What Prevents Esports From Taking Off In Japan 

Esports is big business. Yet in Japan, home to many talented players, it has yet to reach the same money-making heights as elsewhere. The recently foundedJapan Esports League has big-time sponsors like Twitch and Mainichi News, one of Japan’s biggest newspapers. Japanese pro soccer team Verdy also has an esports team in the league, but…

A Toyota 86 Fit For A Japanese Superhero 

Japan’s biggest superhero Ultraman is no stranger to cars. In the early 1970s, Return of Ultraman featured a rotary engine-powered Mazda Cosmo Sports. Now, in 2017, there’s a Ultraman-themed Toyota 86 going on sale in Japan. The Ultraman-themed Toyota 86 is called “M78x86.” M78 refers to Nebula M78, which is the home of the Ultras.…

The Tokyo Olympics Is Embracing The Akira Anime

When the Tokyo Olympics were first announced in 2013, there were immediate comparisons to Akira’s 2020 Neo-Tokyo Olympics. Now, the real 2020 games are not shying away from those comparisons but embracing them in a recent promotional event. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a projection mapping event last night with a “Three Years To Go!”…

The View From the Arc de Triomphe. Paris, France. By Morgan Jolley. 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!  

Dragon Age Cosplay Takes To The Hills

This is Enaylaas Dragon Age’s Cullen Rutherford. No convention shots here: she figured if you’re going to do some Dragon Age cosplay, you’d best find some snowy fantasy landscapes to stand in front of.

Chris Guyot made this series of animated portraits from Overwatch. This looks like the best kids TV show that never was

It’s 2017 And The Witcher 3 Cosplay Keeps Coming

May it never cease. Here’s Prince Arias Blood & Wine’s Orianna, with the video by Milligan Vick

Noita is an action roguelite that claims to “physically simulate” every pixel. Basically, that means things burn, melt, and blow up Real Nice. You’ll craft your own spells to help traverse its procedurally generated caverns. Its developers have worked on games like The Swapper, Crayon Physics Deluxe, and Environmental Station Alpha. Definitely one to keep…

Kingdoms and Castles Is A Very Fun City-Building Game

Kingdoms and Castles isn’t the most challenging or complex city-building game I’ve ever seen, but it is one of the best to just pick up and start playing. The game—which was released on PC earlier this week—randomly generates a small patch of land for you, then asks you to build a lil’ Medieval settlement on…

A Failed Pitch For A Disney Game Called Project Goliath

Around the same time Epic Mickey was being promoted, a group of developers had an idea for another Disney game. Called Project Goliath, the game would have featured a large gorilla that served as a protector of children. The game is outlined in the latest episode of Did You Know Gaming’s Unseen64, a series on YouTube…

Glitched Hitman Guard Is Straight Out Of A Horror Game

Today on Highlight Reel we have Lynchian security guards, Destiny 2 beta footage, Battlegrounds nonsense, 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! Ghost Recon:…

If anything, the PlayStation VR headset makes an excellent TV prop. In episode seven of the current season of Syfy’s comic book-based spacedrama, Dark Matter, Six (Roger Cross) finds himself trapped inside a simulation powered by what seems to be ancient PlayStation technology.

Best Dad Ever Builds Functioning D.Va Mech For Cosplaying Daughter 

In other news about awesome things that the Overwatch fandom creates, mechanical cosplayer Mike Carambat, who goes by retroresource on Reddit, has built a walking D.Va mecha. On Carambat’s Instagram, you can check out videos of the process. The four thrusters on the robot blow smoke and strobe, and the arms move up and down…

Battlegrounds Motorcycle Disaster Turns Into Surprise Squad Kill

Vehicles in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds are not your friends. They might seem like they’re on your side, but then you hit a bump in the road, and they soar and tumble with no regard for the safety of their frail, fleshy passengers. One squad, however, turned a vehicular nightmare into every PUBG player’s dream. Lynxzyyy and…

This Is Why You Ink Your Spawn In Splatoon 2

The screenshot above shows the results of a Splatoon 2 match I played over the weekend. You’ll notice my team won by a tenth of a percent. If you look closely, you’ll also notice how the other team could’ve stopped us. In Splatoon 2’s standard “Turf War” matches, you don’t win by splatting a bunch of…

Game of Thrones Recap Podcast: Whose Advice Should Daenerys Follow?

By popular demand, we’re back with another bonus Game of Thrones episode of Kotaku Splitscreen Last week we asked if you wanted us to do shows for each episode this season, and you told us in no uncertain terms that, yes, you would be into that. So here we are. I even recorded some special…