Kobito Dukan, those ugly troll characters, got their own 3DS game. And that game had insane box art. And the game itself looked okay, fun even as you attempt to catch those little characters and make your own field guide. But those little characters? They look like a dog’s breakfast. But as fugly as the…
It’s no secret that the PS Vita has been struggling. Numbers have consistently shown the portable console to be underselling its predecessor, the PSP, on an almost weekly basis. As has been pointed out in the past, the key to a hit console is to have hit games, and just as if to drive point…
There’s an assumption that only women appearing in revealing magazine spreads in Japan. That’s incorrect! Hunky dudes do, too. Hunky dudes like video game voice actor Mamoru Miyano. The 29-year old has done a lot of voice work. He debuted as the voice of Riku in Kingdom Hearts, before moving on to the character of…
The history of Resident Evil in unnerving website form. Enjoy?
Um. Okay. Deep breath. The folks behind the Goophone i5, the Android-powered iPhone 5 clone, are threatening to sue Apple if the California-based tech giant releases the iPhone 5 and if it looks like the Goophone i5. Or something. This is probably a publicity stunt—one with a mind boggling YouTube video. The reason why Goophone…
Master Chief is one of video gaming’s icons. Much like Mario and Sonic, the Halo series protagonist has become a video game company poster child. However, with the upcoming release of Halo 4, many Japanese gamers are not happy with how the helmeted gun-toting warrior is sounding. On August 24th, Soutaro Tojima, the audio director…
The iconic outfit of fighting game character Mai Shiranui has become the standard, de rigueur threads. It’s not the standard for gamers, but for models. In Asia—especially China and Taiwan—models keep popping in non-gaming related events dressed as the SNK fighting game character. So whether its car shows or book signings, Mai Shiranui continues to…
Capcom is releasing a slew of Japanese social games that feature some of its most famous characters.
Popular in Japan, parfait is a tasty treat. And you know what’s good in parfait? Bananas. Except in the Japanese city of Akita, where banana parfait is very, very bad. This “banana parfait” photo has gone viral in Japan. The dish was served up in front of Akita Station in Akita Prefecture. Price: ¥180. Memory?…
Since 1955, Miffy has delighted children. The character has also delighted graphic designers and illustrators who seem to have been influenced by Dick Bruna’s work. Take Hello Kitty (and her friends)—they look like Miffy, no? While his work is popular in Asia, Bruna has continuously voiced his dislike for Hello Kitty—the Japanese cat’s rabbit friend…
Phoenix Wright is coming back to the courtroom (what ever happened to Apollo?) in the upcoming Ace Attorney 5 for the 3DS, but his trusty companion, Maya, may not be with him. Screenshots released from Capcom show the defense lawyer back from his time off as a poker player and pianist to “fulfill a promise.”…
Today, remote play is coming to God of War Collection, GoW HD & GoW II HD, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus & TOKYO JUNGLE
When players enter the world of Sleeping Dogs, one of the first characters they meet is Wei Shen’s childhood friend, Jackie Ma. The voice actor who plays Ma was one of Hong Kong’s biggest stars—that is, until his private sex photos were leaked online. In 2008, superstar Edison Chen sent his laptop in for repairs.…
Japanese people have the reputation of not saying what they mean. That’s not exactly accurate. Plenty of Japanese people are very good at saying exactly what they mean. Yet, the Japanese game industry—and the country’s corporate culture—often bent on stifling that. So people are happy to tell you how they feel in private, but worry…
Got your pantyhose on? Sure ya do! After Japanese nerds began covering their cars, motorcycles, and bicycles with geeky images, it was only time before they moved to stockings. “Ita” (痛) refers to “pain” in Japanese, and the cars covered in geeky stickers were originally called “ita-sha” or “painmobiles” due to the pain they inflict…
Japanese manga artist Hiro Mashima (Rave, Fairy Tail) was blown away by Raiden at the recent Metal Gear Solid event. So, he decided to do his take on the character—see above! The result looks younger—like a manga character should—and quite different from the way Konami’s in-house artist and character designer Yoji Shinkawa draws the character.…
Game localizer and co-author of the newly recently released Yurei Attack! Matt Alt took one for the team and filmed himself by playing (peeing?) Sega’s toilet video game, Toylet. See the footage that dribbled out, above. Spray and Pray [AltJapan] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points…
We’ve already seen Old Snake—heck, we had a whole game with him. While the promotional artwork for Metal Gear Sold: Ground Zeroes shows a younger looking Snake (Naked Snake), the game’s debut footage seems to show an older looking one. Or does it? Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima attempted to clear up the confusion on…
A gentleman surnamed Liu of Jinan, Shandong Province loves Transformers. But, he always felt that all the Transformer toys didn’t really transform or really move. So he decided to build his own. Six month and 70,000 yuan (around US$11,000) later, Liu created his own Transformer. Outfitted with hydraulics, the machine can lift itself up, transforming…
Square Enix has a very bad habit of showing games way too early. Its latest reveal, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, is only thirty percent finished. Meaning? It’s 70 percent unfinished. So unless Square Enix works faster than it has in the past, it could be a while before, wait for it, Lightning strikes again.…
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