‘The Last Game I Make Before I Die’: Fighting Cancer By Making A Video Game

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Crashlands, a mash-up of Diablo, Pokemon, and Don’t Starve lobbed at Steam’s collective face with unfettered glee. It’s ambitious, funny, and fun. Turns out, it was conceived when its creator found out he had cancer. This post originally ran on 2/10/16. Sam Coster is the co-founder of Butterscotch…

Snacktaku Eats A Turkey TV Dinner Alone In A Dark Room

Not every Thanksgiving meal is a lavish feast. In honor of those who find themselves alone or with meager means on America’s snackiest holiday, Snacktaku shares the traditional cheap-ass alternative, the turkey TV dinner. Swanson’s Hungry Man turkey dinner is no replacement for a house full of friends and family within one or two words…

Doing Thanksgiving In The Sims 4 Is Like Herding Cats

I’m not going home for Thanksgiving, and I’m too busy packing my apartment to celebrate with friends. This year, I decided to recognize the holiday in a different way: with my sims. There aren’t really holidays in The Sims, but you can have parties, so that would have to do. To start getting ready for…

The Surprising And Allegedly Impossible Death Of EverQuest‘s ‘Unkillable’ Dragon

Rare today are opportunities for gamers to step outside the prescribed outlines of a developer’s intended gaming experience, especially in MMORPGs. Back in the early 2000s, anarchic players eagerly hunted down the virtual unknown, where possibility and impossibility were deadlocked within some specter of the original game. (Originally published 8/25/2016) The other day, I heard…

Smash Bros. Mod Adds Playable Pokémon Sun and Moon Characters

Much of Sun and Moon is spent with Lillie bemoaning that she’s not strong enough to be a trainer. Yet here she is, kickin’ literal butt with the help of a little cutie called Cosmog. Over at modding community GameBanana, SunSpirit has uploaded a skin that replaces the standard Rosalina model with Lillie, of the…

Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s Some Kotaku Merch.

Did you know we have a store? We have a store. You can buy hoodies, stickers and now this new t-shirt as well. It’s $24, and comes in a variety of colours. You can check out all the stuff available here

Why Some Overwatch Cheaters Are So Hard To Catch

Not everyone plays fair in Overwatch. Some people choose to download hacks that improve their aim, ruining the game for everyone else. Here’s how some of the most insidious Overwatch cheats work. YouTube user Chuck Norris has a quick, informative video that shows you just how sneaky Overwatch cheats can be. Contrary to popular belief,…

The History Of Gaming Balloons In The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Since 1927 the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been filling the skies of New York with colorful balloon representations of pop culture icons. Video games didn’t enter the picture until 1993, and only three gaming icons have made the cut so far. This piece originally appeared 11/26/14. Some updates have been made for the…

In A Twist, Game Update Drops Denuvo Anti-Piracy Tech On Steam

Nowadays, most talk of DRM revolves around titles that add the “anti-tamper” tech known as Denuvo, thus preventing piracy of those games.  That’s what makes the latest update to side-scrolling puzzle game Inside so unusual: the developers have chosen to do away with Denuvo. The latest patch notes for Inside on Steam state that the…

Our Reviews Of The Fall’s Biggest Games

It’s been a busy season for major game releases, with plenty more to come before the year is out. If you’re thinking of binging on the latest big game over Thanksgiving weekend or looking to pick up some new games for the holidays, here’s a roundup of what we thought of this fall’s games, from…

All The Ways I Tried To Murder People In Planet Coaster

Contrary to how most people play RollerCoaster Tycoon, crashes aren’t my first preference. Too much indiscriminate death and destruction. I like to mete out my fury in teaspoons, slipped to my guests one by one. Individual tragedy lets you enjoy the subtleties of suffering, and forces your subject to wonder what they did to deserve…

Amazon Japan Creates A Final Fantasy XV Double Take

While opening other people’s packages is a huge no-no, these Amazon Japan boxes appear like they’ve been torn, exposing copies of Final Fantasy XV. They have not, because this is, of course, a PR stunt. But as a PR stunt, it is clever. According to IT Media, there are only a limited number of these…

Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare Is Doing Well In Japan

Looking at the most recent Japanese sales figures, you won’t be surprised to see Pokémon Sun and Moon at the top. But you might be surprised to see Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare right up there. It doesn’t like that long ago when Western first-person shooter games were generally shunned in Japan. Those days have…

In Pokémon Sun and Moon, The Swimmer Has Evolved Into A Hot Dude

You know, the Swimmer, right? Save for swapping briefs for trunks, the male version hasn’t changed so much over the years. But the one in Sun and Moon sure has! Note: This article contains spoilers. Past male Swimmers wore swimming caps and googles, and since Pokémon Red and Blue, they’ve always looked similar. But here…

Onomichi Tenneiji Temple. Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. By Chris Bryan 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!