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Kotaku East
Report: Why Aren’t Young Japanese Dudes into Booze? Porn and Video Games.
If video games aren’t being blamed for young men not joining biker gangs (um?), it seems they’re being blamed for a flagging interest in booze. During the 1990s, the amount of alcohol in Japan peaked. Since then, it’s been on the slide. Today, popular alcohol drinks are mixed with soda or soft drinks to make…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku EastPS3 Hack Makes Japanese Role-Playing Game Speak English
During the course of my recent interview with Colin Noga and Aaron Lindsay about their experience creating an English patch for Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, I learned about another fan translation in the works. While the pair was working on a translation patch for Tales of Graces (which was sadly canceled…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Best-Looking Characters Walk the Streets of Japan
Ever feel like game character design has become, I dunno, bland? Shame because there’s so much inspiration, walking around in the hip parts of Japan. Please note that “regular” Japanese people do not dress this funky or outrageous. There’s a reason why these folks are popping up in these “street snap” photos, and that’s because…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The 2D and 3D Ladies of the Tokyo International Anime Fair
This weekend, the Tokyo International Anime Fair rolls through Tokyo Big Sight. The annual event showcases new anime, as well as artists and voice actors. There are goodies to purchases and reveals of upcoming products—plus sticker covered “itasha” automobiles and cosplaying booth companions. Sister site Kotaku Japanattended TAF’s business days, snapping a slew of pictures.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
How Fans Brought a Japan-Only Wii Game to the West
When Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2007, horror fans rejoiced. When the E3 gaming expo came the following year with Fatal Frame 4 conspicuously absent, they got worried. And when Nintendo finally announced that the title would not be leaving Japanese shores, they despaired.…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Is This the Full Dead or Alive 5 Roster? [Update]
Fighting game Dead or Alive 5 won’t be out until this September, but the game’s full roster is apparently making its way online. NeoGAF forum member Sectus supposedly discovered would could be the full roster in the Dead or Alive 5 demo included with Ninja Gaiden III. In the demo, there is alternative costume data…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Hello Kitty Says “Hello” to Lingerie
Sanrio, maker of all things Kitty, is joining forces with underwear maker Hanky Panky for a line of Hello Kitty intimates. Lingerie featuring the iconic Japanese character (who is really British!) will cost anywhere between US$27 and US$98, depending on the piece. According to Sanrio’s David Marchi, “A lot of people think this is jut…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
What Is This New Square Enix Game?
Square Enix is launching a “secret title” this summer. It features illustrations by Yusuke Naora and Maski Hirooka. According to 2ch sleuths, the name of the game is apparently Crystal Conquest based on this domain name page. The tagline in the teaser trailer is “‘C’ is coming.” In that teaser trailer, there are helmets, armor,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Is Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition a Tactical Success?
We’ve already taken a look at the tactics-style gameplay and use of historical figures in our coverage of Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition on the Nintendo DS. But when it comes down to it, was Poké-fying the world of feudal Japan a bold new step for the future of Pokémon, or would Nintendo have been better…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Chinese Schoolgirl Caught Smuggling a Whole Buttload of iPhones
This month, a Chinese schoolgirl was nabbed, smuggling not one iPhone, not two iPhone, but twenty-five. Chinese custom authorities discovered the high school senior was moonlighting as a smuggling mule. According to a recently released report, the girl was picked up on March 13. She arose suspicions, because apparently, unlike other Chinese schoolgirls, she wasn’t…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
These Japanese Gaming Facts Might Surprise You. They Might Shock You. They Might Not.
This week, Weekly Famitsu asked its readers about their gaming habits and brought back some interesting results. For consoles owned, the responses were pretty much par for the course. The Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii dominate the market with nearly 50 percent of responders owning one or the other (2070 viable reader responses). A…
By Toshi Nakamura Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
One Piece‘s Creator Doesn’t Sleep Much, Sounds Totally Burnt Out [Update]
Since 1997, Eiichiro Oda has produced One Piece. According to a recent Japanese magazine article, he has zero days off. And every night, he gets around four hours of sleep on average. One Piece is the most popular manga in Japan. Initially, Oda planned to end One Piece sooner (after five years of serialization), but…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Online Gaming Friendship Led to Sex. Then Extortion.
According to Chinese newspaper The People’s Daily, a 25 year-old married woman named QianQian met a man called Qinmou while gaming online (the paper doesn’t specify the game) last August. At first their relationship was innocuous, with Qinmou giving her in-game items and helping her. Eventually, they met and started a real-life affair. But by…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
The Ministry of Silly Cosplay
Sometimes cosplay is cool. Sometimes it’s sexy. Sometimes it’s just really effing strange. Like today. Here is a collection from the recent Nipponbashi Festa in Osaka’s geek district, Nipponbashi. Previously, Kotaku published photos from the event—but those were mostly either cool or attractive cosplays. These? These are downright goofy. Check out more in the links…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
What Color Vita Would You Like? Japan Wants…
Ever since the days of the Game Boy Pocket, color variant models of game consoles have become the norm. In fact, very few consoles have only one color version (not including limited edition releases) Now with the latest new console, the PS Vita, Weekly Famitsu asked its readers what color variant they would like to…
By Toshi Nakamura Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Other Uses for Nintendo’s Most Pointless Peripheral in Years
The official 3DS stand Nintendo is packing with Kid Icarus: Uprising and selling as a stand-alone is, simply put, pointless. Or is it? Online in Japan, someone has found other uses for it: a PS3 game stand, a PS Vita stand, and a PlayStation controller stand. Sony fanboys, take note! 3DS 『パルテナの鏡』 同梱の 「3DSスタンド」 が高機能すぎる件、PSVitaで充電しながら遊べるぞｗｗｗｗｗ…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Kingdom Hearts 3D Is Noob Friendly
Gearing up for the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, this week, part deux of Tetsuya Nomura’s interview was featured in Weekly Famitsu. Nomura discussed the latest in the Kingdom Hearts series (and added some more very vague references to Final Fantasy Versus XIII). With the latest installment to the Kingdom Hearts series,…
By Toshi Nakamura Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
South Korea and the Missing Video Game Section
The Korean peninsula, June 2009. I could feel electricity in the air. I was excited to be here. I got settled, and I plugged in my Xbox 360’s power cable to an adapter that I bought for $10 at the airport. That went into the outlet in the wall and two seconds later, I heard…
By Chi Lee Published March 21, 2012