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In a world where rough and gruff is the new heroic norm, commenter Paradox Me wonders why everyone is hating on Japanese character design lately. More »
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Bethesda beats any potential fan-made Fallout 3demakes to the punch by creating its own for the Japanese Fallout website. It's all in Japanese, but old school role-playing is the universal language. More »
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Square Enix Japan is creating a series of video blogs called Life in Eorzea, with the first one featuring plenty of Chocobos, tiny little guys dancing, and plenty of Japanese people talking. More »
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I've seen many a lovely retro gaming room in my lifetime, but this one from Netherlands resident donkey*kong makes me want to lay my head down on his Famicom pillow and quietly pass away. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5437030&view=rss&microfeed=true Persona 4 was just previewed in Famitsu yesterday and already someone has ripped the promo videos that came with the magazine. (Of course they are both in Japanese) They are both pretty lengthy, one being ten minutes, the other coming in at around eight. I've only recently been inducted into the angsty, head shooting world of Persona 3 and I must admit I find it quite fascinating. Sadly there is no head shooting in the new Persona but hopefully this new game will be just as intriguing as its predecessors. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=369817&view=rss&microfeed=true Here is an absolutely bizarre Japanese Zelda II commercial featuring a little girl and a man in drag as an old lady. The little girl comes to a shop and a glowing Tri-force on her hand magically transforms her into Link and the man-lady into a cloaked character sporting a string of old lady pearls. Why they opted to go with a guy in drag instead of a real old lady, I don't know but it makes for some humorous viewing. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=357320&view=rss&microfeed=true The Tales franchise continues with the second installment of the Tales of Symphonia series. Featuring Tales' custom "Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System" and what looks to be quite a bit of anime cutscenes, Tales of Symphonia will be a Wii exclusive. No release date for the US has been announced yet but the Japanese version is due out in Spring of 08. The video quality isn't the best, but the in game battle scenes still look pretty great. We'll cross our fingers for this one. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=338920&view=rss&microfeed=true Here's a look at the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus for the PSP. Of course, it's all in Japanese, but you still get to see a lot of gameplay footage. This one is pretty long for a trailer too, clocking in at over six minutes. It's nice to see Snake looking so young and spry, I've gotten so used to seeing him with grey hair lately it's easy to forget he was young once too. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=297942&view=rss&microfeed=true Here we have the Japanese trailer for the much talked about NiGHTS for the Wii. The video is a little pixely and the music is god awful but it's enough to give you a little taste of what the game is going to be like. Legions of NiGHTS fans have been eagerly awaiting this title's release, but if the game is anywhere near as bad as the music, I don't think I will be picking it up. As a matter of fact, just do yourself a favor and watch it with the volume down. Believe me, you'll be much happier. If only I had had someone to warn me before I pressed play... More »
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While I was roaming around PAX last weekend I happened upon a booth by local Seattle store Pink Godzilla. They had an amazing selection of vintage games, Japanese toys and even some Japanese systems. What really caught my eye (although it was hard to focus on just one thing) were these little Twilight Princess figures. These are actually capsule figures from Japan and each figure came in parts, reminding me of my model making days. They come in pieces so that they can produce larger figures and still manage to fit them into the little plastic egg shaped capsules. I grabbed the whole set for $25 and spoke with one of the guys working the booth who told me they are readily available through the Pink Godzilla website. What's really great about PG is that all of their items include free shipping from right here in the US, thus relieving some of the long ship times often run into when ordering the same items from overseas. So, if you're a fan of Japanese games and toys and don't like waiting six to eight weeks for your precious treasures to arrive, run, don't walk to Pink Godzilla now! More »
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The Japanese Super Paper Mario website has been slowly releasing some SPM wallpapers for your computer and yesterday, the final one was released. This one features Mr. L and his giant robot, but who could this mysterious Mr. L be? It's a mystery only solved by finishing the game! I won't spoil it by posting that one here, so instead I'll just post my favorite of the bunch. Check out the SPM website for all four wallpapers including the mysterious Mr. L and show your desktop some Super Paper Mario love. Flynn De Marco More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=265466&view=rss&microfeed=true Fresh from the 2007 Square Enix party comes this new trailer for Dragon Quest Swords. Not surprisingly it's all in Japanese, but you still sit back and watch the visuals roll by. We get to see some cut scenes, and gameplay as well as some magic spells in action. Looks pretty comparable to the last Dragon Quest game graphics wise, but I do like some of the fancy outfits. But, that girl with the big, flat anime eyes mapped on to her 3D head and the guy with Charlie brown eyes standing next to her really freak me out. Flynn De Marco More »
