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Kotaku EastReport: Japanese TV Burned Old Man. There Was a Cover-Up.
Japanese television can get extreme: people doing crazy stunts, people getting hurt. According to a recent published report, one network went too far. In 2003, late night Japanese variety show Taikutsu Kizoku: Un Noble Ennuyeux had an old Japanese man walk on fire, calling him “The Rambo of the Orient”. Fuji TV, one of the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 15, 2012 -
Kotaku EastWhat a Korean Pop Song Can Teach Us About Video Game Sequels
I’m going to ask you to think about K-pop Girls’ Generation (SNSD)’s song “Gee”. You know, “Gee, gee, gee, gee, baby, baby, baby…” Now that you have that song stuck in your head again, check out the English remix by an American pop-rock band called Nylon Pink in the above video. For research purposes, I’ve…
By Chi Lee Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Cosplayer Is Hungry Like a Wolf
This is South Korean cosplayer Hyun-Ah Cho. That’s not her cosplayer name. Oh, no. Her cosplayer name is “Wolf”. The Seoul resident tackles a wide variety of games and anime with her cosplay. Though, she sure seems to like fighting game Guilty Gear. There’s a lot of Guilty Gear! When not cosplaying Wolf says her…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku EastWhy The Hell Am I Not Playing this Korean Girl Group Game?
In Asia, Girls Generation is huge. And in their native South Korea, the girl group has shilled DSi units for Nintendo. Yet, the group does not have its own game. But if it did, would it look like this? This is a fan creation. It’s totally made-up and headed to stores sometime between never and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Press This Arcade Button. A Real Person Will Appear.
One of the best things about Japan is the service. The service is generally great. One of the things that makes it so great? Call buttons. Instead of sitting in a restaurant waiting around for a waiter or waitress to make his or her way towards your table, you can press the call button, and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
This Xbox 360 Game Demo Is Ten Hours Long. Wait, What?
This spring, Japanese adventure game Root Double: Before Crime*After Days is coming to the Xbox 360. The game’s limited edition bundle costs ¥9,240 (US$112), while the regular edition is ¥7,140 ($87). That’s a lot of money. How can you be sure it’s worth it? Well, you could play the game’s demo. Make that, the game’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
League of Legends is the New StarCraft in Korea [CORRECTED]
I guess Koreans are finally starting to get sick of StarCraft II and Fifa Online 2, because League of Legends (LoL) has made its way to the top spot in e-sports tournaments, replacing StarCraft II. Professional broadcasters as well as sponsors are now supporting LoL, which may be an effort to improve stagnating expansion of…
By Chi Lee Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku EastCleaning Your Girly Skinsuit Is a Pain in the Ass
Kigurumi, those folks who dress head-to-toe as characters, know. Keeping one’s skinsuit clean and in good shape is no easy task. Just watch this instructional video and be freaked out learn for yourself. Kigurumi Skinsuit (Zentai) Care [YouTube via Chris Person]
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
How Do You Lure Kids to a Power Rangers Beta Test? Pizza.
A Power Rangers Online exists in Korea, which is about to enter its second closed beta testing phase from March 29 to April 4. Somebody thought it would be brilliant to lure students to test their game with the promise of pizza; the top ten school classes with the most applications for the beta test…
By Chi Lee Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Another Peek at What Metal Gear‘s Creator Is Working On
Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear Solid, is not only working on a new game, he’s also working on a new game engine. Oh, and he’s also hiring up for the “next” Metal Gear. Busy guy! But Kojima’s also been nice enough to provide a peek into what’s going on at his studio, Kojima Productions.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Why this Ridiculous Zombie Game Rings True
Yakuza: Dead Souls is goofy. It’s silly. It’s a parody. The game looks like it has borrowed pages from both the Left4Dead and Resident Evil handbooks. Yet wrapped inside that hammy exterior is something surprising: reality. When the game was originally about to be released, the Tohoku Earthquake hit. Yakuza: Dead Souls, with its images…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 14, 2012 -
Kotaku EastCome for the Movie, Stay for the Awesome Free Game
Games have long been included as extras on Blu-rays/DVDs—though the quality of said games tends to rank somewhere between the worst Facebook game and shovelware flash titles. But when Macross Frontier The Movie: The False Songstress was released on Blu-ray in Japan back in 2010, Artdink and Bandai-Namco went a few steps further to create…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
If You’re Gonna Make Cookies, Make ‘Em Cute
Tomorrow is White Day in Japan. I’m supposed to give sweets to women who gave me chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Feeling proactive, I made cookies this weekend for my wife, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law—only to discover that my sister-in-law had made cookies for me and my family! These are some of them. You can…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
These PlayStation Certified Games Are Xperia In-Bound!
With Sony’s PlayStation Suite, Xperia smartphone owners can enjoy PlayStation titles on their handsets. Starting today, Sony revealed the 21 PlayStation 1 titles that can be downloaded for ¥600 (US$7.30) a pop on the Xperia NX and Xperia acro HD via PlayStation Suite. They are: Addie no Okurimono：To Moze From Addie, Arc the Lad, Bealphareth,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 13, 2012 -
Kotaku EastNever Has Tokyo Looked So Hypnotic
Photographer Holger Mette created this Tokyo time lapse video over the span of last month with only a Canon 5D mk2. The result is spectacular. Mette aims to shoot other cities as well in timelapse. For more, check out his travel blog Tokyo in Timelapse [Japan Probe]
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
These Life-Sized Figures Can Be Yours. Only $5,000 Each!
Do you like sci-fi anime Neon Genesis Evangelion? Do you have thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket? Have I got a deal for you. Gainax, the company behind Neon Genesis Evangelion, is offering life-sized plugsuit wearing statues of Eva characters Asuka Langley Soryu, Kaworu Nagisa and Rei Ayanami Each figure costs ¥430,000…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 13, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Defending the Game People Hate
While it was once one of the most popular and well received series in gaming, Dynasty Warriors seems to receive more and more negative feedback with each iteration. This is not due to radical shifts in gameplay and/or tone—as many game sequels are accused of doing—but rather the exact opposite: Negative comments center around Tecmo…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 13, 2012