Magic: The Gathering Arena is the venerable card game’s new entry into the digital space, and the free-to-play game is finally in open beta after several months of closed beta. I’ve been playing it for those several months. I have some opinions.
Sunday, 30 September 2018
Arena's Open Beta Is A Good Way To Play Magic: The Gathering, But It Has Some Pitfalls
Score This Ghost In The Shell Manga Box Set For One of the Best Prices Ever
Haven’t read the super popular Ghost in the Shell mangas yet? This collector’s box set includes three large-sized hardcover volumes, plus a collectible lithograph by creator Shirow Masamune for $48, which is within a couple bucks of an all-time low. Don’t let the live action movie ruin the series for you, this is…
Fallout 2's First Dungeon Isn't All That Terrible
Fallout 2 released on this day 20 years ago, so we thought it would be fun to relive the opening dungeon of the game through Kirk’s eyes. This piece originally ran on June 20, 2014.
'Shop Contest: Pet Distribution
Fortnite broke all the rules by giving everyone cute and fun pets this week, so we need to even the score: I need you to put pets in every game.
Podcast: Telltale, PS4 Cross-Play, And The Nintendo Fandom
We covered a lot of ground on this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, from studio closures to cross-console play to laughably large mousepads.
Sunday's Best Deals: Motor Oil, LEGO Star Wars, Sonicare, and More
The best value in the Sonicare line, $2 quarts of motor oil, and LEGO’s Star Wars advent calendar lead off Sunday’s best deals from around the web.
Sunday Comics: Competitive Classics
Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon.
Dark Souls 3's Cut Environment Effects Look Amazing
Data digger Lance McDonald has worked through the game files in the original alpha for Dark Souls III and has discovered some radical environmental changes that were implemented then cut from the game.
David Cronenberg Explains Why He Didn't Direct Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was famously shopped around to some well-respected directors before landing in Richard Marquand’s hands. One of those was David Cronenberg, and recently he shed some more light on why, precisely, he didn’t get the job.
The Perfect Beer Pairings For Magic Cards
An Instagram account called “jokulhops” is pairing specific Magic cards with beers that seem to go with them. This is the kind of Magic content that I enjoy.
Grand Theft Auto V Mod Lets You Become The Predator
The Predator has fascinated us since its film debut all the way back in 1987, and now, through the power of modding, you can play as this intergalactic hunter in Grand Theft Auto V.
Keep Your Laptop Safe and Sound In a Custom Leather Sleeve, Now 15% Off [Exclusive]
Your laptop is one of the most expensive things you own, and it deserves to be treated as such. Rather than throwing it roughshod into your bag, slip it into one of PicasoLabs’ beautiful, hand-stitched leather sleeves, now back on sale just for our readers, this weekend only.
Pandas are coming to Minecraft.
Pandas are coming to Minecraft. Pandas are coming to Minecraft! Pandas! Are! Coming! To! Minecraft! They were revealed in a Minecon World stream today, and they are “lazy and playful.” They will appear in the holiday update coming to Minecraft later this year.
The preliminary list of games for Awesome Games Done Quick 2019 has been released.
The preliminary list of games for Awesome Games Done Quick 2019 has been released. The list is not final and will certainly change before a final schedule is made, but there are a lot of games to get excited about. The charity speedrunning event will happen in January 2019.
Saturday, 29 September 2018
Minecraft: Dungeons Is The New Game Set In The Minecraft Universe
Minecraft: Dungeons, a new game set in the Minecraft universe, was announced during the Minecon Earth livestream this afternoon.
Anker Made a Better Version of Apple's iPhone Charger - Get Two of Them For $13
Anker’s newest PowerPort wall charger is its smallest one yet, and you can grab two of them for just $13 on Amazon today.
'Shop Contest: Make Sense Of Death Stranding, Winners!
Last week we got to see some new stuff from the upcoming Death Stranding, but it was confusing. So I asked you to ‘shop up some explanations for me, and you did a great job.
This Week In The Business: The Walking Dead
QUOTE | “We’re currently still working to find a way to hand off production of episodes 3 and 4 so that the season can be completed.” - Telltale Games reassures fans that it is still trying to finish the final season of The Walking Dead.
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes - A F
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes - A Film For The Fans • Arena of Valor on Switch Is...Fun? • Warped Pipes: A Super Mario Timeline Project • I’m Conflicted About Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes
Saturday's Best Deals: Qi Charging, Skincare, Boxer Briefs, and More
Anker’s smallest wall charger, a faster Qi pad, and McCafé coffee lead off Saturday’s best deals from around the web.
