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In Amsterdam, Mario Will Totally Get You High
If you’ve ever played a Mario game, you’ve probably wonder, “Is Nintendo on drugs?” Well, no, Nintendo is not on drugs, but that doesn’t mean Mario can’t get you stoned—especially in Amsterdam. Spotted by Japanese site Rocket News, this “Mario Shop” features the iconic plumber with bloodshot eyes and sells mushrooms, bongs, and cannabis seeds.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Is Kinda Like the Hello Kitty Vibrator
The infamous Hello Kitty vibrator has become bad product branding lore. It was a very real product, but it was sold as a massage aid and not as a sex aid. This is being sold as a Gachapin vibrator. That’s what Amazon Japan is calling it! That’s what pretty much everyone is calling it, instead…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Meet the Official China Gundam. It Will Become a Giant Statue.
Remember the China Gundam? That totally unlicensed orange Gundam statue that popped up a few years back. This is not that. This is a totally official Gundam statue that’s coming to China. For the upcoming China International Animation, Cartoon and Game Fair, which runs July 12-16 in Shanghai, Bandai Namco is erecting a RX-78-2 Gundam…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Devil’s Third Bound for Digital Devices, Too
After being on ice, THQ dumped Devil’s Third, the latest game Ninja Gaiden mastermind and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki, and gave the rights to Itagaki’s Valhalla Studios. Now with said rights in hand, studio boss Satoshi Kanematsu announces that the game is coming to “a wide range of digital devices” as well as…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Dressing Like Lady Gaga To “Prove Chinese People Aren’t Inferior”
Once again, Chinese model Gan Lulu has raised eyebrows. This time it wasn’t her seemingly awful mother-daughter relationship, but for what looked like a Lady Gaga cosplay. And it’s not just that Gan Lulu dressed in several Lady Gaga-esque outfits this week (even though the Chinese press delights in pointing that out) or that she…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Persona Anime Drawings Show the Magic of Illustration
Today, TV Anime Persona 4: The Official Illustration Compilation goes on sale. The book is, well, a compilation of original illustrations used in the Persona 4 anime and provides a look at the process of how the popular role-playing game is animated into televised cartoon. The 200-page book is packed with over 1,200 original illustrations,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Bar Offered PS3 Gaming and Schoolgirls Until the Cops Arrived
The staff served drinks, made small talk, and played PS3 games with customers. They not only went on dates, they also broke the law. This week, the manager of a schoolgirl themed “girls’ bar” was arrested for employing actual schoolgirls. Koichiro Fukayama, 44, managed an AKB48 inspired schoolgirl establishment called AKB162 and allegedly violated Japan’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2012 -
Kotaku East
To Get Ready for the 3DS XL, Nintendo Cutting Japanese Plug Prices
In Japan, Nintendo is not selling the 3DS XL with an AC adapter. According to Japanese site Famicom Plaza, Nintendo is cutting the price from ¥1,500 (US$19) to ¥1,000 ($13). [Famicom Plaza]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Difference Between New and Old Phantasy Star? Better Underwear.
So, you’re thinking of making the leap from Phantasy Star Universe to Phantasy Star Online 2. You know that, yes, PSO2 is free-to-play, but what else? Twitter user Dawy posted an image that shows the difference between Phantasy Star Universe and Phantasy Star Online 2 in one fell swoop. That’s right, more realistic undergarments to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Scrolls Is Going Alpha Today. Here are the First Details.
Scrolls, the upcoming game from Minecraft developer Mojang, is entering alpha today. Yes, that means that Mojang is sending out alpha codes for players; however, before it does, the studio gave a rundown of how the codes will be sent out and what the alpha includes. According to Mojang, the alpha codes are being sent…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Thieves Led Cops on a Comic Book Car Chase
On July 2 at around 2:20pm, three young men in their twenties allegedly stole 98 comic books from a video rental store in Sendai, Japan (at Japanese video stores, manga are often available for either rent or purchase). The total value of their alleged pull was ¥56,000 or US$702. The trio escaped in a small…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
July 4 Had a Different Meaning in Japan: All You Can Eat Fried Chicken
Japan loves KFC. The fast food chain is somewhat of a cultural institution in Japan: whether that’s Christmas dinners or baseball superstitions. It’s no accident that Japan digs The Colonel so much: the boneless Japanese dish chicken karaage resembles fried chicken. In Japan, KFC is a tad upscale for fast food—it’s pricier than McDonald’s, but…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
So, There Might Be a New PS3
According to a Federal Communications Commission filing, there appears to be a new PlayStation 3 on the horizon. The model numbers are CECH-4000A and CECH-4000B; the current model number is CECH-3000. Thus, this new model would usher in the 4000 seres. The FCC label position on the CECH-4000 PS3 is different. While the filing does…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
From Androids to Fighters, This Lady Does It All
Meet Akatsuki Tsukasa. She’s a Taiwanese cosplayer, who is starting to make a splash outside her homeland by catching the attention of Japanese cosplay blogs like Asagawo In her homeland, Akatsuki appears at tech and game promotional events. She’s also done traditional fashion modeling. But it’s her cosplay that Akatsuki is best known for. Colorful…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku EastAren’t Foreign Last Names Strange? Ha. Ha. Ha.
Sony’s latest PS Vita commercial is set in a junior high classroom and features “an exchange student with a mysterious name”. The exchange student’s name is Permetalpower Velersmiku (ペルメタルパワ ベラーミク). It’s more of a mystery why a 40-something year old man is an exchange student, but that’s not what is on display here. Having a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Microsoft Thinks the Wii U is Pretty Much an Xbox 360
It’s not only that Pro Controller that reminds Microsoft of its Xbox 360. The graphics do, too. “I think their Pro Controller makes a lot of sense with the platform they’ve built,” Microsoft’s Phil Spencer told website Games Industry. “They are building a platform that is effectively a 360 when you think of graphical capability.”…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012
Brian Ashcraft
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