The conventional wisdom has always been Japan loves role-playing games and dislikes first-person shooters. First-person shooters, pundits said, were popular only with Western gamers. The pundits and conventional wisdom, it seems, are wrong. In its debut week, Call of Duty: Black Ops II on the PS3 is the second best selling game in Japan, moving…
Smartphone game Galaxy Dungeon is Square Enix’s attempt to mix card-based action with role-playing game elements. The mecha heroines caught the attention of some gamers, and there was some fanfare when it was recently released. Things seemed to be going well for Galaxy Dungeon. Then, there was a bug—a bug that now looks like it…
For those of you who saw the first 6 minutes and 38 seconds of the new Evangelion movie, you were treated to scenes of a space battle involving giant biological humanoid… things (the creators at Gainax have emphatically stated that Evas are NOT robots or mechs and should not be called as such). The whole…
Yakuza 5 is scheduled for release in Japan next week and the developers at Sega are in full PR mode. Executive producer Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Masayoshi Yokoyama spoke to Weekly Famitsu in a pre-release interview to talk about the latest in the Yakuza franchise. As the 5th numbered Yakuza game, the development has had…
Model making is a hobby for all ages. In Japan, the most prominent genre of models is Gundam models, otherwise known in Japan as Gunpla (GUNdam + PLAstic models). Most model builders usually try to make their creations as realistic as possible, sometimes complete with realistic environments to create fantastic dioramas. Others sometimes go the…
Claw games, crane games, U.F.O. Catchers—whatever you want to call them—are iconic arcade machines. Unlike many other arcade games, claw games don’t get ported. They do now. Netch or “Net Catcher” is an online claw game that isn’t only real time, it’s real. On the site, there are a couple different crane games offering different…
Airplane food sucks, especially in coach. Even when it’s good, it’s so bad. No wonder Japanese air carrier JAL is looking beyond traditional sky meals. JAL wants its meals to be finger lickin’ good. Literally. From December to next February, JAL is collaborating with KFC for what it’s calling “AIR Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Clever! Japanese…
The MegaHobby Expo recently rolled through Tokyo, showing off an array of colorful sculptures and statues. This is pure geek heroin. On display, there were upcoming statues from a variety of games, anime, and manga. Japanese site Moeyo was on hand to check things out. Have a look and start filling out your wish list.…
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Kuroko’s Basketball seems innocent enough. It’s a popular basketball manga that debuted in 2008 and was turned into an anime earlier this year. You wouldn’t think it would incite threats of revenge, letters mailed with strange substances, and a rash of Kuroko’s Basketball cancellations. But it did. Since October, threatening letters have been mailed to…
Like everyone, Japan loves Star Wars. It also loves Darth Vader, who has sold everything from smartphones phones to pachinko on Japanese TV. Japan also loves energy drinks. And so, we have this: Pepsi Energy Cola with Vader’s face plastered all over it. The Dark Lord of the Sith actually wants you to “Give yourself…
Jaws were on the floor when Square Enix showed the three minute Agni’s Philosophy demo earlier this year in Los Angeles. They were on the floor this weekend when Square Enix once again showed off the tech. To dazzle like that takes time. A lot of time. While showing off the mind-blowing demo this weekend,…
PSP picture game Photo Kano is getting a PS Vita version and a TV anime, says Famitsu
“Iwata Asks” is a regular online feature in which Nintendo president Satoru Iwata interviews developers. Some of the game creators are in-house and some work for outside companies. All of their games appear on Nintendo hardware. None of them feature hardcore pornography. Instead of “Iwata Asks”, Osaka-based erotic PC game company SoftPal launched a “Shacho…
Bet he’s dealing with Mothula in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I can see it on his angry, tortured face. (We’ve all been there!) This is Link’s “Angry Face” from Figma’s new Skyward Sword figurine (read the Kotaku review). Please, let’s make Angry Face Link a meme. Surely, there are more…
Just a friendly reminder! In Japan, Nintendo said its TVii streaming service hits December 8.
The long pauses. The nervous gestures. They’re not quite sure what to say, and thus, neither are you. Sometimes when foreigners interact with Japanese people, things can get awkward. Very, very awkward. Good thing there’s anime to remind us how awkward! Japan is around 98.5 percent Japanese. Within that, there are small groups of are…
With Nintendo TVii, the Kyoto-based game maker is bringing streaming video to the GamePad. Starting on December 8 in Japan, gamers can watch the pictures as they fly through the air via the comfort of the Wii U GamePad. But if you want easy channel changing, you must barf up extra cash. On December 8,…
This last Friday and Saturday in Tokyo, Square Enix held their 2012 Open Conference. While there was some talk about the relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV, the majority of the two-day event focused on Agni’s Philosophy: Final Fantasy. Agni’s Philosophy is the real-time tech demo of Square’s new Luminous Engine that was first presented at…
For decades, no, centuries, Japanese parents were happy giving their kids regular Japanese names. Sure, there have been trends, but the latest one is producing some kids with peculiar names—and even worries about bullying. Japanese names are slightly different from English ones. Traditionally, first names were selected based on the number of brush strokes in…
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