Kotaku Splitscreen

Kirk and Jason talk about Cuphead, Danganronpa V3, Hob, and Golf Story before jumping into the news of the week (29:30): SNES Classic, Zelda design secrets, and Sega certification tricks. Then it's time to open the MAILBAG (48:00) for some listener questions on Nintendo's future, solo Destiny 2, the best-realized cities in video games, and much more.

Kirk and Jason start things off by talking about the SNES Classic, Danganronpa V3, and Divinity: Original Sin 2. Then it's time for news (31:36) about the voice actors strike ending, toxicity in gaming, and Assassin's Creed: Origins getting a tourist mode. Then, prolific writer Tom Bissell joins the show (47:26) to talk about how his opinions have evolved as he moved from game criticism to writing video games, why it's so hard to write games, and how even the best plans can go horribly wrong.

Jason and Kirk jump right into the news of the week (2:39) which includes Steam review bombing, Fortnite accidentally getting cross-play, and the Nintendo Direct. Then they bring on Kotaku boss Stephen Totilo (26:59) to talk about his love for Metroid, the new game Metroid: Samus Returns, and the remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Finally, Jason and Kirk reconvene for a big ol' Destiny 2 spoilercast (58:02) to dig into the campaign, the raid, and the crazy rollercoaster ride that is the Destiny community.

What makes a font good or bad? Bethany Heck, a design director at Vox Media and typographer, joins today's show to talk about the nuances of font design. First, Kirk and Jason talk Mario + Rabbids before jumping into news like L.A. Noire Switch (19:54), Apple announcements (25:38), and Pewdiepie's racial slurs (36:33). Then Bethany hops on the show (48:16) to talk about the best and worst video game fonts, serifs vs. sans serifs, and what exactly "kerning" means. Kirk and Jason close things out with a brief chat about getting ready to run the Destiny 2 raid blindly (1:08:15).

Kirk and Jason have been playing Destiny 2 all week and have lots of THOUGHTS. No story spoilers, though, so feel free to listen even if you haven't finished the main campaign (which you should definitely go do).

Recorded last Friday at PAX in Seattle, here's the very first KOTAKU SPLITSCREEN LIVE, complete with live music, games, and intense Q&A.

Fresh off a 12-hour video game marathon, Kirk and Jason talk about what it was like to play Dark Souls, Suikoden II, Splatoon 2, Super Mario RPG, Resident Evil 7, and Super Mario World for the first time ever. Then they get into the news of the week (26:18) including Half-Life 3 fanfiction, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds exploding, and our report on Destiny 2's first DLC. Next, Kirk interviews Jason (39:08) about his upcoming book, BLOOD, SWEAT, AND PIXELS (which is out Sept 5!), and they close things off with some discussion of Mario + Rabbids and Mafia 3 (58:29).

Jason and Kirk discuss the season 7 finale of Game of Thrones. This will be the last bonus episode, at least until the next season of Thrones rolls around. Thanks for listening!

Jason and Kirk talk about their adventures vacationing and eclipse-hunting before jumping into the news of the week (17:04) including Super Nintendo Classic pre-order disasters, Kyrie Irving screwing up NBA 2K18, and Brink going free-to-play. Then they talk about a bunch of games (33:07) including No Man's Sky, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Madden's surprisingly excellent 'Longshot' story mode.

Jason and Kirk talk about the sixth episode of Game of Thrones season 7, which they both found pretty disappointing. 

Welcome to another extra-long episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, which is apparently what happens when Jason's on vacation. Kirk and guest host Stephen Totilo start off talking about Kotaku's expanded video team, then discuss the news of the week (11:08) including No Man's Sky's big 1.3 patch, real estate strife in GTA Online, and Nintendo's decision to lock a Metroid difficulty setting behind an Amiibo.Then Kirk sits down with Kotaku Compete reporters Maddy Myers and Eric Van Allen (34:33) to talk about how they've been approaching esports coverage over the past six months, Eric's trip to the Dota 2 International last weekend, Maddy's case that Mario Kart AI is rigged, and whether PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is esports. (It is.) Stephen and Kirk wrap up (1:10:16) with some discussion of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Nioh, and The Division.

Kirk and guest host Chris Kohler discuss the many major plot developments on this week's Game of Thrones episode, "Eastwatch."

Super-sized episode! Kirk and Jason start by talking about how much Jason's loving Final Fantasy Tactics on his phone and how impressed Kirk is with the opening hours of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Then they talk about the news of the week (22:21), from Shadow of War microtransactions to a Pokémon MMO hidden within another game. After that Kirk sits down with Kotaku's longtime advice columnist Harris "Dr. NerdLove" O'Malley (35:43) to talk about dating, pickup artists, and how movies lie to us about love. Finally, fellow Kotakuites Patricia Hernandez and Gita Jackson join the show to geek out with Kirk about their mutual love for Splatoon 2. (1:19:56)

Jason and Kirk talk about the dragon-riffic latest episode of Game of Thrones.

Kirk and Jason talk about Pyre, Battlegrounds, and Dream Daddy before jumping into this week's news (29:07) on GameStop's Thanksgiving hours, Unsung Story's Kickstarter disaster, and a gamer cruise that lost its boat. Then they bring on Adam Conover, host of the excellent Adam Ruins Everything (41:06), to talk about how his show works, how he launched a TV career, and of course, ruining video games. Finally, Jason and Kirk reconvene to answer a listener question on service games and net neutrality (1:23:38).

Kirk and Jason discuss the third episode of Game of Thrones season 7, "The Queen's Justice." They'll be back with bonus recap episodes every Monday for the rest of the season. 

We're talking two very different games about high school students on this week's Kotaku Splitscreen. First, Kirk talks all about his newfound love for all the squid kids in Splatoon 2. Then it's time for the news (19:15) including the disaster at Pokemon Go Fest, speedrunner monitors, and Roomba spies. Kirk and Jason are then joined by Sean Krankel, director of Oxenfree (31:33), to talk about storytelling in games and dialogue as a core action. Then it's time for the long-awaited Persona 5 spoilercast (103:00).

Jason and Kirk return to talk about "Stormborn," the second episode of Game of Thrones season 7. They'll be doing bonus podcast episodes every Monday for the rest of the season.

It's Destiny 2 beta week! Kirk and Jason talk a bit about the robots taking over our lives and some of the other games they've been playing, like Final Fantasy XII and Zelda (15:28) before jumping into this week's news (26:23) on Kingdom Hearts III, Star Wars theme parks, and Battlegrounds rules. Then they break down the whole Destiny 2 beta (43:29) in the way that only obsessive Destiny fans can: obsessively.

Kirk and Jason sit down to talk about the season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones. SPOILERS!