ReportWire

Tag: Human Interest

  • High On Life Players Are Getting Perma-Trapped In Applebee’s

    High On Life Players Are Getting Perma-Trapped In Applebee’s

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    A talking gun faces the camera.

    Screenshot: Squanch Games

    Have you ever found yourself paying for over-salted food and overpriced drinks at an Applebee’s and thought: “What if I just stayed here…forever?” Well, a bug making the rounds in the Rick and Morty-adjacent shooter High On Life is allowing such a macabre fantasy to come true.

    Released earlier this month on Xbox and PC, High On Life is a shooter steeped in the wacky comedic stylings of Rick and Morty. Developed by Squanch Games, a studio founded by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland himself, the game is about as loud and obnoxious as you’d expect. Despite obnoxiously bright colors and talking guns capable of delivering a headache or two, the game has soared to the top of Game Pass’s most-played titles. Recently, players have been finding themselves trapped in the game’s rendition of well-known American chain restaurant Applebee’s. It’s a bug for sure, but one that feels fittingly on-point for such an absurd and silly game.

    Read More: High On Life: The Kotaku Review

    “TRAPPED IN SPACE APPLEBEE’S!!” starts one Reddit thread on High On Life’s subreddit. “Hey guy’s, I love Applebee’s. Like fucking LOVE it. I thought Space Applebee’s would be better (AND IT IS!!) but I am stuck inside. This is my checkpoint, trapped inside with the 2 for $25 for all eternity. Anyone know a way out?? Plz help,” the post continues.

    Searching “Applebee’s stuck” or “Applebee’s trapped High On Life” on either High On Life’s subreddit, or Twitter, yields similar pleas for help. A few have even captured some footage to share the struggle.

    Others who have managed to escape are finding themselves teleported back into the Applebee’s. “Before going home I saved a human outside of the Applebee’s, I got teleported by accident to the sanctuary then I was teleported back where I was, got killed almost instantly and now I’m stuck in the Applebee’s because the door won’t open.”

    In addition to asking Squanch Games for comment, Kotaku has reached out to Applebee’s to find out what one should do if you find yourself in a similar situation.

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    Claire Jackson

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  • Twitch Streamer Pokimane Wants Tougher Laws On Revenge Porn

    Twitch Streamer Pokimane Wants Tougher Laws On Revenge Porn

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    Pokimane talking with her hands.

    Screenshot: Pokimane / Kotaku

    One of the biggest female streamers on Twitch wants to take a harder stance on revenge porn—nude photos that are posted online without their owners’ consent. Imane “Pokimane” Anys said in a recent Twitch stream that it should be “illegal” to possess nudes without their owners’ consent, and that she wanted to work towards “facilitating legislation” against it.

    “There are some companies that I’m going to message…not companies. Organizations that are involved in certain causes. I’m going to be like…Listen: If you ever need someone to…” Pokimane made talking hand gestures on stream. “I’m your girl. Because I think if you wanna pass a bill, you usually go in front of a group of politicians and you explain your cause…I’ll do it.” Kotaku reached out to Pokimane to ask which organizations she planned to work with, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

    Pokimane was initially vague about what she was taking a stance against, but she eventually clarified that she was talking about revenge porn. “I think it should be illegal to even have your phone, your PC, on your anything…having photos that someone doesn’t consent to you having.”

    There are several reasons why she is taking this stance now. Pokimane talked about how her viewers would message her about how their former partners would leak their nudes. She felt that those individuals were rarely punished for “ruining” girls’ lives. “So many things online go without repercussions and they really shouldn’t,” she said.

    The U.S. currently has laws against revenge porn in nearly every state. But as Hasan Piker pointed out in a recent stream about Pokimane’s comments, enforcement against revenge porn is complicated and murky. Cops are hardly the most empathetic or competent investigators of gendered violence. Besides that, surveilling every electronic device for revenge porn would be a massive privacy violation. “The only way you can tackle revenge porn is at the point of distribution,” he said.

    Pokimane seemed optimistic about preventing revenge porn by stigmatizing it. “If [an ex] shares [nudes] with someone, that person should be so scared of having that photo because the person whose photo they have—didn’t consent to giving it to them.”

