Culture

When Games PR Stunts Went Mad

Back in the early 2000s one company ruled when it came to getting attention. From pigeons trained to ruin Wimbledon to people paid to change their names to Turok, Acclaim was the king of press-baiting PR. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK It’s likely you’ve heard mention of some of Acclaim’s more famous campaigns.…

If Only Michael Bay’s Transformers Had Looked Like This

Carlos Nuñez de Castro Torres is a Spanish concept artist and illustrator who has most recently worked on the Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow series. Would it have been that hard for the designers on Michael Bay’s Transformers movies to do something like this? This Starscream has some of the organic complexity they went for, but…

Doom Is Now Old Enough To Drink

This week, classic PC shooter Doom turned 21. So if you see someone in green slide up next to you at a bar and scream RIP AND TEAR, buy the guy a drink. To celebrate, John Romero, one of the key figures involved in the creation of the game, shared a ton of artwork from…

Track: This Is The Place | Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers | Album: By The Way Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Track: [NSFW] | Artist: Love Sex Machine | Album: Love Sex Machine Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Guns, Guns & More Guns (And Knives, And Bows)

Far Cry 4’s guns didn’t just fall into the game by accident. Someone had to build them. And one of those people was Ubisoft artist Greg Rassam. In addition to the last few Far Cry games, he’s also worked on Ubisoft series like Prince of Persia and Rainbow Six. You can see more of Greg’s…

GTA V‘s Most Famous Stunt, In First-Person

In today’s Highlight Reel we have daredevil skydiving in GTA V, a perfect slam in Destiny, and an interdimensional karaoke hostesses in Sleeping Dogs. 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. Deft…

That Time Aliens Landed In The 80s And We Were Totally Cool With It

Simon Stålenhag is a Swedish artist who has done concept art for film, commercials and video games. He’s also half of the development team behind 16-bit platformer Ripple Dot Zero You’ll notice a theme running throughout his work. Like Super 8, if Super 8 had been any good. You can see more of Simon’s work…

The Beautiful Art Of Far Cry 4

One of the reasons Ubisoft’s big games look so good is because it’s one of the few publishers to maintain its own permanent team of talented artists. And one of their best is Donglu Yu. She’s been helping out on both Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry for a while now, and this week has been…

Captain Harlock cosplay is best cosplay. Harlock is Faeryx13, Yama is ILairi and photo by adelhaid

​How Many Times Did You Restart Dragon Age: Inquisition?

You know the drill: You start Dragon Age: Inquisition. You make a character. You play through the opening cutscene and realize that your character looks like a duck. You restart and try again. I have restarted Dragon Age: Inquisition… a lot of times. Like I advised in my tips post, I think it’s almost always…

Grumpy Old Artist Says Cosplay Brings “Nothing Of Value” To Cons

While cosplay is exploding in popularity, not everyone is cool with seeing hordes of people dressed up at conventions. Comic artist Pat Broderick is one such person. In a note left on his Facebook page, Broderick – who has worked on Batman and Micronauts – says: If you’re a Cosplay personality, please don’t send me…

Dragon Age Cutscenes Can Be Really Dangerous

In today’s Highlight Reel we have a Dragon Age archer that doesn’t know when to quit, well-timed landings in Battlefield 4 and some soothing destruction from GTA V. 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…

Japan In 2202 Looks Exactly Like You’d Expect

Johnson Ting is an artist in the video game business who has worked with companies like Activision, Infinity Ward, Black Tusk and Square Enix . Johnson also has two personal project called Neo Japan 2022 and Defcon 0 that push just about every 90s anime button I have to push. You can see more of…

The Week In Games: Destiny Rising

What a lovely time of year. I’ve got my backlog stack, some warm and comfy sweats, some Christmas cookies and I’m all ready to… play more Destiny, dammit. Actually I think I might be finally done with Destiny. There’s too many other games for me to play for me to get all wrapped up trying…

Sunday Comics: Great Idea, Professor

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 November 5. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published December 1. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

This Week In The Business: Warping Reality

QUOTE | “It will be hard to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s virtual around you.” – Noah Falstein, Google’s Chief Game Designer, talking about the future of virtual reality and augmented reality for games Elsewhere in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “‘Christ, we’ve only got 10…

Track: Bang Bang | Artist: Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj | Album: Sweet Talker Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

I Wish the Portal Gun Was in Destiny

In today’s Highlight Reel we have seemingly endless explosion chains in GTA V, safety advice for Far Cry 4, and a special (fake) cameo in Destiny by everyone’s favorite portable quantum tunneling device. Watch the video above, then link any of your favorite highlights in the comments, and be sure to check out, like and…

​Ask Dr. Nerdlove: Is My Relationship Doomed?

Hello, Internet! Welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column run by the Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor of Romance. This week’s question is the Inception of dating questions. At its surface, it’s a question of setting boundaries: how do you get your partner to stop behavior that’s hurting you? But the question has…