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Kotaku East
Japan’s “Prince of Confinement” Will Finally Be Confined to Prison
The residence was packed with computer games and comic books. And back in 2003, Yasuyoshi Kobayashi was convicted of sexually assaulting four women and confining them at said residence. Today, ANN News reports that his final appeal was overturned and he will begin his 14-year sentence. Japanese police discovered over one thousand adult video games…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Best Horrible Instruction Booklet the Sega Saturn Ever Saw
From what I remember, the 1990s were a good time. We didn’t really have the internet then, but we had good music, good movies, and good video games. This isn’t about any of those—especially the good video games bit. It’s about a Sega Saturn booklet that is so awful, it’s awesome. The game is Hop…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Everybody Loves Dressing as Bridget. Everybody.
Fighting game fans know that girlish good looks and feminine moniker aside, Bridget is a dude. He’s not only one of Guilty Gear‘s most memorable characters—that nun outfit, that yo-yo, that huge handcuff—but also one of gaming’s. No wonder why people want to dress up as him. But who does it best? Born as a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Why an Olympic Judo Athlete Was Inspired by…a Pokémon Fight
Gotta catch ’em all! And then, flip them over your shoulder. Judo athlete Ashley McKenzie, who competes for Team Great Britain, went from young Poké punk to serious athlete after a fight broke out over his Charizard card. When McKenzie was 11, another kid tried to swipe his Pokémons. “This Charizard was the best card,”…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku EastTraffic Light? This Is Too Damn Cute for a Traffic Light
The city of Xi’an in China has a new crosswalk signal. And neighboring Japan points out the obvious: this is way too cute for a traffic light. In China, the anime-style character on the sign, people in Japan speculate, is probably aimed at children. This traffic signal uses a young LED anime-style girl to preside…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Just Look at How Nintendo Is Embracing Digital Releases in Japan
Nintendo is selling 3DS games, like New Super Mario Bros 2 and Demon Training, as digital downloads. Those who don’t like purchasing items online can swing buy their local retailer in Japan and be greeted with aisles of download cards. Aisles of this. 3DSのDL版(店頭販売)が高すぎｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ [2ch]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Please Don’t Masturbate in Japanese Arcades
There’s a time and place for everything. When you are in a Tokyo arcade, you should play video games, not with yourself. Common courtesy, folks! According to Final Round organizer Scott Popular, one male gamer seems to have confused his joystick with an arcade one. Recently, Popular was at Shibuya Kaikan, one of Tokyo’s most…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
For the Next Few Months, Nintendo’s Schedule Looks Kinda Like This
Get out those calendars! Today, Nintendo provided a list of upcoming titles it will release the rest of this month—and beyond. This isn’t a full list by any means, and many of these games (and release windows) are already known. But here they are all together in one place. •Japan 3DS Nintendo 3DS XL –…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
PS Vita Defect Isn’t To Blame for Overheating Incidents, Says Sony
Since going on sale in Japan last December, there have been 31 incidents in which the PS Vita overheated, rendering the machines inoperable. As of early June, 23 of those incidents were in Japan, while 8 of them were abroad. Thankfully, no one has been injured. In these incidents, the PS Vita has overheated while…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
Barbarian God-Like Exploit Discovered in Diablo III
On the heels of the Wizard god mode exploit, here’s reportedly another god-like mode. This one is for the Diablo III’s Barbarian class. According to the Blizzard forums, the exploit doesn’t technically make you invincible, but it does allow you to get 8 percent of your HP back with every hit. Here are the steps,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
Kotaku EastYou Cannot Escape Internet Infamy. Not Even in Japan.
Andy Warhol once said that in the future, everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes. Little did Warhol know we’d spend five minutes discussing if these empheral celebs actually look like their online pics and another five talking about all the stupid crap they said online before they got famous. Over the years, Dakota Rose…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
It Looks Like the PS Vita, But It Has an Xbox Name and an Android Logo
This is the Droid X360. It’s an Android powered PS Vita-looking device with a touch screen and nine different emulators for Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear. Phew! It also has HDMI-out, a micro SD slot, mini USB port, 8GB of onboard storage, a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
In the Persona Fighting Game, You Cannot Battle This Old Lady
Retailer Sofmap’s online site contained the below image for its Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena listing. Notice anything, internet detectives? That’s right, Miss Marple. So does that mean amateur sleuth Miss Marple is joining Atlus’ Persona 4 fighting game, to show those young, fancy JRPG characters the true meaning of an Agatha Christie…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Hello Kitty Dolls of Your Dreams
One of the ways Hello Kitty stays relevant is to turn itself into a feline billboard to promote other things. Recently, that’s meant the birth of an array of interesting Kitty-chan collaborations—like a Hello Kitty X Ringu tie-up that was used to promote the horror series’ latest spin-off. Artist Joseph Senior goes one step further—and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
Square Enix Confirms the Existence of Final Fantasy Versus XIII
The rumor, it seems, was wrong! Today, Square Enix head Yoichi Wada confirmed that he just came out of a Final Fantasy Versus XIII meeting. According to Wada’s tweet, “There’s someone making a false rumor that Versus was cancelled. Haha…Just a minute ago, the regular Versus meeting ended. If you saw the presentation of the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 24, 2012 -
Ichiro Suzuki Thanks Nintendo
After 11 seasons with the Nintendo-owned Seattle Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki was traded today to the New York Yankees. During his Japanese language press conference, Suzuki expressed his gratitude to fans and to the video game maker. Suzuki specifically thanked former Nintendo honcho Hiroshi Yamauchi and current Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata as well as the CEO…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2012 -
Final Fantasy‘s Creator Trades Swords for Surfboards
Hironobu Sakaguchi is a big surfer. He also makes video games. Party Wave is Sakaguchi bringing his love for both together. But is the result a party? Or a bust? Going into Party Wave, I only had one thing in mind: T&C Surf Designs is the greatest surfing game I’ve ever played—or rather, it sure…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Why Is Louis CK Touching this Manga? Why Won’t He Stop?
On a recent episode of Louie, Louis CK was in a bookstore and, as internet eagle eyes noted, the comedian kept his finger on the Japanese manga Yotsuba the ENTIRE TIME (well, not the entire time, but still!). What could this mean? Louis CK reads manga confirmed? Or a kwinky-dink? Let’s go with kwinky-dink in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2012 -
Kotaku EastThis Hi-Definition JRPG Looks…Yeah
Ungh. Yes, I know this game uses a hand-drawn style, and, yes, I know there’s only a few seconds of gameplay, but damn. Jump to the 1:40 mark to see what I’m talking about. Revealed earlier this year, Tokitowa combines JRPG elements with, wait for it, third-person shooter play (think action RPG). Parts of the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
A Sneak Preview at…Booth Babes
China Joy, the country’s biggest game convention, is right around the corner. And that means there will be games, gamers, and booth companions. Chinese game company Uuzu Games might make casual games, but its attitude towards its China Joy showgirls is anything but casual. Uuzu is already running photos of its booth companions to get…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2012
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