This Is One of the Cheapest Qi Pads We've Seen With iPhone Fast Charging
RAVPower’s HyperAir Qi charging pad is one of the few models out there to support the fastest-possible 7.5W iPhone charging, and you can save $10 on it today with promo code GoWirels.
Moving: The Kotaku Review
I recently left my apartment in northern California and drove a U-Haul full of my belongings to a new place in southern California. Although it’s a game that’s played by millions every day, I cannot recommend Moving.
Which Bowsette Is Best?
As far as Gita and I were concerned, only one video game news story happened this week: Bowsette. We declared on Twitter earlier this week that we’d do a whole episode of Kotaku XP devoted to her. We didn’t realize until yesterday that we needed a full hour to talk about her. If you’d like, you can call this week’s…
Professor Layton On Mobile Could Really Use A Stylus (Or An iPad)
The first game in the Professor Layton series, 2007's Curious Village, is now out in a beautiful HD version for smart devices. It’s a nice way to revisit this excellent puzzle game, but trying to play something designed to use with the Nintendo DS precision stylus on a phone with a finger can be annoying.
Deadspin Woman Who Accused Cristiano Ronaldo Of Rape Tells Her Full Story, Seeks To Void Settlement
Deadspin Woman Who Accused Cristiano Ronaldo Of Rape Tells Her Full Story, Seeks To Void Settlement | The Slot The Annihilation of Christine Blasey Ford | The A.V. Club “Hey, I get that!”: 7 pop culture references that felt like rewards | Splinter Jeff Flake Makes Brave Attempt to Cover His Ass Over Brett Kavanaugh | …
The iPhone XS Is Forever
I’m sick of buying iPhones. For the past decade, I’ve been buying them and loving them and breaking them and losing them and replacing them and, when September comes along, upgrading them. Last year, it cost me over $1,200 to get an iPhone X, and against my better judgment, I’m very seriously considering spending even…
Video Game Wikis Abandon Their Platform After Year Of Problems
After a year of issues, the Runescape wiki is leaving the Fandom platform, and more may follow suit.
For Some Reason, Soulcalibur VI's Tira Is In The Beta, But Still Sold Separately As DLC
Last month, Soulcalibur fans were disappointed to learn that longtime series regular Tira was not on the main roster for Soulcalibur VI, instead relegated to day one paid downloadable content. She did, however, make it onto the roster for this weekend’s free network test. Great.
Valve Renames Artifact Card To Make It Not Sound Racist
Valve’s card game Artifact is coming out in November. Recently, the Artifact Twitter account has been tweeting out designs for some of the cards alongside explanations of how they work. On September 26, that included a card called “Crack The Whip,” the text of which begins “Modify a black hero...” Today the name of…
Warring EVE Online Factions Declare Peace, For Money
The latest all-out EVE Online war has come to an end, and there’s a clear winner and loser. The Guardians of the Galaxy coalition has agreed to surrender a vast amount of in-game assets to its foes The Imperium in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.
New Chinese SUV Features Animated Holographic Waifu Personal Assistant
Automakers have struggled with infotainment systems for years, only recently landing on systems that are straightforward and intuitive. Now a Chinese automaker wants to take it to the next level, offering holographic anime character personal assistants in the new Bestune T77 crossover. It’s car-waifu time, everybody!
Humble Just Added a $25 Incentive to An Already Great Humble Monthly Lineup
This month’s Humble Monthly already featured Overwatch as an early-unlock game, in addition to Dungeons 3 and Hidden Folks, which is pretty damn good lineup. But if you were still on the fence, they just added a $25 Humble Wallet credit when you prepay for a year (which effectively brings the price down to $11 per…
PlayStation Experience Is Skipping 2018, Sony Says
For a while now PlayStation fans have been wondering what’s up with 2018’s PlayStation Experience, PlayStation’s annual fan event, since Sony still hadn’t announced dates for it. Today, Shawn Layden, the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, explained that it’s not happening this year.
CBS Shuts Down Ambitious Fan Effort To Make A Virtual Starship Enterprise
Before there was Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Ubisoft’s game about piloting the original Enterprise, there was Star Trek Stage-9, a fan project recreating the Enterprise-D from The Next Generation in Unreal Engine. This week the project is no more, following a cease and desist demand by CBS.
Friday, 28 September 2018
Grab One of Last Year's Best TVs For Just $400, While You Still Can
TCL’s P and C-series TVs are noteworthy for offering Dolby Vision HDR for a fraction of the price of most competitors, and you can get last year’s 55" C-series set for $400 right now, the best price we’ve ever seen.
