Kotaku East

In Japan, if you buy two 3DS games between today and January 13, you can get a third for free. However, you must select the downloadable freebie from a list of fourteen titles, which you can view here. No word yet if this campaign will be extended outside Japan.

Korea’s PhotoShop Trolls Turn to Beauty

This summer, a Korean language Facebook page called We Do Phoshop appeared on Kotaku and took over the internet with its humorous Photoshops (see above). Now, those internet wizards want to make you beautiful. If you are not familiar with We Do Phoshop’s handiwork, people submit their photos for the group to digital alter, putting…

The Short Life Of The PS2 In China

China’s game console ban might finally be lifted, so it’s a good time to look back at the case study that was the PlayStation 2. During the course of the 13 year-old console ban, the one home console that was allowed to be sold, albeit for just a short time, was the PlayStation 2. The…

Haunting PS3 Exclusive Has Unlikely Inspirations

More often than not, your typical video game is inspired by movies, manga, or other video games. PS3 exclusive Rain is different. Typical, it’s not. “Initially, we were thinking about what would surprise everyone,” Rain game designer Yuki Ikeda recently told me at Sony Computer Entertainment’s Tokyo headquarters. “And we thought we hit on something…

The Future of Gaming in China, According to an Industry Veteran

Richard Tsao has had his fair share of interesting stories about China. Tsao, who headed up Ubisoft’s Chengdu office, will be leaving China for personal reasons; but even as he leaves the Middle Kingdom, Tsao says China’s game industry is still the place to be. In 2007, Tsao started Ubisoft’s Chengdu office with the goal…

A cloud version of Dragon Quest X is coming to Japanese smartphones and tablets. It will be released between December 2013 and February 2014. Subscription fees are TBA.

China Lifts Their Console Ban… But with Strings Attached

You’ve probably heard that China has a video game console ban. Over the last year, there have been rumors that the 13 year-old ban would be lifted—and last Friday evening, a sneaky online posting by the Chinese government seems to have confirmed that the ban has indeed been lifted. This past July, the State Council…

China’s Transformers Are Junk in Disguise

There’s more than meets the eye with these Transformers. You are actually looking at scrap—discarded car, motorcycle, and machine parts—that has been lovely sculpted into the iconic robots. Thank Chinese Transformers fans for that. Twenty-three Chinese diehards created Transformers robots like Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee from junk. As ChinaNews (via ShanghaiIst) explains, some of…

Oculus Rift Makes Virtual Idol Handshakes Possible

The future! It’s here, and it’s brought virtual reality handshakes with Hatsune Miku. Aren’t you happy to be alive in 2013? YouTube user Netkick recently showed off a Oculus Rift tech demo which uses the Novint Falcon pistol peripheral and a rubber hand. As shown in the video below, you can shake hands with virtual…

SNL Korea Serves Up GTA V Parody Set in Old Korea

How about a Grand Theft Auto V set during the Joseon Period? SNL Korea recently did a Grand Theft Auto V parody. Have a look. When the mom shows up (and starts pounding her kid), she says, “This is why you are turning violent.” SNL KOREA 시즌4 – Ep.30 : GTA조선 [YouTube Thanks, Sang!] To contact…

12 Minutes of The Evil Within Footage Will Have You Crying for Mommy

Hardly a word gets spoken in the first few minutes of this Evil Within gameplay footage. And, really, what needs to be said? Some of what’s shown here appears to be what Kotaku‘s Richard Eisenbeis saw at the Tokyo Game Show last week. The first chunk of gameplay on display here is mostly atmospherics, while…

The Totally Real Totoro Bus Stops of Japan

One of the most memorable scenes in My Neighbor Totoro is the one at the bus stop. Wouldn’t it be great to visit a real Totoro bus stop? Good news. You can. In Japan, there are a couple or so Totoro bus stops with real working buses. Over the years, there have been several Totoro…

Galak-Z Is a Love Letter to Asteroids and 80s Anime

On the final day of the Tokyo Game Show this year, Sony held the “Indie Stream” event, celebrating all kinds of different upcoming indie titles. But of all the titles there, the one that caught my eye was Galak-Z: The Dimensional, a PS4/PC game that is one part Asteroids and one part 80s space opera…

The Prettiest Game I Saw at the Tokyo Game Show

Among my personal Japan-only favorites is the PlayStation RPG Walk Over My Corpse (Ore no Shikabane wo Koeteyuke). It took sumi-e style graphics, turn-based combat, and a breeding system to make an infinitely replayable classic. Now, a decade-and-a-half after its release, the sequel was playable at this year’s TGS. The demo for Walk Over My…

Japanese Spock Lubes Up for Captain Kirk

Leave it to a Japanese lube maker to keep Captain Kirk’s seat free of rust. Oh my. As noted on MSN and NariNari.com, a commercial for Kure 5-56 features scenes from Star Trek Into Darkness, which opened in Japan about a month ago, mixed in with footage of celeb Shigeru Izumiya as a Japanese Mister…

Hair Fetish Site Sure Is Horrific

If you’ve seen The Ring, you’ll certainly agree: Long hair is scary. Website Vnlonghairs.com is a paid membership site ($15 a month!) for those who want to look at photos of Vietnamese women with long hair. It doesn’t look to be a porn site per se. It does look to be numerous photos of women…

Malaysian Politician Makes Crap Up, Says GTAV Is Banned in the U.S.

In Malaysia, a member of Parliament named Reezal Merican Bin Naina Merican is asking his government to ban Grand Theft Auto V due to violence. His rationale is that the United States and the United Kingdom have already banned the game. They have? Oh really? Um, no. They have not. Courtesy of tipster Mohamad, below…

You’ve Never Seen Tattoos Like Banana Tattoos

Think human beings are the only ones who can enjoy tattoos? Ha! Bananas can get them, too. Japanese artist End Cape specializes in giving the yellow fruit tats. His process is time consuming and taxing. End Cape punctures small holes in the banana’s skin using a pin, and this causes the peel to “bruise” and…

Silver Spoon is an Anime with Real Heart

Six weeks ago, I listed Silver Spoon as one of the five anime of the summer you should be watching—and with good reason. From start to finish, Silver Spoon is an anime that walks the fine line between realistic drama and comedy to create a series brimming with real heart. Good – You May Learn…

Korean Gaming Legend BoxeR Is Leaving eSports, It Seems

One of the greatest and most famous eSports players, BoxeR (aka Yo Hwan Lim) is leaving eSports in a decision that some in South Korea are calling a full retirement. Since August 2012, BoxeR has been coaching Starcraft II team SK Telecom T1. The team hasn’t exactly been racking up the wins. According to SK…