- Kotaku East
Report: Japan To Tax Foreign Downloads Starting Next Year
Physical goods imported into Japan are taxed. And according to the Japanese media, starting in 2015, foreign downloads will be as well. Content such as digital music, e-books, apps, and games downloaded from foreign servers will levied with a consumption tax, reports Nikkei Going on info from government sources, Asahi, one of the largest papers…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2014 - Kotaku East
The World’s First Kit Kat Store Is Opening in Tokyo
Japan is famous for its Kit Kats. The country has a slew of unique flavors that simply aren’t available elsewhere. On this month, it will get the first Kit Kat specialty store on Earth. Called Kit Kat Chocolatory, the store will open on January 17 at the Seibu Department Store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro. It will…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2014 -
Kotaku EastA Collection of Japanese Katana Fails
Japanese katana are not only legendary, but sharp! You have to know what the hell you are doing. These experts most certainly do. But while practicing, they’ve cut up their fair share of successes—and failures. Before we look at their fails, here are over nine minutes of katana cutting perfection, courtesy of YouTube user shachiNT…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2014 - Uncategorized
“Something people forget is that we’re already the fastest-selling MMO in history, so even if sales are declining a little bit, that’s on the fastest selling MMO in history.” Colin Johanson, game director of Guild Wars 2, sharing his opinion with Eurogamer about ArenaNet’s declining sales figures.
By András Neltz Published January 15, 2014 - Kotaku East
Fried Scorpion? Osaka Restaurant Serves Up Unusual Eats
If you ever visit Osaka, be sure to try one of its most famous dishes, “kushikatsu” (串カツ). Typically, it’s fried pork on skewers. One restaurant’s menu is anything but typical. The place to go for good kushikatsu (also called “kushiage” or 串揚げ) is Shinsekai. The neighborhood is rather rundown, and it’s hardly the nice part…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2014 - Kotaku East
Hideo Kojima Taunts Us with Ground Zeroes on the PS Vita
Boy, that Hideo Kojima! First, he torments us with Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on the PS4, and now via Twitter he’s teasing the game’s Remote Play for the PS Vita. The nerve. In these stills, you can see how Ground Zeroes apparently looks when running on the Vita. Nice, it seems! I’d like…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2014 -
UncategorizedZombies Throw Dance Party To Celebrate 1,000,000 DayZ Survivors
Yesterday, zombie survival sim DayZ hit one million players, and the zombie population couldn’t be happier. Actually, they’re not happy at all. They’re being forced to do this—by none other than Viktor Kostik, the lead animator of DayZ, who decided to throw together a short dance video to celebrate this milestone in the game’s history.…
By András Neltz Published January 15, 2014 - Kotaku East
Meet Korea’s Most Infamous Character: Poop Man
This is Dongchimee. In you live in South Korea, you might be familiar with him. He’s into dookie and other shit. Note: Some readers might find this article’s content objectionable. The cartoon character is totally into collecting poop, doing poop experiments and wearing a dung hat, notes website Simply2Suitcases. Dongchimee is friends with flying laxatives…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2014 - Culture
That’s Some Motley Crew You’ve Got There, Boy
Damian Audino is a concept artist who’s only just started out working in the games business. Prior to that, he’s been doing freelance work. I wish Eelboy was a thing I could read/play/watch right now. You can see more of Damian’s work at his personal site To see the larger pics in all their glory…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 15, 2014 -
UncategorizedNew Dark Souls II Trailer Is Not A Good Time
But then, fans wouldn’t have it any other way. Kinda cool to see a trailer that’s basically saying “look at all the ways you’re going to die and hate things over and over”. Dark Souls II is out on PS3, 360 and PC in March.
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2014 -
UncategorizedA He-Man Brawler Based On The 80s Cartoon. Yes.
The last He-Man game was pretty good, but it was a stylised thing, looking nothing like the original 1983 series. This game, made by fans, looks exactly like the 1983 series, and is all the better for it. A group of fans got together to make a side-scrolling beat-em-up based on the original He-Man, and…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2014 - Uncategorized
Braid Clone Is Illegal, But Also Kinda Cute
Bootleg games are nothing new, but most of the time they’re either brazen clones or inept scams. This one falls somewhere in between, and as a result has a strange charm all of its own. Braid was, despite its platforming roots, a game with a lot to say, and some novel ways to say it.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2014 -
UncategorizedA Video Showing Everything A Mouse Clicks On In A Single Day
Clicking on a mouse has become such a mundane task, such an embedded part of our daily lives that it’s become like breathing. We need to do it, but we never actually think about it when we do it. So it’s fascinating watching this video of an artist who took a picture every time he…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2014 -
UncategorizedInternet Magic Tricks: Six Seconds Per Laugh
Vines may only be about six seconds long, but that’s all Zach King needs to to pull an awesome trick, illusion or silly stunt. And before you can react or wonder how he did it, boom, he hits you with another neat parlor trick. It’s pretty great! Some of these, like the Pikachu one, you…
By Patricia Hernandez Published January 14, 2014 - Uncategorized
Building Your RPG Characters In The Real World
Hero Forge is like an RPG character creation tool. You choose a gender, choose a build, choose some armour and get yourself a reasonably unique character. Only at the end of this one, your character gets made in the real world instead of being trapped inside a video game. Designed with tabletop gaming in mind,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2014 - Uncategorized
Hotline Miami Pop Mash-Ups Combine Murder And Kanye
The top-down murder-death-kill simulator Hotline Miami had already earned the distinction of having one of 2012’s top video game soundtracks. But these mash-ups from Jessica “NNXT” Gore take the whole thing to another level. NNXT mixes Kanye, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry up with original tracks from Hotline, and it is pretty great.…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 14, 2014 -
UncategorizedSkyrim Guards Are The Worst At Law Enforcement
Sometimes, criminal scoundrels need to be stopped—it’s true. But dang, Skyrim guards, just because some Dragonborn get out of hand doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want! Granted, it’s the guard’s willingness to do things like sick a vicious dog on someone or outright kill a suspect that makes this Cops parody by…
By Patricia Hernandez Published January 14, 2014 -
UncategorizedThe Xbox One Can Do A Lot More Than You Might Think
Sure, the Xbox One has a few tricks up its sleeves—some of which we’ve told you about before. But, damn, had I known about some of the more advanced things the Xbox One is capable of, Microsoft would have sold me on the console way quicker. Thankfully, Sean Ong takes the time to walk us…
By Patricia Hernandez Published January 14, 2014 -
UncategorizedA moment to appreciate the excellent music of Assassin’s Creed IV: Freedom Cry. I liked the soundtrack for AC IV: Black Flag just fine, but I really like Olivier Deriviere’s work on Freedom Cry, which blends orchestral arrangements with traditional Haitian folk songs for a distinctive, evocative flavor.
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 14, 2014