Sims 4 Staffer Urges Fans To Stop 'Attacking/Insulting Our Dev Team'
Once again, Sims fans have brought up old grievances to the game’s developers, leading one to take repeated Twitter breaks and a community manager to issue a plea for decency and patience on the part of the fans.
We’re streaming the new Forza Horizon 4 live on Twitch with Kristen Lee from Jalopnik and Tim Rogers
We’re streaming the new Forza Horizon 4 live on Twitch with Kristen Lee from Jalopnik and Tim Rogers. Join us in chat!
50 Million Facebook Accounts Affected in Massive Security Breach
An estimated 50 million Facebook user profiles were affected by a security breach, the company confirmed in a blog post today. The breach could allow attackers to take over the accounts of affected users, but the full extent of the attack remains unknown.
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
The weekend is for finally getting some alone time after weeks of travel and house guests, which means drinking whiskey in the bath while watching Anthony Bourdain episodes. Also, video games.
Nintendo's New Mobile RPG Is A Slick Version Of The Same Old Thing
Nintendo and Cygames’ Dragalia Lost is a very pretty mobile game. The characters are lovely, the music is gorgeous, and its overall presentation is quite charming. One could almost forget it’s just another generic character collecting mobile action RPG under all of that polish. Almost.
Phantasm's Don Coscarelli on His New Memoir and What It Means to Be a Cult Director
Director Don Coscarelli—beloved by genre fans for directing films like Phantasm, The Beastmaster, and Bubba Ho-Tep—is now a memoirist, thanks to a brand-new book that looks back on a wild, colorful, four-decade career in Hollywood’s indie trenches.
Dragon Ball FighterZ: The Kotaku Review
Dragon Ball games are for Dragon Ball fans. Fighting games are for fighting game fans. Dragon Ball FighterZ is both of those things, and it’s for everybody.
Deadspin The Jimmy Butler Trade Saga Has Entered The Realm Of Farce | The Slot Brett Kavanaugh and
Deadspin The Jimmy Butler Trade Saga Has Entered The Realm Of Farce | The Slot Brett Kavanaugh and the Myth That Sports Build Better Men | Splinter Kavanaugh’s Deranged Hearing Freaked Out Some of His Most Important Supporters | Very Smart Brothas The Delicious Salt of Brett Kavanaugh’s White Tears | The A.V. Club …
Take Your Pick of Easy Halloween Costumes For 25% Off From ThinkGeek
So you want to dress up for Halloween and be a fun person...but you don’t really have the time or the inclination to put in to a lot of effort. It’s fine! ThinkGeek has you covered today with a wide array of “easy” costumes for an extra 25% off at checkout with promo code EASY25.
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: Curious Consequences Of Watching M
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: Curious Consequences Of Watching Movies Dubbed • Jon Everist, A Rising Star In Video Game Composition • Down The Drain - Pinball Arcade’s Tables Through The Ages: The 90's (Stern) • An Ode To The GBA Micro - The Best Portable I Never Had
Japanese Crime Recreated With CG, Hilarity Ensues
TV Asahi, one of Japan’s largest television networks, has a sporadic program called Rettou Keisatsu Sousamou: The Tsuiseki (Archipelago Police Investigation: The Pursuit). The show’s recent CG recreations of actual crimes are excellent.
No, This Isn't A Trailer For A Berserk Live-Action Movie
This isn’t a trailer for a live-action Berserk movie, but one for volume 40 of the manga. If you like Berserk or, better yet, if you are a fan of Sony’s greatest PlayStation commercial in years, then this is relevant to your interests.
Utada Hikaru And Skrillex Team Up For Kingdom Hearts III Music
Originally, Skrillex was going to remix Hikaru Utada’s Kingdom Hearts III theme, “Don’t Think Twice.” However, that developed into a new, original collaboration. The resulting track is called “Face My Fears.”
Art house Cook & Becker are trying something a little different with a new line of art books.
Art house Cook & Becker are trying something a little different with a new line of art books. They’re art notebooks, which leave space for your own sketches and notes while also featuring those from the game they’re featuring (Horizon and Witcher 3 are available now, with The Last Of Us coming soon).
Play As Bowsette In Super Mario 64
Someone paid modding mastermind Kaze Emanuar to build a playable Bowsette in Super Mario 64, and he duly obliged.
Our Favorite Cosplay Photos From Oz Comic-Con
Photographer Prasanna Welangoda, who we last saw covering the Sri Lanka Comic Con, has been in Australia recently, and was able to get some shots from Oz Comic-Con’s Brisbane show last weekend.