Kaz Hirai Is Stepping Down As Sony CEO

This April, Kaz Hirai will step down as Sony CEO in a management transition he proposed to the Sony Nominating Committee. His successor is company exec Kenichiro Yoshida. The management shuffle takes effect April 1, when the Japanese financial year begins. Hirai’s current titles are Director, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, President and Chief Executive Officer.…

The New Definition Of “Pro Gamer” In Japan

In Japanese, “pro gamer” previously had one definition: a gamer who got money to play. Hence, a professional. Today, the word was given a new definition by the newly established Japan Esports Union. The organization is supported by Japanese gaming’s biggest organizations (such as CESA and JAMMA) and will issue pro gamer licenses for a…

Back To The Future Turned Into A Manga

Yusuke Murata, who illustrates One-Punch Man for Weekly Young Jump, is doing a manga version of Back to the Future Bob Gale, who co-wrote the original film, is overseeing the manga, which is based on the movie’s screenplay and titled BTTF Murata first showed off a Back to the Future illustration on Twitter a few…

Where Manga Is Destroyed To Make Toilet Paper

Ever wonder what happens to unwanted manga? Here, it gets torn into pieces to make toilet paper. Manga artist Rensuke Oshikiri recently visited a warehouse publisher Kodansha manages. (Full disclosure: My first two books were published by former subsidiary Kodansha International.) The warehouse holds returned and defective manga volumes. Workers feed the manga volumes into…

Goma. The Democratic Republic of Congo. By Warren McKenzie. 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 Demon Team

Satoshi Matsuura is an illustrator and creature designer based in Tokyo. If you like Mike Mignola’s style, you’ll dig these monsters. They’re a selection from a set of 72 he designed, with an impressive amount of individuality across the range. You can see more of Matsuura’s work at his ArtStation page To see the images…

We Tried Nintendo Labo And Mostly Like It A Lot

I spent a couple of hours messing around with Nintendo’s bold new Labo project today, and I was impressed. The pure act of assembling the cardboard to build the games’ specialized controllers is lots of fun by itself, and some of the games that come with it look promising as well. Just a short walk…

Counter-Strike Co-Creator Arrested For Sexual Exploitation Of A Child [UPDATE: Valve Suspends]

Seattle police arrested Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe, 36, early this morning for sexual exploitation of a child. Police have not yet commented further on the case. The arrest record shows that Cliffe, who has been an employee of Valve since 2003, was booked at 1:17am Pacific Time this morning. He was denied bail, according to…

Overwatch League’s Dallas Fuel, In A Single Play

This Doomfist play, which Dallas Fuel star DPS player Hyeon “Effect” Hwang pulled off against Philadelphia Fusion in an Overwatch League match today, is nuts—the kind of thing regular players will be attempting for weeks to come. In the end, however, it failed spectacularly. At this point, Dallas Fuel’s out-of-the-arena troubles are well documented, but…

Mod Brings Lord Of The Rings To Age Of Empires

Mods that turn a historical strategy game into Lord of the Rings are statistically proven to increase your enjoyment of that game by 17%, so I’m excited to see where this Middle Earth-themed take on Age of Empires III winds up. Wars of Middle Earth has been in development for a few years now, and…

Capcom’s Fighting Game Design Is Just Beautiful

For his contributions to series like Street Fighter, artist Akira “Akiman” Yasuda is responsible for some of the most iconic images in all of video games. In this video, we get a chance to see him at work. It’s the latest episode in the always-excellent Toco Toco TV, a series dedicated to intimate interviews with…

Bungie Explains How It’s Speeding Up Destiny 2 PvP

One of the most pervasive complaints among those who play a lot of competitive Destiny 2 is that the game is too slow. Players don’t move around fast enough, and it takes too long to defeat an opposing player. It sounds like that’s going to change. Today on the ol’ Bungie blog, design lead Josh…

Three Years Later, The People Behind Halo: The Master Chief Collection Are Still Fixing Things

In a developer update posted last night, 343 Industries outlined ongoing plans to update Master Chief Collection, an anthology of Halo games for Xbox One whose multiplayer has been plagued with problems ever since it released in late 2014. Beginning last fall, 343 has been rebuilding MCC to take advantage of improvements in Xbox Live…

Konami Is Still Releasing TurboGrafx-16 Games On Wii U

This morning, Konami released the TurboGrafx-16 games Battle Chopper and Necromancer for Wii U. That’s right: It’s the year 2018, and Konami is still releasing Virtual Console games on Wii U for an audience of almost nobody. It was already kind of weird that they were still releasing games six months ago, but now it’s…

Tips For Playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Whether you’re visiting Ivalice for the first time or you’re already an expert at being Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca, Final Fantasy XII can be an intimidating game. Fear not—we’ve got lots of tips. Here are some helpful suggestions for playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which is now out for PS4. [UPDATE…

What Monster Hunter: World‘s Multiplayer Gets Right And Wrong

Slaying a rampaging rathalos with a team of friends is one of Monster Hunter: World’s greatest joys—if you can sort through the menus required to join your pals. The game’s online management is clumsy and poorly explained. Setting up online sessions and sharing codes can be confusing, but it helps you get the precise experience…