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The ‘Mutes’ Of Virtual Reality Are Upending The Metaverse Without Saying A Thing

May 27, 2022Kotaku

In this virtual world, you can dance in zaps of electricity, or in the clouds. You can mold your body to your liking, and watch as cats or Hatsune Miku pour you a drink at the bar. The social virtual reality game VRChat is defined by this freaky free rein, allowing people to build original, expansive worlds of music, sex, and imagination. Players can inhabit whatever body they desire. They can do what they want, made braver by the fact that virtual reality’s consequences are comparatively nonexistent to IRL, and yet VRChat’s approach to conversation is run-of-the-mill. The game has…

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World Of Warcraft Streamer Allegedly Harassed Off Of Twitch By Ex-Cop

May 26, 2022Kotaku

A 29-year-old former airport cop, Evan Baltierra, was arrested this week and charged in federal court with allegedly harassing a World of Warcraft streamer off of Twitch. The two met in person at BlizzCon 2019, according to an accompanying affidavit, but when the streamer declined to be his “valentine” and later took away his mod privileges from her Twitch channel he allegedly began a targeted harassment campaign against her, her boyfriend, and her family.

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Here Are All The Pressers Filling The Vacuum Left By E3’s Shambling Zombie Corpse

May 19, 2022Kotaku

E3? More like E0! That’s the sort of total groaner you could expect to hear at an E3 press conference—y’know, if the games industry’s historically biggest marketing event was actually happening in 2022. Yes, for the second time in three years, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has called off its flagship event. In 2020, event organizers declined to host an E3, citing the covid-19 pandemic. Last year, it returned, but as a purely digital charade. Rumors around E3 2022’s cancellation swirled as early as January, and the ESA officially called off the event in the spring, saying it would return…

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Halo Infinite Just Can’t Catch A Break

May 5, 2022Kotaku

Busted challenges. A dysfunctional battle pass. A bunch of ultimately ineffectual “fixes.” A cacophonous uproar of player feedback, much of which isn’t positive. It may sound like the launch-window era of Halo Infinite, but no: This is Halo Infinite today, six months after its launch, during the first week of its second season.

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Ubisoft’s Six-Year Development Hell Pirate Game Leaks In New Footage

April 29, 2022Kotaku

Narrated test footage for Skull and Bones has leaked online, showing off a big part of the blockbuster’s transformation since it was last officially shown at E3 2018. It’s pretty and also looks like a textbook modern Ubisoft game. Players will collect blueprints, loot materials, and build up their infamy rank to get bigger, better ships. Rise and grind sailors.The new leaked gameplay footage, which runs just over six minutes, details how players will complete contracts for NPCs to rank up and unlock new ship designs and upgrades. They’ll stock their ships with “rations, water, repair kits and ammunition” before…

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Final Fantasy XIV’s Newest Raid Is Blowing Everyone’s Minds

April 28, 2022Kotaku

Final Fantasy XIV’s latest update saw Square Enix give serious players a new “ultimate” raid to conquer. The last few days have been a whirlwind as groups try to be the first to complete the raid, known as Dragonsong’s Reprise, and new developments concerning the potential revival of a dearly departed ally have only brought the community’s excitement to a fever pitch.

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Borderlands Is Having Its Biggest Year Ever

April 26, 2022Kotaku

The revival of a beloved spinoff. A film adaptation (whose cast makes no sense at all). A mainline entry (that, against all odds, feels astonishingly fresh). Yes, it’s safe to say Borderlands is back, and having its biggest year in a long time. Borderlands, arguably the flagship series of developer Gearbox, has had a few fits of popularity over the years. The first entry came out in 2009, and stood out for marrying the first-person shooting and Diablo-style looting with cel-shaded visuals—a creative decision that’s no doubt helped the series stand the test of time—and a performatively profane sense of…

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Why Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Is Selling Zillions Of Copies

April 21, 2022Kotaku

WB Games announced today that Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga had a massive launch, selling through over 3 million copies worldwide, and has set new records for Lego games across all platforms around the world. To put it another way: This latest Lego Star Wars game is one of the biggest releases of the year, and one of the most successful Star Wars games of the decade.

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Kingdom Hearts 4 Sleuthers Find Sora’s Apartment IRL, And It Ain’t Cheap

April 15, 2022Kotaku

Kingdom Hearts stans are tearing all the meat off the bones from the recent Kingdom Hearts IV announcement trailer, picking it apart for any and all possible details about Sora’s upcoming adventure. There’s a bit of disappointment to go with the hype, like the painful revelation that our big-shoed hero doesn’t actually have big feet. On the positive side, however, there’s been some intrepid detective work that’s turned up some compelling results. One self-proclaimed “Square Enix fangirl” named Audrey “aitaikimochi” Lamsam has found the actual Tokyo apartment that seems to be the basis for the one in which Sora wakes…

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Another PlayStation ‘Console Exclusive’ Comes To Xbox

April 12, 2022Kotaku

At this point, it’s fair to assume that any proclamations of “console exclusivity” should be taken with an entire deer lick of salt. The PlayStation 5 launch title Bugsnax comes out on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on April 28, as part of the Game Pass library, developer Young Horses announced. It’s also getting a release on Nintendo Switch. Oh, and it’s getting a free expansion. Bugsnax, an adventure game about exploring an island of anthropomorphic snacks, first made waves at E3 2020 due to that contagiously catchy tune from Kero Kero Bonito in its trailer. Folks may have…

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