Brian Ashcraft

Square Enix Launches Official Final Fantasy XIV Masks

Merchandising! Square Enix loves to do it. And with lots of people wearing masks in Japan, the Tokyo-based game maker saw an opportunity. Update March 3 – 11:40am: As one Kotaku reader points out, these masks are also available through the North American website. As Famitsu reports, pre-orders for Final Fantasy XIV masks kicked off…

Track: We Contain Multitudes | Artist: Ólafur Arnalds | Album: We Contain Multitudes (Sunrise Session) 

The Wii U Gets A New System Update Two And A Half Years Later

Today in Japan, Nintendo released a new system update for the Wii U. The last firmware, 5.5.3, was released in early September 2018. Nintendo of America detailed the previous update as fixing the following: Improvements to system stability and usability Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance…

Track: Tarinai Sukunai (feat. Ikuta Lilas) | Artist: Fujifabric | Album: Tarinai Sukunai (feat. Ikuta Lilas) (single)

Virtual-On creator Juro Watari has left Sega. On Twitter, Watari revealed that he left the company late last month but added that future plans were not yet decided. The first Virtual-On game was released in the mid-1990s and went on to spawn several sequels. 

Here’s An Excellent Majora’s Mask Replica

This year marks the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. To celebrate, artist Pikousa reposted an excellent Majora’s Mask she sculpted. Out of all the Zelda games, Pikousa’s husband, photographer Kyon, likes The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask best. For his birthday last year, she sculpted it entirely out of clay. It was then…

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl‘s Graphics Compared To The Original Games’

Late last week, Nintendo announced remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. The original games were released in 2007 on the Nintendo DS, while the remakes will be out on the Switch this year. Plus, the new versions will not be developed by Game Freak, but rather, ILCA (the games’ original director, Junichi Masuda, will be…

Track: Mikata | Artist: My Hair Is Bad | Album: Love

Another Man Arrested For Sending Death Threats To Square Enix

A resident of Saitama, Japan is in police custody after sending death threats to Square Enix. A suspect named Toshiyuki Kan sent thirty-seven of them to the game maker last November. Sadly, this isn’t a first for Square Enix. A 25-year-old man was arrested in spring 2019 for threatening to kill Square Enix employees. “I…

Details are currently scant, but Capcom has announced that it’s aiming to bring Monster Hunter Rise to PC in early 2022. The game will be released on the Nintendo Switch next month.

Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away Getting A Live-Action Theatrical Adaptation

In 2022, Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away will get its first live-action theatrical adaptation. This isn’t the first Studio Ghibli film to get a stage adaptation. In 2013, Studio Ghibli and Whole Hog Theatre collaborated on a live-action Princess Mononoke, which ran at London’s New Diorama Theatre. This time, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning director John…

Track: Europe Endless | Artist: Kraftwerk | Albums: Trans Europe Express

Report: PlayStation 5 Storage Upgrades Coming This Summer

Sony is getting ready to allow for internal PS5 storage upgrades, sources tell Bloomberg. This would obviously enable PlayStation 5 owners to store even more games at a time. The PlayStation 5’s solid-state drive has only 667.2GB available for media storage—something that has vexed Kotaku and, well, pretty much everyone! The issue has been that…

Japanese TV Introduces “Mask Manners”

Even before the age of covid-19, sickness masks were widely worn in Japan, especially during hay fever season. But now that people wear them every day, throughout the day, it seems as though there’s a notion as to what’s good and bad mask manners. This week on Asashi TV’s Morning Show (via Afternoon News), there…

Bloodborne Producer Masaaki Yamagiwa Is Leaving Sony

Today on Twitter, producer Masaaki Yamagiwa announced that he is leaving Sony’s Tokyo-based Japan Studio. He is not leaving the game industry, however. “I’m leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment at the end of this month,” he wrote. “I’m going to continue working hard on creating games. Many thanks to everyone!” While at Sony, Yamagiwa produced Bloodborne,…

Nintendo Japan Will No Longer Service The 3DS And 3DS XL

Today, Nintendo announced in Japan that it was ending repair service for the 3DS and 3DS XL. The reason is that it’s become difficult to obtain the necessary parts. The original Nintendo 3DS launched in February 2011 in Japan, and the larger Nintendo 3DS XL (called “LL” in Japan) followed in July 2012. This announcement…

Track: Giorgio by Moroder | Artist: Daft Punk | Album: Random Access Memories

Final Fantasy XVI Is Taking Steps For Players Who Don’t Like Action Gameplay

During a recent radio interview, producer Naoki Yoshida was asked about Final Fantasy XVI. Despite some earlier wariness about spilling any beans, he revealed that following the very action-focused trailer, they’re developing a mode for people who prefer to focus on story. Previously, Yoshida has mentioned that Square Enix didn’t want to say “something that’s…

NSFW Mousepad Gets A Surprising Number Of Pre-Orders

Late last year, a mouse pad for the character Kashino from browser game Azur Lane was announced. This was no ordinary mouse pad. Note: This article contains content some readers might find objectionable. For well over a decade now, there have been mouse pads featuring characters’ chests (or even butts!), resulting in what’s known as…

Track: One Room | Artist: Yonige | Album: Girls Like Girls