Brian Ashcraft

Here’s the First Limited Edition New Nintendo 3DS

To mark the release of Monster Hunter 4G, Nintendo is bundling the game with a New Nintendo 3DS XL. Here, have a good look. That metallic-looking color is pretty slick. The bundle is priced at 25,600 yen (US$243) and will be out on October 11 in Japan. No word about a Western release. Monster Hunter…

Check Out the Sexy Butt on These Watermelons

“In my forty-plus years of growing watermelons,” 58 year-old Mitsuo Shibata told Japanese newspaper Fukui Shimbun, “the is the first time I’ve seen this shape.” Together, the two melons weigh 15 pounds. When they were still small, Shibata noticed the pair, thinking that they looked like a butt. That’s why the Japanese press is calling…

The New Nintendo 3DS Is Getting a Truly Spectacular, Um, Box

Packaging! Who cares, right? Well, I usually don’t care. But man, look at this New Nintendo 3DS box. It’s unlike any game packaging I’ve ever seen. Above and below are the packaging for the regular-sized New Nintendo 3DS, via game site Inside The background is supposed to represent the faceplates you can swap out for…

Sanrio President: Hello Kitty Isn’t a Cat, She’s an Idol

Oh boy, here we go again. Last week, there was an L.A. Times article stating that Hello Kitty was not a cat. When asked for clarification, Sanrio told Kotaku that Hello Kitty was anthropomorphic cat. Later, the Japanese character goods maker gave a similar explanation to The Wall Street Journal A Sanrio spokesperson told Kotaku,…

University’s PlayStation Classroom has DualShock Desks

This fall, Sangmyung University in Seoul, South Korea will begin teaching a course on PlayStation. Just check out the classroom. According to Inven, Ruliweb, and GameFocus (via tipster Sang), the university teamed up with Sony for the course, which uses PS4 consoles and PS Vita handhelds as part of the curriculum. The weekly, three-credit class…

McDonald’s Is Releasing a Purple Potato Shake in Japan

This fall, McDonald’s is rolling out a special sweet potato shake for a limited time. It’s purple! The flavor is “murasaki imo” (紫いも), which means “purple sweet potato” in English. Note that this is not a yam! It is very much a fall food. According to website Entabe, the purple shake will go on sale…

KFC Made an Amazing Fried Chicken Keyboard

Woah. That’s just…woah. But as the little Colonel Sanders character notes, it seems hard to use. If that wasn’t enough (it isn’t, apparently), there is also also fried chicken mouse. And a fried chicken USB stick. Sadly, these aren’t for sale… yet. They are part of a KFC promotion in Japan, which is asking Twitter…

Japan’s Xbox One Launch Looks Sad As You’d Expect

Today, the Xbox One finally went on sale in Japan. The launch looked rather depressing. But maybe you saw that coming, right? Granted, these days, it’s really hard to tell how hardware does. People can order stuff online, so there isn’t the same emphasis on launch lines, like as in the past. That being said,…

The Most Unusual Hospital I’ve Ever Seen

In my life, for one reason or another, I’ve been to quite a few hospitals. I’ve never seen anything like this. Anywhere. As pointed out by IT Media and Syounan Life, this is the Edogawa Hospital in Tokyo. And this hospital looks like fun—but that’s the point. The poppy, colorful, and playful decor is supposed…

Being Robert Downey, Jr. Is Not Easy

Though, as you can see by his arrival in South Korea, it sure is noisy. “Sometimes I wonder if people really like me,” tweeted the actor. “And then I go to South Korea…” RDJ Arrives in South Korea [T Downy@YouTube Thanks, Sang!] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him…

Square Enix just launched its Tokyo Game Show website. Many games are listed on the site as appearing at this year’s TGS in either demo or trailer form. Two of them are not on it: Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III. Maybe they’ll be surprises?

Trust This Japanese Celebrity, He’s an A**hole

Well, at least he’s honest. I guess? Or, more likely, he doesn’t know what the shirt means. You see, another Japanese celebrity has been caught with a questionable English t-shirt. Earlier this year, a Japanese kids’ show host wore an outfit that read, “I love cock,” while a pop star donned an unfortunate shirt that…

G.I. Joe Actor Allegedly Extorted Over Sexy Talk

Two women were arrested this week in South Korea over an alleged attempt to extort five million dollars from G.I. Joe actor Lee Byung-hun. One of the women, it seems, is a K-pop singer. According to Sports Chosun and eNews Today (via tipster Sang), Lee met a model and K-pop singer Dahee Kim of the…

The Persona 5 Protagonist Has a Very Appropriate Nickname

We don’t know the name of Persona 5‘s protagonist. In Japan, gamers are calling him either one of two things: “P5‘s main character” (P5の主人公) or “Potter” (ポッター). You know, as in Harry Potter. But they’re not the only ones calling him this. As seen on forums and sites like GameFAQs and Giant Bomb, the English-speaking…

Heavy Metal Baby Is Totally Throwin’ Up the Horns

Babies do funny things! Some of them are accidental. Other times, they have to be on purpose. “Where did you memorize that…” tweeted out new father Nao Hazuki, including a photo of his newborn daughter throwing the horns. This is not your typical Japanese papa as Hazuki is the vocalist for an Osaka deathrash metal…

First Good Look at Persona 5

Persona 5 is headed to the PS3 and the PS4. Last November, the game was announced for PlayStation 3, but Sony today revealed the game will get a simultaneous PS4 release. Persona 5 is slated for 2015.

The Greatest Air Guitarist in the World. Apparently.

This is Nanami Nagura. She’s a very minor celebrity in Japan, but in the air guitar world, she’s a superstar. This year, Nagura was dubbed the Air Guitar World Champion. Below, you can see her performing in Finland. She edged out two American air guitarists for the title. Congrats to her! Nagura has been competing…

Sony announced a “Glacier White” PS4 that looks like the white PS4 sold with the Destiny bundle. The difference, of course, is that this version isn’t bundled with Destiny. It will be out October 9 in Japan. No word about a Western release. Yet.

Shake Your Head at a Virtual Japanese Schoolgirl

Summer Lesson is an upcoming tech demo for Sony’s new virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus. This is the future of…something. Designed by the Tekken Team, the demo takes you into a schoolgirl’s room and lets you interact with her for a virtual summer lesson. It doesn’t look like much studying is going on. Learning? No.…

A Special PS4 Covered in Metal Slime

To mark the release of hack-and-slash game Dragon Quest Heroes, Sony is releasing a “Dragon Quest Metallic Slime Edition.” According to Famitsu, the Metallic Slime is actually a USB cover. Slated to go on sale with Dragon Quest Heroes next spring, the price is currently TBA. “PlayStation4 ドラゴンクエスト メタルスライム エディション”の発売が決定 [Famitsu] To contact the author…