Kotaku East

Mobile Game Puts Players’ Private Videos Online

Oh dear. Chinese mobile app FengKuang LaiWang “leaked” over 35,000 user videos online, including clips of players in their underwear or naked. As reported on Beijing Newsand South China Morning Post, FengKuang LaiWang, which means “Frantic Relationship,” is a charade type game which allows players to video themselves acting out a charade and then share…

Former Square Enix Honcho Talks about Cloud Gaming’s Future

Last month, Former Square Enix top man Yoichi Wada announced that he would be helming a new company named “Shinra Technologies.” No, they’re not going to try to drain the planet of its life force to use as energy. Yet. In an interview with Weekly Famitsu, Wada talked about his new company and what they…

Nothing Says Anime Birthday Like Chocolate and Hardcore Fans

When anime characters have birthdays, sometimes the most dedicated of dedicated fans celebrate online. There are typicallycakes and merchandise. This, though, is not typical. October 4 was the birthday of Prince of Tennis character Keigo Atobe. Prince of Tennis is a popular manga and anime centered around, well, tennis. To mark the occasion, Japanese snack…

Smash Bros. Creator Explains How Characters Get on the Roster

The Super Smash Bros. series has always had a wide variety of characters to choose from, and the roster for the latest Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is no different. So how did the series creator, Masahiro Sakurai, choose who would be in it? In his column in the latest Weekly Famitsu, Sakurai addressed…

Virtual Idol Hatsune Miku Dazzled on David Letterman

Tonight, virtual idol Hatsune Miku appeared on the Late Show with The David Letterman and blew the roof off the dump. Miku performed “Sharing the World,” and the crowd really seemed into it. Dave seemed slightly perplexed. Hatsune Miku: “Sharing the World” – David Letterman [Late Show@YouTube] Late Show with David Letterman [Official Site] To…

When Anime Faces and Reality Meet, Things Get Freaky

There is nothing wrong with googly-eyed anime characters. There is nothing wrong with paper masks. But giant-eyed paper masks on humans in real world settings? Yikes! Recently a Tumblr site called 2.5D Mask has been uploading photos of a woman wearing different kinds of anime inspired paper masks. Why 2.5? Because, it seems, like other…

Tetsuya Nomura’s Take on Hatsune Miku Looks So Final Fantasy

You might know Square Enix game creator Tetsuya Nomura best for his Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts character designs. Recently, his version of virtual idol Hatsune Miku was revealed in New York. Via Sega, here is what Hatsune Miku usually looks like. Or this. And as Famitsu shows, this is Tetsuya Nomura’s take, which was…

Oh Hey, It’s Samus from Metroid in Monster Hunter 4G

Neat? Not neat? Whichever! Samus is going to appear in special Monster Hunter 4G side quest downloadable content, complete with giant weapons. Yes, this is the Samus from Metroid: Other M, and she will be playable in both her Varia Suit and her Zero Suit. The quest DLC will be available for download from December…

Today’s Lunar Eclipse Looked Spectacular

There was a total lunar eclipse just now. The blood moon! And boy, did it look amazing. As reported on USA Today, the entire eclipse was only viewable in parts of eastern Asia, Hawaii, parts of Australia and New Zealand as well the Western portion of North America. Most of Japan was able to see…

LoL Clone Caliber of Spirit Definitely Lacks Spirit

During this year’s World Cyber Arena, an e-sports tournament in Yinchuan, China, another multiplayer online battle arena was added to the list of games that cyber athletes competed in. Rounding out the MOBA genre, Tencent’s “new” Caliber of Spirit is a cheap League of Legends knock-off. Developed by NetDragon, Caliber of Spirit was released late…

Anime Posters Will Taunt You at This Japanese Arcade

An arcade at a shopping center in Kobe, Japan is covered with anime posters ready to make fun of you. So mean. And yet, so wonderful. Japanese writer and columnist Tomoki Yoshimura snapped photos of the posters and uploaded them to his Twitter account The arcade is called Metro Playland Zoo, and the posters feature…

The Most Unusual Sailor Moon Product Ever Released

Over the years, we’ve seen Sailor Moon stationery, fancy clothes, bags, pens, headphones, chopsticks, video games, underwear, toys, figurines, perfume, anime, dinner plates, live-action musicals, and now as Yahoo! News reports, there’s this: Sailor Moon sanitation pads. As IT Media also reports, Japanese brand Elleair is rolling out the Sailor Moon feminine hygiene napkins on…

Now, Square Enix Is Suing SNK Playmore

Back in August, Kotaku reported that SNK Playmore was taking Square Enix to court because High Score Girl, a manga Square Enix published, allegedly featured SNK characters without permission. Today, Square Enix announced it was now suing SNK. As Square Enix states in an official release, it was bringing the lawsuit against SNK Playmore because…

Your Complete Fall 2014 Anime Guide

Summer is finally over and now it’s time for some pleasantly cool weather. Not that you’ll want to go outside and enjoy it with 50 new anime in the pipeline. But how do you know which ones to watch? Check out the trailers and brief blurbs to see which of them catches your interest. [*Note:…

Scrap Metal Hulk is, Well, Incredible

Scrap metal art is not new. Loads of artists made wonderful works out of whatever metal they can get their hands on. Very few, however, can pull off an Incredible Hulk like this. You are looking at the work of Thailand’s BanHunLek. The shop is known for its custom sculptures made out of used car…

“China’s Youngest Hacker” Says He’s a Good Kid

Meet Wang Zhengyang. He’s being hailed as his country’s “youngest hacker” and has started giving presentations on internet security. And he’s apparently using his powers for good. According to Want China Times, Wang is 13 years old, but CCTV, China’s largest television network, says he is 12 years old. I’m sure somewhere in China there…

From StarCraft Pros to TV Stars

Pro-gaming is hard. You gotta be good. You gotta train hard. But, like for any sport, it doesn’t last forever. A handful of StarCraft pros have taken a rather unusual post pro-gaming career path in South Korea: The entertainment industry. For years now, StarCraft has been incredibly popular in the region—not just playing it, but…

Report: Microsoft Sells 100,000 Xbox Ones in China

The Xbox One, the first official video game console to launch in China in 14 years, has started its console life in the middle kingdom with a bang! According to Chinese news sources, the Xbox One sold over 100,000 units within the first week of sales. According to Chinese video games news site 17173, during…

Häagen-Dazs Wine Ice Cream Won’t Get You Drunk

And it’s called “Antoinette.” So let them eat…um…ice cream! Going on sale this December in Japan, Häagen-Dazs’ Antoinette ice cream is made with, according to Japanese website NariNari, “high-grade red wine” from Bordeaux, France. There is glittery, edible foil sprinkled a pink red wine sauce on top of the mellow-flavored wine ice cream. The bottom…

This year’s Tokyo Game Show had the second-highest attendance in its history, with 251,832 visitors over the four-day show. The highest TGS attendance was in 2013, with 270,197 visitors. I thought this year’s TGS was really good. You?