Kotaku East

Hideo Kojima: This Is What Fox Engine Is All About

The Fox Engine. You’ve heard about it. You’ve seen the PR. We know it’s going to be the game engine for the next Metal Gear The Phantom Pain. So what’s it all about? Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, in a recent tweet, revealed the concept of the Fox Engine, his thoughts on games, and reminded…

This Epic “Last Boss” Isn’t a Video Game Character, But a Japanese Singer

In video games, whether they’re shooting games or role-playing games, there’s always a last boss. And according to convention, the last boss is typically large. Make that, enormous However, this isn’t a video game character. It’s Japanese singer Sachiko Kobayashi. Online in Japan, though, she’s dubbed “the last boss”. And for good reason. Kobayashi is…

The Evolution Of Crazy Japanese Professional Wrestling Video Games

Wrestling video games are quite varied. It’s not just about annual licensed stuff! And, you can always count on the Japanese developers to come up with the craziest ones. So we have selected a few Japanese titles—some of which only came out in Japan—to see how far wrestling games (and muscles) evolved in the past…

You Control the Katamari Creator’s New Game With a 16-Button Joystick. Wait, What?

That monster of a controller above is what you’ll presumably be using to play Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi’s brand new party game, Tenya Wanya Teens. The game is, according to Venus Patrol, “about trying desperately to not say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time, that universal struggle…

Marvel at How Japanese Anime Has Changed and Evolved

While Japanese anime first appeared as early as 1917, it began to flourish in the 1960s with the spread of television throughout Japan. And over the years, its styles have changed. This isn’t new, and it’s something Kotaku has touched on previously (here). However, below you can see images from 2ch that catalogue anime styles…

How Japanese Schoolgirl Uniforms Are Getting Pervert-Proof

For some in Japan, schoolgirls are an object of fetish. That can manifest itself in their appearance in mainstream media, whether that’s cartoons or video games, or in far more unsettling and immediate ways, such as creeps trying to take photos up female students’ skirts. To combat these sorts of unsavory actions and to protect…

Final Fantasy V on Smartphones? Nineteen Bucks in Japan.

As first revealed last December, Square Enix is bringing Final Fantasy V and “other games” to iOS. A leaked Japanese magazine scan shows how much Japanese gamers can expect to pay for this: Final Fantasy V, which is listed for iOS and Android, is priced at ¥1,800 or close to US$19. That’s a lot! But,…

Hey Foreigners, Make Whatever Sushi You Like

Over the years, I’ve had some truly delicious sushi in Japan. Ditto for outside of Japan. Of course, there are the types of sushi created abroad, such as the California roll. Good stuff! Recently, a thread popped up on 2ch, Japan’s largest online forum, showing a collection of “foreigner made sushi.” The original source, a…

Japanese Subway Stations Totally Look Like Role-Playing Game Dungeons

As any longtime resident can attest, Japan’s subway is punctual, clean, and convenient. Its stations, however, can get elaborate and confusing. Train stations, by their very nature, with those staircases and escalators, look like labyrinths or dungeons. Some stations just look a little more like them. Recently, a Japanese net user posted a photo of…

Nintendo Bossman Has One of the Coolest Video Game Jackets Ever

Fun fact: Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata was one of the main programmers on Mother 2 (aka Earthbound) for the SNES. Today on Twitter, Iwata uploaded this photo of a badass Mother 2 sukajan. The jacket, Iwata noted, was given out to the game’s staff, and it was the thing he treasures most. Heck, I would,…

Acquire is apparently working on a new RPG for the Vita called Mind Zero. Here’s a first look. [オタク]

Woman Flees North Korea And Is Shocked By Freedom and… Cosplay

In 2000, an 18 year-old Hana Lee fled North Korea on foot. For five years, she hid in China, and after five long, difficult years, she arrived at Kansai International Airport, located outside Osaka City. Japan and the freedom it enjoys, to say the least, surprised her. Hana Lee (a pseudonym) is currently living in…

Let’s Look at the PS2 and PS3 Versions of Kingdom Hearts Side-by-Side

HD versions of classic PlayStation 2 titles are all the rage these days, with everything from Resident Evil 4 to Shadow of the Colossus getting a new coat of paint. The newest in the long line of HD remasters is Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix—which includes Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories…

Little Kid Spends All of his Dad’s WoW Gold On Pets

One of the new phrases this year in China is that property is hard to protect. Well, it seems that goes for virtual property, too. Last week, a gamer in China posted on the World of Warcraft forums about how he almost lost all of his hard-earned WoW gold in the blink of an eye.…

Japanese arcade game Gunslinger Stratos got a special anime promo. No word if this will be a TV series. Yet.

Why Cats Love Sitting on Keyboards

Any cat owner will tell you: those felines love keyboards. They love sitting on them. They love walking on them. They adore them! Over on Yahoo! Answers, the top answers state the obvious: cats want your attention. That’s no doubt true. Recently, Japanese site My Navi examined this issue that has confronted cat owners as…

Horribly Racist Arcade Machines Are Nothing New In China

Earlier today, Rocket News 24, a Japanese news site, uploaded photos of an arcade machine spotted in Myanmar. The arcade machine at first glance looks pretty much like every cheap arcade game out there—however, upon closer inspection, one can see that it’s horribly racist. Towards the Japanese. The arcade machine in question, PK918, isn’t a…

Marvel at this Japanese Nerd Dancing

If you’ve ever been to an idol (virtual or real!) concert, you are familiar with Japanese nerd dancing. It’s called “otagei” (オタ芸) or “wotagei” (ヲタ芸), which is short for “otaku” (geek) and “gei” (芸), which can mean “performance” in Japanese. In short, it’s a bunch of geeks dancing! Above, you can see some truly impressive…

Here’s a look at the newest entry in the Atelier series. It’s currently dubbed “Project A15”.

Meet WarStorm, the Unreal Engine 3 FPS Created by One Chinese Guy

The Chinese blogosphere is abuzz with excitement over a demo for a new single player first-person shooter. That’s right, there is a lot of buzz for a demo. So what exactly makes this demo so exciting for Chinese players? It’s a domestically made FPS, done by a one man studio over the course of one…