Culture

French cosplayer Konitransforms from human into Death Knight. Photo by Shudan

Final Fantasy, You Sure Look Different

WAIT THIS ISN’T A “DISNEY PRINCESSES AS TKTK” POST. Nor is it a Kingdom Hearts post, so sorry. I think it’s something cooler than either of those things. These illustrations are by David Adhinarya Lojaya, an artist from Indonesia who works in games, film, animation and books. They take Final Fantasy characters from across the…

Parent Needs Christian News Show’s Advice About Undertale

Undertale has finally hit the bigtime. The hilarious, sometimes moving RPG led one gamer’s concerned parent to call popular Christian news program The 700 Club for advice. They said their daughter was obsessed with a hoodie-wearing skeleton. Rev Robertson urged them to get their daughter into less “evil” video games. The concerned parent’s message: Oh…

Steam Curators Need A Revamp

Steam is a howling vortex of games both brilliant and terrible. Steam curators were supposed to be part of an effort to cut down on the chaos. I can’t help but feel like the system failed. For those who don’t really pay attention to Steam curators (I get the impression that’s a fair number of…

Track: Chouwa oto ~with reflection~ | Artist: Kokia | Album: Live in Paris 2007 Les couleurs de Paris Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Where to Buy Great Video Game Artwork

I have a rule for my house: no more than a third of the artwork on my walls is allowed to be gaming-related. This rule fell apart pretty quickly when it became clear just how much beautiful video game artwork there is out there. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK, on July 24, 2014.…

Welcome To Cosplay, Kotaku’s Website About…Cosplay

Over the past decade, cosplay has exploded in popularity. Once a niche pursuit of folks at the fringes of fandom, it’s now a worldwide industry, attracting countless new devotees and fans every single day. In that time, our coverage—and my coverage in particular—of cosplay has evolved as well, to the point where I’ve gone from…

PAX Australia, Through A Cosplayer’s Eyes

It’s hot. It was raining ten minutes ago and I’ve just returned from touching up my smudged makeup in the bathroom — only to start sweating it off again the minute I get outside. I’m waiting for my friend who has spent the whole morning applying her full body paint, only now arriving at the…

Move Along. Move Along.

Veikka Somerma is a concept artist from Finland who has worked for games companies like Applibot. You can see more of Veikka’s art at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), click on the “expand”…

Track: Gently | Artist: Shigeto | Album: Intermission Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Counter-Strike Player Wins Match By Closing Door Over And Over

Beware, law-abiding citizens. Terrorism has a deadly new weapon: the door. Counter-Strike player thenuker00 posted a highlight clip in which they—as the last surviving member of their team—stole back every last morsel of momentum the hands of fate had so cruelly wrenched away. By bopping the other team with a door. It was some Three…

Fallout Cosplay Is Chilling Until Fallout 4

New Vegas’ Beatrix Russell and an Enclave goon have one week left until Fallout 4. They will be spending it like a lot of other folks: waiting at the bar. Beatrix is elenasamko, Enclave soldier is Ilya Solopov, photo by fillakteriart

Metal Gear Player Aces Mission Without Leaving The Chopper

Today on Highlight Reel we have impressive misses, all-or-nothing Battlefront victories, teabag parties, Rhino hunting, dunks, and much more! Watch the video above, then link any of your favorite highlights in the comments, and be sure to check out, like and subscribe the original videos via the links below. MGSV – Mission 33, S Rank…

Cosplay Has Won Halloween

Fuelled by advertising and the expansion of nerd culture, cosplay has quietly but comprehensively taken over Halloween. Once was a time that people would only dress up as spooky shit. Ghosts, monsters, that kind of stuff. Which made sense, since Halloween has its roots in remembering the dead! These days, that adherence has given way…

What Are You Playing This November?

Holy hell, it’s November. What happened to 2015? With a new month comes a new crop of games to play. When that month happens to be November, we usually get a whole bunch of new games. There’s certainly no shortage of things to play, so I wanted to see how you all were choosing to…

Seven-Dollar Steam Movie Is Actually Just A Notepad Document [Update]

Jäsøn is an episodic movie series that just popped up on Steam. Or at least, it claims to be. It’s in Early Access, which for now means words on digital paper. For sale. For actual money. Described as a “satirical webserial about a wannabe serial killer” that unravels “the ethical, moral & sociological threads that…

Track: One Inch Man | Artist: Kyuss | Album: …And the Circus Leaves Town Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Inside Out heads outside. Disgust is Ladylili, Anger is Djaden Fury, Sadness is Pandora Clemy and Joy is Clef

Some Pretty Gross Witcher 3 Cosplay

That’s a compliment, mind you, since the Lady of the Woods is intentionally a super gross character. Cosplay by Elena Nerium Oleander, photos by Fillakteria

The Art Of Building Menus, Icons & Maps

User Interface stuff fascinates me, because it has to dance such a fine line between looking pretty and being useful. Fall too far on either side and you’re in danger of ruining a game; get it just right and, like Deus Ex and Mass Effect, you can become as memorable as any piece of character…