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    Sisi Jiang

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  • Trump Mocked For ‘Major Announcement’ He’s Selling Trading Cards

    Trump Mocked For ‘Major Announcement’ He’s Selling Trading Cards

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    Former President Donald Trump is being mocked over his “major announcement” that he’s selling $99 limited-edition digital trading cards featuring himself depicted as a superhero and astronaut among other characters. What do you think?

    “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so committed to giving him all my money.”

    Tyler Larsen, Toilet Flusher

    “Wow, there’s no way Trump could salvage his political career after doing something that gets mocked!”

    Fiona Adamzik, Display Dismantler

    “Trade you two DeSantises and a rookie Bret Baier.”

    Brandon Price, Gerbil Breeder

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  • ‘Wordle’ Is 2022’s Most-Googled Search Term

    ‘Wordle’ Is 2022’s Most-Googled Search Term

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    “Wordle” was the most-searched term on Google in 2022, both in the United States and globally, beating out “Ukraine” and “Queen Elizabeth.” What do you think?

    “Just more proof that Americans aren’t watching enough porn.”

    Kate Rozenfeld, Package Resealer

    “I guess my fetish isn’t so niche after all.”

    Zidane Guddeman, Pen Repairman

    “I guess there just wasn’t much else going on this year.”

    Yusuf Faez, Sherpa Intern

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  • Lunch Break

    Lunch Break

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    Salmon is an artist based in Poland.

    Read more…

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    Luke Plunkett

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  • The Best Fits At The Game Awards 2022

    The Best Fits At The Game Awards 2022

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    Sydnee Goodman at The Game Awards

    “Everyone is talking about drip tonight, Geoff, it’s incredible.”
    Screenshot: The Game Awards / Kotaku

    Two days ago, in the days leading up to The Game Awards 2022, I wrote about how the wildly inconsistent fashion at the event was indicative of the industry’s identity crisis. Things quickly got out of hand.

    The discourse machine revved up and began spinning at an impossibly fast rate: Nintendo president Doug Bowser tweeted at me, Xbox president Phil Spencer replied to the thread and confirmed he is now aware of what Mike Mercante wears to go get bagels, everyone was weighing in on the “T-shirt with a blazer” fit, and the word “drip” was learned and subsequently overused by half the industry.

    Other publications wrote about the discourse, developers weighed in, and the lead-up to The Game Awards became less about speculation over which game would win GOTY (spoilers: it was Elden Ring) and more about whether or not Josef Fares would wear a skin-tight t-shirt again (spoilers: he didn’t).

    Ultimately, it seems like my call-out worked. Numerous people who attended the event told me via DM that I shamed attendees into dressing better. The presenters and on-stage talent at this year’s Game Awards were almost uniformly sharper-dressed than in previous years, and even Phil Spencer seemed to be wearing a slightly more formal outfit.

    The Game Awards is a chance to have fun with fashion and to lean into the themes that are so often in the games the night is celebrating, so it was great to see some people really doing that last night. That’s why I decided to highlight the best-dressed attendees and honorees at gaming’s biggest night. You all did amazing, sweeties.

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    Alyssa Mercante

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  • Milf Hunter Won A Steam Deck And You Didn’t

    Milf Hunter Won A Steam Deck And You Didn’t

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    Image for article titled Milf Hunter Won A Steam Deck And You Didn't

    Screenshot: Steam.TV | Kotaku

    One of the main advertising gimmicks of tonight’s Game Awards was a promotion being run by Valve that would see a viewer win one of the company’s prized Steam Deck handhelds every minute.

    As we reported last week, to be eligible you had to be watching the show on Valve’s own Steam.TV website:

    As announced November 30, Valve is celebrating The Game Awards with a massive Steam Deck giveaway. The company will be giving out a free handheld PC to a single person every minute for the entire run of The Game Awards. (Never in history has someone wanted The Game Awards to run long, until now…) To have a chance, you’ll need to first register for the drawing, which you can do now, then watch The Game Awards via Valve’s Steam.TV website.

    It was an odd promo for a number of reasons. Firstly, because as early as the first major award presentation the show was clearly running way over time, something even host Geoff Keighley had to acknowledge in relation to the giveaway. And secondly, because of who won.

    During Christopher Judge’s acceptance speech, which, yes, did run long but was also incredibly emotional and heart-warming, the winners of Steam Decks started popping up. So while Judge was up there, pouring out his heart, the rest of us were witness to:

    People who were either disappointed (a minority) or who found it incredibly funny (the majority) began tweeting their congratulations to Mr or Mrs Hunter, which led at one point to “Milf Hunter” becoming a trending topic in the United States across all of Twitter.

