Brian Ashcraft

Pokémon Arcade Fighting Game Announced in Japan

The Pokémon Company just announced its new project: Pokkén Tournament. It’s a fighting game in which Pocket Monsters square off. Tsunekazu Ishihara, the head of the Pokémon Company, said on a NicoNico broadcast he wanted to offer an experience that players haven’t had until now. This, it seems, is the result. The game was first…

If You Like Video Games and Anime, You’ll Love These Japanese Sweets

Twitter user Otakumimakes Japanese sweets or “wagashi” (和菓子). Traditionally, they are served with tea and are inspired by nature or animals motifs. These sweets, however, are inspired by anime and video games. Otakumi crafts sweets at Kuramoto Hinode, a wagashi maker in Tokushima Prefecture. These wagashi are soft and called “nerikiri” (練り切り). They’re made from…

Of Course, Japan Has a Mayonnaise Museum

If you’ve ever been to Japan, you know one thing: mayonnaise is very, very popular. Japanese people like putting mayo on all sorts of food. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that there is actually a mayonnaise museum in Tokyo. Dubbed MayoTerrace, the recently opened learning center was established by Kewpie, which was visited by a…

The upcoming Nobunaga’s Ambition isn’t set in 16th century Japan, but the modern day. Dubbed Nobunaga’s Ambition 201X, this RPG features a machine-gun-toting Nobunaga. The game is slated for iOS, Android, and PC (no word about a Western release). Let’s hope they do a version with Pokemon… and guns?

RoboCop Brought to Life in This Custom Sculpture

Hogap Lee is a brilliant sculptor. Kotaku has profiled his work before (remember this Dead Space piece?). Lee’s latest work is a RoboCop statue, fittingly called “Murphy.” It is fantastic. This is to give you an idea of scale. It’s much bigger than I thought it would be. Here, you can see a video of…

Legendary Game Creator Attacked on Twitter over Fukushima Peaches

Earthbound designer Shigesato Itoi sent out a fairly simple tweet: “If you go to Fukushima, you can buy peaches like this.” The remarks were accompanied by the above photo. Online, some people got pissed. Besides Earthbound, Itoi also voiced the father in My Neighbor Totoro. He’s primarily a copywriter and an author, but has appeared…

Chinese Billionaire Denies Faking an Ice Bucket Challenge

Guangbiao Chen, the Chinese Billionaire with an amazing business card, recently did an ice bucket challenge. Online in China, some folks are saying it was faked—something Chen denies. You might remember Chen as the moneybags who sold cans of air with his face on it and helped a charity stunt that promised to give money…

Fastfood Chain in Japan Serving Spaghetti Burgers

In short, it’s spaghetti plus a hamburger. A spaghetti burger. What could go wrong? While this certainly isn’t the first spaghetti burger, this is one of the first to be offered by a major fast food chain—in Japan, at least. Dubbed the Neapolitan Burger, the meal was created by famous Japanese chef Tatsuya Kawagoe. Served…

Batman Spotted on a Japanese Highway

Over the weekend, Twitter user Ryuuchan saw something most unusual on the highway: Batman. And not just Batman, but Batman on a Batcycle (nee, Batpod). Compare with The Dark Knight Rises: Ryuuchan certainly seemed surprised, and these photos, which were taken in Chiba Prefecture, have since been uploaded to 2ch, Japan’s largest webforum, and numerous…

The Strangest Video Game Audition You Will Ever See

This is not hyperbole. I am being serious. The audition this gentleman gave for Sega’s upcoming Yakuza game is most unusual. Note: This article contains content some readers might find objectionable. But that seems to be the point, because this happened: And then this: This hopeful’s name is Habu. He’s actually a comedian in Japan—though,…

PlayStation Home is ending its service in Japan. Today, Sonyannounced that Home’s service will end in Japan (and the rest of Asia) as of March 2015.

Chairman Mao-Shaped Fruit Are Being Grown in China

How would you like a nice Chinese gourd? One that’s shaped like Chairman Mao? Or, how about Jesus? According to a spot on Youku, a man named Xie Lyu Zhi visited the Thousand Year Temple in Sichuan, China and a Buddhist monk told him a dream he had about a gourd shaped like a famous…

What Show Got You into Anime? 10,000 Japanese Fans Respond.

Everybody has to start somewhere. And recently, Japanese viewers were polled about what show got them interested in anime. Between August 14 and August 20, website Charapedia quizzed over ten thousand anime fans in Japan, asking them what anime series started it all for them. Among those polled, 49.4 percent were men, while 50.6 percent…

Pokemon’s Official Reggae Is Slowpoke Centipede

Well, everyone’s favorite pink and slow Pokemon now has a reggae song. It’s totally official, too. The music video for it is…just watch it. The song is title “Donai Yanen Yadon” (どないやねん ヤドン), which loosely translates as, “How You’re a Slowpoke After All.” The lyrics are very humorous and say things like, “Your big mouth…

There’s a Real-Life Resident Evil Survival Game in Japan

And for a limited time, you can play it. Capcom and Base Camp Kawaba in Gunma Prefecture have teamed up for a Resident Evil survival game. A real-life one. Players gear up and carry airsoft guns as they engage in combat in the ski resort’s parking garage, which has been turned into Raccoon City. According…

More Delightful Chinese Photoshop Trolls

Back in 2013, Kotaku first featured Chinese Photoshop trolls. They were quite amusing. Now, let’s have a look at some more internet hijinks from those able to use their Photoshop skills for good—or, depending on how you look at it, evil. Here’s how it works: people submit photos, making specific requests that the Photoshop masters…

Justin Timberlake’s “Ninja” Slur Controversy Baffles Japan

Justin Timberlake recently calledMadonna a “mother chucking ninja.” Some people in the U.S. were upset, saying the word had racist connotations. In Japan, some folks were baffled by this controversy. As US Weekly points out, the “ninja” remark caused Twitter outrage, with people alleging that Timberlake was using “ninja” as a substitute for a racist…

Pink Grasshoppers Are Real, Rare, and Vaguely Cute

A sixth grader in Gunma Prefecture, Japan recently discovered a pink grasshopper—which is “extremely rare.” It and the boy ended up on NHK, the country’s equivalent of the BBC. As The Huffington Post points out, not much is known about pink grasshoppers other than it’s thought the mutation is caused due to the grasshopper having…

Nintendo, You Should Listen To These Diehard Pokémon Fans

Have you ever played a video game in another language? Maybe you understood that foreign lingo no problem and were fine. Maybe it was difficult. Maybe you just wanted to play the game in your native language. Then, you’ll understand these Chinese Pokémon fans. As South China Morning Post points out, there hasn’t been an…

People Really, Really Want to Work at Valve

At least, according to those polled for an International Game Developers Association (IGDA) poll. And how bad do they want to work there? More than at their own company. As pointed out on GameSpot, over 2,200 developers were polled as to which game developer or publisher they’d like to work for. Here are the top…