Kotaku
Rumors are swirling that Nintendo may have underplayed its hand with yesterday’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet patch announcement, with some suggesting that the worst of the framerate issues have been significantly improved. In our own very unscientific tests, it looks like this might at least a little bit true.
Kotaku
Dudunsparce is already the biggest joke of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Pokédex. There’s almost no visible difference between this new Pokémon and its pre-evolution Dunsparce save for an extra segment on its body. Even still, yours could be special. So if you really want to catch ‘em all, you better start double…
Kotaku
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a fun but tangled mess of nylon, lasers, and wind-down time with Iron Man. Though made by Firaxis Games, developers behind treasured turn-based strategy franchise XCOM, Midnight Suns is its own ridiculous neon thing, with role-playing elements intricately entwined with its turn-based,…
Kotaku
Neon White was one of 2022's most pleasant surprised when it landed earlier this year, somehow managing to combine old-school shooters with speed-running, a card game and Persona’s social links. Now, having been out since June on other platforms, PlayStation owners will finally be able to play the game.
Kotaku
Earlier today Wizards of the Coast made an announcement that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for: Dungeons & Dragons is going to stop using the word “race” in the rulebook for One D&D (the upcoming major revision of the game), and would instead prefer to use the term “species” instead.
Kotaku
The Uncharted movie wasn’t great, but it did make a lot of money, so someone has decided to turn it into a roller coaster. But, as I likely don’t need to point out to you, Uncharted was a film adaptation of the Uncharted games. That leads us to now, where you are reading a story about a roller coaster based on a movie…
Kotaku
The U.S. Army’s gamer to soldier pipeline is hardly a secret at this point, but new documents show its recent, detailed plans to spend millions to recruit Gen Z through gaming-related sponsorships and ad campaigns. The partnerships ranged from Call of Duty Twitch streamers to sponsoring content at IGN and G4, with the…
Kotaku
I’ve got some bad news for folks running Onslaught or Destroyer decks in card battler Marvel Snap: These cards and a few other powerful favorites have just been slightly nerfed by developer Second Dinner. But there’s some good news, too: The nerfs aren’t too bad,so you might still be able to use these fine cards in…
Kotaku
While I motorbiked off three consecutive cliffs in Pokémon Scarlet, I was forced to confront a hard reality about myself: I struggle with change like anyone else. I talk big about wanting innovative gameplay but, in a Pokémon title at least, I wanted the familiar comforts of knowing exactly what to do. I wanted up to…
Kotaku
After it leaked earlier this year, many were curious about the next Need for Speed game’s apparent new direction. It seemed to be going full anime, complete with cel-shaded characters. And while that isn’t entirely the case, NFS Unbound is still a fresh and exciting shift for the franchise, which might help elevate it…
Kotaku
Like a Hans Zimmer soundtrack, the latest Call of Duty: Warzone glitch (or exploit, if you ask me) involves spamming the same tactic over and over, potentially reaping rewards with no end in sight. All you need is a revive pistol and the willingness to be obnoxious—a tall order, I’m sure, for Call of Duty players.
Kotaku
Just when you thought Warzone 2.0 would be safe from an impossible-to-see skin lurking in the map’s dark corners, the in-game shop drops this monstrosity.
Kotaku
Turns out the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI, isn’t just leaning heavily on its Game of Thrones medieval aesthetic in jest. According to its MSRB rating in Brazil, FFXVI is rated mature for its sex scenes, drug use, and fantasy hate crimes.
