Culture

My Week With The Fastest Gamers On Earth

Eight years ago, Games Done Quick started as a handful of sleep-deprived speedrunners unexpectedly crammed into owner Mike Uyama’s mom’s basement. Networking issues had forced them to abandon their planned location at MAGFest’s hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, so they improvised. Back then, the organizers’ chief concern was whether a residential internet connection and jury-rigged hardware…

I’m Glad I Started Playing The Witcher 1 Last

The Witcher came out on PC in 2007. That feels like a lifetime ago. The series is now easily one of my favorites, but a decade ago I, like a lot of people, had no idea it even existed. That’s created a weird dynamic as I play The Witcher 1 for the first time knowing…

Final Fantasy VI Speedrun Is A Seven-Hour Master Class

If you think you know just about everything there is to know about the seminal role-playing game Final Fantasy VI, watch this beautiful speedrun and prepare to be proven wrong. I didn’t have much time to watch last week’s Summer Games Done Quick, but I did carve out a chunk of yesterday for the finale, which…

Track: Come Together | Artist: The Beatles | Album: Abbey Road Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Eyes To The Skies

Mikhail Buleyko is a CG artist based in Russia. You can see more of Mikhail’s work at his Behance and ArtStationpages. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional and personal portfolios. If you’re in the business and have some concept, environment, promotional or…

The Crew 2 Driver Violently Corrects Course

Today on Highlight Reel we have Battlefield V alpha clips, vegetative deer, C4 snipes, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on…

The Next Evolution In Gamer Food Is Here

Funko, the toy company behind the adorable/creepy/vacant-eyed parody dolls of beloved cultural icons ranging from Spider-Man to David Cross that time he covered himself in blue paint for in episode of Arrested Development, announced in a new blog post today it will soon be selling cereal as well. It’ll be called FunkOs and each box…

The Week In Games: Smash The Entirety Of Mars

This week is the Fourth of July, which means outdoor activities, but if you’re stuck inside you might want to smash Mars apart with a big hammer or play some Switch games. This week is looking a little lean, and it might has something to do with a holiday that asks you to spend 40%…

Track: Absolute Beginners | Artist: David Bowie | Album: Absolute Beginners (OST) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Track: Melancholia | Artist: Converge | Album: Beautiful Ruin Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Solo Was A Good-Lookin’ Movie

I really liked Solo! What I liked most—and don’t let this appearing in a concept art feature shock you—was how good it looked, how Star Wars everything was, from Corellia to the Kessel Run. One of the people to thank for that is Finnian MacManus, an artist we’ve featured before here on Fine Art. But…

Check Out This Monster Hunter Cosplay

Kamui ain’t done with the show-stopping Monster Honter cosplay. Her Zinogre armour from March was incredible, especially the way it lit up, but she’s already back with an equally-impressive take on a Nergigante set. Here are some shots to give you an idea of the detail: You can see more of Kamui’s cosplay work (and…

Cosplayer Becomes Final Fantasy XIII’s Lightning

Lady Zero and her partner Narcisse are, as we’ve established, two of the best Square Enix cosplayers on the planet. A fact we’re reminded of tonight with Lady’s absolutely perfect take on FFXIII’s Lightning. Lady Zero did pretty much everything here (though the wig was styled by Narcisse), crafting it all over a five-month period.…

Track: The Rain | Artist: Harrison Lemke | Album: More Postcards From Purgatory Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Video Game Independence Day

Independence Day is this week for Americans, and that means barbecues, American flags plastered on everything, and lots of people (who are also plastered) lighting fireworks and shooting them into the sky, into the ground, and at each other. Let’s put that in video games. Your task this week is this: how would your favorite…

We Talk PS4’s Lack Of Cross-Play

In 2013, Sony handily won the war of words against Microsoft’s customer-unfriendly policies, but in 2018, we’re seeing a role reversal. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, let’s discuss. First, Kirk and I talk weddings, Westworld, and Switch gaming before digging into the news of the week on lawsuits and PS4’s lack of cross-play. Then we…

Sunday Comics: Monster Pup

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 June 25. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published June 28. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

Track: Undoing A Luciferian Towers | Artist: Godspeed You! Black Emperor | Album: Undoing A Luciferian Towers Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Summer Sports, Winners!

It’s time to go outdoors and get sweaty in pursuit of fun, but we don’t want to leave our favorite video game characters out of the action. I asked you to make summer sports happen, and you delivered. Look, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know anything about organized outdoor sports. The last time…

This Week In The Business: Moving At The Speed Of Sony

QUOTE | “We’re hearing it. We’re looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I’m confident we’ll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business.” –…