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Ratchet & Clank Is The Best Mascot Platformer In Ages, But It Doesn't Have Much Competition
11.6.2021
The prehistoric 1990s were a different time for video games. Mascot platformers roamed the untamed jungles, with Mario and Sonic eternally duking it out while Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Croc, Rayman, and countless imitators scattered underfoot. Fast forward to now, and “mascot platformer” is barely...
E3 Avatar Creator: The Kotaku Review
8.6.2021
E3 is here. Registered participants will soon be able to log in to the E3 portal to connect with developers, industry professionals, and fans. Since the event is purely digital, the ESA is encouraging participants to create avatars so exhibitors who may or may not be there and who may or may...
We're Not Expecting Much From This Year's E3
5.6.2021
Somehow it’s June again, which means it’s almost time for E3 to start—and also, depending on who you ask (Sony, Sega, Blizzard), it’s already started. Still though, this must mean that several volcano bursts of white-hot excitement are just around the corner, right? You’d think, but after the year...
Necromunda: Hired Gun Will Be Fun Once It Runs Better
4.6.2021
It’s hard being a mercenary in the Warhammer 40k universe. Even though you get a cool hound and can upgrade your powerful guns, everything you encounter is deadly and dangerous. Most things are covered in big spikes and probably packing some weapons too. But it’s even harder to be a hired gun...
Report: Balan Wonderworld Creator Yuji Naka Is No Longer With Square Enix
4.6.2021
Yuji Naka, former Sonic Team head and recent creator of the platformer Balan Wonderworld, is no longer with Square Enix, according to reports in Sonic Stadium and IGN. He apparently departed the company in the twilight of April.Read more
Mass Effect Is Back, But It Seems Like Morality Meters Are Gone For Good
28.5.2021
Will you save the orphans or eat them? Will you blow up the planet or give it renewable energy and free healthcare? Will you hug Leonardo Da Vinci or let his outstretched arms wither? For a minute there, it felt like games were characterized by binary choices like these—even if their prevalence...
Half-Life: Alyx Almost Had Enemies Who Reacted When You Flipped Them Off
21.5.2021
Hands. You wouldn’t have human civilization without them, meaning you wouldn’t have video games, either. Or, like, houses. But even though hands are front and center in many games, we don’t talk about them all that often. On this week’s episode of Splitscreen, we stop keeping hands at arm’s length....
F*ck, Marry, Kill: Mass Effect Party Member Edition
14.5.2021
It certainly says something about the video game industry that the most anticipated release of the year so far is a remaster of a sci-fi RPG trilogy from a decade ago. Mass Effect has some memorable characters—and a lot of less memorable ones, a fact that many people have fittingly forgotten....
Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu Was Worth The Wait
7.5.2021
After the internet spent months pining and meme-ing, she’s finally here: Lady Dimitrescu—and also Resident Evil Village, I guess. But was she (and, I suppose, the game) worth all the hype and marketing-driven hoopla? On this week’s village- (and Village-) themed episode of Splitscreen, we find...
'ThAnk YoU FOr YouR PuRcHAse!' (Please Stop This, Sony)
7.5.2021
A few days ago I grabbed the free PS Plus games on my PS5, like I usually do. And just like always, later that day I checked my phone and saw a series of emails from Sony confirming supposed purchases, which prompted a mild freakout before remembering they were just Sony confirming I “bought” games...
Sometimes You Just Have To Let Backlog Games Go
23.4.2021
Most of us will probably never play every game we own right now, let alone all the others we’ll buy or download in the future. In that sense, backlogs are like the universe: infinitely expanding and confounding to physicists. Sometimes you just have to make peace—or force yourself to make...
Why Video Game Loot Is So Addictive, According To The Creators Of Diablo
16.4.2021
Colors mean different things to different people, but very specific colors mean the exact same thing to everybody who plays video games. You know the ones: gray, green, blue, purple, and gold. You covet the latter and revile the former. Loot is a universal language at this point, but it wasn’t...
In 2007, Video Game Memes Took A Dark Turn
10.4.2021
Memes. These days, they’re everywhere. They are the pillars upon which internet culture—and by extension, pop culture—stands. But once upon a time, memes dwelled in the internet’s dankest sewers, traded in the darkness by geeks, nerds, and outcasts. On this week’s Splitscreen podcast, we examine...
Single-Player Games Are Finally Making A Comeback, Sort Of
3.4.2021
Once upon a time, Shigeru Miyamoto famously said, “A delayed game is eventually good. A bad game is bad forever.” It’s a statement that felt like it would never fall out of fashion, until it did. Modern games are never finished. Bad games become good. Good games become bad. Games of all stripes...
Crash Bandicoot On The Run Won't Let Me Jump On Bounce Crates And It's Very Annoying
28.3.2021
Some habits are hard to break. Like reaching for a light switch after it’s been removed or trying to jump on the bouncy crates in Crash Bandicoot games. Yet that’s exactly what the new mobile Crash game wants me to do. I hate it. I hate it sooooo much.Read more
Where Did Gamer Snacks Come From, Anyway?
27.3.2021
There are snacks, and then there are snacks for gamers. Through chalky chemical combinations of dubious repute, they will somehow make you aim better in Fortnite. How did we reach the point where snacks for a hobby that takes place primarily on the couch are basically workout supplements? On this...
Video Game Companies Keep Coming Up With New Ways To Take Our Money
19.3.2021
Video games are expensive. They have been expensive for a very long time, and they keep getting more expensive. To an extent, it makes sense: Game developers need to eat! But after a certain point, it gets excessive. Loot boxes, gacha, and now NFTs are signs of that excess. On this week’s...
How Plague Inc Evolved Once A Real Global Pandemic Came Along
13.3.2021
Somehow, horrifyingly, it has been nearly a full year since most of us went into lockdown to wait out covid-19. And while there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a slowly, confusingly distributed vaccine, we’re still in the thick of it. On this week’s episode of the Splitscreen...
Valheim Is Great Because It Doesn't Care About Boring Survival Stuff Like Eating And Pooping
5.3.2021
Survival is a term you hear a lot in video games, but what does it actually mean? For some, it’s all about crafting and base building. Or eating and sleeping. Or razing other people’s bases in the cold, cruel night. For others, it might mean a totally different genre—like survival-horror—or...
Marvel's Avengers, Six Months Later
4.3.2021
Marvel’s Avengers was as plagued by buzz as it was inertia. Before the game released, it was defined by a chaotic din of muddy messaging, sky-high expectations, and that little thing called the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After launch, the conversation shifted: Would it become another success like...