Kotaku East

Report: A Merger Might Cause an Xbox-PlayStation Monopoly in China

Media reports are coming in that Chinese media companies BesTV and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group are merging. The two companies are respective joint venture partners of Microsoft and Sony for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in China. Sina.com, a major Chinese news portal, published an article early today confirming month-long rumours that the two…

The Most Unusual Hospital I’ve Ever Seen

In my life, for one reason or another, I’ve been to quite a few hospitals. I’ve never seen anything like this. Anywhere. As pointed out by IT Media and Syounan Life, this is the Edogawa Hospital in Tokyo. And this hospital looks like fun—but that’s the point. The poppy, colorful, and playful decor is supposed…

Xbox One China, Right On Schedule

Chinese media is reporting that Microsoft’s Xbox One console is right on schedule for its September 23 release in the middle kingdom. Shanghai-based Dragon TV reports that the Xbox One has already gone through and was approved by the customs process in Shanghai and is now being packed onto trucks for shipment across the country.…

Giant Rabbit Appears, Lays Down On Farmland

Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, the man who brought the world the giant rubber duck and the giant floating hippo, has created another giant creature; a giant rabbit. Earlier this week, Hofman’s newest creation was unveiled in Taoyuan Taiwan: an 82-foot sculpture of a white rabbit as part of the Taoyuan Land Arts Festival. This new…

Being Robert Downey, Jr. Is Not Easy

Though, as you can see by his arrival in South Korea, it sure is noisy. “Sometimes I wonder if people really like me,” tweeted the actor. “And then I go to South Korea…” RDJ Arrives in South Korea [T Downy@YouTube Thanks, Sang!] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him…

Square Enix just launched its Tokyo Game Show website. Many games are listed on the site as appearing at this year’s TGS in either demo or trailer form. Two of them are not on it: Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III. Maybe they’ll be surprises?

Trust This Japanese Celebrity, He’s an A**hole

Well, at least he’s honest. I guess? Or, more likely, he doesn’t know what the shirt means. You see, another Japanese celebrity has been caught with a questionable English t-shirt. Earlier this year, a Japanese kids’ show host wore an outfit that read, “I love cock,” while a pop star donned an unfortunate shirt that…

I Love Seeing the Persona 3 Characters All Grown Up

While it has “Persona 4” in the title, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is really a sequel to Persona 3 as much as Persona 4—especially as Ultimax now includes every member of the Persona 3 main cast we are likely to get. [Spoiler Note: All the information in this article and the included videos are from…

Lupin III Is Both a Terrible Adaptation and a Horrible Film

At the start of the new live-action Lupin III film, Fujiko, seeing one of her fellow thieves avoid a pressure-sensitive museum floor by using a rocket pack, utters, “You’ve got to be joking”—which is more than a little apt as it was exactly what I kept saying again and again over the next two hours…

The New Persona Fighter Lovingly Reminds Me of the Arcade Days of Yore

Remember the days when you would go to an arcade, put a quarter into the machine of your favorite fighting game, and wait for a challenger to walk up, put in his own coin and fight you? So it goes with Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Ultimax comes with an online “Lobby” mode. For it, you…

G.I. Joe Actor Allegedly Extorted Over Sexy Talk

Two women were arrested this week in South Korea over an alleged attempt to extort five million dollars from G.I. Joe actor Lee Byung-hun. One of the women, it seems, is a K-pop singer. According to Sports Chosun and eNews Today (via tipster Sang), Lee met a model and K-pop singer Dahee Kim of the…

10-15 More Years, And Games Might Actually Look Like This

Silicon Studio from Japan are, as you might recall, known for working on the Bravely Default series, and for their rather incredible next-gen engine, which they demoed with a short clip back in April. Now, they’re back, with their tech looking better than ever. The premise seems to be the same as in the last…

The Persona 5 Protagonist Has a Very Appropriate Nickname

We don’t know the name of Persona 5‘s protagonist. In Japan, gamers are calling him either one of two things: “P5‘s main character” (P5の主人公) or “Potter” (ポッター). You know, as in Harry Potter. But they’re not the only ones calling him this. As seen on forums and sites like GameFAQs and Giant Bomb, the English-speaking…

Heavy Metal Baby Is Totally Throwin’ Up the Horns

Babies do funny things! Some of them are accidental. Other times, they have to be on purpose. “Where did you memorize that…” tweeted out new father Nao Hazuki, including a photo of his newborn daughter throwing the horns. This is not your typical Japanese papa as Hazuki is the vocalist for an Osaka deathrash metal…

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Hits Japan Early Next Year

Today, at Sony’s fall conference, the company confirmed that a sequel to Resident Evil: Revelations is on the way. Resident Evil producer Masachika Kawata noted at the conference that the game will take place in a different time period compared to the original RE: Revelations, which translates to a new setting and new characters. The…

The Greatest Air Guitarist in the World. Apparently.

This is Nanami Nagura. She’s a very minor celebrity in Japan, but in the air guitar world, she’s a superstar. This year, Nagura was dubbed the Air Guitar World Champion. Below, you can see her performing in Finland. She edged out two American air guitarists for the title. Congrats to her! Nagura has been competing…

Sony announced a “Glacier White” PS4 that looks like the white PS4 sold with the Destiny bundle. The difference, of course, is that this version isn’t bundled with Destiny. It will be out October 9 in Japan. No word about a Western release. Yet.

Shake Your Head at a Virtual Japanese Schoolgirl

Summer Lesson is an upcoming tech demo for Sony’s new virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus. This is the future of…something. Designed by the Tekken Team, the demo takes you into a schoolgirl’s room and lets you interact with her for a virtual summer lesson. It doesn’t look like much studying is going on. Learning? No.…

A Special PS4 Covered in Metal Slime

To mark the release of hack-and-slash game Dragon Quest Heroes, Sony is releasing a “Dragon Quest Metallic Slime Edition.” According to Famitsu, the Metallic Slime is actually a USB cover. Slated to go on sale with Dragon Quest Heroes next spring, the price is currently TBA. “PlayStation4 ドラゴンクエスト メタルスライム エディション”の発売が決定 [Famitsu] To contact the author…

Nihon Falcom Is Bringing a “Totally New” Ys RPG to PS4 and Vita

The game will feature both exploration, with some jumping and climbing shown in the trailer, and “high speed combat.” The new Ys will be both on the PS4 and the PS Vita, and it’s scheduled to come to Japan in 2015. The trailer, which was revealed during today’s Fall Sony Presentation, can be watched above,…