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 28, 2017 -
How Anime Has Changed Over The Past 100 Years
Can you believe it? Japan has been making animation for over a hundred years. Let’s see how things have changed! As Japan Trends points out, the clip below begins with Namakura Gatana, a silent four-minute short made in 1917 but only discovered in 2008. Other cartoons and stop motion animation follow for a total of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 28, 2017 -
InnerSpace, an exploration flying game I highlighted way back in 2014, is finally coming out in January. I’ll admit that this one fell off my radar for a while, but it still looks great, mixing vast worlds with dreamlike visuals. Will it handle like a dream, though? Here’s hoping.
By Nathan Grayson Published December 27, 2017 -
Experts Have A New Reason To Debate Whether ‘Gaming Disorder’ Is Real
Ask veteran gamers whether it’s possible to get too hooked on a game and they might have stories of a World of Warcraft raiding buddy who used to pee in a can that lived next to his Alienware tower. Or they might confess they got so into their Zelda: Breath of the Wild playthrough that…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 27, 2017 -
How To Get Into Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress is a two dimensional fortress-building game about dwarves, which often breaks in fascinating ways. Nothing about it should work, but somehow it comes together. I wish everyone could experience Dwarf Fortress, but it’s a punishing game for people who like to be frustrated. Dwarf Fortress isn’t for everyone. It’s a game about losing.…
By Gita Jackson Published December 27, 2017 -
In A Universe of Backstabbers, These EVE Players Offer Support
Most stories told of EVE Online and its players are about deceit, subterfuge or betrayal; players who forsake everyday politeness to further their own in-game goals. But this is a story about the friendlier side of the EVE community, and a group called Broadcast 4 Reps, or B4R. It is not an in-game organization with…
By Lee Yancy Published December 27, 2017 -
The Year In Video Game Skies, 2017
Games love to pummel you with lists of things to collect, places to get to, and enemies to beat. Sometimes you just need to take a moment to pause, catch your breath, and look up at the beauty above. What follows is a list of some of the year’s most memorable games and the skies…
By Ethan Gach Published December 27, 2017 -
The Gamers Of The Year, 2017
People who play video games don’t just sit in the audience and watch, clap or boo. They interact and sometimes even help shape the trajectory of an artform. They do this as pro players and amateur critics, as speedrunners and community organizers, and more. Each year we highlight those who have made an impact that…
Stephen Totilo and Maddy Myers Published December 27, 2017 -
Kirk Hamilton’s Top 10 Games Of 2017
I played a lot of very good video games in 2017. Every year is a good year for video games. (See: my lists from 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.) These posts generally start with some variation of that. “What a great year!” “Wow, it was a killer year,” etc. This year was special. No, seriously!…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 27, 2017