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Kotaku •

Her Award-Winning Gaming Collection Could Get Her Paid. But That's Not The Point.

There’s a room in Linda Guillory’s house that could make any video game nerd fall to their knees in worship. Her walls are lined with sturdy shelving units and display cases, each stuffed with boxes upon boxes of handheld video games. But unlike most video game collections that are kept behind glass, in plastic vaults, and protected by their factory seals, Guillory’s collection bears the less-than-mint marks that come with use and Guillory wouldn’t have it any other way.


“I collect games beca
Kotaku •

Black Woman Says Goodbye To Kotaku

After a year and some change and never seeing any of my coworkers’ beautiful faces in meatspace, I too must bid y’all farewell.

There was a time when I thought that this was going to be my only shot. I had convinced myself that I was so poor in skill and talent that Kotaku was going to be the only place I’d ever work and that someone would have to peel me off the walls to get me to leave. When Stephen Totilo left, I thought no one else would ever take a chance on me like he had, and that I had
Kotaku •

Blizzard Harasser From Lawsuit Is Still All Over World of Warcraft, Fans Dismay

Yesterday, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over the company’s allegedly pervasive culture of sexual harasment and discrimination.


The suit alleges that the company has a toxic workplace culture that enables and protects abusers. In response, Activision Blizzard issued a statement denying the claims saying the state of California included “distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past.”


But how just l
Kotaku •

I Had My Sexual Awakening Thanks To Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X’s 20th anniversary is this week, and while it’s not my favorite Final Fantasy, it is one I come back to whenever I think about sex. No, not in the way you’re probably thinking (although Kimahri Ronso, if he wanted, could get it). But Final Fantasy X represents one of those foundational adolescent moments for me in which sex transitioned from something I knew about and was aware of into something I desired.


Final Fantasy X was released 20 years ago when I was 14 years old. It w
Kotaku •

Black Woman Gets Two World Records For Her Vast Vintage Gaming Collection

Y’all! A Black woman was named the winner of not one but two world records for having the largest collection of LCD and playable gaming systems and my mind is alight with joy.

By the numbers, Linda Guillory’s two world records come from her collection of 1,599 LCD gaming systems and 2,430 playable gaming systems. And today, Guinness World Records announced Guillory of Richardson, Texas earned the two achievements for her massive collection of thousands of handheld, tabletop, and even watch-base
Kotaku •

Dragon Age Fans Have Gotten Good At Living On Crumbs

Life as a Dragon Age fan is hard sometimes, but necessary. Today on Twitter, BioWare wrote that it won’t be showing off anything from Dragon Age or Mass Effect during the EA Play event later this month.

This is good, truly. (She says through gritted teeth, tears in her eyes.) I want this game to be good, and being good means coming out when it’s damn well ready. I don’t want to put any pressure on the dev team, and I certainly don’t want them to crunch in order to show off some minor bit or bob
Kotaku •

Chicory: A Colorful Tale Is Already One of the Best Games of 2021

Chicory: A Colorful Tale is special in the same way that Undertale was special. Both games disarmed you with their charm and humor before murdering you with a story full of warmth, love, and knee-shattering poignance. Chicory could not have come at a better time for people who need to learn how to be kind to themselves and gracious to others.

Chicory is a game about a tanuki (who, critically, is not the titular character) who lucks into a magical brush capable of painting the world in all sorts
Kotaku •

Sonic’s 30th Anniversary Concert Kicked So Much Ass I Cried

Video game concerts make everything better. Today’s livestreamed video game concert of Sonic music was so damn great it had me crying in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon—as opposed to my regularly scheduled Thursday cry.


Today marks the 30th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog’s arrival on the Sega Genesis. In the lead up to today’s birthday celebration, Sega added the blue blur to damn near everything. I can play in a Sonic costume in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. I can add Sonic arcade cabinet
Kotaku •

Four Games That Resonate (And One I Hate) As I Celebrate Juneteenth

Juneteenth, once an obscure, informal holiday celebrating Black freedom, is now bigger than it’s ever been. It commemorates when the last enslaved people in Texas, the final Confederate state, were set free on June 19th, 1865. Today, on this year’s Juneteenth, countries around the world are reckoning with anti-Black histories, correcting errors they should have addressed long ago. As we toss statues of enslavers into rivers and scour the idols of white supremacy from our courthouses and public s
Kotaku •

Sorry, FNAF Creator Scott Cawthon, Political Donations Don't Work That Way

Scott Cawthon, creator of the Five Nights At Freddy’s series, went viral over the weekend after his political donations were publicized on Twitter. The donation list was a who’s who of homophobic and transphobic lawmakers including Tulsi Gabbard, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump. Fans reacted to Cawthon with a mix of anger and feelings of betrayal, while others left messages of support on social media trending the hashtag #istandwithscott on Twitter.

Scott Cawthon created the Five Nights At Fr
Kotaku •

E3 Avatar Creator: The Review

E3 is here. Registered participants will soon be able to log in to the E3 portal to connect with developers, industry professionals, and fans. Since the event is purely digital, the ESA is encouraging participants to create avatars so exhibitors who may or may not be there and who may or may not respond to requests can put a “face” to a name that may or may not be leaked along with other personally identifying information, as notoriously happened in 2019. As a lover of all things character creat
Kotaku •

Oh, Hey, I Just Got Back From An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs

An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs (y’all, there’s no way I’m gonna get through these impressions spelling this long-ass name out so henceforth I’ll call it Dog Airport or abbreviate it as AAFACRBD) is a game about exactly what it says on the box: You are a person at an airport that services aliens that is staffed entirely by dogs.


