Persona 4 Arena: Official Design Works Now Comes In English

Earlier this week, Luke Plunkettcelebrated the work of Atlus art director Shigenori Soejima, the man behind eye-catching style of the Persona series. He recommended Soejima’s art book, available for shipping in 1-3 months from Amazon — just in time for the English release of Persona 4 Arena: Official Design Works from UDON. Let’s take a…

Blame Photoshop for Korea’s Beauty Queen “Clones”?

This week, photos of Korean contestants surfaced online. The photos all seemed eerily similar. Plastic surgery was blamed for these “clone contestants”. If only it were that simple. It was aJapanese blog, which specializes in translating Korean news, that was one of the first to upload the images. However, when said images reached English cyberspace…

Final Fantasy VII has never actually been released for the PC in Japan. Square Enix will be fixing that mistake “soon” by making the Japanese version available on their online shop.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 Takes a Step Forward and Another One Back

When One Piece: Pirate Warriors was released on the PS3, I found myself playing it and enjoying it—despite having next to no knowledge about the source material. In other words, going in, I had never seen so much as an episode of One Piece—though I seem to remember having seen one of the movies on…

Konami has announced that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be getting its third piece of DLC in Japan on May 9. The DLC will feature a new campaign where you control LQ-84i, AKA the Bladewolf

Mars: War Logs, the sci-fi RPG from Spiders that’s a little like Mass Effect with a dash of Assassin’s Creed, Rage and Red Faction, is now out on Steam. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions are coming “very soon”.

Pirate Warriors 2 Actually Made Me Interested in One Piece

Nearly a year ago, I talked about what it was like to play One Piece: Pirate Warriors without any foreknowledge of the massive One Piece franchise. In summary:everything seemed like pure, unmitigated insanity And thanks to the way it jumped through the series’ story at a breakneck speed, it wasn’t easy to follow either. Overall,…

Even Snape from Harry Potter Can Be “Cute”

Alan Rickman, the actor who plays Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, is one handsome man. He isn’t, however, what I would call “cute”. But what if he wants to be cute? Well, there’s an app for that. In Japan (and other places, too, I imagine), there are smartphone apps that make your eyes…

China’s Microfilms Are Worth Checking Out

“Microfilms” are all the rage in China’s film-scape right now. These short films are called “Wei Dian Ying” (微电影), which mostly refers to low budget amateur digital videos hosted on streaming websites such as Youtube and Youku. Regardless of the term “micro”, these films are anything but small. Short maybe, but not small! “Microfilms” didn’t…

Ubisoft has published a trailer of what seems to be an Assassin’s Creed-themed, community-focused website featuring puzzle games with leaderboards. The catch? It’s exclusive to those who pre-ordered Black Flag, much like how access to Industrial Revolution was tied to a pre-order of BioShock Infinite

South Korea Got an Official Iron Man 3 Cake

Iron Man 3 is out in South Korea. And the country has an official Iron Man 3 cake to prove it. The official cake is from chain Paris Baguette, and the box also doubles as an Iron Man face mask. How marvellous! This once again proves that everything should get its own cake. Eat [wingspig…

Final Fantasy Tactics S, a new Final Fantasy Tactics social game, was just announced for Japan. “S”? Social? Geddit?

Chasm, when it grows up, will be a Diablo– and Zelda-inspired side-scrolling action-RPG/Metroidvania for the PC. Currently, it’s a wee demo attached to a $150,000 Kickstarter project. 15 days and a bit over $50,000 to go for this one.

Why Dynasty Warriors Games Are Perfect for Non-Gamers

The first time I saw a Dynasty Warriors game, it was when I walked into the TV room of my high school dorm. I had left my PS2 out for the others in the dorm to play (loaded with Final Fantasy X) and was surprised to see a friend playing Dynasty Warriors 2 instead. It…

You’ll Never Forget Japan’s Tomato Hairdo

Japan loves hair salons and fancy hair. For centuries, the country has been obsessed with various coiffures. Today is no different. This hairstyle, however, is. The style is called “Ripe Tomato” (“kanjuku tomato” or 完熟トマト). It was done by a stylist named “Hiro” at an Osaka salon called “Trick Store”, which is located the city’s…

That New “Niche” JRPG Brand Doesn’t Have Niche Talent

Galapagos RPG, a new “niche” Japanese game brand, teased its first project. Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame, Nobuo Uematsu (and his band the Earthbound Papas) of Final Fantasy music fame, and the Hyperdimension Neptunia team are all listed as participating. More details, including the game’s name, will be revealed in a future issue of…

This 4-Foot Tall LEGO Evangelion Could Probably Kick Your Ass

This LEGO recreation of Evangelion Unit 0-1 is 120 cm tall. It weighs just under 10kg, or 20 pounds. It is, with all that towering purple, blowing my socks off. It’s not just the scale that’s impressive. You can pose it, it’s got weapons, and it’s even at the right size so that minifig pilots…

Stealth Bastard Had To Change Its Name To Appear On Sony’s PSN

There once was a PC game called Stealth Bastard. Well, there still is a PC game called Stealth Bastard. That game is now heading to the PSN, where Sony, sadly, have seen fit (following a competition) to have its name changed to the altogether duller/cornier Stealth Inc. – A Clone in the Dark!. Stealth B**tard…

This is A.N.N.E., a “Metroidvania and Space shooter hybrid still in early development”. Looks nice. Here’s its Kickstarter.

Don’t Worry Guys, Mother 4 Is In English

Mother 2, or Earthbound,is finally coming to the West once more courtesy of the Wii U’s Virtual Console. Mother 3, at least for now, is not, meaning the only way you can play that in English is courtesy of some very dedicated fans Which, incidentally, is also how you’re going to be able to play…