Culture

Dungeons & Deceptions: The First D&D Players Push Back On The Legend Of Gary Gygax

Everybody calls Rob Kuntz last, he says. Those who want to know about the history of Dungeons & Dragons start with co-creator Gary Gygax’s kids, one of Gygax’s biographers, or D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast. As they’re wrapping things up, they might get around to dialing up Kuntz, a 63-year-old game designer. And once…

My Co-op Gaming Night Turned To A Couple Sad Hours Of Downloading Updates

Recently, a close friend of mine returned after having been out of town for a little while—like way out of town, where time zones made real-time communication out of the question, even though we live in The Future. To celebrate his return to my time zone, we decided to play some games together online and…

Track: Daily Battles | Artist: Thom Yorke & Flea | Album: Motherless Brooklyn OST

Kanada Myojin Shrine (Kanda Matsuri Procession). Tokyo, Japan. By Jimmy Ho | Instagram | Official Site JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Jawbones And Swords, Man, That’s What I Do

Andrew Mar is an artist and illustrator who has worked for companies like Wizards of the Coast and Bethesda. You can see more of Andrew’s stuff at his personal site and ArtStation page. He’s also got a hardcover art book coming out which has already passed its Kickstarter funding goal, and you can get that…

Sega’s Logo Is A Different Color In Japan

File this under “things I had not even noticed let alone thought to ask”. Over the weekend, Japanese developer Yuichiro Kitao (I am Setsuna, Crystar) pondered on Twitter why some Sega games had different coloured logos than others. While this could have just been some idle observation, turns out he was onto something: Sega of…

The Week In Games: Off The Chain!

It’s almost September, and you know what that means. It’s time to ride the cybernetic battle cat of your dreams into the alien frey. Huzzah! PlatinumGames’ newest Nintendo exclusive is finally here, and it looks like it might actually live up to the hype. I still don’t really understand what the game is about, but…

What Game Do You Love, But Can’t Seem To Finish?

Will The Phantom Thieves ever steal all the hearts? Will I ever eat curry again with the best boy, and starving artist, Yusuke? When can I expect it to stop being November in Persona 5? When I pick up the controller and finish the game, you say? Oh. Okay. You know how, sometimes, you really…

The Original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Soundtrack Is Still A Blast

Gaming series known for their superior soundtracks often have one thing in common — a wide array of powerful or catchy music orchestrated to fit a specific environment. Though plenty of games (mostly annual sports series) have used popular prerecorded tunes as part of their soundtrack in the past, they rarely stand out from the…

That Time Nintendo Took the Game Boy (and Pokémon) Online

When it comes to online play and digital distribution, Nintendo always seem two steps behind its competitors. But things weren’t always like this, at least in Japan. Back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s Nintendo actually brought both the Famicom and Super Famicom (known as the NES and SNES elsewhere) online via powerful console…

Sunday Comics: That’s Kinda Dumb

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Aug 19. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published Aug. 22. Read more of Corpse Run Clueless Hero by…

Romance Of The Three Kingdoms XIII Is A Flawed, But Addictive, Entry Into The Series

The very first time I was a guest writer for Kotaku, I wrote about Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV, which was my favorite in the series. I’ve played ROTKIV too many times to count as its strategy gaming at its best. I did play many of the games after IV, but missed IX-XII. With…

Twitch Suspends Popular Leftist Streamer After Controversial 9/11 Comments

During a Twitch stream earlier this week, popular leftist streamer Hasan Piker made a statement that would, by pretty much any measure, be considered incendiary. “America deserved 9/11, dude,” he said. “Fuck it, I’m saying it.” Today, Twitch suspended Piker for one week. Emotions had been running high in the leadup to the statement on…

Majora’s Mask Speedrunners Get World Record Under An Hour By Playing The Ocarina 63 Times

As of six days ago, speedrunners have found a way to complete The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask in under an hour. The moody Ocarina of Time sequel is best known for its lengthy sidequests and countless collectables. A glitch allowing players to access a hidden debug menu has cut out much of the necessary…

Battlefield V Developers Cancel 5v5 Mode, Saying They Need To Fix Other Bugs

Since its launch in November 2018, Battlefield V has been expanded with a battle royale mode and additional limited time modes that reimagine the multiplayer experience. A long planned 5v5 competitive mode has been in the works for some time, but that’s no more. In a note posted today, the game’s senior producer Ryan McArthur…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for cleaning the house, for real this time, not like all those other weekends I said I would clean and then didn’t. Does that sound convincing? Let’s be honest: I’m probably just going to pause every half hour to play video games instead. Rad came out this week, and while I wasn’t…

The Division 2 Developers Challenge Players To Find Misspelled Police Car

In the vast video game version of Washington, D.C in Ubisoft’s The Division 2, there is a single police car that reads “POLCE.” The misspelling has been in the game for months, but only on Wednesday, after a prompt from the game’s creative director, did people finally start reporting its discovery. A Berlin-based gamer named…

Gears of War Isn’t As Fun Without The Chainsaw Gun

I love the Lancer from Gears of War. That’s the chainsaw gun. So I’m pretty disappointed that Gears of War 4, which I’m playing now to prep for the sequel, keeps taking my Lancer away. I’ve loved the Lancer since the series’ original hero Marcus Fenix used it in the first Gears game. Within the…

Track: Soon | Artist: My Bloody Valentine | Album: Loveless 

Mount Fuji. Lake Fujikawaguchiko, Japan. By Vince Flores | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!