Culture

Star Wars KOTOR II Getting New, Player-Created Achievements

Against all odds, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, a decade-old game, keeps getting official updates. After a big out-of-nowhere update a couple months ago that added snazzy modern features like Steam Workshop support, ultra-high resolutions, and cloud saves, the (best) Star Wars role-playing game is getting even more achievements. There’s a twist,…

The Backlash Against Counter-Strike‘s New Bomb Defusal

The bomb. Counter-Strike matches revolve around it. Suddenly, it’s different, and that changes a lot of things. As part of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s latest big update, Valve added a bunch of new animations to the more-popular-than-several-million-high-school-jocks-assembled-into-one-mega-jock multiplayer shooter. Some just make the game look nicer (or worse, depending on who you talk to), but the…

The GameStop Hero Who Drove A Customer To A Police Station, And Other Game Retail Stories

I’ve raked through miserable game store story after even more miserable game store story. So it warms my heart and restores my faith in humanity to learn just how many employees go out of their way for customers, too. The Stolen Car (via Tim) Shortly after I moved to Minnesota, I located my local Gamestop…

Fantastic New RPG Lets You Talk Your Way Out Of Every Battle

Undertale made me grin until my face hurt. Then it broke my heart. And that was just the prologue. Undertale is a new RPG that just landed on Steam. It’s cut from the same cloth as stuff like Earthbound; that is to say, it’s charming, weird, wacky, and subversive, but not without substance. It might…

Track: Earthbound – Eight Melodies Orchestral Remix | Album: N/A | Artist: Pascal Michael Stiefel/Plasma3Music Remixes & Rob Platt/Pl511 Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Cosplayers, Let’s Hear Your Stories

I’ve covered a lot of cosplay over the years, both on Kotaku and beyond. That’s a big reason this subsite dedicated 100% to the craft exists.Thing is, I’m not a cosplayer, so my stories and accounts have always been those of a fascinated outsider looking in. While it’s fantastic that cosplayers, photographers, videographers, props builders…

Pick Up That Can

Put it in the trashcan. Something something compliance. *whack*. Cop is TimmCosplay, photo by Yukibun. Nice job finding a trashcan that looks just like the City 17 ones!

Comic Book Terraforms Mars

Michal Lisowski is an artist from Poland who has worked for companies like Arkane (Dishonored) and Privateer Press (Warmachine). You can see more of Michal’s work 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…

Valve Fixed Counter-Strike‘s Biggest Problem

Thank fucking goodness. As part of a huge update released late yesterday, Valve took aim at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most egregious problem: awkward, unreliable hitboxes. Hitboxes are what they sound like: they dictate where players can be hit when you shoot at them. For years, players complained that they could, for instance, unload clips into…

Racist Troll Doesn’t Understand Racism, And Other Trolling Stories

When I asked for your worst (but really best) stories about trolls, I didn’t expect so many stories from trolls. But here we have it: 23 hand-picked stories from your amusing trolling and being-trolled experiences. Suffice it to say that I’ve decided to unplug from the Internet now. Submissions have been edited lightly for clarity.…

Huntin’ Mechs

Kobe Sek works at Ubisoft, where he’s helped out on series like Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia and Ghost Recon. You can see more of Kobe’s work at his 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…

13 Damn Fine Cosplay Pics

Dragon Con—one of the biggest nerd shows on the planet—went down earlier this month, and three of the best cosplay photographers around were there to take some incredible shots. Those photographers were Anna Fischer, Kayhettinand Dave Yang. You can see the best of their pics below. Oh, and if you recognise (or are) any of…

Horror Game Tries To Terrify You Without Jump Scares

They saw me. Damn it all, they saw me. Albino Lullaby is a new Steam horror game that really wants you to know that it “doesn’t rely on jump scares or gore.” Having played and beaten its first episode, I can safely say that, yeah, by and large that’s true. Albino Lullaby is an earnest…

Hi, I’m Yennefer Of Vengerberg; My Life Is Really Weird

So I’m halfway across the planet in a crowded hall, astride a unicorn with a young woman touching my face and repeating, “You look just like her!” Admittedly, I didn’t see this coming. I’m a cosplayer, and I work for CD Projekt RED as the official Yennefer of Vengerberg for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.…

Madden Fumble Lasts More Than 9 Minutes

Today on Highlight Reel we have seemingly endless fumbles, dangerous sandstorms, deadly decoys, 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. Mad Max – full of torsos – gaRILLA monS00N…

Bizarre DOTA 2 Tournament Sounds Like The Best Kind Of Mess

High-level competitive games almost unanimously have the same problem: players use a very narrow range of characters—over and over and over again. It makes sense. After all, if there are big bucks on the line, why risk it all on a character or class that players have deemed underpowered or less-than-ideal when matched against other…

What Was Your Best Experience At A Video Game Store?

We’ve heard from the other side—and my god have we heard some things—but now it’s time for the bright and shiny stories. What were your particularly good experiences at any video game store? Did an employee suggest a life-changing game? Or maybe you just dropped your scoop of ice cream and they bought you another?…

The Big, Clunky Weapons Of War

Tor Frick is an artist at Machinegames, developers of the most recent Wolfenstein titles. We’ve actually featured his work before, when he came up with a very cool way to make use of textures back in 2012 In addition to Wolfenstein, Frick has also worked on games like Gears of War 3, Far Cry 3,…

The Week In Games Is Very Important. They’re Going To Take Your King.

They are going to take your king. Stay focused, baby. This is key. You will have five, maybe ten seconds. Very important seconds. Leave the phone on the floor. Concentrate. Shout out everything you see about them. Hair color, eye color, tall, short, scars. Anything you see. You understand? They’re there. I can hear them.…

Sunday Comics: Embrace The Future

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your pretty much weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published September 13. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published September 7. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry…