Cats Rule These Japanese Islands

Welcome to Cat Island. No, make that Cat Islands—plural! Because in Japan, there are at least two locations in Japan with that nickname. Perhaps the most well-known “neko shima” (猫島) or “cat island” is Tashirojima, an island in Miyagi Prefecture. In the 1950s, over a thousand people lived on the island. Now, there are around…

No, This Next-Gen RPG Isn’t Called “Wonder F**k”

Level-5, known for the Professor Layton series, is inching closer to releasing their next big multi-platform project, Wonder Flick. However, some people are not quite sure about the name. Over at NeoGAF, in a thread discussing the game’s most recent trailer, forumgoer Log4Girlz pointed out that the font used in Wonder Flick’s title card allowed…

Are Peach and Mario Finally Getting Married? Eh…

Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai just released an image that could imply that Peach and Mario are tying the knot. Finally. Then again, perhaps not! “Whom is the ring for?” Sakura wrote above the image. Japanese site Inside wonders if Mario is proposing to Peach. Oh Masahiro Sakurai, you tease! If they do get married,…

A Caterpillar That People Say Looks Like Hello Kitty

This is a caterpillar. Or should I say, a cat-erpillar. Heh heh. You are looking at the Chinese Bush Brown butterfly in its caterpillar incarnation. It can be found throughout Asia—and more recently, throughout the continent’s cyberspace. Originally, these images were uploaded to animal website The Featured Creature; however, they’ve since spread to China, where…

Bangkok University Is Way Cooler Than Your School

I went to a traditional-looking university. It was pretty, sure, but like I said, traditional-looking. Bangkok University is anything but. Established in 1962, Bangkok University has been heralding itself as the “Creative University” of late. This isn’t just idle talk. Above, you can see the Landmark Complex, created by Bangkok-based Architects 49. The school has…

Track: Green Hill Zone Theme (Remix) | Artist: Mitch Murder | Album: N/A Download the track here Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Fez Looks Beautiful Even When It’s Glitching Out

In the middle of a Reddit AMA, ostensibly about a Humble Bundle, lies a little piece of magic. It’s a gallery, shared by Fez programmer Renaud Bédard, showing how the game looked when the code went a little wrong The one up top was probably “caused by declaring 16-bit indices and actually feeding 32-bit indices”.…

Imagine Wind Waker Had Flying, Instead Of Sailing…

I normally don’t like making such crude comparisons between games, but given the character design in Aer – and the fact I only just played Wind Waker again – I can’t help it. Don’t worry. It’s a very, very good thing. This is a “proof of concept trailer” for Aer. Swedish developers forgotten key say…

GTA V Gate Is A Secret Car Catapult

Next time you drive up to Michael’s front gate in Grand Theft Auto V, you might want to give it a nudge. What appears to be a simple security gate is actually a deadly car catapult. Shame these won’t count as stunt jumps, and that the gate will likely lose its magic powers after the…

Sunset On Mars? Not Romantic.

I featured one DICE artist last night, it’s only fair tonight to showcase another man involved in the design of the Battlefield series. Below you’ll see some personal and professional work from Swedish artist Eric Persson, a concept artist at DICE who has worked on both Battlefield 3 and the upcoming Battlefield 4. You can…

Why I’m A Little Bit Worried About Kinect

I am a little bit worried about Kinect. I’ve just spent 10 minutes being scanned into Kinect Sports Rivals. I’m not sure if it’s working correctly. The only feedback I am being given is from a Microsoft rep to my right. He’s politely giving me instructions when the Kinect (for some reason) stops the scan.…

Um, We Still Don’t Know What Happened To Benjen Stark…

Benjen Stark, brother of Ned Stark, is one of the more interesting characters you meet early in Game of Thrones. Then…he’s gone. But today, he’s back! A Tale of Benjen Stark is an amazing short that tells the story of what happens to Benjen, at least until the point he…well, yes. A tale of Benjen…

Burnout Dev Wants To Make New Burnout Crash Game (With GIANT TRUCKS)

Adam “DjArcas” Sawkins used to work at Burnout developers Criterion. He left a while ago, to work on indie titles like Fortresscraft, but recently figured that hey, if nobody else is making Burnout games anymore, he may as well. He can’t afford the license, obviously, but his Unity game Truck Stop is a Burnout game…

The Last Days Of China’s Lawless Mega Slum

Kowloon Walled City was the closest this planet has ever come to having our own, real Mega-City One. Poverty, people packed in like sardines, drugs, prostitution, a vacuum of authority…it was insane. It’s been gone for nearly twenty years now, but a series of amazing photos has helped bring the “city” back to life. Originally…

Kindly Old Man Gives Sage Advice On How To Slack Off At Work

Okay, it’s not the sagest advice I’ve ever heard, but it is pretty enjoyable advice nonetheless. This is Mr. Forthright, an older chap who gives all sorts of advice on his YouTube channel including how to pass a drug test and how to escape from a nursing home. His latest looks at how to goof…

Nine Minutes Of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, In English

You might have already seen this footage from the next Metal Gear Solid game, if you were paying attention last year around PAX time. But you haven’t seen it in English yet. Today, via Hideo Kojima himself, you can watch the entire intro to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, presented with glorious Kiefer Sutherland…

In this, the year of Luigi: critic Cameron Kunzelman wants to settle the question of what comes after the Year of Luigi via a Nintendofied version of the Mayan calendar. Fun thing is, there are 4 different ways to interpret this calendar.

GTA V‘s Weather Is Even More Beautiful In Time-Lapse

Grand Theft Auto V‘s Los Santos is easily one of the most gorgeously rendered, thriving digital creations put on a disc. So it was only a matter of time before someone made a time-lapse video showing the game’s shifting weather in all its glory. This video, directed by Ben Buja, comes to us from Machinima.…

Track: From Time | Album: Nothing Was The Same | Artist: Drake Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Breaking Bad Lead Actor Reads An Amazing Erotic Fan Letter, Oh My

If you’re famous, then you probably have fans. Fans like to send fan letters, but not all fan letters are created equal. Some letters are simply better than others, and this sexual fan letter that Bryan Cranston received, which he reads out-loud on Conan? It’s fan-tas-tic. I’m kind of surprised this letter got to Cranston,…