Kotaku East

A Look Inside the Brand New Square Enix Cafe

Famed Japanese game maker Square Enix recently launched a new establishment called Artnia. Inside, there are figurines on display, plush toys and accessories to buy, as well as CDs, t-shirts, pricey souvenir chocolate and cookies. This isn’t just a gift shop. There’s also a cafe that serves parfait, pancakes, sandwiches, coffee, and original non-alcoholic “potions”…

This Isn’t Just a Japanese Arcade, It’s Someone’s Home

Recently on NicoNico Douga (via Kotaku Japan), one user showed how a storage room had been converted into a retro Japanese arcade, complete with refurbished cabinets, old game mags, a drink machine, a change machine, and even those crappy metal ashtrays you find in Japanese game centers. The recreation even uses black lighting for that…

Your Circuit Board Cannot Be This Cute

By default circuit boards are nerdy. But this circuit board is not just nerdy. It’s cute. Don’t believe me? Check out the other side. Bam! See? Cute. This is the AZPR EvBoard, aka the “Circuit Board Shojo”. Shown earlier this year (check Kotaku Japan), this is a programmable board for hobbyists. Recently, the board is…

All the Final Fantasy You Can Eat

Yesterday, Kotaku showed off the special (and totally bonkers) Metal Gear bento Sony created to mark the series’ anniversary. That wasn’t the only special bento. There was a Final Fantasy bento, too. Looks good, huh? Literally. Ham was used for the characters’ skin, while eggs were used for the blond hair. And those blue pupils?…

Naruto Shows Ninja Look Good in Orange

Naruto is iconic. It’s a hugely popular manga, anime, and video game series. And its fans sure adore the Nine-Tails ninja hero. No wonder there are so many Naruto cosplayers! But thanks to Naruto’s “sexy technique”, the Naruto fandom is also filled with female Naruto characters, which are dubbed “Naruko”. Here is a small sampling…

3DS title Monster Hunter 4 has been delayed in Japan from March to “summer” to improve quality, Capcom announced today.

You’re a One-Man Arsenal in Tales of Xillia 2

While the first game in the series has yet to leave Japanese shores, Tales of Xillia 2 was recently released in Japan. Using the same engine as the first game, Xillia 2 mixes an anime-style RPG with the fast and furious battles the series is famous for. Xillia 2 sports a few changes over the…

Watch as Macross 30 Blends Three Decades of Narrative into One Mega-Crossover

As the Macross 30th Anniversary year comes to a close, Bandai-Namco is preparing to release Macross 30: The Voice that Connects the Galaxy, the first full-length Macross game on the PlayStation 3. This “flight simulation RPG” mega-crossover game includes characters and transforming fighter planes from across all five main Macross series. But how exactly does…

JRPGs Are Better When Playing With a Friend

I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember. I started with an Atari 2600 before moving on to the good old NES and beyond. Yet, in all that time I have never enjoyed versus gaming. Perhaps this is because, as a kid, I was the youngest of my game playing friends—and…

The Metal Gear Bento Is Truly Insane

When Hideo Kojima isn’t making Metal Gear games, he’s taking photos of his food. And today, those two things—games and food pics—congeal into one amazing lunch box. Kojima was at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters to check out the special PlayStation 3 bento boxes. They’re actually Metal Gear and Final Fantasy “character bento” to mark both franchise’s…

Here, Have Some Kid Icarus Action Figures

Masahiro Sakurai, who helmed Kid Icarus: Uprising, recently showed off these two new Figma Kid Icarus figures of the characters Pit and Dark Pit. Pretty nice! No word on when they’ll be released. These are the latest in Figma’s line of Nintendo figures. Previously, Kotaku reviewed the Figma Link. Figma [@Sora_Sakurai] Kotaku East is your…

Only Dressing Up in Funny Costumes Will Save Us All

As the world gets increasingly tense, cosplay nerds in Taiwan have it all figured it out: there’s no better diplomacy than cosplay diplomacy. Bless them. These photos are from the recent Petit Fancy and the Comic World events, which were held near the prestigious National Taiwan University. Many of the cosplayers enjoyed dressing up as…

This Looks Like New Final Fantasy Versus XIII Character Art [Update: No, It’s Not]

Don’t get too excited just yet! It’s only one Versus character (Noctis). And it’s only one drawing. What’s more, it looks vaguely like character art we saw earlier this year. But, it is apparently new, and it does feature other FF characters. Keep the dream alive! This art comes via a Kotaku reader, who says…

Um, There’s Pubic Hair on My iPhone

Pubes! If finding other people’s strands of hair wasn’t bad enough, there’s something worse. Way worse. That something we can all agree on, of course, is pubic hair. That’s the concept behind these “pubic hair stickers” (inmou shiiru or 陰毛シール). They’re not real pubes, but fake gag ones that you can shock your friends with.…

Japanese Nationalism Swells in Tokyo’s Geek District

On the eve of an election, a politician stood before a crowd. The speech was fiery. And flags fluttered. If this were anywhere else, nobody would think twice. But this wasn’t anywhere. It was Tokyo. Akihabara to be exact. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lead his conservative Liberal Democratic Party to a huge victory yesterday,…

Your Favorite Manga Characters Are Ready To Beat the Crap Outta Each Other

Project Versus J is an upcoming team battle fighting game that, so far, features Goku from Dragon Ball, Luffy from One Piece, and Toriko from Toriko Check out that kamehameha. Damn The upcoming game is headed to the PS3 and PS Vita, and it ill help mark the forty-fifth anniversary of Weekly Jump. There are…

Don’t Talk Sh*t About Reggie’s Japanese. Just Don’t.

Reggie Fils-Aime is the Nintendo of America honcho. And while he works for a Japanese company, he’s no Japanese language wizard like in-house localizer Bill Trinen. He is, however, a vengeful, vengeful man. They don’t call that man the Regginator for nothing. The wrath of Reggie [DiskSystemChronicles@YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet…

From Cute to Anything But, This Is Plastic To Treasure

The Treasure Festa rolled through Tokyo this past weekend. The twice a year event showcases both upcoming and limited edition figures and statues. As in the spring, Japanese website Akiba Hobby was once again on hand to snap photos and document the expo. The above gallery is mostly bishoujo (beautiful young girls), but there’s a…

A Theme Park Dedicated to One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Opens Next Year

Next summer, a Weekly Jump “theme park” is opening in Tokyo. Weekly Jump, of course, is a popular weekly manga that features iconic titles like One Piece, Dragon Ball and Naruto. The theme park will be housed in a building complex in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro called Sunshine City. The theme park will have a Dragon Ball…

This Robot Toy Is Expensive, But Damn, It’s Beautiful

Just. Look. At. It. If you love Japanese robots, this deluxe super alloy Mazinger Z is definitely worth your attention. And maybe even your cashola. Priced at ¥36,750 ($440), this 30cm tall Mazinger Z leads the way in Bandai’s newest Soul of Chogokin series (“chougoukin” or 超合金 is Japanese for “super alloy”). The figure is…