AAFACRBD, out now on PC and Xbox, reminds me of a point in the early aughts when anime titles started getting very weird and specific like I Want To Eat Y
Kotaku •

The Sonic Diamond Necklaces Are Cool, Actually

Soon, rappers, jewelry enthusiasts, or nerds with money to burn can buy their own Sonic-themed diamond necklace. Tucked into today’s Sonic news stream was a gem (heh) of an announcement—a collaboration between Sega and jewelry maker King Ice to create four gold chains featuring the diamond-encrusted heads of beloved Sonic characters.

Naturally, the internet has seized upon this information, and the memes are flowing.

But good laugh aside (and admittedly there was a good-ass laugh in the stream
Kotaku •

Final Fantasy XIV Players Mourn Berserk Creator’s Death With Touching Tribute

Kentaro Miura, creator of seminal dark-fantasy manga Berserk, died on May 6 of an aortic dissection. When his death was made public on May 19, Final Fantasy XIV players paid tribute with spontaneous memorials honoring Miura, Berserk, and its impact on the Final Fantasy franchise itself.


Miura’s work deeply influenced the Final Fantasy franchise so it’s fitting players would pay tribute to him in-game. Without Berserk’s influence, Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife would lack his iconic buster s
Kotaku •

Valorant Pro Jay “Sinatraa” Won Suspended For Six Months Following Sexual Assault Investigation

Jay “Sinatraa” Won has been suspended from competing in professional Valorant matches for six months following Riot’s investigation of claims he sexually assaulted his girlfriend Cleo Hernandez. Announced today, the six month suspension will last until September 10 and require Won to participate in professional conduct training before he can resume competing.

According to Riot, Won’s suspension stems from his violation of rule 8.1 in the Valorant Global Competition Policy for “failing to fully
Kotaku •

Sorry, Your Cis White Woman Protagonist Isn’t Progressive

The future is bright for the current and upcoming crop of AAA releases. Reviews for Returnal are positive. I’m gassed as hell to have Lady Dimitrescu chase me around in Resident Evil Village before I let her snap me in half. Rift Apart looks so sharp on the PS5 that it might become my first Ratchet and Clank experience. And y’all already know I’m going to play the shit outta Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Other people are excited for these games, because, in their eyes, these games speak to a we
Kotaku •

Enemy: Tempest Of Violence Is Pure Distilled Batshittery (And I Love It)

I’ve never owned an Amiga, but I am obsessed with Enemy: Tempest Of Violence, a Swiss-developed Amiga game released in 1997. Buckle up, this is about to be a ride.


My partner and I have a ritual in which we watch Twitch on the weekends before bed. My partner is a cantankerous old man (even though he’s only 34) and has no desire to watch any popular streamers or popular games. He’ll only watch streamers on the Retro channel—the Twitch channel devoted to games that are as old as we are. There w
Kotaku •

Clone Hero Is So Much Fun I Don't Mind The Carpal Tunnel

As the last of the notes disappeared from the screen, I put my fake, plastic guitar down to look at my hands. They were shaking, and my fingers were curled as if they were still wrapped around the fretboard. I felt pain twisting around my wrist and creeping into my finger joints. Still, I wore a smile so big and deep and bright it shocked me. And all because I decided to play a little Clone Hero.

Clone Hero is a fan-made PC game made to recreate the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games of the early
Kotaku •

Anatomy Of A Perfect Overwatch Earthshatter

Overwatch League season four kicked off this weekend, with new players, a couple of fantastic upsets and a perfect, game-winning Reinhardt Earthshatter by Houston Outlaws player Myung-heum “Jjanggu” Cho.


Two-time Overwatch League Champions the San Francisco Shock played the no-time Overwatch League nothings Houston Outlaws on Sunday. Traditionally, this is a one-sided match. The last two times these teams met, San Francisco beat Houston 3-0. But 2021 is a new year, and new rosters, new coache
Kotaku •

Black Is Magic: How Magic: The Gathering Is Transforming One Teacher’s Game Club

On the wall in Mike Lawton’s classroom rests a cardboard cut-out of a Black man. It’s not Martin Luther King Jr. or any other famous Black figure from history—it’s a mage—dark skinned and powerful-looking as a spell shoots from his fingertips. It’s Teferi, one of Magic: The Gathering’s most powerful main characters known as Planeswalkers, and he’s Lawton’s students’ favorite.

“I was lucky to get this huge, five-foot-tall Teferi,” Lawton, a Milwaukee Public School science teacher, told Kotaku ov
Kotaku •

Korean Overwatch League Player Shares His Experience With Anti-Asian Racism In America

As opening day for the fourth season of the Overwatch League looms, Korean players on North American teams are dealing with the precipitous rise in anti-Asian racism. On April 5, Eui-Seok “Fearless” Lee, main tank for the Dallas Fuel, talked about his experience being Korean and living in America on his Twitch channel.

“Being Asian here is terrifying, seriously,” he said.


Lee recounted a story of people deliberately coughing on him and his teammates and cautioned other Koreans living in Amer
Kotaku •

Lil Nas X Released A Cheeky Video Game About Twerking

Lil Nax X—prolific Tweeter, former country music superstar, and current Lord of Hell—has released a new video game that celebrates his current chart-topping hit, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

Called Twerk Hero, the game stars Lil Nas X and directs players to use the mouse to move his jiggle physics’d booty to hit scrolling arrows called “Temptations” as “Montero” plays. Hit enough Temptations and you can progress to the next level. There are four levels in all, each recreating an iconic sce
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