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20 Years Ago, Double Dash Transformed Mario Kart
7.11.2023
For more than 30 years, Mario Kart has been going strong, with the series spanning 14 games. The fundamentals of Nintendo’s wacky racer are largely unchanged from the days of the Super Nintendo: You pick a racer, grab some items to chuck at your friends, and zoom past the finish line. But...
A Year Ago, Pokémon Scarlet And Violet’s Ending Proved The Series Potential
6.11.2023
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are all about finding freedom in their open world. This is as true mechanically as it is thematically, as the pair of Switch RPGs let you freely explore the Paldea region in search of your own “treasure.” They posit that the Pokémon world is full of possibilities and that...
Silent Hill 2 Remake Fans Losing It Over Possible Gameplay Change
6.11.2023
Fans will go searching underneath their couch cushions to find more information about Silent Hill 2, the highly anticipated but, as of now, secretive remake of the beloved survival horror game by Layers of Fear developer Bloober Team. The game does not yet have a release date (though fans have...
Nintendo's New Super Smash Bros. Ultimate OLED Switch Bundle Is A Great Holiday Deal
6.11.2023
Just in time for Black Friday budgeting, Nintendo announced a Switch bundle launching on November 19 that’ll package the OLED model of the handheld-console hybrid with the crossover fighter Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.Read more
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Kotaku Review
6.11.2023
Kazuma Kiryu has been hitting the cigs pretty hard.Read more
38 Years Ago, Nintendo Changed Pop Culture Forever
5.11.2023
At the start of the 1980s, video games were mostly relegated to coin-gobbling arcade machines, but their surging popularity prompted a Time Magazine cover story in January 1982 with a cringeworthy warning: “GRONK! FLASH! ZAP! Video Games are Blitzing the World!”Read more
A Parent’s Guide to Super Mario Bros. Wonder
4.11.2023
Good parenting is a lot like being a solid player two. You want to be supportive, curious, and competent. You’re there to have a good time, and understand going with the flow is key to harmony. This can be a challenge with kids and video games when you’re actually, literally, player two, especially...
Sexy Anime RPG Puts Players In ‘Gem Debt’ To Pay Off Dev’s Mistake
3.11.2023
Taimanin RPG Extasy is a turn-based gacha RPG in which players unlock new warriors to fight demons and criminal syndicates in a horny sci-fi future. The game’s been live in Japan for years, but only recently came to the rest of the world, and it’s already facing its first major crisis: an outbreak...
Super Mario RPG Preview Roundup: Faithful And Fresh
3.11.2023
Super Mario RPG, the remake of Square Enix’s 1996 2D pixel art classic, will be out on Nintendo Switch on November 17. The charming-looking turn-based game sees Mario and Peach join forces with the dastardly Bowser to stop a mechanical creature named Smithy from destroying the Mushroom Kingdom....
21 Years Later, This Cult-Classic Game Is Finally Playable In English
2.11.2023
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2, which translates to My Summer Vacation 2, is the sequel to the chill simulation game, Boku no Natsuyasumi. The game follows Boku on summer vacation with his family in the countryside, as he spends his time fishing, collecting stag beetles, and making new friends. The game...
This Rad Fan-Made Bloodborne Racing Game Finally Has A Release Date
1.11.2023
Last year, the creators of Bloodborne PSX, a popular fan-made demake of From Software’s beloved 2015 action role-playing game, Bloodborne (see on Amazon), made headlines announcing their next project: Bloodborne Kart. At the time, developer Lillith Walther told Kotaku that the racing game would...
Gran Turismo 7 Update Adds Four-Player Splitscreen Mode
1.11.2023
Gran Turismo 7’s upcoming 1.40 update is adding new cars, a snowy racetrack, and four-player splitscreen support, letting folks race each other on the couch like it’s the ‘90s all over again.Read more
Star Ocean 2 Gets The Definitive Remake Every Classic PS1 RPG Deserves
1.11.2023
We’ve seen Square Enix port a lot of beloved RPGs from the original PlayStation to modern platforms in recent years. Some have been fine. A few have been disappointing. None of them seemed quite worthy of the source material they were working with…until Star Ocean The Second Story R. The Final...
There's Finally A New Silent Hill Game And Fans Already Hate It
1.11.2023
Konami’s Silent Hill franchise has been dormant for over 10 years. The last mainline game, 2012’s Silent Hill: Downpour, received mixed reviews, with most players put off by its messy combat and scares. It was up to Silent Hill: Ascension, the first new installment in a decade to help nudge...
Metal Gear Solid Actor Weighs In On Controversial 'Revealing Costume'
1.11.2023
Ever since Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was released in 2015, its eagle-eyed sniper, Quiet, has been at the epicenter of online debates over her revealing default outfit, and the backstory that supported it. Now, Quiet’s actress has finally weighed in on the discourse over her character’s...
Persona 5 Tactica Has Me Questioning If I Want More Phantom Thieves Games
1.11.2023
About five hours into Persona 5 Tactica, the tactical RPG spin-off of the Phantom Thieves’ supernatural adventures through corrupted Tokyo, I find myself thinking about Persona 5 Royal more than what’s going on in this group’s latest adventure. This is less a condemnation of Tactica than it is...
Mario Kart 8's Final Update Is A Treat For Wii And Rosalina Fans
1.11.2023
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo’s beloved Switch racer, is finally getting its last major expansion on November 9. And it’s one for the Rosalina and Wii fans.Read more
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Badges, Ranked From Worst To Best
1.11.2023
Badges are one of the best new additions that Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings to Nintendo’s perennial platforming series. This new piece of equipment lets Mario and his friends take on new abilities, which in turn lets you customize your play style to accommodate your own strengths and weaknesses....
Yakuza’s Devs Love The Memes As Much As You Do
31.10.2023
When you make a long-running series as wacky and melodramatic as Sega’s eclectic Yakuza / Like a Dragon games, there’s no telling what players will latch on to. A key example? Yakuza’s creators were very surprised by female players finding Goro Majima, the series stalwart eye-patched gangster...
Here’s How To Find Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s Special Worlds
30.10.2023
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has levels full of secret paths to explore, but did you know a few of them lead to entirely new mini-worlds and levels for you to run and jump through? There are several levels that have secret exits that you have to work to find, and while all of them will give you a...