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Kotaku East
Anime Movie Ad “Arrests” and “Kills” Pedestrians
In the world of Psycho-Pass I’d be shot, arrested, and shut away from society. Thank goodness I don’t live there. Psycho-Pass, the anime about a utopian/dystopian future where the human psyche can be digitally measured and people with even the potential for criminal acts are captured or killed, is getting a new movie out tomorrow.…
By Toshi Nakamura Published January 8, 2015 -
Kotaku EastMario in Puzzle & Dragons is a License to Print Money
How do you make even more money off of one of the most popular game franchises? Add a dash of gaming’s most iconic character, that’s how. GungHo Online Entertainment just announced today an upcoming collaborative game on the Nintendo 3DS, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. While it looks like Puzzle & Dragons with…
By Toshi Nakamura Published January 8, 2015 -
Kotaku EastPlaying Tennis with a Wooden Sword is Like Something Out of an Anime
Nissin Cup Noodle – best friend of college students everywhere – has released its latest commercial that features Japanese pro tennis player Kei Nishikori, playing tennis with a wooden sword. I’d say this is crazy if it didn’t actually look pretty awesome. Nishikori, dressed as historical Japanese sword master Miyamoto Musashi, and wielding a wooden…
By Toshi Nakamura Published January 5, 2015 -
Kotaku East
The Solid Snake You Never Knew
Solid Snake: Badass agent. Special ops legend. Unsuccessful illustrator – wait, what? For fans of the Metal Gear Solid games, Solid Snake is an iconic hero with a background steeped in legend. The clone of Big Boss who thwarted multiple potential nuclear catastrophes, the chiseled, bandana-wearing agent is a hardened hero. But back in his…
By Toshi Nakamura Published January 5, 2015 -
Kotaku East
Giving Money as a Gift, Turned into an Art Form
One of the many New Years’ customs in Japan is the handing out of “Otoshidama” (お年玉) – something of a New Years’ allowance where elders give money to their younger relatives. But this being a custom doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to make it entertaining. See for yourself. Part of the custom of Otoshidama is…
By Toshi Nakamura Published January 2, 2015 -
Kotaku East
Year-End Cosplay in Japan: The Cute, the Sexy, the Weird
Comic Market – better known as “Comiket” – is the Japanese bi-annual 3-day indie manga event. Not only is there plenty of manga, but there’s cosplay, too. Lots of it. The event took place from December 28th to the 30th and attendance was the highest it’s ever been for the winter Comiket, with over 560,000…
By Toshi Nakamura Published January 2, 2015 -
Kotaku East
In Final Fantasy XV, Your MP Isn’t for Magic
As far as we currently know, the combat in Final Fantasy XV is going to be your basic action RPG format with single button presses for attacks. So how is the magic going to work then? While he wouldn’t offer specifics, director Hajime Tabata did reveal some interesting aspects of the combat mechanics in his…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 25, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Nothing Says “Christmas” Like Loads of Toys at a Convention
Shonen Jump publisher Shueisha’s annual convention, Jump Festa, features everything Jump-related from manga, anime, video games, card games, stage events, and of course, merchandise. Much of the merchandise on display is for upcoming items, and others are available on the floor. From the ongoing hot series to the gold classics, there’s something for everyone who’s…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 25, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Hands on With the New Ace Attorney Demo
Capcom had a playable demo of the latest Ace Attorney game, The Great Ace Attorney: The Adventures of Ryunosuke Naruhodou at this year’s Jump Festa that highlighted the games new addition to the series, the “collaborative deduction” system. The demo was relatively short, taking place on a boat to England where the protagonist and his…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 23, 2014 -
Kotaku EastDragon Quest Heroes May be My Favorite Warriors-Style Game Ever
For the playable demo of Dragon Quest Heroes, I went in expecting just another Warriors-style game with a Dragon Quest skin over it. What I got was much more. During this past weekend in Japan, the annual Jump Festa was held, during which – among other things – Square Enix revealed a playable demo for…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 22, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Final Fantasy XV‘s Director Breaks Down the Newest Trailer
Not only did Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata unveil the latest game trailer chock full of new info today, but he was kind enough to address much of the new information contained within. During the Q&A section of the Jump Festa 2015 stage event, Tabata revealed several new tidbits and clarifications about the highly…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 20, 2014 -
Kotaku EastNintendo Warns Parents About Kids Spending Their Money
Parents, do you know what video games your kids are playing? Do you know what they’re buying? Please pay more attention. For Nintendo. It happened with the iPhone, costing Apple millions of dollars to pay back people whose kids went overboard with in-app purchases on their parents’ iPhones. Now, Nintendo is asking that parents and…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 18, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Report: A New JoJo Fighting Game is Coming to PS4
JoJo fans rejoice, it looks like there’s a new game coming your way. Let’s hope it’s not as DLC-ridden as the last Revealed online via Korean website Daum 루리웹, in what looks to be a leaked scan of an upcoming issue of Jump Comics, is a full page article advertisement for a new “stylish JoJo…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 18, 2014 -
Kotaku East
What Final Fantasy is, According to its Creator
From the mouth – or rather, the keyboard – of Hironobu Sakaguchi. If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy series, you’ve heard of him. The man’s blood and tears are in the genes of the game series, and while he no longer works at Square Enix, his influence remains. In a Weekly Famitsu interview…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 18, 2014 -
Kotaku East
The Latest Final Fantasy Looks to the Original
The latest official Final Fantasy game, from current Final Fantasy top man Yoshinori Kitase, was announced in an interview between Kitase and series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi in Weekly Famitsu Titled Mevius Final Fantasy, the game is being developed in-house and is slated for release on iOS and Android in Spring, 2015. According to Kitase, the…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 17, 2014 -
Kotaku East
The Most Memorable PlayStation Games for Japanese Devs
Developers play games too. They also have their likes and dislikes. 107 Japanese devs were asked what their most memorable game was out of two decades’ worth of the PlayStation library. Here’s the top 6. Japanese gaming mag Dengeki Playstation, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the PlayStation platform, sent out the questionnaires to 107 Japanese…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 11, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Hideo Kojima’s Memories of the PlayStation
Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear franchise, has many stories to tell about his experience with the PlayStation over the past two decades. He was kind enough to share a few of them. “I was in Kobe, and it was in 1993 when the precursor to Kojima Productions, Kaihatsu Gobu (開発5部 trans: Development Section…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 11, 2014 -
Kotaku East
People’s Impressions of a Virtual Japanese Schoolgirl
We missed shaking our heads at a Japanese schoolgirl at Tokyo Game Show this year, but some lucky people got to last month, and it looks like they enjoyed it. On November 29th and 30th, Sony held a demo event for their virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus. One of the demos there was Summer Lesson,…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 11, 2014 -
Kotaku EastMan Reduced to Tears After Beating Browser Game
One of Japan’s most popular browser games, Kantai Collection held its Fall seasonal event over the past few weeks. Apparently it was quite emotional. In Kantai Collection, players collect “fleet girls” – anthropomorphized WWII Japanese battleships – that they level up and take out on mission maps to defeat bosses and hopefully obtain other rare…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 5, 2014 -
Kotaku East
What Jurassic Park Did for the Original PlayStation
Over 20 years ago (1 day counts as “over,” right?) Sony released the original PlayStation console and changed the face of gaming. Thanks in part to Jurassic Park This week’s Weekly Famitsu, was dedicated in large part to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sony’s console. In a recollection of the console’s development, Ken Kutaragi, the…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 4, 2014
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