Brian Ashcraft

And Now, Sleeping Dogs Will Perform a Magic Trick

Kotaku likes Sleeping Dogs very much. Kotaku also likes magic. You, hopefully, like Sleeping Dogs and magic, too. Have you seen the trick that Sleeping Dogs protagonist Wei Shen can pull off? Watch and marvel. Wei the MagiShen Debuts His Newest Trick! [YouTube Thanks, Praxic!] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing…

New Japanese Manga Allegedly Rips Off Super Popular Anime [Update]

K-On! originally debuted as a manga, and it then went on to spawn an anime, a feature film, and a video game. It’s a pretty popular series, so when it’s copied, people tend to notice! The latest issue of Jump Next features up and coming manga. New comic “Ooedo Punk”, which did get some good…

After getting battered online for being hideous, the China’s newly erected, large Aspara statue has been taken down

Kill Bill‘s Most Violent Scene Required Blood, Wires, and Close Haircuts

It’s been nearly a decade since Kill Bill Vol. 1 was released. Yet, the film’s most complex and most gruesome scene, the House of Blue Leaves showdown, is still burned in viewers’ minds. The House of Blue Leaves was based on Tokyo’s Gonpachi—and the fight itself was a tribute to blood soaked masters of Asian…

Arcade game Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan this October.

Which of These Final Fantasy VII Logos Is Best?

Final Fantasy games have a look. The characters seem like they belong in a Final Fantasy game, and so do their iconic logos. Let’s talk about those logos—namely, the Final Fantasy VII logo. Online in Japan, someone created a whole host of FFVII logos, using the color shades from other FF games as well as…

Do Japanese and Westerners Have Different Taste in Men? This Game Thinks So.

The Japanese love simulator Be My Princess just got a re-release. The game now looks different. Very, very different. Be My Princess, which is for Android and iOS, brands itself as a “royal romance”. Here’s the title’s description: You, a normal university student, have an unexpected encounter with a prince on a street corner. He…

Based on the font (among other hints), this countdown looks like a new The World Ends With You teaser.

Oh, the Meat Bun Horror. The Cute Meat Bun Horror.

You are looking at a meat bun of virtual idol Hatsune Miku. This isn’t the horror part. The horror has not yet started. Oh no. This gets worse—much worse. The above photo (taken by Otalab) shows a fresh Hatsune Miku meat bun. But what happens when the Miku buns are left in their Family Mart…

Team Ninja wants to make another Metroid for Nintendo. You listening, Nintendo?

Large Internet Outcry Over Jumbo Chinese Statue

This summer, Japan isn’t the only country with enormous ladies. China is getting in on the act in a big way. The reaction in China, however, has been a huge letdown. The above sculpture, which went up in Xinjiang province, depicts an Aspara, a celestial maiden for the clouds and water in Buddhism and Hinduism.…

Assassin’s Creed 3 Director Says Japanese Games Get a Free Pass

Alex Hutchinson, the creative director of Assassin’s Creed 3, thinks he knows why Nintendo can get away with releasing new versions of old franchises. It might not be the answer you expect. After Hutchinson compared AC to other well known franchises, Mario and Resident Evil, website CVG asked the creative director why Nintendo can release…

Counter-Strike: GO‘s First Mod Wants Braaaiiins!

When shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive launches next week, it will have a Zombie Mod from the folks over at plaguefest.com. “It was important to us as we developed CS:GO to make sure it was as moddable and extensible as any CS game,” wrote Valve on its Counter-Strike blog. “So this is just one of many…

Sometimes, Bowing Is Very, Very Tricky

In Japan, bowing is important. There are various ways to bow and various meanings for bowing. When newscasters sign off, they always bow. Recently, anchorwoman Yuuko Aoki’s hair got caught in a desk mic while bowing on television. The YouTube has gone viral in Japan, with nearly half a million views.

Developer: “Some Company in China Stole My Game”

That was the alert from Reddit user Fragsworth. It seems that China’s Tencent gaming platform Pengyou and the Tencent app store have what looks like an exact copy of his indie game Cloudstone. According to Fragsworth: It’s pretty clear that they blatantly, seriously ripped us off. They took our files, reverse-engineered the server, and hosted…

If You’re Confused By the Resident Evil Movies, Watch This

Next month, Resident Evil: Retribution hits theaters. Not everyone has been keeping up with the Resident Evil flicks. Heck, even those who have seen them might not know what the hell is going on. Here’s a two-and-a-half minute digest that should bring you up to speed. Hopefully! If you don’t have two minutes, here’s my…

Can This Superstition Determine Your Fate? Probably Not!

John F. Kennedy. Marilyn Monroe. James Dean. These icons share more than an untimely fate. According to a Japanese author and macrobiotic diet guru George Ohsawa, they shared the same kind of eyes—”sanpaku” (三白) eyes. Because of that, Ohsawa implied, they met similar fates and died early deaths. Literally, “sanpaku-gan” (三白眼) translates to “three whites…

The beta for Valve’s Big Picture service is “coming soon”

The Pikachu 3DS XL Is Just Too Adorable

Squeal! Holy smoke, this Pikachu 3DS XL is too cute. Not only that, it’s hard to get. See, this Pikachu 3DS XL will only be sold at the Pokémon Center stores in Sapporo, Tohoku, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka. The “Pokémon Center Original Nintendo 3DS XL Pikachu Yellow” is priced at ¥18,900 (US$239). The…

Gabe Newell Dodges Half-Life 3 Question with Shark Hate

This is shark week! All week, all the time, all sharks. There are even sharks in your Half-Life 3 answers. Aw, crap. Really? Yes, really During an interview with Valve’s Gabe Newell, Spike TV asked if there was anything he wanted to say about Half-Life 3. To which Newell responded, “I hate sharks.” That’s not…