Kotaku East

Korean Gaming Pros Appeared on SNL in Counter-Strike Parody

This past weekend SNL Korea parodied Counter-Strike and featured appearances from top StarCraft players. Gaming giants Hong Jin-Ho (aka “YellOw”) and Lim Yohwan (aka “BoxeR”) made special guest appearances on SNL Korea Tipster Landon points out that there’s a reason why Hong and Lim are appearing together in this faux Counter-Strike set against the Imjin…

Can Anyone Find These North Korean Kids Smaller Guitars?

Never mind that these children don’t actually seem like children. That they come off as somewhat too perfect and too poised. Sure, they play too well. But, what the hell’s up with the jumbo guitars? It’s like they are playing cellos. Cellos that sound and look like guitars. Surely, they have child-sized guitars in North…

Awesome Gundam Models To Destroy Your Eyeballs

Late last week, the big Gundam model expo got underway in Tokyo. And if you like Gundam models or giant mecha, you’re going to love the plastic on display. These models and dioramas were completed by incredibly talented and passionate individuals—many of Japan’s best Gundam model builders. Have a look at the photos below, courtesy…

Arcade Tokens Mistaken for Real Chinese Money

Arcade tokens have always been a form of currency. Oftentimes, they come in the form of smaller or lighter coins with cute, arcade-themed decals; but what happens when an arcade token is minted like actual legal tender? For the buses in Shenyang, China, it means unscrupulous passengers getting free public bus rides. Earlier this month…

Chinese Indie Creates Movember-Inspired Shaving Game

Movember is coming to an end and a shave may be coming up for those that grew their beards in support for men’s health issues. However, for one Chinese independent developer, the shaving has only just begun. Beard Power, a recently released mobile game by Little Big Fun in Beijing, China, is a game where…

These Pokemon Cards Might Make You Cry

When you think of Pocket Monster cards, you probably don’t think misty-eyed family memories. Look at these three cards and you just might. In this card, you can see Tepig, one of the starter Pokemon in Pokemon Black and White. Surrounding Tepig is a mother, father, and their son, who is holding the Pocket Monster.…

Katy Perry’s Geisha Act Being Called “Racist”

During tonight’s American Music Awards, Katy Perry showed up dressed in a Japanese kimono. Or in a Chinese cheongsam. Or both, actually. Some folks online aren’t happy about that at all. And because of that, some are calling Perry’s performance racist. One Twitter user (via The Huffington Post) said Perry “nailed the traditionally ignorant costume…

Telling the World About China’s Dissidents, One Playing Card at a Time

An entrepreneur in Dallas got in touch with me last month saying he had a product called Political Prisoners of China Playing Cards, asking if I’d like to review them. Chinese political prisoners. Playing cards. Dallas. I live in Beijing. It made no sense. How could I say no? To field test, I got in…

Persona 5 Announced for the PS3

Atlus has finally (finally!) made an official announcement regarding Persona 5. It’s headed to the PlayStation 3 next winter in Japan. Here’s the game’s teaser trailer. No word yet on a Western release. トレーラー映像 / PERSONA5 [Atlustube@YouTube]

We Didn’t Ask for this Persona Music Game

But…we’re getting it. Well, the PS Vita is. It’s called Persona 4: Dancing All Night Slated for a fall 2014 release, the game is dubbed as a “sound action” title. Atlus isn’t developing Persona 4: Dancing All Night, but rather, Tokyo-based developer Dingo. (Who?) No word yet on a Western release. Persona Channel [Official Site]…

Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold, the latest Persona arcade fighting title, is headed to the PlayStation 4 next summer in Japan. No word yet on a Western release.

The 3DS Is Getting a New Persona Game. It Looks Different.

Tonight in Japan, Atlus just announced a new Persona game. It’s called Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, it’s slated for the 3DS, and it’s probably not what you are expecting. The RPG features characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4, which is cool. But the characters are cuted up “chibi” (“little” in Japanese) versions…

My First Few Hours of Lightning Returns in Pictures

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII hit store shelves all across Japan yesterday and you can bet it has already found a home on my PS3. So last night, I sat down and spent a good five hours with the game—all the while jotting down notes and taking pictures for your enjoyment. [Spoiler Warning: Of course,…

Chinese Housewife’s Mao Zedong Cosplay Will Blow Your Mind

There are not enough words to describe how good this former housewife is at pulling off Chairman Mao. These days, Chen Yan makes her living impersonating Mao Zedong. According to the mainland People magazine (via South China Morning Post), the 57 year-old Chen is one of a handful Mao impersonators in the country. Due to…

The Beauty of RWBY‘s Fight Scenes Will Make Your Jaw Drop

Over the last few months, the good people over at Rooster Teeth (the group behind machinima hit Red vs Blue) have been producing their own original game and anime-inspired web series called RWBY. And while it’s hardly deep, its first season provides enough action and imagination to draw anyone in. Good – Fairytale Elements Abound…

Crazy Man in a PS4 Costume Tries To Crash an Xbox One Party

On YouTube, Megwin TV is a Japanese comedy collective. One of its members dressed up in a DualShock 4 costume and tried to get into an Xbox One launch party. That not only takes some balls, but also a large fake controller. Trolling Xbone Launch in PS4 Costume [Megwin TV] To contact the author of…

Forget Google Glass, Sony’s Working on Smart Wigs

Sony has filed a patent for a “wearable computing device” that’s in a wig. It’s called SmartWig. Sony’s patent (via Engadget Japan), which was filed this past May but made public this week, describes a hairpiece with input sensors able to process data and communicate with another device. The techy bits would be hidden while…

Vampire Stripping, Otaku, and Bland Combat Abound in Akiba’s Trip 2

Akiba’s Trip 2 is the story of a boy and his friends trying to keep Tokyo’s Akihabara safe—from vampires. The only way to beat the vampire menace? Strip them and expose them to the sun! …And that summary should be enough to tell you exactly what you are in for with Akiba’s Trip 2 Good…

Another Huge Amount of Cocaine Washed Up in Japan

Yesterday, there were reports of discovering eighty kilos of cocaine on a Japanese beach. And today? Forty kilos more. Somebody sure loves cocaine. Like the previous find, the forty kilos were packed in backpacks. One was 1.2 miles from the earlier stash, and the other was nearly five miles away. Combine this latest haul with…

Your Long, Buttered-Toast Nightmare Is Over

Thank goodness! It’s about time we traded struggling to spread real butter on toast with butter strings. This is “Easy Butter” from Japan’s Metex. In short, you stick a slab of butter in the contraption, turn it, and grate strings of butter. Genius! Below, you can see that while the weight is the same (8…