Add Haruna Anno, retro game idol and retro game museum curator, to the chorus of cries saying that Resident Evil has lost the plot. Anno notes how Resident Evil is (er, was) the pinnacle of survival horror, and she seems upset that the series has gone from a survival horror game to a shooting game.…
You know how hard it is to cover something in stickers? Like how to get the stickers just right, so they are totally smooth, straight, and free of air pockets? This is like that, but bigger. And on a city bus. A fleet of buses is getting “wrapped” for the “Machi Asobi” otaku (geek) event…
Japanese variety show Waratte Iitomo! (“It’s Okay to Laugh!”) is the longest running, continuously hosted live program in the world. It’s a cultural institution in Japan, and its host, Tamori, is iconic—like the Milton Berle of Japan. And today on that show, guest Lily Franky brought a special guest: his girlfriend, a love doll. Lily…
Last month, rioting broke out in China during a rash of anti-Japan protests. While those protests got plenty of news coverage in Japan, the country’s own protests haven’t. Perhaps the networks are worried footage of such protests would further fan the flames in China… YouTube user Gimmeaflakeman (via Japan Probe) has uploaded footage of a…
In World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, there’s a new race of panda people called Pandaren. Last week in Beijing, there was a flash mob of thirty ladies dressed as Pandaren, reports Xinhuanet. That apparently means hot pants and panda hats. Yes, this was a stunt to promote the expansion pack, with the…
At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix announced a high definition remake of the first Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It’s called Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX. In the upcoming leaked issue of Famitsu, Kingdom Hearts designer Tetsuya Nomura was apparently asked whether or not there…
Level-5’s international American branch just launched a website with a spinning black box. Oh. Okay.
The inmates at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in The Philippines first captured the internet’s imagination a few years back by doing dance routines. There was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, and the Haruhi dance from the Haruhi Suzumiya anime. This time, they’re back, burning up YouTube with their take on “Gangnam Style”. There’s been criticism…
Think you have it rough? Try being a World of Warcraft player in China. You have to deal with Western gamers who think all Chinese gamers are gold farmers as well as unfair stereotypes at home. And that’s not all of it! Chinese gamers are taking to micro blogging site Sina Weibo to vent about…
Without a doubt, Tiger & Bunny was one of the most popular anime of 2011. It took the idea of superheroes and mixed it with reality TV to create what amounts to a buddy-cop anime series. Now a year after the series’ end, the heroes are making their leap to the silver screen with Tiger…
Monteroza, which owns a handful of izakaya restaurants like Shirokiya and Wara Wara, is offering a special deal at many of its eateries: If you have the same name as a Neon Genesis Evangelion characters, it will discount your bill. The characters include Rei Ayanami, Shinji Ikari, Kaworu Nagisa, Soryu Asuka Langley, and Makinami Mari…
A few years back, EA (of Japan!) was slated to publish a Nintendo DS game dubbed Hachi Koi in which you touch various girls. It was the least EA game EA was ever to release. But by 2009, EA got cold feet—or something—and the game was shelved. Fast forward to October 1. Hachi Koi resurfaced…
I have made no secret of how much I have been enjoying Sword Art Online—going so far as to call it the smartest anime in years. When fellow Kotaku East writer Toshi Nakamura told me that there was another anime by the same author also about online games called Accel World, I began watching it…
Hironobu Sakaguchi made Blade Guardian because he *hearts* tower defense games.
Los Angeles. Summer 1997. There was this guy named Kevin in the office I worked at who was obsessed with the notion of panty vending machines. He even wrote a screenplay about them, complete with, as he explained, a scene at the panty vending machine factory. He said, “Dude, in Japan, they’re on every corner.”…
Oh, now this is nice! Look at that red. And the black. And that neat little cloth. Like I said, nice! On November 22, a new Red/Black PSP-3000 value pack is hitting Japan for ¥14,800. Note that quantities are limited. M’kay, noted! “PSP「プレイステーション・ポータブル」（PSP-3000）バリューパック” [4Gamer] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you…
Since the plot of the light novel/anime series Accel World revolves around an MMO fighting game, one would think any games based on the series would fall into the fighting game genre. However, the first game of the franchise, Accel World: Awakening of the Silver Wings, mixes two completely different genres instead: traditional dating sims…
On September 30, the twice-a-year DreamParty roared through Tokyo. The fall event is aimed at bishoujo (beautiful girl) video games, and it celebrates bishoujo figurines and cosplay. So, if you are hoping to see some hunky male cosplayers in this gallery (courtesy of an array of Japanese cosplay sites), you’ll be disappointed. Sorry! The DreamParty…
Hello tacky! Sony is readying two PS3 super slim specials (one for Yakuza 5 and the other for Ken’s Rage). Both are shockingly unattractive. Why are they so ugly? Well, for starters, Sony has always been really good about releasing cool looking PS3 special editions. However, with the new hardware, the ribbed face makes decoration…
Late fall, Steve Jobs sadly moved on from this world. He’s gone and missed. Yet, a photo of Jobs in the back of a truck is now making the internet rounds in China. Could this be the information age’s equivalent of Elvis sightings? The photo was apparently taken on September 26 in the city of…
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