During New Year’s, Japanese people visit shrines and temples. There are many traditions observed during this period, such as omikuji—a type of fortune telling. In the last few years, one ancient tradition in which people write wishes on wooden plaques is now taking a decidedly otaku bent. Kanda Shrine is located near Tokyo’s geek mecca,…
Last year, cosplay at Japanese events was toned down. New regulations tried to make outfits less revealing. Extreme cosplay looked to be a thing of the past—that is, if not for Cosholic. Earlier this year, the spring Cosholic event was held in Tokyo’s Odaiba. The winter Cosholic was held during last month’s Comic Market, and…
Kazuma Kujo, who created the Disaster Report games, recently stated via Twitter that he is working on a new title. The game is a downloadable title for the PS3 and the PS Vita. There are no plans for a PSP version. Expect more details at a later date. This past November, Kujo revealed that Disaster…
Onechanbara might not be a computer game, but that’s not stopping it from getting a boob mousepad. Boob mousepads have been around for a few years, and it seemed like every Japanese game was getting one a few years back. This Onechanbara one, priced at ¥5,800, is tied to the upcoming Onechanbara Z: Kagura. If…
Over at website GlitterBerri, they’ve scanned and translated the first ten pages of the The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Japanese manga. The site plans on scanning and translating the rest, so be sure to check back. Read the first ten pages in the link below. Link, geddit? Skyward Sword Manga [GlitterBerri]
This year, famed Persona role-playing game maker Atlus is going to apparently announce a new game. It’s more than that, though. Atlus is going to reveal a game that everybody’s waiting for “soon”. The Tokyo-based game company supposedly said as much in its New Year’s card, leading to online speculation that the eagerly awaited Persona…
Ask any fan of virtual idol Miku Hatsune. It should have a leek. The character, who always carries a leek, is huge in Japan, and Toyota is even using Miku to sell cars in the West. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is getting a whole host of character mods for its PC version. Previously, Kotaku…
Leave it to Zelda fans to fix the Zelda timeline. And leave it to Zelda fans to undertake yet another laborious task: translating the in-game lingo. In the Zelda games, you see Hylian, the language written throughout the Zelda games. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the most recent Zelda title, features a new type…
The winter Comiket, née Comic Market, is finished. The event’s cosplay will live on thanks to posts like this. Hooray, internet! First held in 1975, the bi-annual Comiket is the world’s biggest self-published comic book fair. A half a million people show up to Comic Market, ready to buy rare comics and soak in the…
Shenmue III, the unfulfilled third entry in the Shenmue saga, is the game fans really want. Fans did not get that game. Instead, they got Shenmue Town. Nobody wanted Shenmue Town. And now, it’s dead. Shenmue Town was a social networking take on the Shenmue adventure games. It was released in winter 2010 for Yahoo!…
Comiket, aka Comic Market, isn’t only about comics. It’s also about cosplay. Oh, and plastic figures. At this year’s Comiket, which runs Dec. 28 to Dec. 31 at Tokyo Big Sight, famed Japanese figure makers are showing off upcoming statues: some are finalized production models, while others are unpainted prototypes. In this gallery, with photos…
Next February, Japanese movie theaters are going to lawyer up when the Phoenix Wright movie puts its legal smack down on celluloid. Directed by famed Japanese director Takashi Miike, it could be great. Last October, Kotaku posted the first image of actor Hiroki Narimiya as Phoenix Wright. Today, here are photos of the entire cast…
Doraemon is a fat, robotic blue cat from the future. In his belly, Doraemon carries all sorts of cool gadgets. The character, viewable here, is iconic in Japan. Doraemon also not something one would equate with handsome dude—or good hair. Yet, as this recent cosplay shows, those associations are totally possible. くれ えいぞう [twitpic]
YouTube user Jason Yang cloned himself for one very special reason: to play beautiful Skyrim music to you. That’s so nice! And the Jason Yang clone orchestra doesn’t only play the violin. There’s some drumming, too. Clone drumming. Skyrim Violin Cover [YouTube]
You remember that Bearded Dragon, right? Or the orangutans? Or the African bull frog crushing virtual ants? In the first video, a cat slices and dices his way through Fruit Ninja, posting an impressive score—and possibly scratching up the screen in the process. After Nintendo capitalized on games for old people and non-gamers, it looks…
The Comiket, aka Comic Market, is in full swing in Tokyo. Comiket is not only the biggest self-published comic book fair in the world, it’s also a huge cosplay extravaganza. As previously mentioned, Comiket, first held in 1975, is now a biannual event, drawing half a million visitors to both the summer and the winter…
The hardest thing at the end of the year is to parse yourself from the hype you’re experiencing and think back to the games you played during the summer, the spring, and yes, 2011’s early months. This fall, when so many of the big games were released, the studio that made my GOTY was going…
For years, the Nintendo 64 Kid has been the epitome of holiday game gift giving. Two kids went bananas over getting a Nintendo console, complete with box paw scratching and raised fists. It was a heroic moment. That was then. The Nintendo 64 Kid is all grown up. This is now. This is the iPod…
Sometimes games aren’t to your exact liking. If you have computer skills, maybe you can create a mod. If you have computer skills and developed the game, well, you can do that, too. J.E. Sawyer, who worked as project director on Fallout: New Vegas and the game’s DLC, created a mod for his own playthroughs.…
When asked what his goal for 2012 was, Blazblue producer Toshimichi Mori told Japanese game mag Gemaga it was to make BlazBlue 3. A good goal, indeed. [Japanator]
Mode
Follow us
