Kotaku: Singapore

This Cosplay Photographer Is a Hero

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:30:00 EST

Cosplay isn't only about the costumes. It isn't only about the cosplayers. The photographers are key. More »

A Closed World, a Role-Playing Game About Growing Up Queer

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:30:00 EDT

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For someone growing up gay, life can be a challenge. So the team behind A Closed World decided to turn it into one of gaming's most institutionalised ordeals: the Japanese role-playing game. More »

Singapore's Got Its Head In The Clouds. Gaming Clouds.

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 07:40:00 EDT

Singapore's SingTel kicked off a subscription-based cloud gaming service called ESC, which allows players to play high-powered games over the net via desktops or notebook computers with Pentium 4 chips. More »

You Can Contribute to the First Major Study of Sports Video Gamers

Owen Good — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:40:00 EST

The games development research lab GAMBIT, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has launched a study of sports video gamers, one a researcher believes will be the first comprehensive, independent examination of a very large video game segment, but one often seen as an outlier to the wider culture. More »

Study: Child After Child Is A Gaming Junkie

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 03:00:00 EST

Playing video games is normal. A new study tries to pinpoint when it isn't, claiming that one in ten are addicted. More »

Singapore's Weepy StarCraft II Fan

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Thousands apparently lined up, but it was the first guy in line who cried after waiting in line over 24 hours. As seen on Geekbot. More »

Where Isn't StarCraft II Launching?

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:00:00 EDT

On July 27, 2010, real-time strategy game StarCraft II is going on sale in over fifteen countries. There are more than fifteen countries on Earth. More »

Games Not Announced at E3, but We Wish Were

Owen Good — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EDT

What would be bigger news, a GTA-Spider Man crossover, or an E-rated GTA? Knockoff spied in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on the Singapore border, as seen originally at Qisahn. More »

The Scary Luigi Public Restroom

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:00:00 EDT

As seen by reader ZackFair at Pasir Ris Park, Singapore. More »

Professor Layton Movie Getting Western Release

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:00:00 EDT

All video game movies suck? Not so fast. The anime based on the Professor Layton puzzle series is quite good. More »

Asia’s Other Game Convention: Singapore Shines in September

N. Evan Van Zelfden — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:30:52 EDT

When the Tokyo Game Show starts this week, it will be the talk of the town. Last year, the event drew 194,288 attendees over the course of four days for business and public visitors. More »

AsiaSoft Cracking Down On Home-Run MapleStory Servers

Mike Fahey — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:40:00 EST

MapleStory's Singapore distributor looks to cut down on a rash of home-run pirate servers, as a plucky teen take the world of big-headed platform battles into his own bedroom. More »

Home Hits Asia In "Fall 2008"

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:20:00 EDT

Sony have announced that Home, the Playstation 3's long-awaited online fashion show and wandering-around simulator, will be coming to Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan in "Fall 2008". Doesn't sound like idle speculation, either, as that's coming straight from a Sony press release. To help ensure everything's ready to go ahead of the launch, there'll be a closed beta held in September for residents of the region. If that's you, keep an eye on this site, details on how to get in will be going up on August 29. More »

Woman Pays A Thousand Bucks For PSP

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EDT

A 41-year-old woman in Singapore claims she was duped into paying SGD$1000 (US$722) for a PSP. The woman, who is named as simply "Nicole", priced the Sony portable in various shops, noting it ranged between the equivalent of US$217 and US$434. She visited a shop owned by Yeow Tat Trading Enterprises, telling the friendly and helpful clerk that she was looking for a PSP for her daughter. More »

Romance of the Three Kingdoms Online Launched

Maggie Greene — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 12:30:48 EST

I admit it, I don't get how they select English titles for these things and/or why they don't just use 三國演義 instead of 三國志, but be that as it may: yesterday marked the Japanese launch of KOEI's Romance of the Three Kingdoms Online. It's the first product produced by their Singapore branch, and it is (shockingly enough) an MMORPG set in Han Dynasty China. For now, it's a Japan-only release, to be followed by ' localized launches in select territories around the world.' Full release after the jump. More »

Asian Halo 3 Bundle Misses Christmas By Two Months

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:30:00 EST

But that's OK, because that's not the point! This one's aimed at cashing in on Chinese new year's celebrations. The bundle includes a 20GB 360, a copy of Halo 3 and two wireless controllers, which is a nice touch. It'll set you back 669 Singaporean dollars (USD$440), which looks like a lot but is only S$20 more than the Christmas Viva Pinata/Forza bundle, a good deal since most buyers would probably prefer the second controller to the second - ie Viva Pinata - game. As for other Asian territories, it'll cost HK$3,199 in Hong Kong and NT$13,680 in Taiwan. Guey Hay Fat Choy! More »

Insane (And Pink) Mario Car With PSP Power

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:00:44 EST

Words, they fail us. All that we are able to mutter is a "Mario" and a "pink" before cocking our heads sideways in attempts to understand what exactly is going on here. This we know: This car was spotted in Singapore and it's very, very pink. There are plush toys of various Nintendo characters strewn about inside, Nintendo-themed stickers on the outside as well as PSPs in the back seat. PSPs? How odd. With those stickers and stuffed toys, shouldn't they, you know, know?! More »

Mass Effect Ban or Not, Singapore Authority "Get Creative"

