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Kotaku East
A Bar for Power Rangers (And Those Who Love Them)
In Japan, the Power Rangers are called “Super Sentai”. For decades, they have entertained kids, especially young boys. But young boys grow up and become interested in other things. Like booze. Never fear! Former Power Ranger actor Masaru Shishido is here to save the day with cheesy memorabilia and alcohol. Phew! In Tokyo’s Tachikawa, Shishido…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2012 -
Resident Evil Creator Working on New Survival Horror Game. It Could Be His Last.
Shinji Mikami, the man behind Resident Evil, is working on a brand new survival horror title. As revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu, the game is currently codenamed “Zwei”. Mikami’s new studio, Tango Gameworks, is creating the project. Zwei is slated to be very much a Mikami style survival horror game, and it is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Photo Claims First Look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s Box Art, But Is It a Fake?
Evidence continues to mount that a Call of Duty: Black Ops sequel is oscar mike. First there was an Amazon listing. Then there was an odd black balling. Then, there was what looked to be a Black Ops 2 teaser poster surfaced—after that, a GameStop teaser website. Now? Now, a photo depicting the game’s box…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku EastDo You Love Aliens? You Will.
Love Like Aliens is a short six-minuted animated film inspired by the work of Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. Have a look at the film’s trailer. “In the silent film era, images were created first with music performed at the screenings and in the music video era, music was created first. What we’ve done with sonic…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Black Widow Killer Spawning Female Admirers
Kanae Kijima, 37, met her victims online. She picked lonely nerds. She took their money, and then, she killed them. Yet, as horrible as Kijima was, she supposedly has a group of female admirers. They’re called “Kanae girls”, and according to Japan’s Shukan Bunshun, they have been “conspicuous in the courtroom”. One Kanae girl apparently…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Lewd 3DS Game Gets Official Tissues
Senran Kagura, that large chested ninja 3DS game, is getting a sequel. That sequel is getting official tissues for an upcoming promotional event. Talk about knowing your audience. Talk about knowing your game. 3DS「閃乱カグラ Burst -紅蓮の少女達-」が8月30日に発売。「ニコニコ超会議」では，マーベラスAQLブース内に特設コーナーも [4Gamer]
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Smuggling iPhones with Empty Beer Bottles Won’t Get You Drunk
It’ll get you arrested. According to Chinese news reports from late last week, an old lady was stopped while trying to bring bags of beer bottles into Mainland China via Hong Kong. As website M.I.C. Gadget pointed out, some people do bring in bags of bottles in hopes of recycling them for spare change. However,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
How To Get Old Dudes in Internet Cafes? Sexy Secretaries and Shoe Shines
Young folks go to Japanese net cafes to surf the web, play video games, read comics, and guzzle soda. Old dudes? Generally speaking, old dudes do not go to internet cafes. Old dudes, generally speaking, go to bars. Leave it to Japan’s most wildly inventive net cafe chain to figure out how to attract salarymen…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Running a Marathon Dressed as Naruto and Failing Miserably
In sports, not everyone can be winners. Some must come in second, or third place. Some must come in dead last. Some don’t even do that. Just ask Hiroshi Matsuyama. He’s the head of Japanese game developer, CyberConnect2, and to mark Naruto selling ten million video game spin-offs, Matsuyama decided to run the Paris Marathon…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
You Won’t Believe What’s Lurking in LG’s Logo
The logo of South Korean electronics company LG is supposed to resemble a human face. The “L” forms the nose, and the forms the face and mouth. But after seeing this GIF, all I can think of is waka waka. It sure is easy to make Pac-Man with the LG logo. All you need to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
Kotaku East
From Steve Jobs’ Death to the Prime Minister’s Q&A, Sakura Bloom in Unlikely Places
Last night on Japanese television, Prime Minister Noda appeared in a Q&A. To his side sat a young participant in black glasses. This young man’s appearance, while certainly not striking, looked familiar to one Japanese net user, who quickly uploaded a photo showing the same man with a mic to his face. Impressed with the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 -
In This Deer Hunter Game, You Don’t Play Russian Roulette. You Shoot Deer!
I’ve never been deer hunting. The words alone don’t even evoke images of wearing orange vests and shooting animals, but rather, images of Christopher Walkin playing Russian roulette. Oh yes, there is deer hunting in that movie, but I don’t really remember it. Does anyone? So going into Deer Hunter Reloaded, I was subconsciously expecting…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Japanese Media Keeps Beating Up on Sony
Once upon a time, Sony ruled Japan. Those days are over. Don’t believe me? Just look at how the Japanese media keeps turning the Tokyo-based electronics maker into a punching bag. This sort of thing isn’t unique to Sony; the Japanese media was dishing the same punches to Nintendo last year. Sure, sometimes jabs are…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Key Developers Leaving Square Enix…for Social Gaming
Turnover at game companies is high. But Japanese game developers who work on big titles for big companies tend to stay put. But what happens when your company is being eclipsed? In the past few years, the Japanese mobile and social game industry has exploded. Companies like DeNa and Gree are doing great business, while…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 23, 2012 -
Marvel at China’s Ballsy Rip-Offs
The way that licensed products are remixed and reworked in China is endlessly fascinating. Thanks to lax laws (laws that are increasingly less lax), Chinese businesses can get away with things they never could in other countries. Increasingly, more and more Chinese are turning their noses up at knock-offs, demanding the real deal. Still, I…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Manga Girls Show Improper Gun and Knife Use
Leave it to Japan to explain correct weapon use in manga form. A new book, Drawing! Gun and Knife Combat Pose Style Graphics, claims to do just that. The book has over 800 color as well as black-and-white photos and manga style illustrations of various weapons and females showing how to hold said weapons. There…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
In the Next Few Years, Chinese Will Dominate the Internet
English is the most widely used lingo on the internet. But in a few years, that will change. Currently, English comprises 27 percent of the internet. Each year, it keeps getting smaller and smaller. In 2005, English was 32 percent of the net, and in 2000, it was 39 percent. Chinese, on the other hand,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 23, 2012
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