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Kotaku EastStep inside the Glorious Gundam Hotel
Starting today, Tokyo’s Grand Pacific Le Daiba hotel has three Gundam themed hotel rooms for the Amuro Ray in all of us. Earlier this year, a life-sized Gundam was erected in Tokyo’s Odaiba (again!), and the hotel is hoping to capitalize on the increased Gundam tourism. Rates start at ¥27,000 (US$340), and the above video…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Face-Eater Attack in China
Late last month, a naked man in Miami was fatally shot after he wouldn’t stop chewing on another man’s face. This wasn’t the start of a zombie apocalypse (but, rather, as sister site Jezebel pointed out, mentally ill people without a safety net). And it’s not only something that happened in the US. Yesterday, it…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Gay Manga Kissing Puts the Energy in These Energy Drinks
In Japan, they’re called “fujoshi” (腐女子) or “rotten girls”, and they are into homoerotic “boys love” manga. The trend has spread to neighboring China, where “fujoshi” are called “funu” (腐女). Much of the appeal of boys love in both Japan and China is that the genre allows women to freely explore various roles—whether that is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Report: Why Square Enix Average Salaries Are Sky High
According to online research site Nensyu Labo, here is a list of the mean yearly income for the game industry with numbers crunched from public reports filed by the companies: Square Enix Holdings: ¥21,680,000 (US$272,988) Sony: ¥9,230,000 ($116,189) Nintendo: ¥9,140,000 ($115,032) Sega Sammy: ¥8,220,000 ($103,486) Konami: ¥6,780,000 ($85,371) Namco Bandai: ¥6,400,000 ($80,577) Tecmo Koei: ¥6,150,000…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2012 -
Kotaku East
How Japan Can Churn Out Game Machines for the Next…Two Hundred Years
Our glittering game machines and our shiny gadgets aren’t made possible by merely fancy tech and electricity. They are here because minerals called rare earths, which are found in rich sludge and mud. Currently, China controls over 90 percent of the world’s current supply of rare earths. That, however, could change. China’s current dominance is,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Fret Not! Dragon Quest‘s Slime Chewing Gum Isn’t Really Slime Flavored.
Fit’s is a brand of Lotte chewing gum, and this August, there will be “Slime flavored” gum for you to chomp on. But it’s not really “Slime flavored”. PHEW. “Slime” (スライム or “suraimu”) is used as a pun: “suppai-raimu” (スっぱいライム). “Suppai” (here, スっぱい) means “sour” and “raimu” (ライム) is Japanese for “lime”. The flavor is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
LEGO Getting a New MMO
Online game developer Funcom revealed today that it’s signed a deal with LEGO to make an online game based on LEGO Minifigures. LEGO Minifigures, of course, are the little inhabitants of the LEGO universe: whether that is knights or policemen, Minifigures have been a LEGO mainstay for decades. According to the release, “The massively multiplayer…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Japanese Ministry Unsure If It Was Cyber-Attacked by Anonymous
This week, hacker-activist collective Anonymous allegedly attacked a number of Japanese government sites, such as the Finance Ministry’s site and the Supreme Court’s site, among others. New, strict Japanese copyright law that could imprison people for illegally downloading copyrighted content incited the attack. A website, dubbed AnonPR, claimed to speak for the group and launched…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Gaming Mouse Has a Fan. A Spinning Fan. Really.
Taiwanese peripheral maker Thermaltake created this: a gaming mouse with a fan that, and I quote, “blows away your gaming tension and sweat.” Better than just saying “it blows”. Thermaltake’s Element Gaming Mouse Cyclone Edition’s cooling fan is detachable, because, c’mon. The Cyclone Edition is the world’s first pro-gaming mouse with a fan—and probably the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Raw Liver Rush Ends in Stomachaches
Raw liver has long been a delicacy in Japan, but after food poisoning worries, the country’s health ministry decided to ban the raw food. This week, liver lovers have been rushing to restaurants to get their last taste. Four of them ended up ended up ill. According The Mainichi Daily News, four women in Fukuoka…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Nintendo Says More 3DS Models Would “Perplex” Gamers
Right now, there’s one type of 3DS handheld you can buy. This summer, a larger 3DS, called the 3DS XL, will be released. So, you’ll have two options. What about a third option? You know, with the add-on extra circle pad already on board? At a Nintendo meeting today, honcho Satoru Iwata (above, blowing crap…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Feel Good Fighting Game Story of the Summer
The fighting game community gets a bum rap. Sometimes it’s deserved. Often it’s not. There are good people in the fighting game community. People like Daigo Umehara. People like Osamu Ichikawa. And people like the folks at Shoryuken. Osamu has cerebral palsy, a condition he was diagnosed with when he was one. For his whole…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 28, 2012 -
The 3DS XL Getting Its Own Circle Pad Pro
When Nintendo revealed the 3DS XL, Kotaku asked the game maker about the Circle Pad Pro—you know, the add-on circle pad—as it would be too small for the larger 3DS. Nintendo said that the company had nothing to announce at that time. Fast forward to today. In the recent issue of Japanese game magazine Famitsu,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Korea’s Silly “Shutdown Law” Might Be Unconstitutional
While the U.S. Supreme Court susses out the constitutionality of health care legislation, South Korea is navigating the legality of its Shutdown Law. As previously mentioned, the Shutdown Law was created to prevent gamers under sixteen from gaming during a six hour block at night so apparently they would sleep (or study?). The law has…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Fifty Bucks? For This Final Fantasy Food? Really?
At the recent Decade of Final Fantasy XI Vana★Fest 2012, Square Enix and gamers celebrated ten years of FFXI. Ten years! That’s quite a milestone and definitely worthy of celebration. This meal, however, isn’t. The above lunch box cost ¥4,000 (US$50), which is shocking to people in pricey Japan. The meal looks like something you…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Attack Civilians, And Sleeping Dogs Will Penalize You in Japan
The Japanese version of Sleeping Dogs has a few country specific edits, such as penalizing players who harm civilians in the game and cutting a scene that shows a person’s exposed organs. [Siliconera via VG247]
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 27, 2012 -
You Think You Can Hold Up Tifa’s Suspenders?
While Square Enix still hems and haws over a Final Fantasy VII remake, cosplayers continue to don the duds of the game’s iconic heroine, Tifa Lockhart. A white t-shirt, suspenders, a mini skirt and red boots, Tifa’s character design is simple. It’s also one gaming’s most memorable and easily identifiable. Anyone can put together a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 27, 2012
Brian Ashcraft
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