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Kotaku EastPersona Q‘s Battle Music Refuses to Leave My Head
I played a lot of Persona Q this past weekend, but let me say, I loved every moment I spent in battle—though not because of the (perfectly adequate) battle system. What I really loved was the game’s awesome battle theme. The song, “Light the Fire Up in the Night,” has everything I want in a…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 17, 2014 -
Kotaku EastReal-Life Sword Art Online Blade Cuts Watermelons, Not Bosses
Sword Art Online is a smart anime about people trapped in an MMORPG. Now, MMORPGs have swords. Elaborate, pretty, deadly swords. Like the Elucidator, which blacksmith Tony Swatton was kind enough to bring into our world. Kirito’s unique obsidian blade was then, as it is customary, used to slash apart all kinds of items from…
By András Neltz Published June 17, 2014 - Kotaku East
Amazon Japan Has Doubled Its Goats
Last summer, Amazon Japan hired a stable of goats to manicure its lawn. This year, it is hiring even more. According to Hatena News, Amazon has hired double its goat capacity—now, there are between thirty and forty of them. The goats wear employee i.d. cards while working, which consists of grazing all day. The goats…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 17, 2014 -
Kotaku EastBest New Sport: Throwing $5,000 Computers
Throwing the hammer or the javelin might have made sense in ancient times, but we don’t live in ancient times. We live in the modern times with modern things to chuck around. You know, like computer servers. Recently, tech company Speedlink Japan held its Engineer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The point of the competition is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 17, 2014 - Kotaku East
Destiny Is a PlayStation Exclusive in Japan
In the West, upcoming shooter Destiny is a multiplatform game. In Japan, it’s not. It’s a PlayStation exclusive, Sony announced today. Instead of getting an Xbox 360 and Xbox One release like it will abroad, the game is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and the PS4 when it’s released in Japan on September 11. It’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 17, 2014 - Kotaku East
China’s Personal Bodyguard Training Seems Ridiculously Intense
Bodyguards, the often terrible henchmen found in video games and movies, are very important in real life. These men and women protect their charges with the utmost severity. In China, professional bodyguards take their jobs seriously. Just take a look at their intense training! Originally published on China News’ photo page, these images of would-be…
By Eric Jou Published June 17, 2014 -
Kotaku EastThe Sex Lube Olympics Sure Looks Slippery
This weekend, the Sex Lube Grand Atheletic Meet was held in Tokyo. Covered in lotion, folks competed in a handful of events. The competition looked rather stiff! According to blogger Dutch, who participated in this year’s meet, over a hundred people participated in this subculture event. In Japanese, sex lube is called “lotion” (ローション or…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 17, 2014 - CultureCosplay
Laura Sánchez as Morrigan from Dragon Age. Photo by Jesús Clares
By Luke Plunkett Published June 17, 2014 -
CultureBlizzard & Final Fantasy’s Awesome Cutscenes Have One Thing In Common
Takuya Suzuki, formerly of Square Enix, has worked at Blizzard since 2009 on the company’s famous cinematics team. Currently Cinematic Senior Modeling Artist, he’s done a lot of the background work on the trailers for games like StarCraft II, Diablo III, World of Warcraft and the upcoming Heroes of the Storm. While at Square, he…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 16, 2014 - Uncategorized
$600 Chocobo Looks Like Something A Fox Would Eat
At the right angle, this replica Final Fantasy chocobo looks real. For over $600, though, it had want to! Built by MiraCrafts in Germany, each chocobo is made entirely by hand out of stuff like fur, felt and glass. They’re also “Size fitting for actionfigures!”, which is about where I start reaching for my McFarlane…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 16, 2014 -
UncategorizedImproving Half-Life 2 Through Animation (And Slapstick)
Half-Life 2 is starting to show its age, which is fine, because it is ten years old. Not that this will stop us looking at this animation video and wondering what it would look like with some more modern touches. This animation reel is the work of James Benson, someone who we actually featured a…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 16, 2014 -
UncategorizedA Children’s Choir Was The Best Part Of The Game of Thrones Finale
Last night’s Game of Thrones season finale had some ups and downs—plenty more ups than downs, in my opinion—but I hope we can all agree that the music stole the show. *** Spoilers follow! *** As much as I enjoyed several big scenes in last night’s episode—chief among them the brutal throwdown between Brienne of…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 16, 2014 -
UncategorizedWhat Darth Vader’s Most Famous Line Sounds Like In 16 Languages
It’s one of the most iconic lines in cinema history, but if you’re reading this website the odds are high you’ve only ever heard it said in English. Let’s change that. This clip features a few duplicates (from different recordings of the movie), but covers everything from Japanese to Portuguese to Hungarian. If you’re the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 16, 2014 - Uncategorized
One Thing Watch Dogs Does Better Than GTA V
The open-world DriveShoot games Watch Dogs and Grand Theft Auto V have enough in common that they beg a certain amount of comparison. Despite GTA V‘s generally higher production values, Watch Dogs handily outdoes it in one crucial way. Back when GTA V came out, I wrote an article about how the game’s shooting doesn’t…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 16, 2014 - CultureCosplay
$5 Cosplay Challenge Ends In Hilariously Awful Costumes
Four friends lay down a challenge. They walk into a dollar store, can spend up to $5 and have to make a cosplay outfit with what they’ve bought. The results are…well. You’ve got to say they’re impressive given the price cap, moreso when you look at the costumes they’re attempting. Iron Man is pretty funny,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 16, 2014 - Uncategorized
Mojang Is Trying To Kill Pay-To-Win On Minecraft Servers
Two weeks ago, Minecraft players were preparing for the death of Minecraft. A Mojang employee had pointed out a line in Minecraft’s EULA that says you aren’t allowed to make money from the game, which would put many currently popular servers in violation of the terms of use. Mojang has clarified the situation in two…
By Steve Marinconz Published June 16, 2014 - Uncategorized
New Dishonored Art Book And Mass Effect Models By Dark Horse
Dark Horse’s just-revealed goods include new Halo and Tom Raider comics, a Dishonored art book, and laser-cut Mass Effect models: Dishonored: The Dunwall Archives HC Arkane Studios On sale Nov 12 FC, 184 pages $39.99 HC, 7″ x 9″ The artwork, manuscripts, and scraps of information gathered throughout Dunwall are collected at last. It has…
By John Struan Published June 16, 2014