Culture

Tetris Grandmaster Takes On The Weirdest Game Mode I’ve Ever Seen

In its most vanilla, near-ubiquitous form, Tetris is already a near perfect video game that challenges you to be smart and fast in increasingly hard fashion. The stuff that gets thrown at you in an ultra-hard arcade version is mind-blowing. Blocks that need to be cleared twice. A stack that flips around. Let’s watch one…

The Art Of Game Of Thrones: Season 5

Karakteris a German studio who have been working with HBO on Game of Thronessince the show’s inception. They’ve just sent along some of the stuff they did for season 5, which means snow zombies One of the things the team did was to for the first time create their concepts as 3D spaces, which meant…

Track: Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See | Artist: Busta Rhymes |Album: When Disaster Strikes Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Never Stop Rapping Over Nintendo Soundtracks, Drake

The past few days have been hugely important for the Drake fans among us. They’ve been even more hugely important for the Nintendo game-loving Drake fans among us. The weekend was a major event for the latter group because, as Kill Screen editor Clayton Purdom notedthis morning, it’s the second time this year that the…

Nope.

Manuel Dupong is a concept artist, matte painter and illustrator who is part of the Sense Collective You can see more of Manuel’s work at his ArtStation page and personal site 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…

Hi. It’s Time For Cool Cosplay Photos.

We’ve showcased his work a few times here on Cosplay, but always as part of some other post, so it’s about time we gave kick-ass photographer York In A Box his own feature I love how all of his pics seem to pop, like the camera (and colour work) turns everyone into a highly-detailed action…

The Week In Games: A Knight To Remember

It’s been around 17 years since we’ve gotten a new game in Sierra’s classic King’s Quest series. I’d say we’re due. Plenty of nifty titles arriving this week, but my eyes keep settling on King’s Quest, one of the earliest PC games I can remember playing that wasn’t completely text-based. The Odd Gentlemen’s new game…

Sunday Comics: Crawling Up Your Leg

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published July 23. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published July 20. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

The Original Transformers Combiner Is Back And Bigger Than Ever

I didn’t make it to Comic-Con 2015, but there was no way the show was going to pass without taking a pass at some of Hasbro’s Transformers exclusives, including the return of the original Decepticon combiner terror, Devastator. Every year Hasbro for Comic-Con Hasbro announces what is basically my shopping list and something from Jem.…

This Week In The Business: Third Time’s The Charm

QUOTE | “I believe that it is very difficult to immediately build up a big IP…. you need at least three games before you can tell whether an IP is going to be really successful or not.” – Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda, explaining his Law of Third Titles for AAA games. Elsewhere in the…

Fans Discover Creepy Scrapped Skyrim Features, Add Them Back In

At one point in its development, Skyrim was gonna be a lot more… macabre. Digging through game files, Skyrim fans uncovered two scrapped features that would’ve made NPC death a bit more meaningful. Once upon a time, the fantasy role-playing mega-behemoth was set to include haunting and mourning. Here’s how they work: Haunting: when a…

Track: Feelin’ It | Artist: Jay Z | Album: Reasonable Doubt Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Artist: The Stone Roses | Track: Waterfall | Album: The Stone Roses (clip via Made of Stone documentary) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

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

Blacksmithing, The Hard Way

Florian Zenz is a freelance concept artist currently based in Berlin. You can see more of Florian’s work at his Behanceand ArtStation pages 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” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art…

The Best Place To Eat In All Of Ark: Survival Evolved

Welcome to Kentucky Fried Dodo. Steam user ๖ۜDittó put Ark: Survival Evolved’s building tools to great use, resulting in this fine dining establishment. Their secret ingredient? The tragic extinction of an entire species. Nothing tastier! Or maybe it’s poop. It might be poop. The Steam Community Showcase is a regular look at the cream of…

A Game About Killing ‘Mario’

Mario is the ultimate video game hero, beloved by families the world over. Let’s kill him. Kill The Plumber is as close as the game’s developer could get to Fucking Murder The Shit Out Of Mario without risking a lawsuit. I mean, that character looks audaciously similar to Mario. And the art style! I’m kinda…

Clutch Save, Rocket League Goalie

Today on the 1-year anniversary of Highlight Reel we have AFK Destiny comebacks, raunchy Bloodborne moments, a tutorial on how to get the perfect photo in GTA V 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…

Track: Take Your Time | Artist: Sam Hunt | Album: Montevallo Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Buying Video Games on Release Day Makes me Feel Like an Idiot

I like to buy games on day one. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK I’m not a fan of pre-owned, because I’d rather see my money go to the people who made a video game than the retailer that’s selling it, and also when I’ve been looking forward to a game for months or…