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Kotaku East
The Last Guardian is Not As High A Priority As Other Games
The Last Guardian IS in production. Though the game was absent from this year’s E3, that’s what we’ve been repeatedly assured of by Sony reps. Well, front man Fumito Ueda, creator of PS2 classics ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, stepped out from behind the curtain to reiterate that fact, but with a little caveat.…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 22, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Killer is Dead: Heavy on the Action, Light on the Plot
Running through a dark heavy world, wielding a katana and cybernetic arm, and battling shadowy twisted freaks. You are Mondo Zappa, executioner for the Bryan Execution Firm, out to kill criminals and assassins. Welcome to the world of Killer is Dead, the latest game from the mind of Suda 51. The game is currently scheduled…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 15, 2013 -
Kotaku East
So, How’s That Japanese Manga on Steve Jobs?
The new Ashton Kutcher movie based on the biography of Steve Jobs, Jobs is headed to theaters tomorrow. Sadly, Japan won’t be getting the movie until November. But, in the meantime, Japan has a new manga about the black turtleneck-wearing genius. Titled Steve Jobs and written by the author of the popular Thermae Romae manga…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 15, 2013 -
Reviews
This Avengers Hulk Figure Will Smash You
“Hulk smash!” Seriously, those were my first words upon opening the box containing my latest Hot Toys treasure. As those who have been following know, I’ve been collecting whatever Movie Masterpiece Avengers figures released from the Hong Kong collectible toy company that I can. While I’m missing a couple of side characters and my Iron…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 15, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Don’t Worry About The Wonderful 101 Being Too Short
It’s got it where it counts. Game director Hideki Kamiya previously tweeted about video game length which led some to believe that he must have meant Platinum Games’ upcoming Wii U title The Wonderful 101 would be short. While both Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba clarified that a game’s length shouldn’t determine how good a…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 8, 2013 -
This Game’s Forced Stripping Was a Total Turn Off
I initially had some problems with Valhalla Knights 3 with its Sexy Time system. Still, that didn’t keep me from clocking in well over 120 hours of gameplay time. Just a 120 hours! While I was turned off by the Japanese hostess club-ish game system of paying a cover charge to talk to girls and…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 8, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Without Pokémon, We Wouldn’t Have Japan’s Nerd Heroine
Japanese nerd heroine, Shoko Nakagawa, loves Pokémon. And for good reason. Pocket Monsters gave her a reason to live. A regular host every Sunday on Japan’s Pokémon Smash! (Formerly Pokémon Sunday), Nakagawa has described her selection as Pokémon Captain (ポケモン部長) for the show as a dream come true. She has also noted that while her…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 8, 2013 -
Kotaku East
God Eater 2 Looks Good on the PSP. It Looks Fantastic on the Vita
Namco Bandai’s hunting action game, God Eater 2–or as I like to call it, Monster Hunter with plot–is scheduled for release in Japan this upcoming November. In the meantime, both a PSP and a PS Vita version demo has been made available on the Japanese PlayStation Store, making comparisons possible. “The PSP version was so…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 1, 2013 -
Why Nintendo Says it Doesn’t Make Art
Nintendo has been fighting an uphill battle with the Wii U. To say sales havenot been good is a bit of an understatement. But the news is not all doom and gloom, and Nintendo’s dandy helmsman, Satoru Iwata is ever optimistic. In a3-partinterview with Toyo Keizai Online, Iwata talked about the gaming industry and game…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 1, 2013 -
Kotaku EastRain Would Probably Have Been Damn Hard as a Stealth Action Game
To me, Sony’s upcoming rainy day adventure, Rain, feels like a spiritual successor to the PlayStation 2 classic Ico – the visuals, the atmosphere, playing the part of a child lost in a (mostly) empty world much larger than himself… So much so, that I almost expect Fumito Ueda’s name to show up in the…
By Toshi Nakamura Published August 1, 2013 -
Kotaku East
The Next Super Smash Bros. Won’t Have a Story Mode or Cutscenes
Hey, remember Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Remember the Subspace Emissary adventure mode? Did you see the CG cutscenes? Well, thanks to spoilers, you won’t have any of those in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. In his bi-weekly column in Weekly Famitsu, Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai revealed some…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 25, 2013 -
Kotaku EastThis Man Likes the Vita So Much, He Practically Remade His Game For It
As of July 23rd, Square Enix has released its popular RPG, Chaos Rings, to the PlayStation Mobile section of the PlayStation Store, where it can be downloaded and played on smartphones, tablets, and the PS Vita. When asked why he decided to release the formerly smartphone-only game on PS Mobile, producer Takehiro Ando’s answer was…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 25, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Square Enix Has Its Eye on China. Yeah, Just Like Everyone Else.
