As of March 31, PlayStation users worldwide have donated US$1.318 million to the earthquake relief efforts. “While we continue to make every effort to help the recovery of the affected communities in the region,” Kazuo Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment honcho, said in an official release, “I would like to express our gratitude to every single…
Life’s funny. You start out wanting to be a martial arts master, go on to appear in Hollywood movies, invent Tae Bo, and then decades later, end up with your own Wii game in Japan. In a duck press, that pretty much sums up Billy Blanks. During the 1980s, Blanks was able to capitalize on…
STAND UP | TOKYO, JAPAN: “Otaku” celebrities like voice actress Aya Hirano collect money for quake victims. Small talk, handshakes, etc. were not permitted. (Photo: Koepota) Wake Up, Kotaku Anonymous Targets Sony, Warns Of Penises Stuck In Hornets Nests Militant hacker group Anonymous has launched a campaign against Sony, citing the Japanese company’s “unforgivable offense…
Upcoming action game Max Payne 3 is set in Brazil. Rockstar, the folks making Max Payne 3, are not a Brazilian studio, so that meant one thing: research. The game’s art director, Rob Nelson, tells Edge magazine that the team put as much research into Sao Paulo as the original Max Payne developer did with…
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is making the jump from the Nintendo Wii to arcades, and trading Wii Remotes for joysticks and jackpots. Dubbed Super Mario Bros. Wii: Coin World, the game is being reborn as a four player “medallion game”. Medallion games are arcade games in which players try to hit the jackpot and…
April showers might bring May flowers, but they sure as shit don’t bring games in Japan. The release schedule for the Wii, DS and 3DS is looking shockingly barren. According to Nintendo’s Japanese site, there are only two DS games getting released in Japan in May: Treasure Report, Red Stone DS and Nakayoshi Kids: Oshigoto…
Kyoto’s Q-Games, the studio behind PixelJunk and a whole host of wonderful titles, is auctioning off a signed ThinkGeek t-shirt for “Play for Japan”. The whole PixelJunk staff autographed the shirt! Auction ends on April 10 and all proceeds will go to the American Red Cross. More info in the details below. Play For Japan:…
Virtual idol Miku Hatsune has her own Sega video games, concerts, insane game controllers, and figurines. Whether it’s plastic statues for arcade redemption games or detailed collectors’ statues, there is no shortage of Miku merch. One fan decided there was a gaping hole in the Miku figures, namely of the totally naked variety, and decided…
Broadcasting over the weekend, Gamers Heart Japan is a one hour program, designed to celebrate the country that’s given us so many great games as well as help with the relief efforts. Created by The Electric Playground, the program features a whole host of gaming luminaries, like Tim Schafer, Will Wright and Sid Meier, talking…
While some of the Tohoku Earthquake’s youngest refugees told the Mainichi Newspaper that they really want to play video games, power shortages make that impossible. Kids are kids, and they want to play. This is why twenty-six companies are donating four ten-ton trucks worth of toys, clothing and stationary to the relief efforts. Among those…
The Nintendo 3DS is not multi-touch. That hasn’t stopped Namco Bandai from making a game that requires two touch pens. So players not only have to hold two touch pens like total goobers, they cannot use them at the exact same time. Well, they can, but the multitouch won’t register. Only one of the brain…
You probably know who Hideo Kojima is. He makes Metal Gear Solid. But is he famous? Probably, but that doesn’t mean mainstream Japanese celebs know who the heck he is. Kojima appeared on a recent episode of variety show Real Scoop, talking about how popular he is abroad. Famous celebrities like Yusuke Kamiji as well…
More than schoolgirls, salarymen or neon lights, when video games want to evoke Japan, they pick one thing above the rest: cherry blossoms, or “sakura”, as they are called in Japanese. During spring, Japan is awash in pink and white. Cherry blossoms are in bloom for a short period (around two weeks or so), and…
AMPLE | OSAKA, JAPAN: A card game aimed at kids provides an eyeful. (Photo: Brian Ashcraft) Wake Up, Kotaku Good morning, Kotaku. It’s April 1. April Fools Day. A day when the internet becomes a wasteland of bad jokes and annoying fake news. So wherever you tread today, be cautious. And if it’s any consolation,…
According to Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, the PS3 outsold the Wii in Japan last year. The PSP also outsold the Nintendo DS. This is the first time Sony has ruled both home and portable consoles. [via Famitsu]
The situation at Fukushima is far from over. The Japanese government is working hard to cool the nuclear cores and contain the problem. Help from outside is being enlisted, too. Help that is powered by an Xbox 360 controller. North America’s QinetiQ deployed its unmanned Talon robots in Fukushima. According to QinetiQ, the robots are…
Over four hundred, apparently. The official site for Pokémon Typing lists over 400 Pocket Monsters for the DS-based typing game. [via 任天堂]
Comedy manga Arakawa Under the Bridge, which already has an anime adaption, is coming to Japanese television in live action form. And then the silver screen! This summer, Arakawa Under The Bridge will debut on Japanese television in episodic drama form. The following year, a feature film version will hit cinemas. The manga is published…
Former Capcom big wig Keiji Inafune is starting two new game development companies: Comcept and Intercept. “Comcept” is a combination of “computer” and “concept”. Oddly, “Capcom” is a shortened version of “capsule” and “computer”.
Ushijima Ii Niku (Ushijima “Good Meat”) is Japan’s biggest amateur pin-up. And this summer, she’s coming to a theater near you. That is, if you live near Akihabara. Upcoming adult computer game Djibril The Angel Of The Warring States is getting a “live action” incarnation, starring Ushijima. Or is it? The movie tentatively has a…
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