Kotaku East

Game Developer Says His Son Has Been Kidnapped

The last time game programmer Kris Morness says he saw his 5 year-old son, Maximus, was on July 25 this year. It was a Thursday, and they talked on Skype. Everything seemed normal, but normal can be deceiving. That was the last time Morness has seen—or heard from—his son. Now, he’s doing everything to get…

How to Get Software Developers Out of Bed

Mornings suck! At one Japanese company, the software developers kept coming in after noon. But now, there looks to be a solution: Food and aerobics. At Tokyo-based Dwango, software developers, who work on its tech platform and who make Wii U and PS Vita apps roll in after noon, were chronically coming in late to…

An Anime That Will Make Even the Most Jaded Heart Weep

The thing I love about many new anime films is that they often serve to introduce me to excellent series I missed out on during the years when I didn’t watch any anime. One of these is Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day—a beautiful, heartbreaking story about loss. And as the theatrical film of…

Producer Avi Arad On Mass Effect, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid Movies

Avi Arad, the man who helped put many comic book heroes on the big screen, including Spider-Man, Blade, and Iron Man, is at it again. This time, he’s set his sights on turning video game adaptations into Hollywood blockbusters, just the way comic book movies have become. During a recent interview in Beijing, Arad spoke…

I Am in Love With This Bewitching Game Soundtrack

The Witch and The Hundred Knight presents a world filled with monsters, knights, ghosts, animal people, and, of course, witches. What’s amazing is that you’d probably be able to guess that just by listening to a few bars of the soundtrack. This is because several of the songs in this soundtrack are reminiscent of Danny…

In Japan, There Are Fake Noses for You To Pick

Remember, you can pick your friends. You can pick your nose. But you can’t pick your friend’s nose. So pick this phoney nose! From the folks at Bandai, here’s a line of synthetic rubber noses called “Hojirerun desu” (ほじれるんです), which means they are “pickable.” These are capsule toys and starting next month, they’ll be sold…

Someone Wants $10 Million for This Yu-Gi-Oh Card

This isn’t just any Yu-Gi-Oh card. It is apparently a one of a kind Yu-Gi-Oh card. And it’s one that has an astronomical price tag: a cool ten million bucks! Printed on stainless steel, this unique Black Luster Soldier card was given to the winner of the first nationwide Yu-Gi-Oh tournament in Japan in 1999.…

No More New PlayStation Home Content for Japan

Today, Sony announced that PlayStation Home will no longer be updated with new content in Japan. In an official release, Sony stated that starting this September, new PlayStation Home content will end in Japan. It will end in other Asian regions in March 2014. New PlayStation Home content will continue to be released in North…

Grumpy Cat, Meet Disappointed Cat

Aw, how adorable! But what’s troubling you, Disappointed Cat? Is it us? We are sorry! This is Foo-chan, a 3 year-old Chinchilla Golden with his own Twitter account and Tumblr. The feline’s owner uploads regular pics of Foo-chan to share the cute pet with the internet. But Foo-chan’s heavy brow makes him look… worried. Like,…

A 38-Hit Combo. Using A Horse

Need further proof of just how crazy the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fighting game is? Watch this. Yup. That’s a horse. Amazing. Jojo’s All Star Battle Gyro Combos [YouTube, via @Richmond_Lee]

Video Game CEO Becomes a Professional Baseball Pitcher

Some people dream of being a game company boss. Former Korean game company boss Min Huh dreams of playing professional baseball. And those dreams are now a reality. According to Korean site Inven and MSN Korea (via tipster Sang), Huh recently joined the independent pro baseball team Rockland Boulders as a pitcher in the Can-Am…

Super Smash Bros. Creator Believes in the Oculus Rift

In his weekly column in this week’s Weekly Famitsu, Super Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai wrote about the changing forms of media technology. In particular, the article talked of the release of new digital readers and the advance to digital media from paper media. One upcoming tech in particular that Sakurai predicted would be a…

Is Japanese Toast Art the Next Big Thing?

You’ve probably seen Japanese cappuccino art, right? It’s incredible. But have you seen Japanese toast art? This is the work of Hittomii, who enjoys bringing anime characters to the breakfast table. Here, have a look: Earlier this spring, Hittomii began uploading toast art in earnest. Prior to these, Hittomii concentrated mainly on character cookies. The…

This Video Game Stage Adaptation Will Let You Choose The Ending

Steins;Gate, the popular video game, already has manga, anime, and novel adaptations. The game has had different spinoffs and side stories, including multiple games and a movie (Note to fans: the blu-ray version of the movie, coming in December, will have English subtitles). Now, Steins;Gate is getting a stage adaptation. However, rather than just have…

The JoJo Fighting Game is Full of Love, But Plagued by DLC

Based on the manga series by Hirohiko Araki, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is basically a love letter to the series’ multitude of fans. If my private twitter account is any indication, ever since the game was initially announced last year, every subsequent announcement and teaser about the game has been met with an…

Online in Japan, the Nintendo 2DS Baffles Many

Yesterday, Nintendo of America revealed a new handheld: the Nintendo 2DS. Kotaku checked it out and chronicledthe reaction in the West. But what about the reaction in Nintendo’s home turf of Japan? Not… good. On 2ch, Japan’s largest web forum, the reaction was rough. At first, many 2ch commenters thought the announcement was a prank.…

The Japanese Girlfriend Pillow Resurfaces (Or Does It?)

In the past few weeks, the international media has been reporting on a Japanese pillow that’s shaped like a woman’s lap. It’s being sold at Narita Airport, outside Tokyo, and the foreign press is lapping the pillow up and claiming it’s experiencing a resurgence. But is it really? Dubbed the “Hizamakura” (“lap pillow”), it originally…

The next Tales will be a mobile game. Tales of Link is the name of the newest entry in the long-standing JRPG series, according to a teaser site recently put up by Namco Bandai. The game hits Japan this year, and will be available on both iOS and Android as a free-to-play title with in-app…

Battlestar Galactica Confused with Futuristic Aircraft Carriers

The Japanese language version of Chinese state media site China.org.cn recently ran an article titled “Four Major Trends in Aircraft Carrier Development.” Guess one of those trends is Battlestar Galactica art. China.org.cn (AKA China Internet Information Center) is a Chinese Government-authorized website (read: state media) and translates articles into a variety of languages, such as…

What Can You Do with a Broken Nintendo DS?

You can play Game Boy Advance games, that’s what! Who needs dual screens? Who? While the Nintendo DS and DS Lite have GBA slots, the Nintendo DSi, released in 2008, does not. こいつのDSレベル高い [Twitter] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice…