Culture

Spelunky 2’s Turkey Man Doesn’t Respect My Labor

Most everything in Spelunky 2 is out to kill you, so it’s always nice to come across Yang, a random NPC who mostly just chills in a little hut and talks about turkeys. But as my explorations continue to improve, so too has my knowledge of Yang’s racket, and I’m disappointed by what I’ve discovered.…

PSA: Bloodborne Is Currently Free On PS Plus [UPDATE: No Longer Free]

Update, 4:20 p.m.: Bloodborne was quickly re-listed at its MSRP, $20. We’ve reached out to Sony for clarification. Original story follows: Starting next week, members of PS Plus will be able to get free copies of Need for Speed: Payback and Vampyr through the end of October. But members can snag a terrific game for…

EVE Online Gets An Actual ‘Spreadsheets In Space’ Mode

The idea that EVE Online is just spreadsheets in space is one I’ve heard hundreds of times since I started playing EVE five years ago. I always try my best to explain the breadth and depth of the EVE experience as being much more than that. Today however, a new update to the game has…

Hades‘ Level Design Is Less Random Than It Seems

When you’re playing a game whose layout is randomized, you might not immediately think all that much about level design, or even assume the levels were designed in the same sense as, say, a fully linear game or a series of finely tuned multiplayer maps. And yet, in games such as Hades, developers meticulously assemble…

One In Four Ubisoft Employees Witnessed Or Experienced Misconduct, Internal Survey Finds

Earlier today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot updated his employees about a recent company-wide survey regarding the status of reforms following a summer complaints about harassment, misconduct, and other systemic issues at the global video game publisher He did so in a message that was shared with Kotaku not by current employees but by Ubisoft PR.…

Here Are Some Great Video Game Victory Fanfares For No Reason At All

With the world in crisis, just straight-up, feel-good moments are few and far between. So some of us here at Kotaku, for no other reason at all, much less one dominating the current news cycle, have grabbed a bunch of our favorite fanfares from a bunch of our favorite video games to help you close…

Sea Of Thieves Streamers Quit The Game In Protest Against Rare’s Response To Toxicity

When Rare announced their pirate-adventure-sandbox Sea of Thieves to the world, the studio put an emphasis on developing the game alongside a community of players. A part of this was establishing a Pirate Code that dictated—among other things—“Everyone is welcome on the Sea of Thieves regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality, nationality or creed.” But…

NHL 94 Rewind Is An Update Of The Original With Current Rosters

One of the better classic NHL games is coming back in the form of NHL 94 Rewind. Unfortunately it’s currently only available as a pre-order bonus. “It’s today’s teams and rosters with controls and graphics from ‘94,” EA wrote on Twitter today. The publisher didn’t say if the game will have any bonus features like…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

This weekend is for rummaging around my closets to see if I have anything I can sell only so I can afford the PlayStation 5 I pre-ordered. It’s also for starfighting in starfighters. Yeah, I’ll be playing Star Wars: Squadrons all weekend long. Might even break out my Thrustmaster flight stick. Why didn’t EA license…

Silent Hill 4: The Room Comes Back To PC

A week after Konami dropped a trio of classic Metal Gears games onto GOG, the Japanese publisher is back with another just in time for the spooky season: Silent Hill 4: The Room Released previously on PC back in 2004, Silent Hill 4 is now live on GOG as of today for $10. Despite also…

Fallout 76 Will Let Players Create Their Own Vaults, For A Price

New underground building spaces are coming to Fallout 76 sometime later this year, but the best and biggest will be gated behind its premium currency. Bethesda went into more detail about how shelters will work in Fallout 76 over on its website, ahead of when they’re slated to go live on the game’s PC testing…

Donkey Kong Country 2’s Soundtrack Is A Perfect Mix Of Hyped Up And Zoned Out

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re going to revisit some of the chillest gaming beats around: David Wise’s music for Donkey Kong Country 2 Unlike 1994’s SNES Donkey Kong Country, whose mix of naturalistic themes and retro-swing jazz was a…

Track: Hear Me Out | Artist: Pixies | Album: Hear Me Out / Mambo Sun

Fans Get Warhawk’s Servers Back Online

2007 PS3 game Warhawk, one of the real pioneers of modern multiplayer console gaming, sadly lost its PlayStation Network support a couple of years ago. Well, it lost its official support; thanks to the hard work of some fans, it’s now back online. The team behind PSONE (PlayStation Online Emulated) have got servers for the…

Big Rig

Till Freitag is an artist from Germany. You can see more of their stuff at their ArtStation page

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit Looks Like Fun If You Have The Space (And Money) For It

Earlier this week Nintendo let me preview its upcoming attempt to graft Mario Kart onto remote control cars through augmented reality. It’s called Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, and it looks like a lot of fun. It also looks very niche. Because of the ongoing pandemic I didn’t actually get to play Mario Kart Live:…

Top Mod Site Bans All U.S. Political Mods For Rest Of The Year

Mods come in all shapes and sizes. Some turn you into Shrek. Others turn your enemies into Shrek. A few add Donkey, but they’re (sadly) rarer. There are also political mods. Or at least, on top mod site Nexus Mods, there were. Now they’re banned until at least early next year. The site announced its…

Why Everyone’s Horny For Hades

Hades is perhaps one of 2020’s games of the year. It’s an excellent roguelite, with an amazing story and addictive gameplay. But there’s another big reason why Hades is seeing such a massively positive response: Everyone is so friggin’ hot! Take main character Prince Zagreus, for example. I knew I was in trouble the moment…

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Delayed, Pre-Patch Expected October 13th

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has been delayed. Announced in a blog post, World of Warcraft executive producer John Hight cites the need for “additional polish,” and the strain of working from home during the covid-19 crisis, as the reasons for delay. “Blizzard has a commitment to quality,” Hight writes. “We believe Shadowlands will be something…

Genshin Impact Gets A Lot Better After The Lengthy First Quest

Genshin Impact, a free-to-play totally-not-Zelda game that came out this week for PC, PS4, and mobile, starts slow but quickly picks up the pace. If you’re just starting out and aren’t immediately gripped, that’s fair, but don’t throw in the towel just yet. Stick with it through the first, lengthy prologue quest. Yes, it’s a…