-
It’s Like Wii Meets Xbox In China
While Leveno moves forward with its version of Kinect, China Telecom showed its version of the Nintendo Wii. And did it with Xbox 360-esque green and white. The China Telecom console is called “Tigan Youxi” (“Somatic Gaming”) and is an add-on service for its Internet Protocol television. It will be available for a monthly subscription…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
Super Mario All-Stars Coming To America
Already released in Japan, the Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition will be making its way to the States this December, Nintendo of America revealed today. Priced at US$29.99, the Limited Edition comes with Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 as well as a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
Ice Cube Adding Call Of Duty To His Resume
Jack-of-all-trades Ice Cube is lending his voice to the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops. Ice Cube first made a name for himself first as a rapper, but has since branched out into a successful acting, writing, directing and producing career. Some of his film roles include Boyz n the Hood, Three Kings and Friday…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
What’s It Like To Lose Your Lead Ninja?
Until 2008, the head ninja of Team Ninja (not pictured) was Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki. Then he left and filed a lawsuit over unpaid wages. More Tecmo developers left, too. What’s that like for the other ninjas? “I’ve been with Team Ninja ever since I graduated from college, so everything I know about…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
Microsoft’s Computer Gave Birth To Japanese Gaming Legends
Microsoft has been successful the world over with its operating systems. Even in Japan, Windows is the most common OS. However, the computer giant hasn’t seen those same results there with gaming. That hasn’t always been the case. In the early 1980s, Microsoft Japan aimed to create a standard for computers akin to the VHS…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
Sleep With This Voice Actress’s Pillow Cover
In Japan, Rie Tanaka (Phantasy Star Portable, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3) is such a popular voice actress that last year she got her own trading cards. This year, she’s getting her own hug pillow cover. Progress! Hug pillows are called “dakimakura” with “daki” referring to “hug” and “makura” meaning “pillow”. Dakimakura covers typically show…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
Full House Star Sued Over Video Game Jibes
When Jodie Sweetin was 13, Full House was canceled. The actress, who played Stephanie Tanner, grew up, got married and started doing meth. But her second husband, she says, was a gaming junkie. In her tell-all memoir UnSweetined, the 28-year-old actress talks about overcoming her drug addiction and how difficult it was for her after…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
ReviewsReview: Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy is described as “tough as nails” by its developers. And boy, they aren’t kidding. Ready to be put through the grinder? Super Meat Boy is a 2D platformer in the vein of hard retro games like Namco’s Quest of Ki. The plot is simple: Dr. Fetus kidnapped Bandage Girl, and it’s up…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010 -
These Animal Crossing Cards Are Lovely
Japan’s Club Nintendo members do really get the coolest stuff. Takes these Animal Crossing cards, for example. This is “karuta”, which is a Japanese card game that is typically played during the New Year’s holidays. As one of the cards is read, players try to grab the corresponding card. The person who does it the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
Ascent Of The D.I.Y. Figurine
For better or worse, a fan made an El Shaddai toy. As seen on はちま起稿
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
Stuff I Put On My Rice
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Halloween Approaches Mentaiko! So good. What you missed last night The World’s Greatest World Of Warcraft Fan God Of War Developer Wonders Why People Make PSP Games All The Better To Eat You With, Diablo Fans Apple Tried To Buy Halo’s Creators Review: Costume Quest
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
A Visual Guide To Super Meat Boy
This is one of the easier levels. Things can only get harder from here! And they do. The boss fights are big — just like boss fights should be. This particular boss might look like he’s all smiles. Looks can be deceiving! In this stage, touch that salt and you die. Neat. Here is one…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
A Music Video Made Entirely In A Video Game [Update]
In 1985, British band Dire Straits released the first music video made with computer graphics. In 2010, Dutch electronica artist released a music video made entirely in a game. DJ Hero 2 publisher Activision claim that this is the first video game made entirely of video game footage. Surely, there must be other music videos…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
PC Gaming Week Confessional, Bashcraft Edition
We are all over PC gaming this week , but what do we know about PC gaming? Each day, one Kotaku editor will reveal their PC gaming knowledge and share some memories. Yesterday you read about Crecente’s experiences, and now? Now you can read about mine. Are you a PC gamer? For several Texas summers…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
Here’s One Japanese Designer Who Doesn’t Follow The West
It’s trendy now for Japanese games to try to appease Western tastes. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron does not care about what’s in. “As a Japanese creator, I want to make something that only Japanese people can make. I don’t want to follow the European people’s way,” El Shaddai designer Takeyasu Sawaki tells website…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
First Look (And Listen!) At Bar Girl Anime
Banana-feeding, booze swilling video game Dream C Club is getting an anime. It will involve singing and girls with giant eyes — just like the game! The animated version of Dream C Club features song clips and goes on sale in Japan on November 10. The name of this song is “Koi・KOI☆weekend!” with “koi” meaning…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
This Sony Cross-Promotion Might Be A Bit Much
These days, cross-promotions are all the rage in Japan. Monster Hunter in your Metal Gear Solid. Ace Attorney in your Professor Layton. This Tales of Graces collaboration might be overdoing it, though. In PS3 game Tales of Graces F, there is a downloadable “Toro” costume. Toro, aka the “Sony Cat”, is the company’s mascot character…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
Persona 2: Innocent Sin Getting Remake
Game developer Atlus is bringing PlayStation 1 role-playing game Persona 2: Innocent Sin back for the PSP 11 years after its original release. As noted by website Siliconera, one big gameplay change is the ability to see the demons’ emotions. This, it seems, will simplify in-game negotiation. Macross Frontier anime studio Satelight will handle the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
God Of War Developer Wonders Why People Make PSP Games
On November 2, PlayStation Portable game God of War: Ghost of Sparta hit stores. But its developer, Ready at Dawn, is already questioning the rationale for creating PSP games. Don’t blame the hardware, blame piracy. Ready at Dawn’s Ru Weerasuriya talks to game site VG247 about the PSP’s piracy problem. According to the game designer,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010 -
Wonderswan Developer Making Xbox 360 Game
Back in 1999, Bandai launched its own portable gaming system, the WonderSwan. That bird’s day has flown, but a WonderSwan developer is now developing a new Xbox 360 title. In 2001 and 2002, Kanagawa-based Qute Corporation worked on a hobby development kit for the WonderSwan called WonderWitch. Save for an online game, the studio has…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2010
Brian Ashcraft
Brian Ashcraft's posts