Brian Ashcraft

3DS title Inazuma Eleven 1・2・3!! was pushed back in Japan to Nov. 29 from Nov. 15.

Nintendo’s Most “Bizarre” Collaboration of 2012

Out of all the things Nintendo have worked on this year, this one is certainly the most bizarre. This is a set of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure hanafuda playing cards. The name of this set? Jojo’s Bizarre Hanafuda ~ Gold Fuda. Nintendo is, of course, originally a card company. Hanafuda is a traditional card game in…

Good Luck Eating this Ridiculously Large Sushi All By Yourself

Things in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture just feel big. The city isn’t nearly as jam-packed as in Tokyo, but the automotive town’s streets are wide and expansive (thank Toyota for that!). And the numerous cafes serve up generous portions that are known as “Nagoya sized” (名古屋サイズ). But this sushi isn’t Nagoya sized. It’s utterly insane. In…

Chun-Li Is Covered Up, But Clark Kent Isn’t

San Fransisco based artist Kevin Wada does a delightful take on Pokémon in his piece. Initially, I was only going to post this image. Then, whaddaya know, I lost an hour of my life as I went down the rabbit hole that is his wonderful Tumblr So here is more of Wada’s work! His work…

Who Cares about Japan’s Large Toilet, Says Guinness World Records

This year, the city of Ishihara opened a 200-square meter, landscaped women’s restroom. It is supposedly the “world’s largest toilet”. Supposedly, because you need the Guinness World Records’ seal of approval for something like this. But, from the sound of it, that will never happen. According to Mainichi News, when the city submitted its outdoor…

Let the Latest Studio Ghibli Conspiracy Theories Commence!

Studio Ghibli, the folks behind classics like Howl’s Moving Castle, is no stranger to urban legends. There’s that one about Totoro being a harbinger of death, for example. Well, have a listen to the latest one that’s making its way around the internet in Japan. In the image below (via 秒刊SUNDAY), you can see Sosuke…

To Fight Crime, You Need an Awesome Batsuit. And To Commit Crime?

That cowl. That cape. That utility belt. Whether he’s appearing in comics, movies, or video games, Batman is iconic. And so are the memorable bad guys he battles. The character—and his foes—are a cosplayer favorite. Today, let’s take a look at a small slice of some of the best cosplay showing the heroes (and villains)…

Want to buy IGN? It’s apparently going up for auction.

Japan’s Greatest Air Guitarist Proves You Really Don’t Need Actual Guitars

Comedian Yosuke Ochi, who’s won the Air Guitar Championships a few times, was recently roped in to promote Rocksmith in Japan, reports 4Gamer. And while I wish I could play the real guitar, re-watching Ochi’s schtick makes me wish slightly more that I could rock out like him on the air guitar. 大地さんのエアギターに大勢のファンが大熱狂 [4Gamer]

Upcoming RPG The Paradox of God and the Fate Revolution has been delayed to Jan. 24 in Japan.

Man Shocked to Discover “Rather Violent” Gay Manga Sex in His Niece’s Library Book

Rule of thumb about Japanese comics: Just because they’re drawn, that certainly doesn’t mean they are for children (although that doesn’t mean they should be banned from public libraries, either.) According to B-Town Blog, Burien, Washington resident Travis De Nevers’ 10 year-old niece recently checked out the second volume of Makoto Tateno’s Hero Heel manga,…

Sony’s redesigned PlayStation Store is now available in Europe. It goes live in North America and Brazil on Oct. 23.

Xbox Live Gamers Think Obama Won the Second Debate

Tonight, President Obama squared off against Governor Romney. Did either win one hundred percent of the debate? What about 47 percent? Oh, the suspense! Xbox Live thinks it knows. According to 100,000 Xbox Live community members, President Obama took the second debate, with 51 percent of undecideds giving it to the Commander in Chief. Republican…

Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi left game development “for now”. He’s currently a professor at Keio University.

Report: Chinese Kids Were Used to Manufacture the Wii U [Update]

Excited for the upcoming November release of the Wii U? New reports out of China might curb that enthusiasm. These reports claim that some underage teens were used to assemble the Nintendo Wii U consoles. According to Chinese site Sina, Foxconn, the company hired by Nintendo to assemble the Wii U, confirms that it’s had…

Hacking Killed a Square Enix Online Shop [Update]

Last month, the Square Enix Official Goods Online Shop was compromised as the third-party server, which hosts its online retail store, was breached. Today in Japan, the company announced that its merchandising division’s official goods online store would be ending its internet shopping service. The Official Goods Online Shop specialized in Square Enix’s collectible figures…

Atlus Won’t Talk Much about the Next Persona…Yet

For a while now, it’s been common knowledge that Atlus is making Persona 5. In a recent interview on Famitsu.com, Atlus game designer Katsura Hashino briefly (and I mean briefly) mentioned the next, numbered Persona. When asked about the latest in the Persona series, Hashino replied, “We’re making progress on developing the next numbered Persona.”…

If Ronald McDonald Was an Anime Girl, Eating Fries and Ordering Nuggets

I guess he’d look something like this? Here’s Hong Kong cosplayer LenLENko swinging by a local McDonald’s in her Hatsune Miku inspired Ronald McDonald get-up. Outfits like this that rework or reimagine established characters are among my favorite. LenLENko pulls this one off brilliantly. Extra points for actually going to McDonalds and getting a meal…

This fall, Hyperdimension Neptunia is getting a card-based smartphone app. It’s free with microtransactions.

Hello Kitty Meat Buns Don’t Look So Cute When Sliced in Half

After seeing cute Dragon Quest Slime and Hatsune Miku meat buns, it was only a matter of time before Hello Kitty hit Japanese convenience stores. For a limited time only, convenience store chain Sunkus is selling Kitty-chan meat buns for ¥150 ($1.90) a pop. Japanese site Gigazine ordered a few and took photos for the…