Brian Ashcraft

Confirmed: Mario Was Originally Punching Yoshi

Among Nintendo fans, there has been dispute as to whether Mario was telling Yoshi to get something or smacking the character in the head. According to Nintendo, Mario was originally punching Yoshi, causing the character’s tongue to shoot out in surprise. For example, a few years back website Supper Mario Broth tried to disprove the…

Dead Hungry, the VR game from Q-Games, has a PS4 release date. It will be out for PlayStation VR on October 24 and is playable either with the PlayStation Move or the DualShock 4.

Kinugawa. Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. By Hiro Tanaka. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Track: Minor Swing | Artist: Django Reinhardt | Album: (Live Performance – 1937) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

If The Simpsons Characters Were Otaku

Imagine that all The Simpsons characters were into anime, manga, and Japanese video games. They would probably say stuff like this. That’s the central premise of Twitter userWeebSimpsons, which has been churning out gems like these: Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China…

Osaka Court’s Ruling Helps Destroy Tattoos In Japan 

Today in Osaka, a District Court ruled that tattooer Taiki Masuda broke the law by tattooing without a medical license. Police raided Masuda’s studio in 2015, and he was told to pay a fine. Instead of coughing up the cash, Masuda took the police to courton the grounds that tattooing was an art and not…

Giant Gundam Statue Now In A Japanese Buddhist Temple

Diehard Gundam fans might view the anime with an almost religious fervour. Now, at a Buddhist temple in Nagoya, Japan, they can pray with a large Mobile Suit looking on. According to Asahi.com, the statue is located in Zuienji Temple and was created by 66-year-old Toshio Hattori, who lives nearby. Hattori, a former engineer, decided…

Learn Game Programming With A Japanese Maid

Want to learn Unity? What about make a game in VR? Recently, seminars were held in Japan that taught first-timers programming with the help of Japanese maids. Maids, of course, are iconic figures in Japanese nerd culture. There are maid cafes serving drinks and countless maid characters in manga, anime, and video games. Tokyo-based programming…

Gold and Snow. Kyoto, Japan. By Adam Solino. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Track: When I Grow Up | Artist: Garbage | Album: Version 2.0 Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

World’s First Official Godzilla Store Opening In Tokyo Next Month

On October 30, the world’s first official Godzilla retail shop will open in Japan. It’s called Godzilla Store Tokyo and will be located in Shinjuku. According to Moviche, the store will feature around 500 items for sale, some of them unique to the store. The store will be located on the first floor of the…

A Life-Sized Mega Man Plush Toy For $290

Who needs a new Mega Man game when there is a life-sized Mega Man you can hold while wondering what the heck Capcom is up to? Okay, maybe we need a new Mega Man game. But this is pretty neat! The plush toy measures 4.3 feet and is priced at 32,400 yen ($290). According to…

Madhouse Isn’t Doing One Punch Man Season 2

When hit anime One Punch Man comes back for its second season, the studio that handled it the first time around won’t be returning. Madhouse did season one, which debuted in 2015. That studio has an impressive resume, animating some of the most iconic modern anime, such as Perfect Blue, Death Note, and Paprika. Season…

Philosophers Path. Kyoto, Japan. By Timothy Shill. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Japan’s Newest Giant Gundam Is Finished And So Awesome

This weekend, the one-to-one scale Unicorn Gundam was officially unveiled in Tokyo. It looks fantastic. The 64.6-foot statue replaced a previous giant Gundam that went up in 2012 and came down this past March. The newest life-sized Gundam is the most impressive one yet as the tweets uploaded on Barukan Log show. Kotaku East is…

First Permanent Sailor Moon Store Opens In Japan

Until now, the only Sailor Moon stores in Japan have been temporary pop-up shops. That’s changed with the country’s first permanent Sailor Moon store opening in Tokyo’s Harajuku. According to The Japan Times (full disclosure: I am a columnist there), the store opened this weekend, selling an array of Sailor Moon goodies. “Because more goods…

It Sucks When Ultraman Lands In Your City

In Japanese superhero and monster movies, massive battles lay waste to cities. We rarely get to see what it’s like to experience that from the point of view of a regular citizen, but that’s exactly what City Shrouded in Shadow offers.  Developed by Granzella, City Shrouded in Shadow is the spiritual successor to the Disaster…

The Cosplay Of The Tokyo Game Show

It’s that time again. Time for cosplayers to descend on the Tokyo Game Show. The two public days bring out some of the most talented and most interesting cosplayers around. Below are photos from the public days as well as from the Cosplay Collection Night event. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture,…

In the Dolomites. The Alps. By Robbert Vervuurt. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Track: Chariots Of Fire | Artist: Vangelis | Album: Chariots Of Fire Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.