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I loved the original Power Puff Girls series. It was clever, funny and included more jokes for adults than it ever did for kids. In Japan there is currently an anime running based on the PPG with the requisite anime recreations of the original characters. Somehow this seems a bit wrong, but however wrong it might be, they are making a DS game out if it called... Power Puff Girls Z. More »
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I always like seeing good box art because let's face it, we all buy games based on their cover art, right? Ok, well maybe not, but having a good cover always helps. Here's the box art for Dragon Quest Swords coming out in Japan. Shouldn't be to long before this one comes stateside, but I hope it's a wee bit shorter than the last one. It seemed like it took an eternity to get through. Flynn De Marco More »
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Yes, it's finally happened! The Japanese kids finally want something we have. Apparently, the Pokemon players across the pond are making trades with American players for lower-value creatures on the basis that our Pokemon names are more bad-asser: More »
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Clicking blindly through Japanese websites, I came across this little jem which is genius. The Cyber FM Radio is an attachment that uses the DS Lite's GBA slot to turn your DS into a beach-toting, mini radio. FM frequencies range from 76.0 MHz - 90.0 MHz, so you can probably at least get NPR, but the website suggests that (translated from Japanese): More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=253195&view=rss&microfeed=true While we here in the US are still lingering over Phoenix Wright 2, the Japanese are already gearing up for Phoenix Wright 4 (aka Gyakuten Saiban 4). This new trailer gives us a peek at some of the new characters including Phoenix's replacement. He looks cool with his Astro Boy-esque hair although I do miss the Phoenix wings. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=250486&view=rss&microfeed=true Wow, Japanese commercials are so freaking awesome! This is a spot from 1992 advertising Metroid: The Return of Samus in Japan. Interestingly, the only time you see any actual gameplay footage is towards the end in a reflection in Samus' helmet. The comic book styling and use of what looks like an animated Samus action figure makes this commercial a real standout. Flynn De Marco More »
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Best way to learn Japanese? Move to Japan and study like hell. But, those of you just starting and looking for study supplements, here's a computer RPG called Slime Forest. It's still a work in development, and the graphics are pretty rocky. The game is divided up in different chapters called Dreams that focus on things like writing katakana, hiragana and kanji. My advice? Move to Japan and study like hell. Brian Ashcraft More »
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Lost Planet players looking to add some international flavor to their online matches and some Japanese-language smacktalk to their repertoire, should make their way to Brian Dunn's helpful guide on speaking with your trans-Pacific Xboxers. More »
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Whilst following a lead on a Resident Evil Umbrella up for auction on eBay, I actually found something much more interesting. This is a series of four different Airsoft guns based on the weapons used in the Biohazard series or as it's known here in the states, Resident Evil! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=225215&view=rss&microfeed=true I just saw this over on GoNintendo and got a huge laugh out of it. As a matter of fact, I can't stop laughing about it. The best that I can figure is that this guy is bummed because he doesn't have a Wii and really wants one. So, he decides to make one out of tofu, controllers out of a weird breadstick looking thing and a some sort of Japanese snack treat. He then proceeds to set the whole thing up with a T.V. on which he has taped a badly hand drawn picture of the Wii boxing game. I won't ruin the end, but it's pretty damned funny. Flynn De Marco More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=222459&view=rss&microfeed=true Ok, so the cam's a little shaky, it's filmed from an odd angle and there's people walking by, but there's enough here to pique the interest of Final Fantasy fans, I'm sure. No a whole lot of information on where this was taken although it looks to be some sort of medieval castle set with a plethora of candelabras and a nice widescreen T.V. Flynn De Marco More »
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Love or hate it, Japanese kanji (the Chinese-borrowed characters) is getting its own "action" DS game. Called Kanji no Wataridori, the game from software maker Success is capitalizing on English learning DS games' recent success. The game follows some dude named Kanji Gai (Kanji Guy, geddit?) and has a series of mini games that involve quickly writing or selecting the correct kanji. The game isn't for beginners and has three difficulty levels, starting at junior high and proceeding for there. Should be a big hit with students studying for the Kanji Kente and their mothers. The Chinese characters are definitely interesting, but a "kanji action game"? Sounds like something the Japanese PTA devised to get kids to study. More »
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