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And Then I Got Banned From Donald Trump’s Second Life Mansion

Following news that the recreation of Donald Trump’s Florida mansion in virtual playground Second Life was owned by an anime schoolgirl, I decided to take a tour. It was lovely, until I was forcibly ejected by security. Just when I thought I’d gotten Second Life out of my system, Trump drags me right back in.…

New Punch-Out!! Tell Comes To Light 29 Years Later

Proving once more that scrappy hero of Punch-Out!! is actually a dirty cheater, Redditor midwesternhousewives shares the story of the bearded crowdmember whose nod tells Little Mac exactly when to knock out Piston Honda and Bald Bull the second time around. A lifelong NES Punch-Out!! fan, midwesternhousewives was inspired to scour the crowd to tells…

Like reading behind-the-scenes stories about what it’s like to make games? Good news: I’m writing a book full of them! The book, which will be published by HarperCollins in the fall of 2017, will be a compilation of stories not unlike the Destiny piece we ran in October. You’ll hear much more about it next…

Metal Gear’s Original Snake Voice Actor Returns For A Car Commercial

Think Konami’s gonna shut this down? Three years ago, fans were shocked to learn that David Hayter, the longtime English language voice of Metal Gear lead character Snake, wouldn’t be returning to his most famous role. Hayter’s lobbed a few darts at publisher Konami and Snake’s creator Hideo Kojima since it all went down. So…

Looking Good, Rebel Scum

Quantum Break’s PC Version Sure Sounds Broken

I started playing Quantum Break on Xbox One last night and was surprised by how much I liked it. If I’d been playing on PC, sounds like it would’ve been a different story. I raised an eyebrow last week when I heard the PC version’s main menu didn’t have a quit button—never the sign of…

New Mario Maker Guidelines Still Don’t Explain Why Levels Get Deleted

Nintendo has been deleting Mario Maker courses for months without explanation, and the community is tired. The company updated its Mario Maker support page today with new guidelines, but it doesn’t have many answers. “A Course I Uploaded Seems to Have Disappeared. Where Did it Go?” reads the support page, in which the company declares…

Namco Teases ‘Big’ Dark Souls 3 News, Turns Out To Be Crappy Merch

When Bandai Namco’s Twitter promised “big” Dark Souls news was coming today, it could have been anything. A Dark Souls movie? Details on the game’s DLC? A remastered Dark Souls? Nope! Turns out it’s a really lame clothing line. Here’s how Bandai Namco set things up yesterday: And here’s what it ended up being: It’s…

The Gamble To Make A Video Game About Infiltrating A 1970s Cult

“You’re sort of buying a lottery ticket,” the game developer Richard Rouse recently told me while explaining the mindset of trying to make an indie game after spending many years doing big budget stuff for Microsoft, Ubisoft and others. “It might be really successful,” he said. “I certainly hope it is. But you shouldn’t go…

Nosgoth, the bizarre Legacy of Kain multiplayer spin-off, is being shut down, Square Enix announced today Even though I’ve been reminded several times now, I’m always surprised to learn Psyonix, the developers behind Rocket League, were working on it. The game will turn off on May 31.

How A Total Novice Built A Solid YouTube Following Beating Dark Souls

One of the biggest misconceptions about Dark Souls is that it’s only for super-hardcore macho gamers looking to prove their mettle – players who are looking to test their already hardened gaming skills. The challenge is too intimidating, runs this line of reasoning, for anyone else to contemplate attempting. [The following is an excerpt from…

The Chocobo Theme Performed With Drum And Flute Blocks In Stardew Valley

Here’s a really neat way to use note blocks in farming sim Stardew Valley. Instead of growing vegetables, Chinchilla made a small field with note blocks, playing the well-known Chocobo Theme from Final Fantasy Pretty hard not to smile after watching it. And it gets even better at 1.5x speed. To contact the author of…

There’s No Such Thing As An Unreachable Spot In Just Cause 3

Platforming through lamp posts with a pogo stick or using vehicles as slingshots to reach some unreachable top of a building in Just Cause 3? No problem for the folks at EvolveStunting Their latest montage is full of crazy highlights: To contact the author of this post, write to: [email protected]

Reimagining an Undertale Date

Undertale, naturally for an RPG where you can befriend monsters, has dates. A fan decided to slightly expand one of them. Note that there’s spoilers for Undertale’s Pacifist Route below. This series of concept art pieces, done by Redditor Agentalex9, shows what Frisk’s encounter at Undyne’s house could have been like if it had started…

Lost Beavis and Butt-Head Arcade Game Found, Restored And Now Playable

In 1996, Atari started work on a Beavis & Butt-Head arcade game. It tested poorly, was never completed and few of the 12 prototype machines were believed to be alive and obtainable. Until Galloping Ghost Arcade got their hands on one and got it working again. Built using 3DO-based hardware and incomplete at the time…

OK Dark Souls III, That Was A Good Tweet

Twitter accounts for ‘brands’ are pretty much the worst ever, but here is a rare example of one getting it right. I’ll give you your dues @DarkSoulsGame, this was a really good tweet. This post originally appeared on Kotaku Australia, where Mark Serrels is the Editor. You can follow him on Twitter if you’re into…

Nintendo’s New Amiibo Stands Are Terrific

Nintendo Japan are selling these things for people who want to display their Amiibo with a little pizazz. The Kirby one is cute, but the Smash stage one is amazing Going on sale later this month, they’ll run for ¥864 (which is around USD$8). Best part? That’s nice.

Podcast:  The Weird Evolution Of Video Game Controllers

On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen I’m joined by game designer, composer and Idle Thumb Chris Remo. We spend most of the episode talking about jazz. Just kidding. Topics covered: The similarities between music and video games, the evolution of game controllers, what it was like to work on and release Firewatch, common criticisms of the…

VR Game At A Glance: Screwing Around In Job Simulator

Sure, they call it Job Simulator, but they could’ve called it Not Being Very Good At Your Job Simulator Here’s a video of me playing some of the game: What it is: Job Simulator is a fumblecore simulation comedy game where you take on a handful of different jobs as imagined by robots in the…

VR Shipping Woes Continue With The Vive

I’ve been on the VR hype train for years. When HTC opened up pre-orders for the Vive, I plunked down my credit card and started waiting. But the Vive’s launch has come and gone, and…I’m still waiting. When is my Vive gonna show up? I don’t really know, and it seems like I’m not alone.…