Maybe it’s weird, but I enjoy watching Pokémon far more than playing it. I haven’t seriously played a Pokémon title since SoulSilver in ‘09, and haven’t finished one since Pokémon Blue way back in the ancient yester-year of 1996. Yet despite my apparent aversion to all things Pocket and Monster I am obsessed with …
Source: Kotaku – Pokémon Esports Broadcasts Are Simply The Best At Reaching Out To Newcomers
When discussing Nintendo’s rise as a digital dreamsmith in the 80s, game designers like Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi get most of the limelight. But it was the hardware designed by Masayuki Uemura that served up their fantasies to millions around the globe.
Source: Kotaku – The Designer Of The NES Dishes The Dirt On Nintendo’s Early Days
Raids are some of the hardest but most rewarding parts of Destiny 2. If you’ve spent any amount of time playing the game you really owe it to yourself to see what these six-player missions have to offer, especially since some of them won’t be around for much longer.
Source: Kotaku – Bungie Just Made Destiny 2 Raids More Rewarding (For The Next Three Months)
In October of 2018 I fell in love with CrossCode, a solo PC action RPG disguised as a retro 2D fantasy MMO. I put it on my top games of 2018 list, where Jason Schreier saw it, played it, and fell in love as well. On Thursday CrossCode finally comes out for consoles. Now everybody can love it. Heck, I’m loving it all…
Source: Kotaku – One-Of-A-Kind Action RPG CrossCode Is Out On Consoles This Week
On Sunday, Ubisoft will show off Watch Dogs Legion during a not-E3 event called “Ubisoft Forward.” But that’s not all the Watch Dogs you can hound up this weekend, as Ubisoft is also giving away a free copy of Watch Dogs 2 for PC.
Source: Kotaku – Grab Watch Dogs 2 For Free On PC This Weekend
Eyes up, space marines: 13 years after it landed on console, Halo 3 is finally coming to PC. As announced by the official Halo Twitter account, it’ll be available next Tuesday as the next installment of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Source: Kotaku – Halo 3 Comes To PC July 14
In 2000, after a pair of PlayStation games that were more science fiction than swords and sorcery, I wanted a Final Fantasy that skewed heavily towards classic fantasy fare. Final Fantasy IX, released on July 7, 2000, in Japan, was exactly the game I was looking for.
Source: Kotaku – Happy 20th Anniversary To My Favorite Final Fantasy
Today, Sega Toys has announced a miniature version of its iconic Astro City arcade cabinet. The latest in a string of mini hardware, it will be released in Japan this December and come packed with 36 games.
Source: Kotaku – Sega Announces Mini Arcade Cabinet Filled With 36 Games
Long-running manga Baki the Grappler recently got a new anime adaptation on Netflix. It follows the exploits of macho Baki Hanma in the underground fighting world. Imagine Baki for real, minus the brutal battles but with the muscles. Meet bodybuilder Naotaka Yokokawa.
Source: Kotaku – Baki the Grappler, But In The Flesh
On July 2, open-world game Final Sword was released on the Japanese Nintendo eShop. Players soon noticed something familiar. The background music sounded like “Zelda’s Lullaby.”
Source: Kotaku – Buggy Switch Game Pulled After Using Zelda Music Without Permission
Aleksey Bayura is an artist at Riot, the developers of League of Legends and Valorant.
Source: Kotaku – Lil’ Buddies
There’s a generation of kids who will only know John Madden as the guy whose name is on the football game’s box, and not as one of the best commentators to have ever worked in professional sports. For them (and all of us, really): a guy impersonating Madden talking Mario through level 1-1 of Super Mario Bros.
Source: Kotaku – Boom! It’s Super Mario Bros. With John Madden’s Commentary
A crossbow is an elegant weapon for a more civilized age, but it also lacks the stopping power of, say, an M16.
Source: Kotaku – Dark Souls Is Presumably Easier With Assault Rifles
The Last of Us Part 2 developer Naughty Dog put out a statement over the weekend condemning harassment and threats made against those who worked on the game as director Neil Druckman and others shared some of the vile messages they’ve received following the game’s release.
Source: Kotaku – Last Of Us 2 Developer Condemns Online Harassment Of People Who Worked On The Game
Early September, 1999. Britney Spears dominated the airwaves, fear of the Y2K bug hung in the air, and my teenage mind was still wrestling with whether or not Phantom Menace was good. It had been about a week since I had returned from a summer trip to Taiwan to my home in Atlanta. A couple of my friends who I hadn’t…
Source: Kotaku – Growing Up As A Taiwanese-American Gamer Was The Best Of Both Worlds
It reads like a typo. “Gamerscore Leaderboard. Rank One With +132,000 This Month.” Surely, there must be some mistake. 132,000 achievement points in a month? There’s no way! There’s gotta be a hidden decimal point somewhere, right? From every angle—physically, chemically, intellectually—the math just doesn’t add up.…
Source: Kotaku – How An Accountant Earned 132,000 Gamerscore In One Month
Planning on using Xbox Game Streaming to play games on your Android phone or tablet? Third-party controller makers 8BitDo have a gamepad for that. The SN30 Pro is a pocket-sized Bluetooth Xbox One controller built with Xbox cloud gaming in mind.
Source: Kotaku – A Controller Built For Xbox Game Streaming
There’s a story some people tell at Ubisoft Toronto, the studio currently finishing one of this fall’s bigger planned releases, Watch Dogs: Legion. It goes something like this: Maxime Béland, one of its co-founders and, until last week, a 20-year veteran of Ubisoft, allegedly choked a female employee at a work party.…
Source: Kotaku – Ubisoft Employees Have ‘Grave Concerns’ Over Toronto Studio’s Misconduct Allegations
Joy-Con shoulder buttons don’t make very comfortable pinball flipper controls. That’s why Nerds&Makers’ Tommy Williamson harnessed the power of creativity and 3D printing to create the SwitchPin, a TV-spanning Joy-Con dock the sole purpose of which is to turn two buttons into two other buttons.
Source: Kotaku – That’s One Way To Make A Custom Switch Pinball Controller
Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) | $40 | Amazon
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch) | $40 | Amazon
Source: Kotaku – Super Mario Maker 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Are Today