    Given “Milf Hunter” is also the name of a porn outlet, and The Game Awards have almost zero cultural penetration outside this bubble, you can understand some people’s confusion:

    Image for article titled Milf Hunter Won A Steam Deck And You Didn't

    Screenshot: Twitter

    I mean, it is definitely where that site is heading, don’t get me wrong. Just not tonight.

    If you missed this, or any other Game Awards stuff, we’ve got you covered with this roundup, which includes everything from a Death Stranding 2 reveal, to a Hades 2 announcement, to Al Pacino.

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    Luke Plunkett

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  • Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

    Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

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    Image for article titled Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

    I’ve played a lot of games in my lifetimes. I say ‘lifetimes’ because I have lived many different lives, all of which have been incredibly uneventful and have mostly revolved around playing different games.

    Features are what make a game. Many people are saying this. If you talk to any game developer and ask them, “What makes up a video game?”, they will tell you, “Features.” Go on, ask any of them. If they don’t have this answer, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just spitballing here. Sometimes, I just say stuff. It’s whatever.

    If you haven’t got a game with features, what have you got? I dunno, a movie? But even movies have special features if you buy the DVD, Blu-Ray, or Ultra HD 4K Blu-Ray. Sometimes in those special features, you’ll find games. It’s funny how life works like that.

    Anyway, I’ve played a lot of games and enjoyed a lot of features in games. On that note, I’d like to tell you the features that I think every game should strive to have included in their experience, based on the games that I have played in my many, many lifetimes.

    I don’t ask for much from you, I simply just ask for the love of God that you take a look.


    An ugly little guy that is annoying and everybody hates

    Image for article titled Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

    You see this in video games all the time. A little guy that is just terrible to look at, usually with a grating voice, and always with a lot to say. I believe that while it already exists in many games, a horrible little asshole should exist in every video game.

    I propose this guy. His name is Beremy, and he would be the most common character in the game. He is incredibly rude, always around, will give you advice that doesn’t actually help in any way, and there is literally no part of the game that he is not in. Also, he is in love with you.

    Pressing a button to scream

    Image for article titled Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

    Do you know how in Dog’s Life, there’s a button that lets you shit/fart? I think that’s great. However, I think it’s definitely gotten a bit old, and every game having a shit/fart button would probably be a little isolating for anybody that doesn’t shit/fart.

    That being said, I think that every game should have a Scream button. Why not? There isn’t a single game that wouldn’t benefit from having the option to just start screaming. Not only would it be a relief in games that are stressful, but it could also be used to scare things away in a desperate time of need.

    Realistic auto-play

    Image for article titled Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

    Idle games are all over the Auto-Play feature, and I think it’s really overdone and unrealistic. These Auto-Play modes seem to always benefit the player, and most of the time do not reflect how a player would actually play the game.

    Due to this, I believe that games with and without an Auto-Play feature should have Realistic Auto-Play, which automatically plays the game really badly. I also think that there should be a warning beforehand that says, “WARNING: This is how we believe you would play the game. If you are hurt by this, maybe you should give playing the game a try.”

    Unavoidable calls to your personal mobile from the worst character in the game

    Image for article titled Four Features That I Must Insist Every Game Includes

    Remember how Overwatch 2 wanted people to be required to add their mobile numbers to their accounts? I think this is a great idea, purely for the purpose of this feature. I think all games should include 3-hour unavoidable phone calls on your real-life phone with the worst character in the game (refer to Feature 1).

    In this phone call, you have to respond audibly to the character with things like, “Wow!” and “That’s really insightful!”, and you have to mean it. The 3-hour phone call will consist of the character talking about a putrid growth that has appeared on their inner thigh, and they will go into great detail about all the ‘natural remedies’ they have been using on it that have not been working. You cannot hang up.

    This story originally appeared on Kotaku Australia.

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    Ruby Innes

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  • Avian Flu Kills 50 Million Birds In Record U.S. Outbreak

    Avian Flu Kills 50 Million Birds In Record U.S. Outbreak

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    The USDA reported over 50 million birds have died amid a record-breaking outbreak of avian flu in the United States, affecting flocks in 46 states and surpassing a previous high set in 2015. What do you think?

