Brian Ashcraft

How Anime Art Has Changed: An Explainer

Anime, you’ve changed! To be honest, the look of it is always changing. Styles and fads suit each age, so let’s see how anime has evolved over the past few decades. On 2ch, a commenter uploaded the following image below, which Kotaku has translated into English: I quite like this as it gives a good,…

Robots Want All Our Ice Cream Jobs

It’s not just the factory jobs that robots are taking, but the ice cream ones. For example, look at Yaskawa-kun, a robot that serves soft serve ice cream in a cone. The bastard. Yaskawa-ku has been doing this for years. After putting in a 100 yen coin ($.92), you select what you want via touch…

Nintendo Is Officially Killing Miiverse In Japan 

Nintendo’s Miiverse social network launched on the Wii U in Japan when the console went on sale in the region on December 8, 2012. This November, Nintendo is ending its service in Japan. In an official release, Nintendo announced that Miiverse, along with Wii U Chat and Nintendo TVii, will end on November 8, 2017,…

Joven y Viejo. Havana, Cuba. By Matthew Kirdahy. 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: The Message | Artist: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five | Album: The Message Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Official Street Fighter Underwear, But The Cammy Ones Are All Wrong

This official Chun-Li themed underwear is pretty much what you’d expect it to be, but the Cammy themed underwear is not. Clothing company SuperGroupies is run by game and anime lovers, and it’s done a series of clever and subtle themed items like these Persona 3 themed phone cases, key chain, and bag. But their…

Brock And Misty Are Returning To The Pokémon TV Anime

After being re-writtenout of Pokémon history in the latest Pokémon movie, Brock and Misty are coming to the Pokémon Sun Moon television anime. But only for two episodes. That figures! The latest issue of Televi-kun has the following announcement: Brock and Misty will appear in the September 14 and September 21 Sun Moon episodes, during…

Offensive Remarks At Sega’s Yakuza Event Cause Controversy In South Korea [Update]

During this weekend’s Yakuza press conference, actor Susumu Terajima made remarks that might get Yakuza Kiwami 2 cancelled in South Korea. With credits ranging from Sonatine to When Marine Was There, Terajima is a well-known character actor who typically plays yakuza types. During the Yakuza Kiwami 2 press conference, Yakuza designer Toshihiro Nagoshi asked Terajima…

Tokyo Big Sight. Tokyo, 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 Has Ice Cream Shaped Like Katana 

The city of Seki in Gifu Prefecture has long been famous for sword-making and high-quality kitchen cutlery. Now, as Togech points out, it’s becoming famous for ice cream katana. The basic idea was from a high school student, and according to Asahi Digital, the city’s youth made that a reality. A local Japanese confectionary chef…

Japan’s YouTuber Academy Teaches Kids How To Be Better YouTubers 

Earlier this year, insurance company Sony Life conducted a poll, asking junior high schoolers what they wanted to be when they grew up. For boys, the third most popular choice was YouTuber. Number one was IT engineer/programmer, while number two was game creator. For girls, YouTuber was the 10th most popular choice. That might explain…

Love Plus, the Konami games in which you talk to digital schoolgirls, is starting a “new project.” Slated for iOS and Android, it’s called Love Plus Every and will, of course, feature schoolgirls.

Shibuya at Night. Tokyo, Japan. By Jorge Mena. 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! 

Secret of Mana Remake Announced For PS4, Vita And Steam

Square Enix is remaking Secret of Mana. The beloved role-playing game will be released in North America on February 15, 2018. In August 1993, the game was originally released as Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan on the Super Famicom (SNES), but sold outside Japan as Secret of Mana Earlier this summer, a Mana collection with…

Track: The Wassailing Song | Artist: Gold Frankincense And Blur | Album: The Wassailing Song single  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

After Getting Married In An Arcade, This Couple’s First Fight Was Tekken 6

Groom Kazuhiro and his bride Yukiko were married today at iconic Tokyo arcade Mikado. As the game center points out, the couple’s first matrimonial quarrel was Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. Below are the newlyweds: The couple reserved the arcade for the ceremony, and Mikado was closed to the outside public until 7pm this evening. Inside,…

Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is stepping down as Representative Director and Chief Technical Officer at Valhalla Game Studios. Instead, he will become the studio’s Prime Advisor and also work with other studios. Most recently, Itagaki directed Devil’s Third. 

For The First Time, Final Fantasy VIII‘s ‘Eyes On Me’ Will Be Sold On Vinyl 

Final Fantasy VIII ballad “Eyes on Me” was originally released in 1999 as a CD single. It’s not only one of Final Fantasy’s most iconic songs, but also one of gaming’s best-selling. This fall, the tune will be released as a 7-inch vinyl. Composer Nobuo Uematsu wrote the track’s music, and iconic singer Faye Wong,…

En Route. Kyoto, Japan. By Vincent Maggio 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: The Goldberg Variations | Artist: J.S. Bach (played by Glenn Gould) | Album: June 3, 1964 CBC Broadcast Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.