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Kotaku East
Just Look at All That Hair. All That Plastic Hair.
Milla Maxwell from Namco Bandai role-playing game Tales of Xillia gets immortalized in plastic with this collectible figurine. Lucky her! The figure is slated for a September release in Japan. It’s priced at ¥8,190—which is US$101. Not exactly cheap! アルター「テイルズ オブ エクシリア ミラ＝マクスウェル」の彩色サンプル 【宮沢展示会2012春】 [Moeyo]
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The PS Vita Has Seen Better Weeks. Now, It Looks Kind of Screwed.
You know things are bad when your old portable is beating your brand new one. This week, Sony’s PS Vita sold only 8,931. The PSP sold 14,804 units. The good news, I guess, is that Sony makes both handhelds. The bad? The newly released PS Vita continues to nosedive in Japan. This week it sold…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Korean People Cutting Vegetables on iPads, Smashing Nuts
While the iPad is roughly the same size as a cutting board, that doesn’t mean it is a cutting board. South Korea’s BuffLab shows off its series of “shock absorption” screen covers by cutting cabbage and smashing walnuts. As one would. If you need more stabby-stabby, the other videos feature a nail, a screwdriver, a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Japan Claims the Most Expensive One-Bedroom on Earth
Japan is expensive. The yen is strong, food is overpriced, and, unless you know how to spend smart, you can blow through insane amounts of cash. And if Japan is expensive, then Tokyo is crazy expensive. Take the Tokyo neighborhood of Minami-Azabu, which boasts what’s apparently the most expensive one bedroom apartment (Jeremy Clarkson voice)…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Hey Sega, Put This Lady in Your Games
Every year, Sega holds a cattle call to select a handful of women to appear in its latest Yakuza game. This year, there’s a porn star in the running—not a Sega first. The women typically play hostesses players can chat up in night clubs. But, Sega, why not pick the number one hostess for your…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Beauty of China, Show the World Your Latest Kinect Copy
China already has a handful of Kinect inspired game machines. But that’s not going to stop it from getting more. The latest is the iGame Move, a console with the tagline “Beauty of China Show the World”. Sporting 32-bit graphics (32-bit!!), the iGame Move is a motion controlled game system and is priced at around…
Brian Ashcraft & Eric Jou Published April 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Crazy Person Apparently Threatened to Chop Off Writer’s Head
Noboru Aoi was not happy with Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (“There’s No Way My Sister Is That Cute”). After learning the email address of the light novel’s writer, Tsukasa Fushimi, the 32 year-old Aoi sent email after email—over five hundred in total. In them, he threatened the writer’s life. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Kotaku EastLady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and the Rise of the Googly Eyes
The bigger, the better, right? For a generation of kids, doe eyes are all the rage. Photos of young women in both Asia and the West show that this trend isn’t going anywhere. Big eyes are here to stay. The look is a melding of both the real and the unreal. Eyes that existed only…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2012 -
Walk Quietly and Swing a Big Hoop
One of the things that can really make or break a cosplay is the type of props used. Are they well-made? Do they look realistic? Are they cool? This Tira from SoulCalibur 4 cosplay ticks all those boxes. That’s Costa Rican cosplayer Angela Bermúdez A. taking on Tira, Ring Blade and all. *TenshinoSekai [DeviantArt Thanks,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
How “Fun” Is Your Country Online? Find Out!
I live in Japan. Japan, according to this poll, is not having much fun on the internet. I grew up in the United States, which is so-so for online amusement. It’s fun, sure, but not everyone is having a good time. But which country is having the most fun online? And what the hell does…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Mario‘s Creator Thinks Angry Birds Is Pretty Damn Good
You might not like Angry Birds. You may think it’s crap—or that it’s not a real game. But you are not Shigeru Miyamoto. He thinks Angry Birds is fantastic. The famed game creator told website Edge that he enjoyed the downloadable game and that it was his favorite non-Nintendo game of last year. “I usually…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
It’s Back to School Time!
Growing up in Texas, I always looked forward to fall. September was back-to-school time. New pencils. New notebooks. New backpacks. But in Japan, back-to-school time isn’t fall. It’s spring. With the cherry blossoms and flowers in bloom, there’s rich association with new beginnings and the start of spring. When kids are starting school for the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
If You Have Worries, The Image Will Move
We all have worries: school, work, friends, and families. This image, which is making the internet rounds in Japan, apparently can show just how much you worry. So, if you have few worries, then the second image in the above gallery will probably move slightly, as if its fluttering in the breeze. If you are…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Tekken Fighter Gets All Prettied Up
Famed Japanese figure maker Kotobukiya is readying a “bishoujo” (beautiful girl) version of Tekken character Asuka Kazama The 1/7 scale figure will be out this August. It’s priced at ¥6,510 (US$80). Kotobukiya’s bishoujo line takes beautiful female characters and tries to make them all “bishoujo”—bigger eyes, softer features. Just look at this figure if you…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Check Out That New Game from Capcom, Sega, and Namco
Project X Zone is an upcoming collaboration from Capcom, Sega, and Namco. The game is a role-playing sim and features characters from all three game makers. The characters square off in groups of two and duke it out. Have a look at the game’s first screens. Project X Zone is slated for a 3DS release…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku EastWho Knew You Needed Bikinis and Suggestive Bouncing to Play Video Games?
Japanese pin-up model Yukie Kawamura plays through Super Monkey Ball: Tokumori Asobi-ta! on the PS Vita. In a bikini. While bouncing on a big ball. Clothing is irrelevant and shouldn’t impact gameplay. But will trying to balance on a ball while trying to balance a ball in game impact gameplay? Yes, yes it will. Gameplay,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Guns and Girls. The New Lupin Anime Is Fully Loaded.
The famous French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard once said, “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.” That certainly seems to be the M.O. for the new televised Lupin anime, A Woman Called Fujiko The anime recently debuted on Japanese TV (check out the first episode here). In the gallery above,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Marry These Japanese Geeks!
It’s a big decision. Choose wisely. And more and more Japanese women are supposedly picking towards otaku (geeks) for their marriage partners. The reason why otaku make attractive partners is that Japanese women think they won’t cheat on them and that they’ll be good listeners. But not all geeks are the same! And not all…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012
Brian Ashcraft
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