    “I’m so glad there’s no flu for humans.”

    Ted Soto, Freelance Gate Agent

    “Nice to be able to just sit back and watch a pandemic for once.”

    Milo Sauls, Pepper Picker

    “This explains why we had Thanksgiving hot dogs this year.”

    Latonya Meza, Job Critic

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  • Kickstarter Cancelled In The Most Brutally Honest Way Possible

    Kickstarter Cancelled In The Most Brutally Honest Way Possible

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    Image for article titled Kickstarter Cancelled In The Most Brutally Honest Way Possible

    Image: Mystery Flesh Pit National Park

    Mystery Flesh Pit National Park is a fictional project by Trevor Roberts, who having started on Reddit has for the past few years has been posting stories and artwork to his website, fleshing (sorry) out the tale of a huge creature that is discovered underground in Texas and…turned into a tourist attraction.

    It’s a very cool pitch, like some kind of Lovecraftian Jurassic Park, full of absurdity but also abject horror, and it has slowly been picking up enough fans that it has been covered on sites like USA Today. Given the success of the project, and the fact that Roberts has built more of a detailed diorama of a world than a linear story, a video game adaptation must have seemed to a lot of people like a really good idea.

    So last week Roberts announced that, courtesy of Village Fox Media, a Mystery Flesh Pit video game would be going into development, and would be seeking its funding on Kickstarter. Billed as a “survival horror video game for PC”, it would centre around the efforts of a crew tasked with helping the Park recover from a disaster—remember, it’s inside a giant beast—that kills 750 people.

    A week later the Kickstarter—which was very light on demonstrations or detailed information on development—has been binned, with Roberts saying the decision was made after a combination of “fan feedback, a fumbled marketing push, internal disputes, and some deep introspection”. Specifically, it seems the process of handing off work on the game to other people…did not go well, with Roberts since writing (emphasis mine):

    To those who were looking forward to a videogame, I apologize. Most people do not fully appreciate what a substantial undertaking it is to produce even a modest videogame. I have personally and carefully created each and every piece of the Mystery Flesh Pit project, but something as large as a videogame is wholly beyond my scope as an individual artist. When I am not the one directly responsible for overseeing its creation, I cannot ensure its quality. After this experience I can firmly state that there will be no endorsed videogame adaptions of the Mystery Flesh Pit as long as I am alive.

    I sincerely hope that by cancelling this overly-ambitious Kickstarter campaign I have avoided what could have been a rushed and inferior gaming experience at best, and an unmitigated disaster at worst. It is also my hope that my decision to endorse this particular Kickstarter does not harm or hinder the superior work of other credible, talented creators that are and have been working hard behind-the-scenes to bring you a Mystery Flesh Pit Tabletop Gaming Experience late in 2023.

    “I have no hard feelings towards the developers”, Roberts tells me. “It was a mutual decision in the end to cancel it. I think they were a little bit too ambitious, and I had a moment of clarity where I saw the disaster this was going to become for all involved. I think I did the right thing. And, for the record, I have always been and continue to be wholly supportive of fan games. My statement about there not being a Mystery Flesh Pit videogame ever was, admittedly, a little overzealous. Fan games are awesome. I just think there are already too many games/movies/series that are poorly planned cash grabs by burnt-out creators, and I’m not about that.”

    It’s refreshing to see Roberts see the writing on the wall and pull the plug like this now, and not months/years down the line—having already taken the money—like so many other doomed campaigns have done on the platform.

    The tabletop adaptation, which as Roberts says is still coming, should be out early next year.

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    Luke Plunkett

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  • You Can Get An Xbox Series S For Under $200 Today

    You Can Get An Xbox Series S For Under $200 Today

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    The Xbox S in its seasonal box.

    Image: Microsoft / Kotaku

    The Xbox Series S is one of my favorite purchases. It’s the little machine that could, a less powerful version of a next-gen console, that somehow is able to run everything anyway. Today you can get one for under $200, the cheapest it’s ever been—even cheaper than last week’s cheapest ever. You know, if you don’t mind being part of the evils of corporate America.

    I know this reads like one of those posts where Kotaku gets a giant wad of cash for every purchase, but honestly, I’m writing this up because it’s so damned cheap. The catch is you need to buy it through Amazon, and Amazon is awful.

