- Kotaku East
How One Gamer Went from “Addict” to Entrepreneur
For 15 years, a young Chinese man was called a video game addict. He was looked down upon because of his hobby. But now, 15 years later, he’s been vindicated. He’s now an manager for a e-sports club in China. IFeng.com brings us the story from the Chongqing Evening Post of 22 year-old Li Yang…
By Eric Jou Published August 25, 2014 -
Kotaku EastToy Thief Escapes Internet Justice, Gets Arrested Instead
Junkies and drug addicts usually steal and sell goods to buy hard drugs, but for one Japanese otaku, his theft was fueled by a different sort of addiction. However, when he shoplifted a toy robot from the wrong guys, he became one of peaceful Japan’s most wanted criminals. This story originally appeared on Japan Subculture…
Jake Adelstein & Angela Erika Kubo Published August 25, 2014 - Kotaku East
Chinese Billionaire Denies Faking an Ice Bucket Challenge
Guangbiao Chen, the Chinese Billionaire with an amazing business card, recently did an ice bucket challenge. Online in China, some folks are saying it was faked—something Chen denies. You might remember Chen as the moneybags who sold cans of air with his face on it and helped a charity stunt that promised to give money…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 25, 2014 - Kotaku East
Fastfood Chain in Japan Serving Spaghetti Burgers
In short, it’s spaghetti plus a hamburger. A spaghetti burger. What could go wrong? While this certainly isn’t the first spaghetti burger, this is one of the first to be offered by a major fast food chain—in Japan, at least. Dubbed the Neapolitan Burger, the meal was created by famous Japanese chef Tatsuya Kawagoe. Served…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 25, 2014 - Uncategorized
Years of Work in Minecraft, As Told in GIFs
Yes, we’ve seen before what Minecraft players are capable of building over long periodsof time. But that’s no excuse to skip Broville. Broville has been around for quite a while, and these animations show what its team of builders has been up to over the years. Quite a lot, it looks like. Not that Broville…
By András Neltz Published August 25, 2014 - Kotaku East
Batman Spotted on a Japanese Highway
Over the weekend, Twitter user Ryuuchan saw something most unusual on the highway: Batman. And not just Batman, but Batman on a Batcycle (nee, Batpod). Compare with The Dark Knight Rises: Ryuuchan certainly seemed surprised, and these photos, which were taken in Chiba Prefecture, have since been uploaded to 2ch, Japan’s largest webforum, and numerous…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 25, 2014 -
UncategorizedBecause Animal Crossing Wasn’t Monstrous Enough, It Seems
Animal Crossing may be a town of horrors, but they are veiled horrors, visible only to those who already know the pain of things like a mortgage. 24 Killers, on the other hand, wears its horrors on its chest. The work of developer Todd Luke, he describes it as “a weird monster life sim with…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2014 - CultureCosplay
Sick Of Dancing, Disney’s Princesses Are Ready For Battle
Photographer William Phan took these shots of Disney’s Battle Princesses at Anime Revolution in Vancouver over the weekend. It’s an idea I feel like I’ve seen before, maybe even with cosplay, but never executed this well. Snow White’s armour design is amazing, while the coat of arms on Cinderella’s shield is a nice touch. The…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2014 -
UncategorizedHow To Make Old Games Feel New Again
As a young lad my gaming library was pretty limited, so I needed to find ways to make those games last. You can only play a game so many times before you’ve explored every nook and cranny of it, and once that happened it was time to get creative. (Top photo courtesy of Retro Game…
By Cameron Gidari Published August 24, 2014 - Uncategorized
Mario & Luigi’s Voice Actor Is A Pretty Funny Guy
Charles Martinet, the voice actor behind Mario, Luigi and Wario, has an Instagram account. And it’s fantastic Over the past week, Martinet has been taking little figures of “his” characters on his travels through Chile, creating sketches like the ones below. Note to Nintendo/Martinet: I would watch an entire series of this. [via Mistle @…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2014 - Uncategorized
Online Attacks Cripple Sony’s PSN, League Of Legends, Blizzard Games
Three of the biggest gaming services on the planet have been down for parts of the weekend, with DDoS attacks hitting the servers of the PlayStation Network, Riot’s League of Legends and Blizzard’s Battle.net (affecting titles such as World of Warcraft and Hearthstone). A DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack is when bots are used to flood…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2014 - Uncategorized
Sunday Comics: Ice Ice Baby
Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. Mike Fahey might be away this weekend, but I couldn’t leave you hanging. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published August 22. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published…
By Cameron Gidari Published August 24, 2014 - Uncategorized
How I Broke My Addiction To Achievements
The first piece I ever wrote for Kotaku chronicled my fun-sucking addiction to achievements. 15 months later, I’m back to tell you how I overcame that addiction. Even back then, at the peak of my achievement obsessing, my resolve was starting to crack. The grind had become too tedious, too time-consuming, and too much of…
By Cameron Gidari Published August 24, 2014 - Uncategorized
Sony Online President’s Flight Diverted After Hacker Bomb Threat
American Airlines has diverted a flight carrying the president of Sony Online Entertainment following what may have been a bomb threat by a group of alleged hackers—the same group that has claimed responsibility for a series of outages across the PlayStation Network and other gaming services this weekend. The FBI is currently investigating the incident,…
By Jason Schreier Published August 24, 2014 - Uncategorized
A 16-Bit RPG That Promises A Modern Twist
Standing out in a crowded sea of retro-style indie games is no easy task, but 16-bit RPG Elysian Shadows caught my attention recently for what it’s promising to do differently. Fashioning itself as a “next-gen 2D RPG,” Elysian Shadows isn’t shy about wearing its inspiration on its sleeve. Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana both…
By Cameron Gidari Published August 24, 2014
