Kotaku East

OLED or Not, the New PS Vita Seems Fine!

You might have seen the comparison pics—or even the video. The new PS Vita slim features a LCD display instead of an OLED display. But you know what, it’s no biggie. I’ve been able to play with the new Vita this week in Tokyo. It’s not a bad redesign at all. In fact, it’s pretty…

Are You Lazy? A Gamer? There’s This.

Laying on the floor and gaming is hard work! It’s apparently so difficult that a Japanese company has made the above contraption for individuals who want to sprawl out and game, but don’t want the hassle of holding something up. Holding sucks! The cushion is called “Goron,” which in Japanese refers to lying down. And…

Dig Gravity Daze? Looks like Sony’s Japan Studio is working on another Gravity Daze title.

The Sights of the Tokyo Game Show

Hey! It’s that time of year again. It’s time for the Tokyo Game Show. Kicking off today, TGS runs ’til Sunday. Kotaku is in attendance and will be updating with news and impressions. Here’s a look at the showfloor, before TGS opens to the general public this Saturday.

Five Things I Liked About Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Today at the Tokyo Game Show 2013, I got some hands-on time with Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. As this is the first time the game has been playable in Japan, I was excited to see what all the hype was about. And simply put, I had a lot of fun just playing it. Here…

Final Fantasy X Looks Beautiful in HD, X-2 Looks… Good

Today at the Tokyo Game Show 2013, I got some hands-on time with the HD remasters of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 As expected, the games of Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster play identically to their PS2 counterparts and the visuals are the sole area of improvement. In Final Fantasy X,…

Checking Out The PS Vita TV

The PS Vita TV seems kind of confusing if you try to wrap your head around it: So, it’s a PS Vita, but it’s not really portable? And it doesn’t have a screen? You hook it up to your TV? You need a separate controller? Getting some time to actually fiddle with the “world’s smallest…

First Look at the Bayonetta Anime

Everyone’s favorite pistol heel wearing witch Bayonetta is getting her own anime. Dubbed Bayonetta Bloody Fate, the anime will open on November 23 in Japan at ten select theaters across the country for a limited two-week run. Voice actress Atsuko Tanaka will be voicing the anime’s titular character, Bayonetta. Bayonetta-Movie [Official Site]

Dark Souls 2 Owes Me No Favors, And I Respect That

I have never played Dark Souls. I believe I should probably preface this article by making this fact clear. The original Demon’s Souls hated me. It hated my mother. It hated my whole damn family. I died so many times in my first hour of playing the game I just could not continue it. That…

PS4 gets a launch window in Asia. Sony revealed tonight that the PS4 will be available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea this December. Japan won’t get it until next February.

Porno Actress Gets a Terrible Plastic Figurine

Adult film actress Akiho Yoshizawa got a special, limited edition figurine. Priced at around $300, it can be summed up best in one word: awful The 1/8 scale, individually numbered figurine itself is from a few years back, but was recently unearthed by 2ch, Japan’s largest bulletin board, where it was widely and deservedly mocked…

Here’s How Pokémon X/Y Lets You Dress Trainers

In Pokémon X/Y, you can customize your trainers. This is something The Pokémon Company previously revealed, but here’s a good look at how dress-up works in Pokémon X/Y There seems to be a big game in how the characters look in this mode and in the actual game, but whatever. Not sure which is better…

Realistic Dragonball Looks Effing Tough

Dragonball characters tend to look like, well, Dragonball characters. And that’s fine! But here’s how a handful of them appear if they were slightly more realistic—and darker. They look tough! This the work of Chinese artist Angus—make that the damn fine work—and it retains elements of Akira Toriyama’s original art, but with greater realism. Here,…

Breaking—apparently! Japanese site Famitsu busted out a “sokuhou” (速報) or “news flash,” because Microsoft just announced the Xbox One would be launching in Japan in 2014. Online in Japan, people seemed amused by this, joking, “That’s sooner than I thought” and “Wasn’t it going to be 2015?” Previously, Microsoft stated the console would be out…

You’ve Never Seen Sushi Like This

Sushi rolls that look like great works of art. Or video game characters. Or dookie or dicks. Meet Takayo Kiyota, a makizushi (“rolled sushi”) artist. Makizushi is sushi wrapped in rice and seaweed. The cylindrical roll is cut, revealing the roll’s contents. It’s not easy to make good makizushi, let alone makizushi that looks like…

Jackie Chan’s Theme Park Sure Sounds Sappy

You’d think if an action star like Jackie Chan opened a theme park, it would be an exciting, rock’em sock’em experience. Well, then you’d be wrong. According to The Malaysian Times (via USA Today), Jackie Chan plans to build a theme park in Beijing called JC World. The two square kilometer park will house personal…

NetEase’s New League of Legends Clone Is Disappointingly Uninspired

A Three Kingdoms-based multiplayer online battle arena has long been over due. However, NetEase’s attempt at creating a Three Kingdoms MOBA with Heroes of Kingdoms leaves much to be desired. Ever since I started playing China’s various League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients clones, I’ve been expecting a Three Kingdoms-skinned version of it.…

The Lighter Side Of China’s Compulsory Military Training

It’s September again, and that means the start of a brand new school year. In China, the new school year for college freshmen means more than just moving out of house and partying; it means compulsory military training. But it seems there is some fun to be had despite the training’s harsh nature. Attending university…

Naked Man Meditates in Busy Chinese Street

Yesterday, a Russian student at a university in Hainan, China began meditating in the middle of a busy thoroughfare. Chinese people and other foreigners stopped to see if the man was alright. He wasn’t. The man continued to remove articles of clothing while he was meditating, until he ended up completely naked. The man apparently…

CGI Makes Ninja Dancing Better

I didn’t know ninja dancing was a thing, let alone ninja dancing CGI. This is Enra, a Tokyo-based dance troupe that mixes dance rhythms, martial-arts influenced acrobatics, and computer graphics. The group is spearheaded by Nobuyuki Hanabusa, who made a career of creating computer graphics for Japanese television shows and commercials. The performers have impressive…