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:00:38 EST

Just because Singapore is strict doesn't mean its dull and conservative. Take Mass Effect, for example. The country's Media Development Authority banned Mass Effect for alien lesbian sex, but then the MDA retracted its ban. See, they're open minded! But what kind of governing body is the MDA? Is it a bunch of stiff, dull Singaporeans in business suits. Yes. Yes, it is. However! They are stiff, dull folks who enjoy making rap videos about how creative they are. Click on the above 4 minute clip and listen closely. That sound you hear is our collective jaw hitting the floor. MDA Is So Cool [GameAxis, Thanks Aaron!] More »

Singapore Lifts Mass Effect Lesbian Ban

Mike Fahey — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:20:01 EST

It seems like only a couple days ago that Singapore's Media Development Authority announced a ban on BioWare's Mass Effect for the Xbox 360 due to hot, steamy, eye color-changing alien lesbian sex scenes. Perhaps between Monday and today they caught a glimpse at one of the clips of the scene online and realized it wasn't so bad. Perhaps the MDA got a little overexcited. Either way, today they've reversed said ban, allowing implied cross-species lovemaking to rain over Singapore like fairy dust, along with an M18 rating.

The Board of Film Censors (BFC) said in a statement on Friday evening that it will selectively use games ratings to 'enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore' until it puts in place a games classification system in January.

Girl-on-Girl Gets Mass Effect Banned In Singapore

Mark Wilson — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:40:20 EST

You know all that female on quasi-female alien action in Mass Effect? Don't play dumb, pervs. We all know it's the hottest quasi-female alien scene since Total Recall (and before that, probably the original Star Trek). Anyway, according to GameAxis, that juicy content has gotten Bioware's game banned in Singapore. And as far as we're concerned, restricting mature audiences from enjoying the fruits of love's labor between two hot, anatomically-compatible humanoids is outright un-American. More »

Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore Getting Zhengtu

Maggie Greene — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:30:51 EST

Zhengtu Online - one of the most popular MMORPGs in Mainland China (so popular the government even labeled it dangerously addictive last year!) - isn't content with mere Chinese dominance, oh no. The Zhengtu Network is partnering with Taiwanese and Malaysian companies to expand service into Southeast Asia. In typical fashion, the companies couldn't just leave praise of their game to 'It's so awesome we're more popular than Warcraft,' but have to put a particularly positive spin on things: it's not just an MMO, it's a tool to teach Chinese philosophy! I can't figure out the particulars, but I would run screaming from any game that heavily involved the teachings of Kongzi. Maybe it's just me: More »

Singapore Boosts the Casual Games Market

Maggie Greene — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:30:03 EDT

In an attempt to boost and diversify the Singaporean economy, the government is offering up to $227,000 to 10 development teams to fund casual games. 'Heavy hitters' in the casual game development world like PlayFirst and Big Fish Games will be advising local teams. More »

Raise Babies On Your Cell Phone

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 06:00:04 EDT

Raising children is easy. If I can do it — Better yet, if Crecente can do it, anyone can. Even Tiffany! Come On Baby, which is hitting UK cell phones soon-ish, is Cooking Mama, but with children and no knifes. The game stars buxom Tiffany, who has just started up her own nursery. Players must change diapers, feed babies and boiling milk to turn her nursery into a "five star baby motel." The game's publisher Ozura proclaims it is: More »

What's Wrong With You?

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 03:00:23 EST

Seriously. Microsoft pulls out the annoying with its WHATS WRONG WITH U campaign aimed at Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. A click on the English language Korean version pulls up the following question: More »

The Xbox 360 Mini Cooper

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:22:26 EST

Confession: I want a Mini Cooper. Passé, I know. Even this horribly gaudy/tacky Xbox 360-mobile that popped up in Singapore contest looks pretty neat. The car was driven around the country and parked in secret locations. Folks who spotted it got a chance to compete for Project Gotham Racing 3 goodies, but not the Cooper. No Mini? Come on. Brian Ashcraft More »

Lava Croft: Copyrighted Character Raider

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 11:22:21 EDT

With cell phone game Lave Kroft, unscrupulously ballsy Singaporean publisher Ozura Mobile has drawn the legal eye of Lara Kroft maker Eidos. More »

Ninety-Nine Nights NOT Out in June

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 24 May 2006 08:22:22 EDT

Thanks to this Microsoft English language page, folks have been assuming Tetsuya Mizuguchi's RPG Nintey Nine Nights is hitting the States June 9th. Wrong, the release date is for Singapore. Game site Siliconera points out that the URL clearly says /zh-SG/ for Singapore and not /en-US/ for America. At E3, Mizuguchi hinted the game would be out in North America in either August or September. Until then, wait. More »

Hey Singapore, Where's Your Xbox?

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:20:54 EDT

Microsoft has hidden five Xbox 360s around Singapore in an island-wide treasure hunt ironically called "Where is My 360." Singaporeans go to the MSoft site to view the live, vague webcam feed and decipher each console's secret location. They tend race to that location and pound each other silly in a fight to the death for the next-gen machine. So far, two 360s have been found. Contest ends April 30th or when all five have been unearthed. "Where is my 360?" American consumers have been wondering that for months, Microsoft. More »

Singapore Xbox 360 Launch Pics

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:26:39 EST

This week, the Xbox 360 launched in Singapore, and Microsoft kicked off things at the Red Dot Museum. MTV VJ Denise Keller hosted the festivities which included giveaways, green backlighting, a Joanna Dark impersonator and tons of Singaporeans. Shockingly, there wasn't a 360 branded vehicle in sight. More »

World Cyber Games UK Final TODAY

ataylor — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 06:17:47 EDT

The UK leg of the WCG is throwing down the mitten today (midday) at London's NamcoStation, nestled on the London's South Bank. More »