Uncategorized

Randomness In Video Games Is Not All The Same

Random chance mechanics in video games can be frustrating. Missing a 90% shot in XCOM, when you really need it to hit, can cause some players to throw their controller or rage quit. But not all randomness found in video games is the same and how developers use randomness can make you scream or cheer.…

Mario Maker Contest: Going Down, Winners!

Last week I gave you all the task of creating courses in Mario Maker 2 that were all about getting down. Be it tunnels, mines, deep ravines or giant ocean mazes. Consider this a sequel to a contest a few months back, which was all about going up! I got some great levels this week.…

What Happened To Doomguy’s Zig-Zag Hair?

I love Doom 2016 a lot. It might be one of my favorite games of all time. But it has a problem. One which seems to be returning in the upcoming Doom Eternal. Where the hell is Doomguy’s sick 90s hair cut? This important piece of Doom lore was left out in Doom (2016), as…

Palestinian-American Smash Player Uses Top Ranking To Advocate For Palestine

Spending time in the fighting game community makes you accustomed to referring to people by names like SonicFox, HotDog29, and Dr. PeePee. The latest rankings of Super Smash Bros. Melee players are full of such names, and one high-level Smash competitor is using his gamer tag for an explicitly political purpose: advocating for a free…

There are already so many versions of Goku in Dragon Ball FighterZ, what’s one more? Gematsu reports that Ultra Instinct Goku will be joining the fighting game as its next downloadable character. More information is expected during the World Tour finals next month.

Originally slated for a February 28 release, the intriguing Iron Man VR has been delayed to May 15. According to developer Camoflaj, the PlayStation VR exclusive was pushed back in order to deliver on their vision and meet the high expectations of their community. Plus it’s delay season, so these things just happen. 

Weathering With You Is A Good, But Flawed Follow Up To Your Name

When originally released in 2016, the acclaimed Your Name became the highest-grossing anime in Japan ever. Today, its follow-up, Weathering With You, was released in Japan. The movie shares many thematic and stylistic themes with Your Name. The result is good but flawed. Warning: This review includes some light spoilers. Weathering With You tells the…

The twitchy roguelike Wizard of Legend got a big free update called Thundering Keep across all platforms today It adds a new boss, stage, enemies, and dozens of new spells and items. The game is also still on Game Pass on both Xbox One and PC and very much worth checking out.

The post-apocalyptic Russian survival shooter collection Metro Redux will release on Switch on February 28, Deep Silver announced today. It includes the first two games in the series, Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, which can be bought together or à la carte for $25 each.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses will get some new story content in its upcoming DLC release on February 12th, 2020. In the “Cindered Shadows” side story, players will meet students from a hidden fourth house, the Ashen Wolves.

The Joker brings Friendship to Mortal Kombat 11, sort of. Our first look at the DC Comics villain in action shows off a fighter who’s very into horribly painful joke gadgets, like spring-loaded fists with brass knuckles on the end, and his faux friendship fatality is simply perfect. The Joker joins the MK11 roster on…

Jiang Ziya, the sequel to the blockbuster Chinese animation Ne Zha, is getting a US release. The earlier movie made a whopping $720 million in China, and the sequel follows the adventures of an army commander who is tasked with killing the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. Jiang Ziya will be released in the US on February…

We Are All This Detective Pikachu Plush

I feel you, Detective Pikachu. 2020 has not got off to the greatest start. This wrinkled and very sad plush, which came out in Japan last year, is available today at the Pokémon Center for $20. He is almost unfathomably cute.

We Keep Having The Same Video Game Arguments And It’s Driving Me Bonkers

In a 2016 interview, Escape From Tarkov designer Pavel Dyatlov said women weren’t in the game because they ”can’t handle that amount of stress.” After renewed scrutiny of the comments last week, studio Battlestate Games took to Twitter to distance themselves from Dyatlov’s statements. They noted that “game lore” and the extra production needed to…

I (Tim Rogers) am playing Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot over on our Twitch channel. I plan to have a good time and insist that every character’s last name is Goku. (“The names Trunks. Trunks Goku.” Et cetera.) Get in the chat and implore me to stop!

Fortnite’s 11.40 patch adds the ability to “sidegrade” at least one weapon: the example given is the assault rifle, which can be turned into the heavy assault rifle. The patch also reduces the materials needed to upgrade weapons at benches and fixes some bugs.

Apex Legends Gets A Slew Of Temporary Modes, Starting Today

Apex Legends’ “Grand Soiree” event kicked off today. For the next two weeks, the game will feature a series of special modes, along with unique challenges and rewards. I tried out the first of the new modes today to see how they freshen things up. Each mode lasts two days. The first mode, available today…

Snipperclips developer Tom Vian joins me (Tim Rogers) and Getting Over It’s Bennett Foddy in the Kotaku Goblin Bunker to stream Snipperclips, a game that I love an extreme amount. If you’re as excited as I am, prove it with lots of capital letters in the chat

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s fifth DLC character will get announced this Thursday at 9:00a.m. during a livestream with Masahiro Sakurai. The game’s director will give a 35 minute presentation on the new fighter, the final one to be added as part of the current season pass.

Track: By Your Side ft. Sarah Rebecca | Artist: French 79 | Album: Joshua