Yoichi Wada, the guy at Square Enix who gets to sit in the “Chairman of the Board” chair is in China for the “China Digital Entertainment Expo” (also known as “ChinaJoy”), China’s biggest game show. Wada gave a speech about the Free to Play model of games at the pre-Expo developer/publisher conference, during which he…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 25, 2013 -
Kotaku EastThe Next Ace Attorney Lets You Enter Characters’ Brains
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies is a week away (in Japan). With the return of Phoenix Wright and the first officially numbered game* in six years, the game is looking to be a massive love-fest of everything Ace Attorney *Note: The official game title in Japan is Gyakuten Saiban 5 (逆転裁判５). “It’s the…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 18, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Popular Online Game Features Battleships as Anime Girls
Honestly, it was the last game I thought I’d find myself hooked on, but Kantai Collection (艦隊これくしょん) or, as it’s better known online, Kan Colle (艦これ), has me seeing warships as cute anime girls… I think I need to explain myself. Released this past April by DMM.com and Kadokawa Games, Kan Colle is a free…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 18, 2013 -
Kotaku East
This Drakengard 3 Character is a Virgin. Apparently That Matters
Drakengard 3 (Or as it’s known in Japan, Drag-On Dragoon 3), the 10th anniversary celebration of the original Drakengard is gearing up for its release this autumn. To get fans excited, Square Enix has been steadily releasing new information on the game to keep them interested. The latest character introduced in this week’s Weekly Famitsu…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 18, 2013 -
Kotaku East
In Japan, Not All Men Are Gundams… Just Some of Them
Whether you have actually seen it or not, anyone familiar with Japanese anime has no doubt encountered the term Gundam at one point or another. Japan’s popular mecha series has been around for 34 years, so it’s definitely got its place in Japanese culture. The series is especially popular among males, which led one woman…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 11, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Suda 51 Is Turning This Gorgeous Anime Movie into an Action Game
Coming to theaters in Japan on July 25th is the anime movie, Short Peace. The movie consists of four short movies by various directors – a couple of which (Hinoyoujin and Farewell to Arms) are from Akira creator, Katsuhiro Otomo. Now, a fifth part of the project has been announced… As a video game. A…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 11, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Japanese Gamers and Retailers on the Next-Gen Consoles’ Pricing
This year’s E3 turned out to be one of the more interesting and exciting conventions in recent memory. Unfortunately for yours truly, I was stuck across that pesky barrier, commonly referred to in geography classes as the Pacific Ocean. But that didn’t keep me and other interested peoples here in Japan from checking in on…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 5, 2013 -
Kotaku EastWhy I’m Avoiding One of the Main Features of Valhalla Knights 3
After over ninety hours, I’m still uncomfortable with Valhalla Knights 3. “What is Valhalla Knights 3?“you ask. Valhalla Knights 3 is an RPG for the PS Vita. The basic gameplay is very much similar to an MMORPG, except without the Massively Multiplayer Online part. You have a central base of operations in a large map…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 4, 2013
Toshi Nakamura
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