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Kotaku EastFinally! A Robot Ass for You To Spank
From robotic vocal chords to robotic lips, Japan has made a variety of robotic body parts over the years. But one body part has always been noticeably overlooked: robot ass. Not anymore! Enter Shiri. In Japanese, “shiri” (尻) means “buttocks”, and this robot is a “buttocks humanoid that represents emotions with visual and tactual transformation…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 -
Kotaku EastWatch a Man Rip Out His Spine and Wield Excalibur
In upcoming PS Vita game Soul Sacrifice, you stick your hand in the mouth and yank out your vertebrate, which turns into a sword. There’s more to this PlayStation Vita game (more coverage coming later today, too), but isn’t spine ripping sword-swinging all you really need to know? SOUL SACRIFICE 第１弾トレーラー [YouTube]
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Behind this Mai Shiranui, There’s Tragedy
Last year started out well enough. It looked like it was going to be a big one for Yang Qi Han (aka Isabella Yang). She was all over the place, even appearing at the Cannes Film Festival. Then things got bad, real bad. Everything came to a head with Isabella hanging on the side of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
How About a Part-Time Job Buying Diablo III?
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
In Japan, Social Game Makers To Phase Out “Gambling” Elements
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]
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku EastThis High School Student Will Saw You in Half
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Persona Sure Makes a Lovely Arcade Stick
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
When Anime and Real Life Collide, Things Get Freaky
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Kane & Lynch Developers Sued for Defaming Chinese People
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
North Korea’s Dictator Never Has Bad Hair Days, Only Awesome Ones
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,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Sacrifice Flesh with This “Totally New” PlayStation Vita Game
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
China’s Superman Wedding Proposal Required a Crane
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Dance For Me My Pretties! (Two Hours with The Idolm@ster 2)
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…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published May 8, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Capsule Toys are Cool. This is Not.
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…
By Toshitaka Tachibana Published May 8, 2012 -
Kotaku EastWatch the Slavery Documentary that Apparently Pissed Off China
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.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 8, 2012 -
Kotaku EastMusic Minigames (and Not Much More)
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…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published May 8, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Girls with Fangs Take a Bite Out of Japan
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 8, 2012 -
Kotaku EastBrand New PlayStation Vita Game Gets a Crazy Short Teaser
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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 8, 2012