-
Kotaku East
Thieving Nerds Stole To Hang Out with Maids and See Idols
They were called the “Five Guys”. Fitting, because there were five of them. They weren’t just buddies. They were apparently criminals, who went on a crime spree that resulted in burglary and arson. And they were nerds. The Five Guys wanted money, but apparently, not for drugs or booze. They wanted money so they could…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Nintendo Reveals Its Plan for Success
Last year? Man, last year sucked. Nintendo bled loads of cash. Sure, the Nintendo 3DS was neato, but the rollout was rocky. And the Wii? That just gathered dust in anticipation for the upcoming Wii U. But Nintendo is already saying this year is going be fine, that we should not panic. Nintendo is coming…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Japan To Stop Kids from Going Micro-Transaction CRAZY
Some Japanese kids have been going bananas on mobile phone games, racking up insane bills by virtual crap. The country’s six major social game operators decided this week to limit the amount players under 18 can spend to ¥10,000 (US$124). Players under 15 will be capped at ¥5,000 ($62). Even with these spending caps, this…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
When Dolls Aren’t Things You Collect, But Family You Live With
Everybody has a hobby. Some people enjoy listening to records. Others collect baseball cards. If you read Kotaku, chances are that your hobby is video games. But Professor Sakai’s? Japanese blogs have recently been pointing to Sakai’s website, dubbing it “way too frightening” and “creepy”. The site shows off his collection of “realistic” love dolls.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
StarCraft Champ Might Be Wrecking His Body, And He’s Not Getting Married
In professional Korean gaming, they don’t get much bigger than Lim Yo-Hwan, aka “BoxeR”. His fan club has a million members, he has big time endorsements, and he is dating famed actress Kim Ga-yeon. He’s known as the “The Terran Emperor.” But all that has come with a price: e-sports have taken their toll. Earlier…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku EastIf You Thought The Ring Was Scary, Check Out This…Baseball Pitch
Holy crap is Sadako scary! Coming in through you television with that mess of long hair. She’s the stuff of nightmares—also the stuff of first pitches. To promote the the upcoming Ring spin-off flick, Sadako (Samara Morgan in the America remakes) threw out the first pitch at a Nippon Ham Fighters versus Chiba Lotte Marines…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku EastThis Teenage Gothic Lolita Will Rock Your Brains Out
Yohio, the 16 year-old Swedish musician, finally made his Japan debut. Yohio has dressed as a Gothic Lolita for the past few years, and his anime inspired looks earned him Japanese fans. This week Yohio has been appearing on Japan’s biggest morning shows to promote his Japanese language mini album, which is now on sale.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
First Look at Resident Evil Creator’s New Horror Game
Shinji Mikami, best known for creating Resident Evil, is gearing up work on a brand new survival horror game with his new studio Tango Gameworks. It’s codenamed “Zwei”. The image above is very early concept art for the title. With Zwei, Mikami is supposedly committed to making a “pure” survival horror game. “A true ‘survival…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Nintendo Just Posted Its First Annual Loss
Today, Nintendo announced its first annual operating loss in its history as a public company. Sluggish Wii sales and a strong Japanese yen hurt Nintendo—not to mention a rocky rollout for the Nintendo 3DS. The game maker chalked up a US$455.9 million operating loss for the 2011 financial year. “What went wrong was that sales…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Man Guilty of Stabbing Wife After PS3 Argument
This week, a British court convicted Aymen Korbi, 21, of grievous bodily harm for stabbing his wife. Back in November 2011, a dispute broke out in their home in England after Korbi’s wife threatened to leave him. The previous night, the couple had an argument over how much time Korbi spent on playing his PS3.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Monster Hunter Cannot Quit the PSP
Even though the PS Vita could really use a Monster Hunter game, the next spin-off installment in Capcom’s monster hit series is PSP bound. In Japan, Monster Hunter has been key in the PSP’s success. Like Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village, the game is a spin-off and features those fictional cat people. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Lady or Stabby Stabby? Find Out If You Are a Positive Person or a Negative One.
Quick! What’s the first thing you notice? The lady? Or the knife she’s carrying? According to this manga on mental health, positive people notice the lady, because they like to have fun! Negative people notice the knife. They are so not fun. Boo. But what if you’re simply not interested in ladies? Not everyone is!…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Capcom Making Two New Sengoku Basara Games. Both Are…Eh…
Hey, you like Sengoku Basara? You know, those samurai games Capcom makes that are wildly popular in Japan and aren’t exactly historically accurate? Well, good news. And bad news. The good news? Capcom is making two new Sengoku Basara games. The bad news? They are a card-based mobile phone game and a browser game. Oh.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Foxconn Workers Use Suicide Threats as Bargaining Tool. Again.
In China, workers’ rights kind of suck! So when the folks who make your game consoles and electronics want to protest, they take to the roof and threaten to kill themselves. Lovely. Earlier this month in Shenzhen, while the world was watching how their iPads really got made, a group of approximately twenty Foxconn laborers…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Another Real-Life Mai Shiranui Has Appeared!
It’s the battle of the ladies cosplaying as iconic fighting game character Mai Shiranui. Earlier this year, Taiwanese model Yoyo appeared dressed as the jiggly ninja to promote her new picture book. This time? This time it’s Chinese model Li Mengtian, who also goes by the moniker Shan Shan Maity. Earlier this spring, she released…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Colonel Sanders Is Ready to Destroy Your Stomach Samurai Style
In front of (almost) every single KFC in Japan, there is a life-sized Colonel Sanders statue. And for the past few springs, the Colonel Sanders in Akihabara has been covered in samurai armor to mark May 5, the Boy’s Day celebration. In late April and early May, families with sons display miniature armor in their…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
From God of War to The King of Pop, Here’s Dragon’s Dogma‘s Character Creator
Whenever a new game or demo hits, Japanese gamers love to fire up the character creator and see which celebrities they can reproduce. So when the Dragon’s Dogma demo hit, that’s exactly what they did. In the above gallery, you can see an array of celebrities—from real life ones to in-games ones. In some, the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
A Most Perverted PS3 Game Got Cancelled
In puzzle game Dancing Eyes, the goal is to cut out swatches of cloth from young girls’ clothing. Namco planned to do a hi-def remake of the game, but now, it seems the Tokyo-based game company has cold feet. The upcoming issue of Japanese game mag Famitsu reveals that Namco decided to pull the plug…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Why Are Chinese (and Japanese) People Sniffing Their iPhones?
Folks in China are apparently putting their iPhones under their nostrils and giving them a good old sniff. What do they smell? Pineapples. Yum. Many Chinese are saying the iPhone’s headphone jack smells like pineapple while charging. Online, thread after thread confirms the odor, with some even claiming that the iPhone emits whiffs of peach,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012
Brian Ashcraft
Brian Ashcraft's posts