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CultureFallout 76 Players Brace For Possible Evictions In Wastelanders Update
Fallout 76’s sweeping Wastelanders expansion arrives tomorrow, bringing a bunch of new content to a game that hasn’t seen much of that in the last six months. While most players are eagerly awaiting the update, some are sitting with their fingers crossed hoping the new changes won’t force them to relocate the elaborate campsites they’ve…
By Ethan Gach -
Side-scrolling crafting game Terraria is getting its final update May 16 on PC Originally released in 2011, the 2D take on Minecraft has received tons of updates and ported to just about every platform. Titled Journey’s End, the final update will add a bunch of new items, characters, and mini-biomes.
By Ethan Gach -
CultureESRB Ratings Will Now Tell You If A Game Has Loot Boxes
Today the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced a new ratings description specifically for games with loot boxes. Currently, games that have microtransactions in them come with an ESRB description that states “In-Game Purchases.” The ESRB is now going to add the follow-up description “Includes Random Items” if there are items players can buy in…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureNintendo Says Stop Using Alcohol To Clean Your Joy-Cons
You might have heard there’s currently a global pandemic going on. As a result you might be using things like alcohol and disinfect wipes to clean off your stuff, including your Switch. Nintendo says don’t, at least if your priority is not damaging the system’s finish. For many, it probably isn’t. “Recently, customers have been…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureAnimal Crossing: New Horizons Pulled From Some Chinese Stores After In-Game Hong Kong Protests
Listings for Nintendo’s adorable life sim Animal Crossing: New Horizons have been taken down from online Chinese stores Pinduoduo and Taobao. This comes on the heels of some players using the game to share pro-Hong Kong protest messages. Reuters reported earlier today that searching for the Switch game on Pinduoduo and Taobao no longer returns…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureThe Pokémon Company Is Investigating Sword And Shield Cheaters
Pokémon Sword and Shield players recently discovered an exploit they can use to inflate their competitive rankings, and the Pokémon Company is now threatening to ban anyone who doesn’t stop doing it. The exploit revolves around quitting an online match right before you lose by holding down the power button on the Switch. It was…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsMinecraft Dungeons Is Like Family-Friendly Diablo
Minecraft’s transformation from an open-world crafting game into a linear dungeon crawler is an odd one, but Minecraft Dungeons is still shaping up to be a serenely welcoming loot-based hack n’ slash. Mojang demoed the game for me remotely last week due to the new work-from-home constraints imposed by the ongoing covid-19 crisis. These constraints…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureNext-Gen Consoles Reignite An Old Argument Over Controller Batteries
Without electrical juice controllers are just paperweights, and Sony and Microsoft continue to take dramatically different approaches to solving that problem. Yesterday Sony revealed its PlayStation 5 controller: the DualSense. It’s chunkier than the current-gen DualShock 4 and comes loaded with a number of new features, including haptic feedback and a built-in microphone. People wasted…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureGoogle Stadia Pro Goes Free For Two Months
Google announced today that it’s making its Stadia Pro video game streaming service free to everyone for the next two months, as people stay home to limit the spread of Covid-19. “Video games can be a valuable way to socialize with friends and family when you’re stuck at home, so we’re giving gamers in 14…
By Ethan Gach -
Tips & GuidesTips For Playing Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord can be an extremely overwhelming game. While it only just came out in Early Access and it still has plenty of aspects that need fleshed out or fixed, it already offers a ton of medieval role-playing possibilities in which to lose yourself, from managing large-scale battles to cementing political alliances…
By Ethan Gach -
Kotaku Reacts To Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Two weeks have passed since Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out, and almost everyone on the Kotaku staff has poured themselves into trying to make our new desert islands feel like home. It’s been…a process—full of blood, sweat, and a lot of broken axes—and we have some thoughts about it. Hopefully by now you’ve read…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureWoman Who Played 4,000 Hours Of Animal Crossing: New Leaf Finally Starts New Horizons
After playing over 4,000 hours of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, 88-year-old Audrey at long last embarks on her deserted island getaway in Animal Crossing: New Horizons The last time we saw her, she was diligently checking in on the villagers of her New Leaf town and tending her huge flower garden. Now she’s returned along…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureDarkest Dungeon Is Getting Multiplayer
For four years the grueling dungeon-crawler Darkest Dungeon has let players suffer alone. In May, new downloadable content will add a multiplayer arena where they can suffer together. Red Hook Games announced the new content back on April 1, but because it was April Fools’ Day, everyone assumed it was just a joke. Multiplayer? In…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureJohn Wick Hex And Some Other Indie Games Are Headed To PS4
The boogie man himself is finally headed to PS4 along with a small but diverse collection of other indie games over the next several days and months. Earlier today, Sony published a series of surprise posts over on the European PlayStation blog, revealing news about five games headed to the PlayStation 4. It’s an odd…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureGwent‘s New Battle Pass Lets You Play Dress-Up With Geralt
Gwent now has a 100-level battle pass players in need of a goal can work on grinding through. Unlike just any battle pass though, CD Projekt Red says it wants Gwent’s to tell a story each season. “At the start of each week, a new chapter of Journey’s story will be unveiled,” the company writes…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureSea Of Thieves Now Has A Steam Page [Update: Microsoft Says It’s Coming There ‘Soon’]
Micorsoft’s multiplayer pirate life simulator, Sea of Thieves, looks like it’s finally heading to Valve’s platform after getting its own store page complete with the words “coming soon.” The listing was spotted earlier this morning complete with system requirements, descriptive tags, and the option to wishlist the game. Unfortunately there’s no release date yet or…
By Ethan Gach -
A bunch of Java-based phone games from the early 2000s are finally headed to the Switch, at least in Japan. Japanese mobile game company G-Mode announcedG-Mode Archives earlier today which will be porting a handful of games over the next few months including the awesome looking JRPG Flyhight Cloudia
By Ethan Gach -
CultureSony Donates $10 Million To Covid-19 Response Fund
Sony announced today it’s donating $10 million to the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Response Fund aimed at fighting the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic as part of the company’s new $100 million relief effort. “Through this fund, Sony will provide support in three areas: assistance for those individuals engaged in frontline medical and first responder efforts…
By Ethan Gach