We Talk With The Creator Of Iconoclasts About His Painstaking Love Letter To Metroid And Metal Slug

Joakim Sandberg spent seven years making the huge, colorful, beautiful, 2D action-adventure game Iconoclasts. I played it. He watched and reacted. We had a good time. Usually, when someone makes a Metroid-like game these days, they channel Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Sandberg’s influences are more unconventional. He prefers the action-packed Metroid…

Xbox Game Pass Now Gets New Microsoft Games On Day One

Microsoft’s $9.99 a month Xbox game subscription service just got a bit more attractive. Starting with the March 20 release of Sea of Thieves, all new Microsoft Studios games will be available on the service on launch day. TheXbox Game Passoffers subscribers access to more than 100 games from throughout Xbox history, allowing them to…

If You Loved Devilman Crybaby, You’ll Love These Anime, Too

Anime fans are still grappling with this season’s breakout show Devilman Crybaby, one of the most “extra” anime to have ever been made. It’s a rare masterpiece, grabby with its demon-filled story and brash, sometimes shocking sexuality. It’s also the most recent in a long line of masterpieces by director Masaaki Yuasa. Masaaki Yuasa has…

If There Was A StarCraft II Anime

There isn’t a StarCraft anime, but if there were, perhaps it would look like this? Created by illustrator AnimatorYu, these StarCraft II inspired images were uploaded on the Inven boards. “Blizzard has a lot of characters I want to draw,” writes AnimatorYu, who is thinking about doing illustrations for the company’s other games. Since Blizzard…

English Phrases For Japanese Duel Masters Players Drop Inevitable F-Bomb

A Tokyo card shop created a list of English expressions for Duel Masters players. It gets interesting at the end. There are some errors (which happens!), but here’s the list: Fxxxking useful! Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in…

In South Korea, Rock Star Becomes A Battlegrounds Pro 

Jung Joon Young isn’t only a regular on South Korean TV, but he’s also the lead singer of the rock group Drug Restaurant. He’s just added a new gig to his large resume: Esports pro. As tipster Sang points out, Jung has signed to Kongdoo Company, which was founded by retired StarCraft legend Hong “YellOw”…

Tokyo’s Giant Gundam Statue Looks Excellent In Snow

Yesterday, Tokyo was blanketed in snow. The bad part that it caused slippery streets and roads. The good part? This. Check out these snowy photos of the giant, 64.6-foot Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo’s Odaiba. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and…

Glacial Lake. Jökulsárlón, Iceland. By Jenn Ravenna | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Here’s A Very Good Legend Of Zelda Cosplayer

The mark of a good Zelda cosplayer is good Zelda cosplay. The mark of a great one is being able to pull of quality cosplay across all different types of eras and designs, like Norway’s Sophie Riiscan. Here she is cosplaying as Link as he appears in all kinds of games and settings, from Breath…

Get The Squad Together

Didier Nguyen is an artist from France who works for Activision’s Toys For Bob studio. You can see more of Didier’s work at his ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists,…

John Cena Might Might Star In A Duke Nukem Movie

According to a story on The Hollywood Reporter, John Cena is in talks to star as Duke Nukem in a “a star vehicle” film for the former wrestler. There is no director or writer attached to the project at the moment; at the moment it’s all on paper as a means to get Cena on…

Francis Ngannou’s Painful Loss Doesn’t Doom His Shot At UFC Stardom

Francis Ngannou was the closest thing to a sure bet the UFC’s had in years. The company, notoriously hesitant to put its full promotional heft behind anything that doesn’t walk, talk, and mock like Conor McGregor, revved up the rusty gears of its marketing machine to convince everyone that Ngannou was an oncoming locomotive of…

Assassin’s Creed Origins Is A Sad Game About Marriage

Assassin’s Creed Origins is not a game about Egypt. It’s not a game about Rome, or even about the first days of the Assassin Brotherhood. It’s a game about a husband and wife. What follows is best read if you’ve completed the game’s story. Origins takes a while to get going, but once it does,…

Steph Curry Is Not Very Good At Mario Kart

Things Golden State superstar Steph Curry is good at include basketball and golf. Things Golden State superstar Steph Curry is not good at include voice-over work and Mario Kart 8 Curry joined his friend/San Francisco Giants player Hunter Pence on CoralSword’s Twitch stream the other day to play some Mario Kart. He does not do…

Widowmaker Player Is Ice Cold

Today on Highlight Reel we have snipers without mercy, D&D cheaters, World War 1 tactics and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up…

What Keeps You From Starting Games You Already Own?

I want to play Assassin’s Creed Origins, I really do. The other day, Kotaku’s own Luke Plunkett told me that it takes inspiration from The Witcher 3, which is pretty much all you have to say to make me buy something and tear off the wrapping with my teeth. But then the other shoe dropped.…

Your Uncle Who Worked At Nintendo Still Had To Pay For His Games

Even if someone’s uncle really did work at Nintendo, guess what: he probably didn’t get that kid down the street a copy of Mario for free. Chris Bieniek from Video Game Ephemera has got hold of some 1991 “Employee Purchase Order” paperwork from Nintendo of America, which shows how workers were able to buy their…