Why People Love Persona

How many games do you know that manage to combine Jungian psychology, Japanese school-life and urban legends? Just like me, the Persona series isn’t as popular in the West as Final Fantasy, but it’s been around just as long (since 1987), and is arguably much more interesting. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK on…

Ant-Man Is Not The Star Of LEGO Avengers‘ Ant-Man DLC

Just like the movie, Michael Peña’s Luis completely steals the show in the currently PlayStation exclusive LEGO Marvel’s Avengers Ant-Man downloadable content. Let’s play! Normally I drop the gameplay audio level to barely audible when doing a Kotaku Plays video with commentary, but that went out the window the moment I realized Michael Peña was…

The Wrong Camera Angle Can Ruin CG Anime

Camera placement is everything in CG animation. Everything. Japanese CG animator Kohta Morie shows off this cool behind-the-scenes look at how a commercial for Kyoto Gakuen University was made. First, here’s the ad: This isn’t the frightening bit. This is. GAH. You can watch more of the making of right here. Kotaku East is your…

Japanese Students Wear VR Headsets at School Ceremony

This isn’t your typical Japanese high school entrance ceremony. Japanese entertainment and internet giant Kadokawa Dwango has created a high school for the internet age, where students can study programming, game design, voice acting, and more. So, yeah, this school is unique and other schools in Japan do not use VR headsets at their commencements.…

Japanese Castles Look Even Better with Cherry Blossoms

Know how to make Japanese castles and cherry blossoms even better? Combine them. Via Matome Naver, here are some truly lovely photos taken this spring of Japanese castles across the country as cherry blossoms bloom. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and…

Heavy Object is Not Your Usual Mecha Anime

Imagine, if you will, a world where nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons were all rendered obsolete by nearly invincible mobile fortresses called “Objects.” Then imagine that one day, two grunt soldiers destroyed one. That’s the world of Heavy Object Heavy Object is set in a future version of our world where, like with the invention…

Cosplaying Finn & Rey Are A Perfect Star Wars Family

The Real Finn and Rey are a cosplay duo from Utah, who…well, the name kinda says it all. They’re an actual couple (currently engaged, getting married in May), and that kid in the BB-8 suit isn’t a random baby stolen for cutness purposes, it’s theirs. All photos here—and yes, they were taken in a real…

Poe Dameron Intensifies

Leo Camacho, that’s one hell of a pilot. Photos by York in a Box. They were taken at WonderCon last month.

Sinmara Saga is an animated short directed and animated by Jason Hendrich. It’s basically all the bullshit experiences you had with a JRPG as a kid, only blown up with 2016’s visuals.

The Kick-Ass Space Art Of Dead Star

PS4 and PC game Dead Staris a neat little shooter. It also has some of the sexiest concept art for an indie game I’ve seen in a long, long time. Guys, posters, please Below you’ll find a ton of art from the game, from promo shots to ship designs. They’re the work of a whole…

Congressman’s Card Spends $1300 Of Campaign Money On Steam Games

Congressman Duncan Hunter is being questioned by the Federal Election Commission after it was discovered his credit card used “campaign funds to pay for video games on 68 separate occasions.” As the San Diego Union-Tribune report, Hunter’s campaign credit card spent $1302 on “Steam Games” last year, noting that they were a “personal expense” that…

To Explain Netcode Properly, You Need Props

Sometimes discussions on forums can get a little out of hand. Fans are pretty good at going down the rabbit hole. Sometimes it goes into full-blown conspiracy theories. In this instance yes, you the fans, were right. You’ve worked out how Overwatch’s netcode works, and that’s made the programmers happy to talk about it in…