Report: Chinese Government To Loosen Grip On Online Games

China’s Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily reports that the two Chinese ministries responsible for monitoring and approving online games will revise their criteria in terms of approving what games get released in China. In a quote within the People’s Daily, which printed the Guangzhou Daily report, Ministry of Culture Cultural and Internet Commerce department head…

Hugely Popular Just Cause 2 Mod Goes Official, Gets on Steam

After over a year of testing, on the seventh of December, JC2-MP, the large-scale multiplayer mod for Square Enix’s shooty-hijacky sandbox game, will begin its final beta test. Unlike previously, participants have to grab a key for the brand-new Steam version of the mod (which requires registering on the mod’s website), which will be unlocked…

Summon The Gods! It’s Time For Tower Defense

Cartoonish graphics, simple and intuitive game play, free-to-play, Oh My Gods: Tower Defence has it all, and yet even though it’s a grand game that’s 100 percent free, it’s not exactly a perfect ten. The second international release by Chinese publishers Yodo1, the Chinese-developed Greek mythology-themed tower defense OMG:TD is literally what you’d expect when…

The Scariest Tire Commercial I’ve Ever Seen

How often have you seen a tire commercial with a health warning in front of it? Fukuoka-based tire retailer Autoway‘s latest online spot takes a page from Japanese horror for this reminder of dangerous winter roads. The video was uploaded in mid-November, and now has over 400,000 views on YouTube. 雪道ｺﾜｲ [AutowayTire@YouTube] To contact the…

All-Female Marching Bands Make Taiwanese Funerals More Lively

In the past, funeral processions in Taiwan featured traditional Chinese instruments. Now, some sport marching bands, complete with baton twirling and go-go boots. For the past few years, funeral service Yuan-Rong Life has offered a marching troupe called “Xiu Juan Female Music Band” for services. Yuan-Rong Life tells Kotaku that each session lasts about two…

In the wake of child predators using the 3DS, Nintendo is reminding Japanese parents about locking the 3DS and the WiiU’s internet capabilities. 保護者による使用制限機能について [Nintendo@YouTube] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking…

My Kingdom For This Retro-Themed PS4

Given my penchant for wood-panelled video game hardware, if this Photoshop mockup were ever to become a real thing, I would sell every other piece of video game hardware I owned to get hold of it. While the wood and orange are the best bits, also of note is the practical improvement, since the power…

Man Shot Dead Over PS4 Sale

The arranged sale yesterday of a PS4 console in San Francisco’s Bayview District has gone terribly wrong, with one of the men involved being shot dead and robbed by the other. The San Jose Mercury reportsthat having met the prospective seller and arranged to meet to buy the console, the suspect instead shot the victim…

3DS XL Mario And Luigi Limited Edition For $180

Best Buy has this limited edition 3DS XL with Mario and Luigi: Dream Team for $180. That’s $30 more than the crazy Zelda 3DS XL deal we saw, but that Zelda deal is gone, and I trust they’ll be a few of you who think this is a pretty sweet looking little machine in this……

Xbox LIVE Gold 1 Year Subscription For $35

eBay has 1 year of LIVE Gold for $35. Basically if you own a Microsoft console then you want this deal. [eBay] The Best Cyber Monday Gaming Deals The Best Cyber Monday Deals Follow Kotaku Deals on Twitter to never miss a deal. Get in touch with Shane Roberts onTwitter or by e-mailing Shane@Gawker This…

Amazon’s Cyber Monday Gaming Deals Are Live At 3:01am ET [Corrected]

Update: Multiple publications, myself among them, were confused about the format of these gaming deals. These are not lightning deals, and should run all day on Dec. 2, unless of course stock runs out. Amazon’s video game deals are going hot at 3:01am ET. Prices are undisclosed, but we’d venture to guess that they will…

Reports: 4chan User Sets Himself On Fire, Streams It

There are reports emerging – some of them conflicting – that a 4chan user known as “Stephen” tried to take his own life on Saturday night by setting himself on fire. And broadcasting the whole thing. The Daily Dot has collected a number of posts and images from 4chan, which suggestthat after stating “As an…

New Humble Weekly Bundle Featuring Jamestown, Closure, Shatter

There’s a new Humble Weekly Bundle with a great little selection of games. I haven’t played S.P.A.Z., but I’m a big fan of Closure, Shatter, and and especially Jamestown. [Humble] The Best Cyber Monday Gaming Deals The Best Cyber Monday Deals Follow Kotaku Deals on Twitter to never miss a deal. Get in touch with…

Fake Trademark Breaks Sega Fans’ Hearts

Some people – who you’d think should know better – got excited last week when they learned that Sega had filed a trademark in Europe for “Shenmue III”. The only problem: it wasn’t actually Sega who filed it. “Sega has confirmed that the recent application for the trademark of Shenmue III is a fake and…