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A Technical Look At What Makes Uncharted 4 So Pretty

Uncharted 4 is, without a doubt, the best-looking video game I’ve ever played. Here’s an in-depth analysis of how the folks at Naughty Dog pulled it off. The good people at Digital Foundry put together this semi-spoilery video—don’t watch it unless you want to see some of the locations and set-pieces in Uncharted 4—that digs…

Overwatch Player Obliterates Enemy With Basketball Trap

If you’ve been playing Overwatch’s beta, you’re probably familiar with basketballs in starter areas. Usually people just shoot at them until the match starts, and then they’re left behind, forlorn and forgotten. A couple players, though, figured out how to weaponize them. Puppy :U and his cohort realized that you can attach Junkrat’s steel trap and…

A Rare Mario Maker Super Expert Level That Is Not Trash

I’ve largely avoided stages labeled super expert in Mario Maker; they’re usually nonsense. Sometimes, they’re the right kind of nonsense. My intention this morning was to stream the latest stage from Tristan,an eight-year-old from Canada who’s been crafting devious levels for me. Sadly, Nintendo deleted his stage before I was able to play it for…

Fan Edits Full-Length Movie Telling Dark Souls 3‘s Confusing Story

It’s possible to beat Dark Souls 3 and have no idea what really happened. Fortunately, MoonlightButterfly on YouTube has been meticulously making sense of the series’ complicated storytelling by turning them into movies. I’ve previously highlighted MoonlightButterfly’s work on Kotaku, as the release date for Dark Souls 3 loomed. If you’re looking for an easy…

Watch Us Play The First Hour Of Uncharted 4 

Want to get a taste of Nathan Drake’s final adventure? You’ve come to the right place. Today, Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo will join me in a livestream where we play through Uncharted 4‘s opening chapters—and you can join in! Send us questions on Facebook, and we’ll do our best to answer them while playing. Otherwise,…

Fans Remake Classic RTS Games Like Command & Conquer, Red Alert

OpenRA is an open source project that “recreates and modernizes” Westwood’s classic RTS games on the PC by building a new engine for them and making them free to download. Why? A new engine means they can run natively on modern systems, and also means they can run natively at modern resolutions, so you can…

What The ‘Tower Of Joy’ Scene Means To Game of Thrones

One scene on last night’s episode of Game of Thrones might require some explanation for people who haven’t read the books. Let’s talk it through. SPOILERS FOR LAST NIGHT’S GAME OF THRONES AND POTENTIALLY FUTURE EPISODES FOLLOW: For many years now, A Song of Ice and Fire fans have subscribed to a theory that fits…

Highlights Of Two Uncharted 4 Levels, One Traditional And One Full Of New Tricks

Above, a video we capped of Uncharted 4‘s ninth level, which plays similarly to many Uncharted levels of old. Below, a video we capped of Uncharted 4‘s 10th chapter, which shows the game opening up, allowing more variety in exploration and combat. Note how open the level is. It includes a number of optional side…

Battleborn‘s Toughest Mission Is The Game At Its Best And Worst

Battleborn has eight story missions available to play either alone or with a group online. I have completed six. The Saboteur is the seventh, and I’m having a hell of a time with it. I am not alone. This piece originally appeared 5/7/16. Many of the story missions in Battleborn require players defend a point…

Ten Years Ago, Square Announced Final Fantasy Versus XIII 

As Final Fantasy fans across the world wait impatiently for FFXV, let’s take some time to celebrate an important milestone. Yesterday, Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s announcement turned ten years old Happy birthday, announcement! Yep, an entire decade has passed since we first met Noctis. On May 8, 2006, Square Enix announced Versus XIII during their…

Hunter’s Dream From Bloodborne, Remade In Unreal Engine

Childhood classics aren’t the only games with fan-made re-imaginations in Unreal Engine 4. Newer ones can get one too every now and then. And Bloodborne is a fantastic-looking game that deserves an homage like this. Artist Simon Barle recreated Hunter’s Dream, the central hub of the game. While Bloodborne’s graphics were excellent, the dark, dreadful…

Fan Restores World of Warcraft‘s Oldest Zones

Quel’Thalas was added in 2007, but never got the facelift that other, older zones received in 2010. And while there are no plans to revamp anything in these parts of Azeroth, YouTuber Hayven played with the idea for the duration of a short clip. Hayven restored the Blood Elf starting zones Eversong Woods and Ghostlands,…

Super Mario Is Headed to Minecraft: Wii U 

On May 17, the digital version of Minecraft: Wii U Edition will get a free update that brings the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack, which features Mario skins, music, item textures, and a Super Mario-themed world. Players won’t only have to worry about Creepers, but also Super Mario foes like Dry Bones and Hammer Bros. The…

Future Trunks Is Coming to Dragon Ball Super

That’s not all, the anime’s upcoming arc will center around the character’s future incarnation, blue hair and all. As revealed on the Dragon Ball Super official site, Future Trunks is returning to star in the, well, “Future Trunks Arc,” which will begin broadcasting on June 12. The sites wonders why Future Trunks has returned and…

Graffiti Simulator Is Art, Not Crime

Kingspray Graffiti Simulator is a virtual reality experience that lets you paint all over a public space without having to worry about rollerblades or the Japanese police It looks cool! You pick a “stage”, you pick where you’re going to stand, you can choose weather and lighting conditions, then you just…paint. The “flashlight at night…

Couple Gets High Score, Wins Real Cow

A couple in Tunisia, who currently hold the highest score in a mobile game about cows, were sent a real cow as a prize last week. The cow’s name is Pamela. In a world where video game publicity stunts usuallyinvolve something dumb/dangerous, it’s nice to see something so…quaint? Practical? I dunno, I’m basing that on…

The results post for last week’s Kotaku ‘Shop Contest has been pushed to next weekend, while I deal with a very high fever and other fun medical things. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Sony Has Come A Long Way In 70 Years

On May 7, 1946, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Laboratory), a company dedicated to reconstructing and elevating post-war Japan’s culture through technological advancement. In 1958 the company changed its name to Sony. With a staff of 20, little cash, little scientific equipment and scarce supplies, the company that would…

Retro LEGO Desktop Really Takes Me Back

LEGO retro-tech master Chris McVeigh uses muted brick colors to travel back in time to the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, when the computers were beige and the floppy disks plentiful. Those were the days. The days when I was so happy just to have a computer that I didn’t bother covering my desk with toys…

It’s Free Comic Book Day, So Go Get Some Free Comic Books

It’s Free Comic Book Day, the day when people who aren’t working on Saturday can visit their local comic shops for all sorts of deals, specials and of course, free comic books. Check out the official FCBD page to find a comic retailer near you.