Kotaku East

Your Rival in Ace Attorney 5 is a Criminal

Ace Attorney 5‘s Japanese release date has been confirmed for July 25th. Defense lawyer Phoenix Wright is back, but his old rival, Miles Edgeworth is not. Taking the side of the prosecution this time around will be a criminal prosecutor. Not a prosecutor of criminals, but a criminal who is a prosecutor. Capcom has released…

Have a Look at China’s Monster Hunter Online

Capcom is teaming up with Tencent Games for Monster Hunter Online, which is aimed at the Chinese market. What’s kind of surprising is that the game runs on the CryEngine 3. Have a look above at the game’s trailer. Monster Hunter Online [Tencent Games via Ruliweb Thanks, Cat Mario and MasterLinkx!] Kotaku East is your…

How Japanese Anime Brings Gaming Hardware To Life

Over the years, countless video games and video game consoles have appeared in Japanese anime. Sometimes, they are part of the story. Other times, they’re just games. It depends, really. This month, as new episodes are being broadcasted in Japan, fans are noticing when game machines pop up in anime. For example, people online were…

Is PSY’s “Gentleman” Video Just a Giant Commercial?

Well, PSY’s newest music video “Gentleman” looks like a smash hit. It also looks like it might be filled with product placements. Go figure! As Kotaku previously mentioned, mobile game Candy Crush Saga appears in the “Gentleman” video for several seconds. There are rumors of a big payout. But this isn’t only alleged product placement…

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…