That’s One Hell Of A Persona Statue

This Persona figure, by Vertex, will probably cost you $120-130. Which is a lot for something that’s only 1/7 scale (not much bigger than your standard action figure). Then again, your standard figure isn’t of Persona 3’s Mitsuru Kirijo. Depicted here in her combat gear from fighting game Persona 4: Arena, she comes with a…

Inside the Japanese Arcade That Looks Like a Hong Kong Slum

Japan has an array of arcades. Many of them have their own personalities, but only one of them looks like this. Located in Kawasaki and called “Anata no Warehouse” (“Your Warehouse”), this arcade is apparently based on Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City. Back in 2009, Kotaku reader Landon checked it out, saying, “It’s 18 years-old-and-up,…

A Very Wonderful Wii U Game

Maybe it’s because it’s a hard game to nail in a single sentence, maybe because it’s Platinum’s “other” Wii U game (after Bayonetta 2), but Wonderful 101 has sadly not gotten the attention it deserves this week. Let’s change that. I mean, what’s there not to love about a game that can channel Viewtiful Joe…

Secret of Mana illustrator Hiro Isono recently passed away due to heart failure. May he rest in peace.

Why Some in Japan Aren’t Thrilled with Final Fantasy XV‘s Setting

As the game’s trailer states, Final Fantasy XV is a fantasy based on reality. A select group of Japanese gamers don’t exactly seem thrilled with that. What is bothering a handful of players is that the latest game has elements that seem, I dunno, commonplace? That is, if you live in Japan. Here’s what I’m…

E3 Just Makes You (Well, This Guy) Want To Dance

E3 is, for many attendees, nothing but one giant party. Most of the time, those parties are in dark venues with catered food. This guy, however, managed to find his party in what looks like the…Ouya parking lot You go, man. Dance the E3 away. Video [Frag Burn]

E3 Swag Is Already All Over eBay

Most professional press attending E3 avoid going overboard on grabbing “swag”. It’s unprofessional (plus it’s usually tacky anyways!). For many fansites and retail reps, though, E3 is as much about the race to collect free t-shirts as it is to play some new games. For some of those, it’s then also a race to get…

Even Shin Megami Tensei IV Has An E3 Trailer

And it’s lovely. Atlus, keep doin’ what you’re doin’.

Mirror’s Edge 2 Is “Open World”, More Of An “Action Adventure”

I love Mirror’s Edge so much I’m not going to get into it here, but the game had its faults. All those indoor bits, mostly. I wanted to run free! Developers DICE are keeping tight-lipped on the freshly-announced sequel for the most part, but one thing they did disclose – and it’s pretty important –…

How Your Microsoft Points Will Become Dollars/Pounds/Euros/Whatever

Later this year, Microsoft’s awful points system will be retired. Yes. In its place, you’ll be buying content using the same stuff you do for everything else: your local currency. But how, exactly, is the transition going to work? I mean, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Currency values fluctuate, the price of Microsoft…

Epic Game Of Thrones Rap Battle, Perfect For Your E3 Downtime

I was sent an email today that told me this was a Game of Thrones rap battle. The description and the video thumbnail had my expectations at rock-bottom. Silly me. This is as amazing as it is NSFW. The writing, the rapping, the copying of voices, the works. Also, warning: spoilers ahead if you haven’t…

See If This Is Enough To Convince You To Care About Rune Factory 4

While wandering around the E3 show floor today, I ran into XSEED’s Jessica Chavez, who you might remember from an informative Kotaku Q&A about how Japanese video games are localized for Western shores Chavez wanted to convince me that one of XSEED’s next games, the RPG/sim Rune Factory 4, is worth our attention. So I…

One of the Buffy Writers Will Be Writing the Next Tomb Raider Movie

Hollywood’s never been afraid of drafting off of a video game success story and this year’s reboot of the Tomb Raider video game franchise certainly qualifies as that. News already broke that Lara Croft’s return to the silver screen would follow the darker tone of Tomb Raider 2013 and now we know who’s going to…

Not Even The PS4’s Lead Architect Knew What The PS4 Looked Like

In case you hadn’t realised there’s a difference between the guys who design the inside of a console and the guys who design the outside, take a look at this tweet (via PlayStation) from PS4 lead architect and game development legend Mark Cerny. Sony took a lot of heat, much of it justified, when it…

It’s The Hook That Brings You Back To Metal Gear Solid V

I ain’t telling you no lie. The hook brings you back — even if you’ve got one eye. Thanks to the E3 2013 promotional art for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, I’ve had Blues Traveler stuck in my head since Monday night. Still can’t nail that damn harmonica solo.

Sony’s E3 Booth Laughs At Those Who Say There Are No Games for PS Vita

Some people say that the PlayStation Vita doesn’t have a lot of games. These people need to go to Sony’s E3 booth. There are a lot of PS Vita games there. Take a look at my video tour above for proof. The Vita area was probably the first time I’ve been to a part of…

Booth Babes? So 2012. Booth Bros Are Where It’s At Now.

Whether they love them or hate them, video game industry watchers are well aware of booth babes, the women paid to wear revealing or form-fitting clothes and draw attention to various companies’ wares. They’ve been the subject of scorn and missed connections. Now, people have different hotbodies to ogle. Male ones. Booth bros. This year,…

A Glimpse of E3 With Their Own Eyes, Far From the Lights of L.A.

In line for Nintendo’s booth, Terence Polk checked his smartphone and chitchatted about what he’d come to review. “Super Mario 3D World,” he said, because he was skeptical—not because he was thrilled by what he’d seen in Nintendo’s presentation. It was the second day of E3. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Polk, 30, is not an…

Sony Still a Little Vague About Third Party Used Games.

We double-checked whether Sony is being cute with their DRM plans and might actually be matching Xbox One in allowing publishers to block used games—despitenot blocking used games themselves We asked: Can third-party publishers restrict used games on PS4 even if Sony won’t? A Sony PR person, who told us they’d triple-check, told us this…

Xbox Achievements Are Changing. Here’s How.

When the Xbox One launches in November, Microsoft’s achievements system will undergo its biggest overhaul since its implementation. There’ll be two kinds of achievements. Stuff you can earn that aren’t achievements. Achievements for watching TV. And more. CHALLENGES First things first: you can now earn more than just regular achievements. Those are staying as they…