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Kotaku East
Here Are A Couple Of Companions For Your Journey Into The World Of Soul Sacrifice
In Soul Sacrifice, players take on the role of an imprisoned servant awaiting imminent death who must fight their way to freedom by wielding the magic of sacrifice. Apparently pulling out your spine and wielding it as a sword is too dangerous to do alone. Two companion characters have been announced for the game: A…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Thieves Led Cops on a Comic Book Car Chase
On July 2 at around 2:20pm, three young men in their twenties allegedly stole 98 comic books from a video rental store in Sendai, Japan (at Japanese video stores, manga are often available for either rent or purchase). The total value of their alleged pull was ¥56,000 or US$702. The trio escaped in a small…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
July 4 Had a Different Meaning in Japan: All You Can Eat Fried Chicken
Japan loves KFC. The fast food chain is somewhat of a cultural institution in Japan: whether that’s Christmas dinners or baseball superstitions. It’s no accident that Japan digs The Colonel so much: the boneless Japanese dish chicken karaage resembles fried chicken. In Japan, KFC is a tad upscale for fast food—it’s pricier than McDonald’s, but…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku EastNamco Bandai Announces New JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Game, But Not Before Confusing The Hell Out Of People
Namco Bandai recently posted a teaser site for a new Japanese game “All Star Battle” (not to be confused with Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale) which featured a daily countdown and an image that slowly revealed itself. People anxiously waited, wondering what the reveal might be. Finally, the full image was revealed to show an image…
By Toshi Nakamura Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
So, There Might Be a New PS3
According to a Federal Communications Commission filing, there appears to be a new PlayStation 3 on the horizon. The model numbers are CECH-4000A and CECH-4000B; the current model number is CECH-3000. Thus, this new model would usher in the 4000 seres. The FCC label position on the CECH-4000 PS3 is different. While the filing does…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
From Androids to Fighters, This Lady Does It All
Meet Akatsuki Tsukasa. She’s a Taiwanese cosplayer, who is starting to make a splash outside her homeland by catching the attention of Japanese cosplay blogs like Asagawo In her homeland, Akatsuki appears at tech and game promotional events. She’s also done traditional fashion modeling. But it’s her cosplay that Akatsuki is best known for. Colorful…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku EastAren’t Foreign Last Names Strange? Ha. Ha. Ha.
Sony’s latest PS Vita commercial is set in a junior high classroom and features “an exchange student with a mysterious name”. The exchange student’s name is Permetalpower Velersmiku (ペルメタルパワ ベラーミク). It’s more of a mystery why a 40-something year old man is an exchange student, but that’s not what is on display here. Having a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Let’s Be Sensitive about Tall Ladies, Too!
Yurina Kumai towers over other Japanese popstars—literally. At 176cm, she’s by far the tallest member of her group, Berryz Kobo. Sure, that’s “only” 5 feet 9 inches (some now wonder if she’s actually taller), but your typical Japanese pop star is much, much shorter. The discrepancy becomes evident when Kumai stands next to her contemporaries—or…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Korea’s Most Talented Female StarCraft Player Is Retiring
Being a female pro gamer is not easy in South Korea. In that male dominated world, Seo Ji-Soo (aka ToSsGirl) was a pioneer. She was also the country’s last active female pro-gamer. “Was”, because as of this month, ToSsGirL will retire. Known as “The Female Lim Yo-Hwan“, Seo decided to become a pro-gamer after seeing…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Manga Artist Has Not Aged. He Must Be a Vampire.
Manga artist Hirohiko Araki, creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, is 52 years old. I would say he looks really good for 52 (he does), if he hadn’t looked the same for, oh, the past thousand years. Every year that Araki’s photo is released, people online in Japan enjoy comparing it to his photos for the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012 -
Kotaku East
When Video Games and Dirty Movies Clash
Fancy costumes! Naked people! Doing it! That’s the pitch, and in Japan, adult video makers try to appeal to otaku (geeks) with flicks featuring porn stars dressed up as video game characters. Sounds like sexy time, right? Eh… In visual mediums—whether that be video games, movies, or whatever—the background is extremely important. It can make…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012 -
Kotaku EastHow About Some Kirby Music Played by an Orchestra? Yes, Please.
In the above video, an orchestra plays a Kirby medley. It’s glorious, and it will be featured on the music CD that comes with the upcoming Kirby’s Dream Collection compilation. Kirby’s Dream Collection – Medley Recording Feature [YouTube]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012 -
Kotaku EastKorea Gets a Theme Park Dedicated to Toilets and the Crap that Goes in Them
Outside Seoul, the city of Suwon recently opened a public park and museum dedicated to toilets. Makes sense, as the city has been a toilet pioneer in South Korea. As YouTube user KRTVtv pointed out, Korea’s public toilets were “ramshackle and disgusting” before the 1980s. In Korea, it’s being called the “world’s first toilet theme…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012 -
Kotaku EastHands-on With Sengoku BASARA HD
Back in 2005 to combat the success of Koei’s Dynasty Warriors series, Capcom released Sengoku BASARA on the PlayStation 2. Where Dynasty Warriors had always been focused on Chinese history, BASARA set out to do the same thing but with Japanese history. However, Koei had already done the same thing by releasing Samurai Warriors the…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 3, 2012 -
Kotaku EastHow Blatant Is This Kamen Rider Rip-Off? Pretty Damn Blatant.
Next year, a new tokusatsu movie called Space Hero Fly is hitting theaters in Taiwan. You might remember this movie the first time, when it was called Kamen Rider. Which Kamen Rider? Take your pick. Super Hero Fly is a cobbled together creation that rips off the designs of various Kamen Rider heroes, such as…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 3, 2012 -
Kotaku East
In China, Free-to-Play Call of Duty Online Is Oscar Mike
China is getting its own COD—and not merely as the new foreign bad guys. Meet Call of Duty Online. Other than the single player campaign, isn’t all Call of Duty online? Well, yes. But in China, it’s Call of Duty Online. Announced today, the game is published by Chinese gaming giant Tencent. Activision first mentioned…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 3, 2012 -
Kotaku EastOkami HD Plays (And Looks) Like a Dream
This last weekend in Tokyo, Capcom put on a little event called Capcom Summer Jam. In it they showed off a large portion of their upcoming and recently released titles. Foremost among these was the first playable demo of Okami HD—which Kotaku East was on hand to play. Originally released back in 2006, Okami was…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 3, 2012