Kotaku
The final set of Pokémon TCG cards for the Sword & Shield era had made some impressive noise, before we’d even seen a card. Celebrating the end of the V, VSTAR and VMAX generation, the Japanese VSTAR Universe, and English-language Crown Zenith, are sets that said they were going all-out on special art cards, including…
Kotaku
Yesterday in a Twitter thread, the gaming historian Frank Cifaldi said this about the work done by his organization, the Video Game History Foundation: “We all know where the ROMs are hiding online. We don’t need games, we need CONTEXT to tell stories.” It helped me realize why I think Digital Eclipse’s new…
Kotaku
Games get delayed all the time, but this year had more than its fair share of companies posting wall-of-text screenshots telling fans they’ll have to wait a little bit longer to play their most anticipated release or review bomb it on Steam. 2022 was supposed to be the year we got Starfield, Breath of the Wild 2 and a…
Kotaku
The holidays were always the time of year where I got to see my rich cousins and enjoy the fruits of their father’s Wall Street labor: their Xbox. We’d spend all of Christmas Day playing Halo or Fuzion Frenzy, giving the youngest cousin an unplugged-in controller to keep him quiet. With Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker…
Kotaku
As has been much chronicled, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was released in a messy state. Riddled with bugs, crashes, clipping, pop-up, and abysmal framerates, it was so unfit for purpose that many attempted to get their money back. Nintendo has been characteristically quiet on the matter, previously failing to…
KotakuWhile we’ve had two big, official trailers released for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie, a pair of TV commercials in Europe have very quietly dropped that feature some fresh footage not seen in either.
Kotaku
When Nintendo uploaded the first promotional image for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, fans were quick to clown on the plumber for his concave ass. The looming question on everyone’s mind was whether or not Mario’s one-time nemesis Donkey Kong would have his ass nerfed too. Thankfully, DK has enough junk in the trunk to…
Kotaku
Warthogs and battle rifles are only as good as the environments you can drive and shoot them in. And now that Halo Infinite’s iteration of Forge is officially available in beta form, the Halo community has been hard at work bringing the franchise’s legacy into the modern era.
Kotaku
_Attack on Tita_n creator Hajime Iseyama was nervous about his first-ever appearance at Anime NYC a few weeks ago. The source of his nervousness wasn’t the fact that it would mark his first time stepping foot in the United States, but rather the backlash he feared he’d receive from the crowd following the popular…
Kotaku
In October, thanks to a viral tweet, the world learned of a new LEGO City set that contained a giant human turd inside a portable toilet. It was such an absurd sight that, after Kotaku reported about it, I was invited by NPR to discuss it on one of their podcast trivia shows. But this isn’t the first time Lego has…
Kotaku
Yesterday, Marvel Snap was updated and for the most part, the update was well received. The new token system is in and some small quality-of-life changes have been added. Good stuff! But when players opened the store after the patch they saw a big ol’ banner for a new $100 bundle. And while it isn’t the worst thing…
Kotaku
Now that we’ve all been properly satiated with memes from the second Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer, it’s time to re-address the elephant in the room: Chris Pratt’s vocal performance as Mario is holding this film back.
Kotaku
In the wake of Nintendo being Nintendo and unceremoniously canceling the Smash World Tour, one of the year’s biggest esports tournaments dedicated to all things Super Smash Bros., copious folks in the game’s community have come out in protest. Casual fans, pro players, long-time commentators, and even other tournament…
Kotaku
Some folks watch esports events for the thrill of seeing a game played at the highest possible skill level. Others tune in for promised rewards from developers. If you’re in the latter camp, and you logged a ton of hours of watching the latest Overwatch League event on YouTube, you’re probably very unhappy right now.…
Kotaku
Front Mission is an excellent strategy RPG series that deserves to make a comeback. It’s Final Fantasy Tactics’ grittier, grimier, futuristic cousin that swaps out swords and magic wands for submachine guns and giant, half-obliterated mechs slugging it out in a jungle ditch. Some of that charm comes through in Front…
Kotaku
With so, so many planets in Starfield, Bethesda’s upcoming space sim game, there’s a lot of room for speculation ahead of its release on Xbox and PC next year. But the time for guessing games is coming to an end. Inspired by fictional themes and “tone” moreso than hardcore realism, the game aims to preserve fun while…
Kotaku
Love Nikki is a massively popular game that many self-professed gaming enthusiasts have never heard of. But a lot more people might be playing it soon. Former Zelda director Kentaro Tominaga is heading an open-world adaptation called Infinity Nikki, which looks fantastic. The world seems almost Disney-like, in an…