Kotaku East

The Rise of Japanese Geek Tattoos 

From anime girls to abstract shapes, Japanese tattooing has changed. Or has it? Throughout my book Japanese Tattoos, a wide variety of classic motifs are presented. Some of them are well over a thousand years old, while others are much newer. Japan’s visual vocabulary is not static. Irezumi (Japanese for tattoos) aren’t, either. They’re as…

Here Is The Latest Yu-Gi-Oh Hairdo

Oh, and the protagonist sporting it, too. This weekend, a new Yu-Gi-Oh! anime was revealed. Know what that means? New Yu-Gi-Oh! anime hair. Because previous duelists have had amazing hair, with Yami Yugi, perhaps, having the most amazing.  How do you top this? Easy, you don’t. Though, this was pretty great, too. The latest protagonist…

Dragon Quest XI is coming to the Nintendo Switch! Previously announced for the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo 3DS, it was revealed that the game is headed for the Switch, too. No word yet on a Western release.

Lambug Beach. Badian, Cebu, Philippines. By Martin Tan. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!  

The New Pokémon Animated Movie Looks Like A Reboot

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Pokémon anime. And next summer’s big Pokémon movie looks like it will celebrate that milestone by going back to the beginning. The first Pokémon TV anime aired in Japan in 1997, and the following year, the first feature hit theaters. To date, there have been nineteen Pokémon animated…

Starting late January 2017, Japanese stores won’t get new copies of the PS Vita Kantai Collection title, which debuted this February in Japan. The download version also won’t be for sale starting late next month. The official site apologized but didn’t give a reason for the sudden announcement. 

A Pac-Man Rickshaw Is Coming To Tokyo

This holiday season, a lucky few can ride around one of Tokyo’s most popular tourist spots in a Pac-Man shaped rickshaw. Because nothing quite says Christmas like this? According to Famitsu, the ricksaw will only be in operation from December 23 to December 25. It will take folks on rides around Asakusa, an area of…

Japan’s Most Intense Rock, Paper, Scissors Competition 

Leave it to Japan to make a friendly game of rock-paper-scissors into an event, complete with cosplay, cheering, and crying. Since 2010, members of idol group AKB48 and its sister groups have duked it out in paper-rock-scissors competitions or “janken taikai” in Japanese. “Janken” means paper-rock-scissors (“taikai” means “tournament”), and while I played this growing…

Japan Has Vegeta Refrigerators 

Because you store vegetables in fridges, and you can make a pun, I guess. This is what the Vegeta fridge ads typically look like, and they’ve been around for a while without an overt Dragon Ball nods. They have been “Vegeta” as in “vegetables” and not as in Super Saiyan. But now, no doubt, Toshiba…

Tech in Asia reports that China’s Ministry of Culture has new regulations banning the streaming of games that the ministry has not approved. This is bound to hurt indie games that are available via Steam, which is still not blocked in the country. 

And Now, The Inevitable Final Fantasy XV Porn Parody 

For a game that took so long to come out, the porn world had no problem shooting out a FFXV parody right quick. Note: This article contains content some readers might find objectionable. Of course, if it exists, there is a porn of it. Since Final Fantasy XV does exist, we have this, as noted…

The First Global Mission For Pokémon Sun and Moon Was A Failure

The goal was for players around the world to catch 100 million Pokémon in Sun and Moon. They missed that mark by a lot. Thefirst global mission kicked off on November 29 and ended on December 12. Here’s how the English language Pokémon page portrayed it: Just missed! So you’d think they caught like 85…

You Can’t Play Final Fantasy VII Remake Yet, So Here Are Some Figures

When will Final Fantasy VII Remake be out? Probably not next spring! But you know what will? These FFVII Remake figures, that’s what. So far, Square Enix’s Play Arts Kai line has announced two figures for an April and May 2017 release in Japan: Cloud Strife and Barret Wallace. They’re listing for 15,984 yen (US$139) each…

The Winners Of The 2016 PlayStation Awards

Tonight in Tokyo, Sony held its annual awards ceremony. Not only are biggest PlayStation titles honored, but also people’s favorite games of the year. Via Famitsu and 4Gamer, here are the winners. Keep in mind that why some of these titles are multiplatform, all of the awards relate to how they did on PlayStation hardware.…

SoulCalibur‘s Anniversary Celebrated With…Pachinko 

Taking a page from the Konami playbook, Namco has announced a 20th anniversary SoulCalibur release for pachinko parlors across Japan.  Feel free to watch the NINE MINUTE AND FIFTY SECOND trailer for SoulCalibur pachi-slot. Surely, this franchise is getting more than this for twenty years of big swords. Let’s hope.  Kotaku East is your slice…

Super Potato. Osaka, Japan. By Esben Hornbøll. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

One Of Dragon Ball‘s Most Famous Memes Returns

Yamcha might suck, but he takes center stage in one of Dragon Ball’s most famous memes. In the most recent Dragon Ball Super, Yamcha returns, putting a new spin on an old meme.  Note: This article contains spoilers. The Dragon Ball Super episodes of late have been fun and silly. The upcoming story arc is getting…

CHAOS;CHILD 5pb. THE BEST was slated for the PS4 and PS Vita in Japan, but today, Famitsu reports that the game’s developer has cancelled the game, citing “various circumstances.”

First Glimpse At What A Super Mario Theme Park Could Look Like

In 2020, before the Tokyo Olympics, Universal Studios Japan will open its Mario-themed amusement area to the public. Today, Nintendo provides our first glimpse at what we might get. As Kotaku previously reported, this is not a standalone theme park, but a world in USJ—namely, Super Nintendo World. This was first revealed in May 2015, and…

Next summer, Attack on Titan is getting a stage version in Japan. Details are scant, but it will be called Live Impact Shingeki no Kyojin, with Shingeki no Kyojin, of course, being Attack on Titan’s original Japanese title.