A group of seven lawmakers are sending a letter to the world’s biggest video game companies tomorrow, asking each of them what steps they’re taking to combat “harassment and extremism” in online video games.
Source: Kotaku – Congress Wants To Know What The Biggest Game Companies Are Doing To ‘Combat Extremism’
Blizzard in 2022 is a vastly different company to the one so many became fans of in the 1990s and 2000s, partly because it is now owned by Activision, but mostly because that was a long time ago and most of the people who made the games you love have left!
Source: Kotaku – Blizzard Legend Chris Metzen Returns To Company
As the debate around AI “art” continues to rage on sites like ArtStation, Twitter, and Reddit (and likely in the comments below this very article) it’s already being used in commercial projects. Most recently, Justin Roiland of Squanch Games and Rick And Morty fame confirmed that his newest project, the comedic…
Source: Kotaku – Rick And Morty Creator Used Controversial AI Art, Voice Acting In New Shooter
2022, as with many recent years, was a bit of a flaming trainwreck as we continued to deal with the covid-19 pandemic (and other viruses, too), soaring inflation, idiotic tech bros destroying things, and, unfortunately, so much more. But there was actually some good things that happened this year, so if you want a…
Source: Kotaku – The Best Video Game Surprises Of 2022
When I got an email that Bratz: Flaunt Your Fashion, the first official Bratz dolls video game since 2012, was coming out in November across most platforms, including, remarkably, the PS5, I was intrigued and a little amused. When I booted it up, I got that familiar hit of nostalgia, as each of the four main…
Source: Kotaku – I Played The 2022 Bratz Game, And It’s As Bad As You Think
As we discussed earlier this week, the Steam Deck has had one hell of a launch year. It should be no surprise, then, that Valve has its eye on the future of its new handheld, which it has officially categorized as a “multi-generational product.” The company has now revealed a bit of what it’s hoping to improve and…
Source: Kotaku – Valve Reveals Plans To Improve Steam Deck’s Screen, Battery
Death Stranding is joining the neverending list of Sony and Sony-funded games getting a movie adaptation, but it won’t be a retread of Sam Porter Bridges’ story from the original game.
Source: Kotaku – Kojima’s Making A Death Stranding Movie With A New Story
If you or a far-right-pilled relative wants to be a mark in Donald Trump’s latest grift, you’re in luck. For the low low price of $99 and your irreplaceable dignity, you can now own an official Donald Trump NFT.
Source: Kotaku – Donald Trump’s ‘Digital Trading Card’ Is The Saddest Thing I’ve Ever Seen
It looks like Spider-Man fans are going to have a busy year in 2023, as Insomniac has confirmed Spider-Man 2 will launch on PlayStation 5 next fall.
Source: Kotaku – Spider-Man 2 Comes To PS5 In 2023, Insomniac Confirms
In the 20 years since Microsoft acquired Rare in 2002, the studio has only produced one actual game in the Conker series, which was the 2005 remake of Conker’s Bad Fur Day called Conker: Live and Reloaded on the original Xbox. I don’t know how well a foulmouthed squirrel passing through a series of movie homages and…
Source: Kotaku – Rare Puts Conker’s Face On Something That’s Not A New Game, Again
In really stepping things up news, it’s just been announced that Amazon Games is set to publish the next Tomb Raider game. Following Square Enix’s retreat from the Western front, and the sale of both developer Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider license itself, it was unclear what might happen to Lara’s ongoing…
Source: Kotaku – The Next, And ‘Biggest’ Tomb Raider To Be Delivered By Amazon
I am no stranger to the intricacies of video game porn. I see it all the time when I’m running gaming searches on social media. Yet Pornhub’s Year In Review list revealing the most searched games on the platform in 2022 has got me reconsidering everything that I know about gaming porn. Overwatch, I expect and…
Source: Kotaku – Pornhub’s 2022 Searches Dominated By Minecraft, Overwatch, And Fortnite
The story of Halo in 2022 is a tale of two cities: Halo Infinite’s struggling modern live-service title with a potentially promising future, available in parallel with a thriving, active history of its best years in the form of The Master Chief Collection. A year in with Halo Infinite and it’s clear which game is more…
Source: Kotaku – In 2022 Halo Infinite Struggled, While The Master Chief Collection Thrived
Overwatch 2’s various reworks and balance changes have fundamentally altered several characters from their original forms, and that shift means a lot of mechanics that were once key to the original game no longer exist in the sequel. This came as part of a larger change in the game to remove or alter crowd control…
Source: Kotaku – Overwatch 2 Holiday Mode Brings Back Enemy Freezing For Sickos Who Miss It
The Witcher 3 “next-gen” update is finally live. It’s a mess on PC at the moment, but pretty great on Xbox Series X and PS5. And if you’re one of the millions of players tempted to return to see Geralt’s gruff but lovable mug with better lighting and a few more dimples, you’ll want to know how to carry over your save…
Source: Kotaku – How To Carry Over Your Witcher 3 Save Data
The year 2022 has been good for us weebs, not only in the animation department, but in the audio department, as well. The catchy theme songs that accompany our favorite anime have been especially good this year, so as is the tradition in the anime fandom and end-of-the-year internet retrospectives, the time to rank…
Source: Kotaku – The Top Ten Anime Songs Of 2022, Ranked
Escape rooms, those lock-in experiences where you and your group have to solve esoteric puzzles to make your way out, are designed to stretch players’ problem-solving skills in an interactive environment. Any expectations beyond just having a good time are usually tied to a theme, and the scarier escape rooms are…
Source: Kotaku – When Things Go Wrong With Players Solving Escape Rooms
Another year in the books. Or ebooks. Or TikTok. I don’t know. I’m older now so I can’t keep up with all your newfangled gizmos and bookkeeping tools. What I do know is that this year is basically over. So, we can now look at Metacritic to see what game critics collectively declared as the worst of the worst in 2022.
Source: Kotaku – The Worst Games Of 2022 According To Metacritic
Both professional and amateur artists alike were united yesterday in protest against ArtStation, the field’s biggest portfolio site, for its seeming inaction against a rising tide of AI-generated imagery washing up on its front page.
Source: Kotaku – ArtStation Responds To AI Controversy, Makes Things Worse
When The Witcher 3 was first released back in 2015, it became quickly apparent it was one of the greatest video games of all time. When its excellent expansions dropped in the years to come, that only cemented the game’s reputation. But through all the highs, over all the playthroughs, there was one nagging low.
Source: Kotaku – You Can Finally Pet Your Horse In The Witcher 3