    As spotted by IGN for this Cyber Monday, Amazon has the Xbox Series S at $237.99. However, when you buy the “Holiday Console,” you also get $40 of Amazon credit if you put in the code “XBOX” at checkout.

    Did I lie? Is it really under $200 if you need to pay $238 to get the credit? I’m going with: yes. Because, the truth is, we all buy from Amazon all the damn time, even though we know we shouldn’t. Even though we know how it treats its workers. Even though it is about to cut 10,000 jobs likely because the home surveillance machine Alexa is a colossal $10bn flop.

    So, you know, having $40 on your Amazon account is the same as having $40 in your bank account that you’d have spent on Amazon anyway. In fact, the next $40-worth of stuff you buy from Amazon will feel like it’s free! It doesn’t matter that you put the money there yourself, it’ll still feel like a free thing when you order, and the checkout says it’s covered. We’re so stupid.

    However, you do end up getting a really awesome console, while giving Microsoft, that already sells it at a loss, far less money. Sure, you’ll end up spending a fortune more on expanded storage for it, because the S comes with a ludicrous 364GB free on its puny SSD. And yeah, you’re going to pay a monthly tithe to Game Pass for there to be any point in owning it. And then you’ll need that second controller…

    Capitalism is evil! But we still want games consoles, and this is the cheapest way you’re going to get a brand new one. Now, who wants to give me a job in advertorial?

     

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    John Walker

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  • Grand (Fantasy) Designs

    Grand (Fantasy) Designs

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    Cyber Monday Deals Start Now
    Of the three major consoles on the market today, the Nintendo Switch remains the most approachable and appealing to a wide range of gamers. From casual to more serious players, there is something for everyone.

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    Luke Plunkett

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  • Sims 4 Gallery Update Removes All Your NSFW Creations

    Sims 4 Gallery Update Removes All Your NSFW Creations

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    The Sims 4 Gallery, unfairly blurred to suggest IMPROPRIETY.

    Screenshot: EA / Kotaku

    Ever since mankind figured out various pigments could be smeared on cave walls, humans have drawn cocks on stuff. From the Cerne Abbas Giant to your mom’s bathroom wall, winky and winky-shaped creations appear anywhere anything can be crafted. So it is that the Sims 4 Gallery has been as replete with dicks as the underside of any bridge. Until now.

    As spotted by VG247, an update on the official Sims 4 blog reports that it has added a Gallery Profanity Filter Update.

    “We are aware of and have seen some select instances of wholly unacceptable content that has been uploaded to The Sims 4 Gallery,” begins the post, like a disappointed principal speaking to the whole school. “Our team has reviewed, and made critical updates to, the profanity filter to help prevent this from happening again in the future.” They’re not asking for pupils to put up hands, but if anyone would like to come forward and confess before they’re caught, it’ll make life easier for all involved.

    The Sims 4 Gallery is a place where players of the recently made free-to-play game can share their creations, allowing others to download them and add them to their own game. This might be beautiful pieces of hand-crafted architecture, a specific room to add to a house, or a Sims lady with big boobs and a nice suit. And where creativity is allowed to flourish, rude stuff will appear.

    Read More: Sims 4 Update Accidentally Adds Incest

    My favorite example of this was when another Will Wright game, Spore, released its free character creator, and immediately “Sporn” was born. Sims creator, Wright, even praised such endeavors, calling them “amazingly explicit.” However, that’s not something The Sims, with its family-friendly image, could ever lean into. No matter how depraved you might be when you play it in the comfort of your own hovel.

    So it is that Sims 4‘s profanity filters have been given an overhaul, in an attempt to make its Gallery a safe place for kids to browse. EA continues to call on the community for help in policing this, flagging naughty uploads, while the promise “to do our part by quickly taking down objectionable content that surfaces.” They also say they’ll “remove” repeat offenders, and keep “regularly reviewing the profanity filter in case any updates need to be made.”

    EA is too shy to give examples of what has found its way to the database, (and it’s not exactly innocent when it comes to adding inappropriate content itself) but it seems fairly safe to bet it’s cocks. It’s always cocks.

    Searching through the Gallery this morning, the most offensive content I could find is people’s dress sense. And no cocks at all.

    The lack of cocks.

    Screenshot: EA / Kotaku

     

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    John Walker

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