There was a lot of hype going into Lightfall, Destiny 2‘s big cyberpunk expansion. The reality has been much more muted, full of ups and downs, fun discoveries and tedious chores. Live-service games are unwieldy creatures to try and examine under a microscope, and Destiny remains one of the toughest of them all.
Source: Kotaku – What We Loved And Hated About Destiny 2: Lightfall
Tomorrow marks the first chance for Pokémon TCG players and collectors to get their hands on Scarlet & Violet cards. The Build & Battle pre-release boxes, available at specialist TCG stores, allow an early peek at the brand new era for the game due to be fully released on March 31. We’ve already torn open a huge stack…
Source: Kotaku – Pokémon TCG Scarlet & Violet’s New ex Cards Are Ridiculously Powerful
We’ve had Persona 5, we’ve had Persona 5 Royale, we’ve had Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and also Persona 5 Strikers. That’s a lot of Persona 5, but Sega and Atlus figure we can handle even more, because another spinoff has just been announced, this one called Persona: Phantom of the Night.
Source: Kotaku – New Persona 5 Spinoff Game Announced
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is next week, and while that’s normally a time for developers from around the world to meet up, the developers of Rust were also planning on using the event to catch up with fans. That now won’t be happening.
Source: Kotaku – Death Threats Lead To Cancellation Of Rust Fan Meeting
Our collective video gaming memory is a weird thing. Some games from decades past are committed to The Pantheon, where they will be spoken about and remembered for all time. Others, meanwhile, can be some of the biggest releases of their time, only to disappear and never be heard from again.
Source: Kotaku – Two Classic 90s Adventure Games Are Getting Unexpected Remakes
It’s been almost a year since the emergence of “AI art” platforms (it’s neither truly “AI” or art), and in that time artists have had to sit back and watch helplessly as their creative works have been sucked up by machine learning and used to create new images without either credit or compensation.
Source: Kotaku – Artists Finally Have A Tool To Help Fight Back Against ‘AI’ Platforms
I rarely make a big deal out of people not knowing about old games, movies, or comics. The world is massive, everyone has different life experiences, and it’s totally okay if people haven’t heard of every cool game or movie you love. However, that all goes out the window when I discover someone hasn’t ever heard of …
Source: Kotaku – Film Critic Who Loves Tetris Movie Had Never Heard Of Tetris
Far Cry 5 sold over 20 million copies, suggesting people loved the nightmarish first-person shooter about rural cultists preparing to inherit a post-apocalyptic United States. Maybe that’s why half a decade later Ubisoft just gave it an unlikely “next-gen” upgrade on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Source: Kotaku – Far Cry 5 Gets Free Weekend, Framerate Boost On PS5 And Xbox
Here we are yet again, ya’ll. Steam is running its annual Spring Sale from today until March 23 and not only are there some great deals you can snag on must-play games (which I’ll tell you about in a moment), but there’s also a 10-percent discount on the Steam Deck which you may not want to miss out on.
Source: Kotaku – Save 10% On A Steam Deck (Plus Other Great Spring Sale Deals)
Last year, Steam Deck modders discovered how with a little file modding you could swap out the generic intro video that plays when booting up the console with your own video. Now, in time for the Steam Deck’s one-year launch anniversary, Valve has released official boot-up videos and made it easier to customize what…
Source: Kotaku – Inspired By Modders, Valve Releases Offical Steam Deck Start-Up Movies
Twitch streamer Limcube has gone to great lengths to get all the hoes he can—wait, we’re talking about the Breath of the Wild gardening tool. You know, the ones used to cultivate soil and remove weeds. Get your head out of the gutter.
Source: Kotaku – BotW Speedrunner Gets All The (Farming) Hoes Faster Than You
Fire Emblem is a lot like Pokémon: After you’ve played one main title, you’ve more or less played them all. But some anime chess simulators are more robust experiences than others.
Source: Kotaku – All Fire Emblem Games Ranked From Worst To Best
I spent most of my childhood fixated on free dress-up games and Animal Crossing so, now, when I play something someone older than me swears is the best game ever, I feel like I’ve already missed out on its magic. It can be hard to swallow outdated plot points and vintage polygons when modern gaming tries to spoil us …
Source: Kotaku – These 5 Retro Games Hold Up Even Without The Nostalgia
TikTok isn’t just an algorithmic time waster for discovering viral dances and new memes. It’s also full of new niche genres like grindset grifting, chefs doing cooking commentary, and ASMR deep cleaning. Oh, and challenge-based trends like dudes playing with cups of water.
Source: Kotaku – The Internet Once Again Loses It Over Dudes Playing With Water
Players have discovered a new skin in WWE 2K23 that turns world-famous wrestler and movie star John Cena into a plastic action figure, complete with a stiff, non-moving face and smile. And yes, if you were wondering, it’s pretty creepy!
Source: Kotaku – John Cena’s Action Figure Skin In WWE 2K23 Is Some Truly Cursed Stuff
I just watched a guy build a fully functional Game Boy Advance SP out of Lego bricks, and you should too. The machine already looked great, but it became truly magical when its creator booted up a copy of Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. It’s a tragedy this was never an officially licensed product because I…
Source: Kotaku – Mindblowing: YouTuber Creates A Game Boy Advance SP Out Of Lego Bricks
Emmett Shear is no longer the boss of Twitch. After 16 long, controversy-filled years, the co-founder and only CEO the Amazon-owned streaming platform has ever known announced he’s stepping down to spend more time with his family.
Source: Kotaku – Twitch CEO Steps Down After 16 Years
While The Last of Us’ haunting emotional beats and turbulent moral themes can sometimes be fodder for a more hopeful, reparative perspective, that’s not always the case. The Last of Us is heavy as hell, but fortunately, if the HBO series finale has left you in a dour mood, the outtakes and bloopers are starting to…
Source: Kotaku – These Last Of Us Bloopers Are The Emotional Reprieve We Need
According to a report from Axios, Vince McMahon will be a playable character in WWE’s upcoming video game, WWE 2K23. This news comes after the former WWE CEO’s scandal-riddled retirement last year, when The Wall Street Journal unearthed that McMahon paid four women $12 million in “hush money” over the past 16 years,…
Source: Kotaku – Despite Scandals, Vince McMahon Will Be Playable In WWE 2K23
One of the judges at the official regional tournament for the Pokémon Trading Card Game that took place in Vancouver this weekend received a lifetime ban after he allegedly harassed transgender competitors.
Source: Kotaku – Pokémon TCG Permanently Bans Judge For Transphobic Harassment