Culture

Podcast: What’d We Get Wrong About 2016?

In January, Kirk and I made a whole bunch of predictions for 2016. On today’s Kotaku Splitscreen, it’s time to see which ones were right. Way back on Episode 17 (whoa we’re old), your intrepid Splitscreen hosts made a bet. We each laid out 12 predictions for 2016—predictions like “The Last Guardian will be disappointing”…

Toy Time’s 2016 Holiday Gift Spectacular

Welcome to the first annual Toy Time Holiday Gift Spectacular, with special guests Batman, Spike the Dragon, The Walking Dead, Transformers and more. These are the toys and collectibles that would have made my Christmas list, were they not already sitting right over there. Originally planned as an elaborate video, the inaugural Holiday Gift Spectacular…

King Leoric Cosplay Is Metal AF

I love this Diablo King Leoric cosplay by Endryus Makdragon so much. Every time I cast my eyes over it half my brain says “yup, that’s Diablo”, while the other half goes “haha GWARcosplay”.

This is Eva as a very crazy Yuno from Future Diary. Photo by Wan Mei

When Your Mech Goes Up In Smoke

Overwatch cosplay byAngelina Vo. Photos by Johnny Ngo

Steven Universe cosplay by Punky Bruiser. Photo by KG Photography

League Of Legends Cosplay From All Corners Of The Globe

League of Legends’ Elementalist Lux has ten different forms. So of course there are now different cosplayers dressed as each one. The shots were put together by Riot, and feature cosplayers from all over the world, from China to Turkey to Australia to Costa Rica. You can see the full gallery of all ten forms…

Modder Gives Counter-Strike‘s Most Popular Maps A Holiday Makeover

Counter-Strike might have Christmas chickens, but it’s severely lacking in Christmas maps. Enter a selection of phenomenal modded maps by BadtRIP Thanks to their handiwork, you can now play festive versions of Train, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass, Cobblestone, and Dust2. Changes are wholly cosmetic and include snow, lights, sleighs, and even Christmas trees. The weather outside…

He Will Deal With Your Rebel Friends Soon Enough

This incredible 3D sculpt was done by artist Chris Nix. You can see more of Chris’ work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the…

Track: Bring on the Dancing Horses | Artist: Echo and the Bunnymen | Album: Pretty in Pink Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Very Good Final Fantasy VII Cosplay

Narcisseis one of the best Final Fantasy cosplayers on the internet, not just for the amount of work he and partner Lady Zero put into their costumes, but on stuff like his wigs and make-up as well. As you can see with this incredible Cloud Strife cosplay. Photos by Novii Photography. I don’t know what’s…

How Do You Feel About Anime Fan Service?

When it comes to fan service, we all draw our lines differently. Where are yours? We want to hear from you. Do you seek it out? Avoid it? It’s almost impossible to wrap hard moral rules around anime consumption. And we all have our own ways of dealing with it. Bakemonogatari is one of my…

The Big, Beautiful Ships Of Star Wars

Ansel Hsiao is an artist who has worked on games like Halo 4. Today, though, we’re interested in his exquisite 3D Star Wars art. We actually featured some of his workback in 2011. It’s been five years since then, and just as technology and our expectations about 3D art has increased, so too has the…

Nurse Joy & Officer Jenny, Just Chillin’

This is Pokemon’s Nurse Joy (Aline) and Officer Jenny (Odinia). Photos by Pedro G Fuentes

Track: Nineteenth | Artist: Kudo | Album: Planting Seeds Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Spider-Gwen Cosplay Does Whatever A Spider-Gwen Can

Just as Spider-Gwen’s character design is some of the coolest in modern comics, so too is most of the cosplay based on her. In this case, it’s Hendotaking to the rooftops of LA for this awesome shoot by Vincenzo Spina, who by night is a photographer but by day is actually a Presentation Director at…

Battlefield Death Animation Is Mysteriously Smug

Today on Highlight Reel we have character animations, winks, face kicks, car trouble, 360 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! Hitman –…

Snacktaku Eats Oreo Candy Bars With Friends

Snackology is often referred to by completely real people as the loneliest of the sciences, but it doesn’t have to be. Join me and a host of Kotaku guest stars in our poorly-lit home office as we eat one of the best non-cookie Oreo products yet. Launched in North America as a limited release last…

Dungeons & Dragons’ Gradual Shift Away From Monster Boobs

Dungeons & Dragons has historically used attractive monsters, and especially of the female persuasion, to appeal to potential players. Busty demons and lithe wood maidens populated its source material, namely its Monster Manual, throughout the last 40 years. With recent editions and supplements, D&D has phased out its bare-breasted female monsters and included more sexy…

That Time A Player Claimed Final Fantasy VI‘s Gogo Was The Governor Of Illinois

The identity of Gogo, Final Fantasy VI’s secretive mime, is one of the game’s best kept secrets. Over the years players have surmised that Gogo was Daryl, the dashing airship pilot who crashed without a trace, or Emperor Gestahl, looking for redemption after Kefka destroyed the world. But there’s a wild theory, based on false…