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Kotaku East
Why Japan Is Delighted with Obama’s Twitter Account
Right now in Japan, President Obama is trending on Twitter. It’s not his politics. It’s not something he said. It’s something he’s done. Rather, it’s something his Twitter account allegedly did. In Japan, people are saying President Obama’s official Twitter account is following an anime girl. Make that, an anime girl bot. Okay, yes, Obama’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012 -
Kotaku EastFinally! True Cross-Platform Gaming with Crazy Fairy Tale Characters
Crazy Fairies: One World is the newest game by American McGee’s Spicy Horse studio. Inspired by fairy tales from across the world, Crazy Fairies is a multiplayer social game that can be simultaneously played across web browsers as well as iOS, and Android devices in real time. The game itself plays like Worms or Scorched…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Video Game Site Party Ends in Violence
Some people you meet online are jerks. Some are super cool. And occasionally, those online friendships become offline ones. That’s what happened here, but with violent results. On Monday, 29 year-old Daisuke Masumura attended a BBQ in Kawasaki City with around 30 people. The BBQ was for people who met through a social networking video…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Pokémon Black and White 2 Is Neither Black, Nor White. It’s Gray.
There have been a lot of games in the Pokémon series but none has been a direct sequel to any other. Rather, they have each focused on a different region in the world with a unique adventure largely unrelated to any other one. However, this all changes with the first direct sequels in the series,…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Mecha Sure Look Awesome Stomping Through Swamps
In the world of Japanese model makers, Naoto Arakawa is at the forefront. He’s best known for his Gundam model building, and for good reason—it’s amazing. Last spring, his series of Gundam landscapes were documented in book form. His work is really meant to be viewed at 360 degree angles. At a recent model event…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Why I Feel No Need to Catch ’em All
Way back in 1999, a friend of mine gave me an ancient gray brick of a Game Boy and a very used copy of Pokémon Red while we were on a middle school field trip. An eighth grader, I already knew myself to be “too old” for Pokémon. After all, I was already into games…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
It’s Like Cosplay, But Without the Costume
This week, the World Body Painting festival wrapped up in Austria. With artists from 40 different countries, the event is the World Series of body painting. While this is the 15th annual event, body painting first hit it big in the early 1990s. In 1992, body painting got mainstream exposure when Demi Moore appeared on…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Iconic Anime Heroine Made Freakin’ Enormous
In Japanese anime, they don’t get much bigger than Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Starting this month, I mean that literally. Between July 25 and August 26, an 18.5-meter (61-foot) version of the Eva heroine will be erected along side a slide in Tokyo’s Shiodome as part of a summer event. Visitors can ride…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Start at This Chinese Store. Hey, Wait a Second…
Okay, so the iPhone hasn’t been officially announced yet. But! But that isn’t stopping this eager retailer. According to Chinese site Sohu, this shop is getting the jump on everyone else by offering iPhone 5 pre-orders. The in-store display doesn’t show the actual iPhone 5 (it looks to be an iPod Touch, rather), but that’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
In This Game, You Fight Against an Evil Organization Out To Destroy Pachinko
Do you like pachinko? Do you have a 3DS? Well I’ve got some good news for you. Japanese game maker IREM will be releasing a new game on the 3DS called Pachinko Parlor 3D: The Open Sea Stories 2. For the rest of you who don’t know what pachinko is, it’s a Japanese arcade machine…
By Toshitaka Tachibana Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
What Do 13,000 JRPG Characters Look Like? This.
Behold, here are 13,000 Super Famicom era Japanese role-playing game characters stuffed into a single image. How many can you name? Better yet, how many can you not? The Super Famicom (aka Super Nintendo outside Japan) was home to numerous classic role-playing games, like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV, Earthbound—and more This image—full-sized version can…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Woman Goes To Jail For Using Fake Arcade Tokens
A Chinese woman was recently sentenced to 8 months in prison and fined 20000 RMB after being caught using fake game tokens at a public arcade. Recently divorced 34-year-old Zhang Lili of Sanmenxian Zhejiang province China spent the better half of the last year playing arcade games at her local video game arcade. Each arcade…
By Eric Jou Published July 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Unboxing and Eating Taiwan’s Most Delicious iPhone Snack
In Taiwan, pineapple cake is a fav. So is the iPhone. So what do you get when you mix the iPhone with that tasty pineapple pastry? You dial up delicious town. Taiwanese bakery Comte redesigned its pineapple pastry to look like the iPhone’s packaging and dubbed it the “iFong” (a pun on “fengli”). Website MIC…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
China’s 3DS XL Challenger Looks Like a Wii U Controller
With China’s stance towards video game consoles unlikely to change anytime soon Nintendo’s newest home console due out later this year, the 3DS XL, will probably not see the People’s Republic officially this year, but that doesn’t mean Chinese consumers will be completely left out. Announced only a week after Nintendo officially announced the 3DS…
By Eric Jou Published July 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This League of Legends Character Needs Lots of Fur and Lots of Skin
Tasha from Spiral Cats, Korea’s most famous cosplay collective is back. This time, she’s bringing League of Legends‘ bestial huntress Nidalee to life. To do that, Tasha wields a big spear and wears big fur. The bellybutton ring, however, seems to be a Tasha embellishment. This latest photo set proves once again that Spiral Cats…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 9, 2012 -
Kotaku EastSir, Please Stop Standing While Riding Your Motorcycle
A Chinese police officer politely asked this gentleman to stop riding his motorcycle WHILE STANDING UP. The man was riding (standing?) in Hunan province, and the officer pulled up slowly in order not to startle him before letting him going on his way. Cop politely tells man to stop standing on moving motorcycle [Beijing Cream]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The World of Japanese Manholes is Wonderful and Colorful
Japanese manholes aren’t just lids for sewage systems. They are works of art. Since the 1980s, towns started using local motifs for their manholes. In 95 percent of the country’s municipalities, you can find unique manholes with different designs that will no doubt delight drainspotters everywhere. The manhole covers are forged in Nagashima, where there…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 9, 2012
