During tonight’s “PS Vita Game Heaven” online press conference, Sony announced Gundam Seed Battle Destiny for the PlayStation Vita. The sixth game in the best-selling Gundam Battle series, Battle Destiny looks to focus exclusively on the story of the 2004 anime Gundam Seed Destiny. Among the talking points mentioned were spacious battle fields, local multiplayer…
During the “PS Vita Game Heaven” online press conference, Sony detailed the Japanese “UMD Passport” program which allows Vita owners re-buy their already owned UMDs on the PSN for a drastically reduced price. Step one has you log onto the PSN Store with a PSP and download the UMD Passport App. Step two is to…
In recent years, the Dynasty Warriors series has found new life by merging its signature gameplay with popular anime; first Gundam, then Fist of the North Star, and now One Piece. But is One Piece: Pirate Warriors just more of the same old hack-and-slash we’ve come to expect, or is there some treasure buried just…
There are a lot of surprises in One Piece: Pirate Warriors but none are quite as impressive as how good the game looks. Much like Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles, the entire game is rendered in a cell-shaded art style, with all the shadows made to look as if done via a colored pencil. The result is…
Hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors is infamous for evolving very little—if at all—with each new iteration in the series. The biggest changes seen so far have been to either the cast or the setting. What was at first only about ancient Chinese warriors, now covers everything from Samurai to Gundams—not to mention badass manga Fist of the…
I know next to nothing about One Piece. In fact, going into the newest Dynasty Warriors game, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, the only One Piece related thing I had seen was the movie Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in the Winter, Miracle Cherry Blossom on a date back in 2008. The only things I remember…
In 1987, a young director by the name of Hironobu Sakaguchi was charged with making a game for his small game company, Square. Up until this point the company had had moderate success with racing and platforming games, but it was clear to all that Sakaguchi’s game was likely to be his—if not the company’s—final…
The Gundam VS series has been headlining Japanese arcades for almost a decade now with its fast-paced Virtual-On-style robot-on-robot gameplay. The upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam VS Full Boost is the latest iteration in the series. It sports a roster of over 50 mobile suits, with at least one suit from every single Gundam series—it even…
At TGS 2010, just inside the media entrance, there sat a van owned by Inti Creates (a game studio formed by ex-Capcom staff). As I came upon it my first day, I saw Kotaku‘s own Brian Ashcraft standing beside a crowd of Japanese photographers who were fighting for position in front of the van. I…
While Metal Gear Online‘s servers will be shutting down soon, there is one last place to get your Metal Gear Online fix: Japanese Arcades. Developed by Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Arcade is a light gun-FPS released in Japan on December 20, 2010. Much of Metal Gear Arcade is identical to Metal Gear Online with many…
Sumioni: Demon Arts is a 2D action/platformer for the PlayStation Vita inspired by the traditional Japanese painting style, “sumie.” But is this title an artistic masterpiece or does it simply fail to paint a pretty picture? Good — Progression Through Skill If there’s one good thing to say about Sumioni: Demon Arts—and I stress the…
The Last Story, the latest game from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, made its Western debut last Friday when it was released in PAL territories. We’ve already covered the combat system and multiplayer modes from our Japanese copy of the game, so now it’s time to show you what it’s like in English—British English to…
When Star Wars: The Old Republic launched last December across Europe and America, players on the other side of the world were told they would have to wait until some time in the indeterminate future before they would be allowed to join Bioware’s first MMORPG. But gamers—not to mention Star Wars fans—are a determined lot.…
Last week, as part of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy‘s Japanese launch, Square Enix released the tie-in promotional game, Social Theatrhythm. In this flash game, you create a character and then join up with three Twitter or Facebook friends to play a co-op version of Theatrhythm Of course by “play,” I mean “do nothing.” After choosing your…
Despite being 1) a Japanese game, 2) an RPG, and 3) a Wii game, The Last Story has not one but two online multiplayer modes included in its package. The first is a versus mode, which includes a three-on-three team deathmatch. Unlike in the normal game where you are often forced to play as Zael,…
Sumioni: Demon Arts combines the most basic gameplay of old school Ninja Gaiden with the traditional Japanese art style, “sumie”, in this side-scrolling, platforming adventure. You’ll have to wait until next week for our in-depth preview, but feel free to see how it plays in the video above. Sumioni: Demon Arts was released for the…
Every February, the Amusement Operator Union holds its annual trade show. Much like the Tokyo Game Show, it’s held at Makuhari Messe—right outside of Tokyo—and also much like TGS, it showcases all of Japan’s upcoming games—only this time in arcade form. Other than the incredibly fun Speed of Light, there were several interesting games at…
Last weekend, Kotaku East scoured the Amusement Operators Union (AOU) trade show for the craziest game coming to Japanese arcades in 2012. And what we found is a game as fun and simple as it is crazy. Speed of Light is an arcade consisting of nothing but a wall of buttons and a digital counter.…
At its heart, Gravity Rush is a steam-punk superhero adventure. Of course, Kat isn’t exactly the ideal heroine, despite her obviously pure intentions. Perhaps she just needs to take a moment and look up the term “collateral damage.” Gravity Rush was released on Feb. 9, 2012 in Japan on the PlayStation Vita. EU and NA…
I wonder how Sir Isaac Newton would feel if he were to play a game inspired by his own legend where real-world gravity physics have been crafted into an interactive playground. Well, if that game were Gravity Rush, I’m sure he’d be amazed—and not just by the existence of a glowing interactive box in his…
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