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Kotaku East
Of Course, They’re Making Gran Turismo 6 Right Now
Surprised? Shocked? Eh, not really? At the China Joy gaming event in Shanghai, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi once again stated that work on Gran Turismo 6 shortly after GT5 finished (something he told Kotaku back in 2010). Yamauchi also reiterated that he and his studio always have their eye on the cutting edge of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 27, 2012 -
Kotaku EastHere’s a Chinese Man Singing Justin Bieber While Riding a Cow
Love this guy’s passion. Love the guitar rendition. Love the fact that the original video is titled “I am legendary, art dream.” Just not sure what’s up with the livestock. This is the only video Youku user w451119777 has up. It’s the only one that’s needed. As website Beijing Cream points out, Justin Bieber is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Ladies of Uzbekistan Bring Japanese Emoticons to Life
If a picture says a thousand words, what does a picture of Uzbekistan models imitating Japanese emoticons say? Tokyo web planning company Nuuo showed a series of Japanese emoticons to models from an Uzbekistan model agency. Nuuo only told them the bare minimum about what each emoticon meant and allowed the women to interpret the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Game Creators Are Constantly Looking To The Future. Here’s What A Few Of Them Are Looking At
Weekly Famitsu celebrated its 1,234th issue this week with an interview with several game creators abouth their thoughts on the future. Among the creators were Capcom’s Hideaki Itsuno, Grasshopper Manufacture’s Gouichi Suda, and Tecmo Koei’s Kenichi Ogasawara Director of the Devil May Cry series and Dragon’s Dogma, Hideaki Itsuno enthusiastically spoke of his dream to…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Is a Rocket Launcher. For Plastic Bottles.
This summer, your Commando dreams are reality, thanks to Japan’s Marudai Corp. For a cool ¥28,350 ($363), the company will sell you its PET Bottle Launcher RPG-7 kit. It contains all the parts to make your own bottle launcher. Once you have the RPG-7 built, you fill a plastic bottle with water, set the launcher,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Spooky, Yet Beautiful Lava Caves of Mt. Fuji
Anime blogger Danny Choo recently checked out the lava caves of Mt. Fuji, including the Fugaku Fuketsu (wind cave), which is cold year round and was previously used as a natural refrigerator, and the Narusawa Ice Cave, which looks to be even colder. The caves were created by lava, and there are about 80 caves…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
These Totoro Cream Puffs Are Cute Enough to Eat. Literally.
Discovered at Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory in Tokyo, these Totoro cream puffs look like something out of a Ghibli movie. They also look like something I want to gobble up. The cream puffs are available in a variety of flavors, such as chocolate cream, custard, and whipped cream. There are also seasonal varieties, like strawberry…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
DMC: Devil May Cry Features A Not-So-Sexy Version Of A Famous Demon
The DMC: Devil May Cry trailer from E3 showed a hack-and-slash action game set in a dark world where demons/devils control society through media and products. In the game, the main character, Dante, joins forces with an Anonymous-like group called The Order to fight against the demonic rulers. Anyone who played the demo, got to…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
From Japanese Gaming Hero to…Disney Tour Guide
For decades, Takahashi Meijin was one of the most iconic faces of Japanese gaming. Not only did he star in his own games, he also was able to fire 16 shots per second in shooting game Star Soldier. But back in spring 2011, he decided to hang up his controller and call it a day.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Official Nintendo USB Memory Ain’t Cheap
So Nintendo is releasing an official USB memory drive for the Wii so players can enjoy Dragon Quest X. It’s…not cheap. If you order the 16GB flash drive directly from Nintendo, it will set you back ¥3,150 or US$40. For comparison’s sake, you can get 16GB memory via Amazon Japan for about ¥1,000 or $13…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Hopefully, Double The Content Will Make This Game Better, Rather Than Just Longer, Than Its Predecessor
Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2 was announced at E3 with little more than a trailer and fan speculation. Now, Tecmo Koei has released new information on the sequel to Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage. Announced in Japan under the title, Shin Hokuto Musou (“Shin” (真) meaning “true” or “pure”) Ken’s…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Dragon Quest X to Get New Stuff Each Week
Dragon Quest X is getting weekly updates with new quests and story segments—which should keep players busy! That’s not all—ten weeks after release, there will be a massive update with new systems and gameplay elements. [Siliconera]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Some of the Worst Pikachu Drawings on the Internet
There are many talented artists online. You see some of the stuff on DeviantArt, and you go, “Wow, there are many talented artists online.” But what about the untalented ones? Over on Japanese forum 2ch, a thread popped up in which people showed off their awful Pokémon drawings—drawings they knew were terrible. Many of them…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Meet Nintendo’s Hardware Ladies
For nearly a decade now, Nintendo has made a very focused effort to makeover how Japan views video games. To do that, Nintendo’s needed help from the country’s most famous females. With the DS, Nintendo changed the stereotypical notion that video games were toys or for guys. It wasn’t just the games that had non-gamer…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Japan’s “Prince of Confinement” Will Finally Be Confined to Prison
The residence was packed with computer games and comic books. And back in 2003, Yasuyoshi Kobayashi was convicted of sexually assaulting four women and confining them at said residence. Today, ANN News reports that his final appeal was overturned and he will begin his 14-year sentence. Japanese police discovered over one thousand adult video games…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Best Horrible Instruction Booklet the Sega Saturn Ever Saw
From what I remember, the 1990s were a good time. We didn’t really have the internet then, but we had good music, good movies, and good video games. This isn’t about any of those—especially the good video games bit. It’s about a Sega Saturn booklet that is so awful, it’s awesome. The game is Hop…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Why an Olympic Judo Athlete Was Inspired by…a Pokémon Fight
Gotta catch ’em all! And then, flip them over your shoulder. Judo athlete Ashley McKenzie, who competes for Team Great Britain, went from young Poké punk to serious athlete after a fight broke out over his Charizard card. When McKenzie was 11, another kid tried to swipe his Pokémons. “This Charizard was the best card,”…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku EastTraffic Light? This Is Too Damn Cute for a Traffic Light
The city of Xi’an in China has a new crosswalk signal. And neighboring Japan points out the obvious: this is way too cute for a traffic light. In China, the anime-style character on the sign, people in Japan speculate, is probably aimed at children. This traffic signal uses a young LED anime-style girl to preside…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Just Look at How Nintendo Is Embracing Digital Releases in Japan
Nintendo is selling 3DS games, like New Super Mario Bros 2 and Demon Training, as digital downloads. Those who don’t like purchasing items online can swing buy their local retailer in Japan and be greeted with aisles of download cards. Aisles of this. 3DSのDL版(店頭販売)が高すぎｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ [2ch]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Please Don’t Masturbate in Japanese Arcades
There’s a time and place for everything. When you are in a Tokyo arcade, you should play video games, not with yourself. Common courtesy, folks! According to Final Round organizer Scott Popular, one male gamer seems to have confused his joystick with an arcade one. Recently, Popular was at Shibuya Kaikan, one of Tokyo’s most…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012