Diablo III is coming out. Soon. And people (like this individual) are very excited. South Korea is no different. Gamers are jazzed about Diablo III. And whenever there are jazzed people, there are unscrupulous individuals ready to take advantage. A South Korea job site recently ran a listing for a company offering a “one day…
Japanese social game makers DeNA and Gree both said they will begin phasing out controversial “complete gacha” elements in their games. Losing $700 million in one day sure is convincing! [Reuters]
In the West, the “image character” for splatter game Lollipop Chainsaw is cosplayer Jessica Nigri. She’s great for events in America, but the commute to Japan is a little far. In Japan, the game needs a local image character, and a local is what it is going to get: American-born Japanese actress Mayu Kawamoto. Dressing…
Persona didn’t actually make it. It’s a game, and games cannot make arcade sticks. Rather, famed Japanese peripheral company Hori produced this PS3 fighting stick. It is to mark upcoming fighting game, Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, which is based on the Persona role-playing game. The game is a collaboration between Atlus and…
Before people in Asia and the West were Photoshopping the hell out of their faces to look like anime characters, artist Chris Scarborough was doing it to his subjects. For art. Scarborough’s series “Ideal Species” shows humans that look more humanoid. It’s as though he’s taken the anime aesthetic and transplanted it to the real…
Never mind that Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days was first released nearly two years ago (or that it was a bit of a turd), one lawyer in China sure is pissed. According to Global Times (via TechInAsia), Beijing attorney Liu Lin is suing Kane & Lynch‘s developer, Denmark-based IO Interactive, and its publisher, Square…
While nothing can and will top China’s previous Photoshop efforts (in which Kim Jong-un was turned into Dragonball‘s Android 19 of the Red Ribbon Army), these latest attempts are valiant. They’re pretty funny, too! Both North Korea and China have a close political alliance, so there is some good-natured ribbing on China’s hair. Because really,…
The PS Vita wants its pound of flesh. And you are going to give it. In return, you will get some wicked power weapons and spells. Keiji Inafune, best known for Mega-Man and Dead Rising, is working on upcoming PlayStation Vita game Soul Sacrifice. Until now, the game has been shrouded in mystery, but Sony…
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a lovebird hanging nearly twenty stories above the ground dressed as Superman. Just look at those balloons. And those tights. And that crane. Things are about to get heart-warming. In the Jiangsu province city of Lianyungang, an unnamed gentleman showed up in a Superman costume, riding a scooter…
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Among hardcore Japanese otaku (geeks) there are few games more popular than those of The Idolm@ster series. The premise is simple. As a music producer, it is your job to take a group of recently debuted teenage “idols” and turn them into Japan’s most popular popstars. Or to look at it another way, it’s a…
We have Gree and DeNA, two huge social gaming companies, to thank for the massive growth in Japan’s social gaming industry. But their business models use a method called “complete gacha”; it is currently being called unfair, and it may be regulated by the Japan’s Consumer Affair Agency. With the chance of not just the…
News network Al Jazeera is closing its Beijing bureau, because Chinese authorities are refusing to renew an Al Jazeera correspondent’s press credentials and visa, or even approve another journalist, the networked stated today. The reason? According to China-based website ShanghaiIst, it is apparently related to a documentary Al Jazeera did last fall on slave labor.…
The Idolm@ster series is (in)famous for giving gamers the ability to create and manage their own teenage female popstar group. But what exactly does that entail? Well, besides a lot of talking and dialogue trees, The Idolm@ster 2 is mostly a collection of music mini-games combined with light RPG elements. You 1) do lessons to…
For years, fang-like “yaeba” have been considered cute in Japan. Whether it’s video games, anime, or manga, characters with “yaeba” (snaggletooth) are a mainstay. The look is considered so cute that some girls are apparently getting their teeth capped with fake fangs. And now, there’s the inevitable pop girl with snaggletooth singers, created by a…
Soul Sacrifice is an upcoming brand new PS Vita game, and details about it first hit last month. But today, Sony teased the game’s upcoming reveal (full reveal, rather) on May 10. It clocks in at just over 36 seconds. As previously mentioned, the game features a wizard protagonist, who wields mind power and a…
You thought Tidus from Final Fantasy X had an awful laugh? Have you heard the original Japanese version? CAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAW In comparison, the English version is actually easy on the ears! The ten-minute remix version, though, is still utterly bonkers. Final Fantasy X was released way back in 2001. A remastered version is headed to the…
Last weekend, the Treasure Festa was held in Tokyo, bringing a, excuse the pun, treasure trove of plastic statues. The figurines included upcoming pieces as well as second-hand and limited edition ones. Japanese website Akiba Hobby was on hand to check out the festivities. In the gallery above, have a glimpse at some of the…
One of the PlayStation Vita’s most interesting features is “rear touch“—the Vita’s backside touchpad controls. This newly announced, limited edition PlayStation Vita features virtual idol Hatsune Miku on the Vita’s back, which is prime touch real estate. Out Aug. 30 in Japan, the Hatsune Miku Vita bundle comes in two flavors: ¥39,980 (US$501) for the…
Right outside Akihabara Station’s Electric Town exit is the Gundam Cafe. Every day, countless Gundam fans line up outside the small restaurant to catch a quick bite as they explore Tokyo’s otaku paradise. But with a usual wait line of 45 minutes or more, some people just can’t stop shopping for that long. Luckily, right…
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