Kotaku East

The Bizarre Japanese of Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s Newest Map

The Japanese language and Call of Duty have never gotten along. But in the past, that’s been simply due to translation mistakes. That might not be the case here. In the latest downloadable content for Black Ops II, the in-game Japanese is both strange and funny. The downloadable content features four new multiplayer maps, including…

New Final Fantasy Versus XIII Info Is Coming…Apparently!

Final Fantasy Versus XIII designer Tetsuya Nomura recently appeared on a Square Enix radio program and was asked the question on everyone’s mind: When will there be new Final Fantasy Versus XIII info? Nomura seemed to be in good spirits about the question and said, “If we’re talking about when there will be news, MD…

Magi’s Second Half Starts Weak But Ends Strong

Back when I looked at the first half of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic earlier this year, I was impressed by the amount of creativity present in the anime—in everything from its art design to how it re-imagined a literary classic. While much of the adventure and creativity finds its way into the second half,…

In Fantasy Life, There Are More Ways To Be a Hero

Level 5’s newest game Fantasy Life is a whole new take on the JRPG genre. In the vast majority of RPGs, you play as either a magic user or a melee/ranged fighter killing every living creature you come across. But while you can still play as combat classes like a knight or a mage in…

Know Lots about Internet Pornography? Here’s a Job for You!

A recent job listing in China is causing quite a stir. The gig promises a good salary and loads of benefits to those able to surf the web and quickly locate porn. Heck, millions already do this for free! The job listing appeared on the website for Anquan Lianmeng, which as ChinaSmack explains, literally means…

Another update to Nintendo of Korea’s Twitter controversy: Nintendo has apologized. Read more in the original story.

How Valkyria Chronicles Got Me Addicted to a Japanese Social Game

Before last year I had never seriously played a social game. I was never interested in Bejeweled or Farmville (as the later just seemed to be a lazy version of Harvest Moon to me) or any other Facebook/mobile game. Then last year I wrote about Valkyria Chronicles 3. If you have read those articles, you…

Here Are Japan’s Silly Internet Pictures

Japanese dumb picture threads often start with a request. Maybe someone hasn’t laughed in a while and needs a pick-me-up. Thus, he or she asks for silly or stupid pics on 2ch, the country’s biggest forum. Others chip in and contribute goofy images to elicit a chuckle or two. Today would be a good day…

Chinese Cosplayer’s Image Stolen To Sell Companion Services

Last week we reported that Chinese gamers could pay female companions to play online games with them. This type of behavior has created an online industry dedicated to selling companion gaming services. However, it seems this industry is a bit shadier than originally reported. Over the weekend, Chinese cosplayer Zhao Mengyue (赵梦玥) came out against…

Take A Look At What Chinese Bureaucrats Play While At Work

Bureaucracy is a funny thing. It’s supposed to make our lives easier by compartmentalizing things and preventing redundancies, but in China (and most places in the world) it just gives bureaucrats more free time at work. Looking to see where Chinese tax payer money is going the city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, did a study…

PSY’s Latest Video As a Horror Film Trailer

PSY’s video for “Gentleman” is tearing up the internet, racking up over 20 million views in only its first 24 hours on YouTube. But if you think those numbers are scary, then you haven’t seen anything yet. Gentleman M/V: Horror Movie Trailer Edition [David Elmaleh at YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet…

Chinese Gamer Sells Drugs To Buy Virtual Gear

A 19 year-old man in China’s Zhejiang province was arrested earlier this month after being caught dealing drugs. The reason he told police was to purchase better in-game gear to compete in player versus player matches. First reported by China Ningbo Online, the 19 year-old suspect surnamed Wang, was an Internet café attendant. Wang dropped…

Guns and Close Combat Explained with Simple Drawings

A few months back, a thread appeared online in Japan with a simple question: How do you get out of a situation like this? The ensuing answers proved one thing: Don’t ask people whose only experience is based on video games, comic books, and movies. The somewhat simple drawing showed a figure with two guns…

Nintendo of Korea Entangled in Twitter Controversy [Update]

Today, Nintendo’s South Korean branch is finding itself embroiled in controversy after a highly unprofessional comment, allegedly made via Twitter. As mentioned on Korean news site Naver (via tipster Sang), someone using Nintendo of Korea’s Twitter account commented on a photo of celebrity Eun Ji Park (above). Once a weather caster, Park is now a…

One Piece Characters Look Very, Very Familiar

What do Michael Jackson, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ghandi all have in common? They apparently look like One Piece characters, that’s what. Created by Twitter user @Sato3rd, the image below has been making its way around cyberspace recently. It shows One Piece characters and the real world individuals they either look like or seem inspired by.…

On Steam, Square Enix Wants 30 Bucks To Put Tomb Raider into Japanese

Starting April 25, Square Enix is offering a “Japanese Language Pack” on Steam that includes subtitles and a Japanese language voice track for Tomb Raider Do know that the Japanese packaged version will have language support when it hits shops later this month. The Steam version, it seems, is slightly different. According to the game’s…

Awesome Tech Demo Turns You into Iron Man

To promote Iron Man 3‘s Hong Kong release, there’s a really cool tech demo at Hysan Place shopping mall. Powered by Hot Toys and pure awesome, it allows people to wear virtual Iron Man armor. And after you suit up, you can dance around like a goofball. Hong Kong’s Hot Toys, of course, is responsible…

Ixion Saga DT‘s Second Half is Just as Funny as the First Half

Back when I reviewed the first half of Ixion Saga DT late last year, I worried that the humor in the second half of this Capcom-produced deconstruction of fantasy anime wouldn’t live up to that of the first. And while there are some bigger misses in the humor department in the second half, there are…

Game & Wario‘s Cutscenes Are So Cute They Soften Even My Jaded Heart

Game & Wario is a new mini-game collection and spin-off of the WarioWare series for the Wii U. And of the minigames in the collection, many come with a short introduction cutscene starring Wario and/or the other characters from the WarioWare series. While they are often irrelevant to the actual gameplay of the attached minigame—other…

Chinese Man Pickpockets an iPhone By Using… Chopsticks

And if that wasn’t enough, the man used chopsticks to pickpocket from a woman riding a bicycle. And she apparently didn’t even notice and continued pedaling! Photos of the “suit man”, surnamed Wang, pulling off his amazing petty crime in downtown Zhengzhou recently appeared online in China. Wang would later say he began committing crimes…