From Persona 4 to My Little Pony, These Figures Will Overrun Arcades

When you think of Japanese arcades, you probably think of fighting games, music games, and racing games. You might, however, completely forget about one of the most popular staples of arcades in Japan: crane games. Late last year I had my own experience with a Japanese crane game—because it taunted me with a figure I…

If You Find a Russian Meteorite Fragment, Don’t Sell It for Booze

On February 15, the sky above Russia was set ablaze when a meteorite exploded. Over a thousand people were unfortunately injured, and damage is estimated in the tens of millions. Strewn across the landscape were meteorite fragments. Now, valuable meteorite fragments. According to NBC, there’s now a “meteorite rush” around the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.…

Just Playing the Groove Coaster Arcade Brings a Smile to my Face

Groove Coaster was originally a fantastic rhythm iOS game made by the creators of Space Invaders Infinity Gene. This year, however, it moves from its humble touch screen roots directly into Japanese arcades. And at the JAEPO 2013 arcade expo this last weekend, Kotaku East got some hands-on time with the game. Simply put, it…

Thanks for All The Memes, PS3!

Massive damage! Second jobs! Spider-Man font! Boy, I’ll tell you what, the PlayStation 3 has been entertaining at times—and that’s not even when the console’s switched on. The PS3 has produced some of the best (and most loved) memes of this generation. With the PlayStation 3’s successor right around the corner, it’s time to look…

Believe It or Not, The PlayStation 2 Is Getting More Expensive in Japan

Something is only worth what people will pay for it. And these days, they’ll pay more for a PlayStation 2 in Japan. Capitalism! The SCPH-90000 is the final edition of the PlayStation 2. It’s the super slim console that Sony launched in 2007 in Japan for ¥16,000 (US$170 in today’s money) . This past December,…

Final Fantasy Versus XIII Isn’t Out, But Here, Have Some Versus Perfume

One day, the years-in-development Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be out. For the time being, keep your hope alive with perfume. Perfume? Yes. Perfume. Square Enix’s Hidemi Matsuzuka, who manages the company’s figure brand, tweeted out the picture below, writing only, “Prince” (“ouji” or 王子) in Japanese. In the photo, you can see the words,…

If You Want To Conquer Europe, You’re Going To Need To Do It The Hard Way

Paradox’s March of the Eagles was released this week on PC, and if you’ve been at all swayed by my love of Crusader Kings II, the video above may have you thinking “wonderful, this is like that, only with muskets”. Be warned, then, that this isn’t the case. I’ve been playing the game since last…

Shadowrun’s 1990 Promo Is A Strange, Wonderful Thing

Classic RPG (like, proper RPG) Shadowrun was, at one time, not a classic. In 1990, it was a product competing against other products, and had to sell itself. Using videos like this. If you thought live-action commercials/trailers in 2013 were still occasionally awkward, you may not want to watch this. It is 4:32 of Mr.…

The New Beast Wars Begin with Optimus Prime and Predaking

Hasbro is calling them Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters, but that’s not what I’m calling the upcoming third season of the animated series and the corresponding toys. A dragon that transforms into a robot and a red-and-blue figure that’s vaguely reminiscent of the original Optimus Prime? These are the new Beast Wars, my friends, and they’re…

Horse Armour, Horse Armour, Get Your Horse Armour

Chris Anderson works at Turbine (Lord of the Rings Online) as a senior concept artist. Prior to that, he’s worked for a range of other MMO studios such as Tencent, Sony Online Entertainment, Mythic and NCSoft. That means his resume includes a whole range of MMO titles, including LotR Online (obviously, and the headline will…

Draw Me Like One Of Your French Video Game Artists Does

French artist Bastien Vives, whose cosmopolitan video game art does little to dispel French stereotypes, returns this week with a batch of terrific fan art. It’s not all video games—Disney features prominently—but you can excuse that when his Ninja Turtles characters (turtle or otherwise) are so, well, sexy. lundi… lorsque ce n’est pas de l’archéologie,…

Wait, Are The Mouse & Keyboard Dying, Or Are They Fine?

Bungie co-founder Jason Jones said something recently that, depending on how you choose to look at it, could have been taken at best as an inaccurate assessment of the control preferences of the PC gaming market. It’s sparked an interesting to-and-fro between two websites, Ars Technica and Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the former declaring the “keyboard…

Report: PS4 Cheaper At Launch Than PS3 Was

When you see a rumour end with the word “considering”, it’s always wise to tread cautiously. Because that word could mean anything. That said, this particular PS4 rumour comes from Britain’s The Times, so it’s at least worth… consideration. The report says that Sony is looking at “pricing the new device at about £300”, which…

Tiny Men Come To Steal Your Socks, But Your Cats Will Destroy Them

You know how you tend to lose one of every pair of matched socks you own? Well, turns out that’s because a bunch of weird tiny masked dudes break into your room when you’re away and steal them. But, if you’ve got guard-cats like in this insane new video from CorridorDigital, you should be able…

This Person Sniped A Chopper In Battlefield 3 Using Only A Magnum. Awesome.

Props to sSantzuu here, who does some major work with his sidearm in the video above—look at how he takes down a chopper at long range. Crazy stuff. Sniping people with things other than sniper weapons is definitely one of my favorite things to do in Battlefield games, so I imagine pulling this off must’ve…

He’s Getting Threatened With Legal Action Over A Counter Strike Map

Fun fact: Canada has never appeared in a Counter Strike map before. That is, until Diego Liatis made a map of Montreal’s Berri-UQAM station, which you can see above. Pretty cool, right? Well, not everyone feels that way. According to The Escapist, Montreal’s city transit authorities contacted Diego Liatis over their “copyrighted metro network,” letting…

There’s No Shame In Liking A Game For Your Own Reasons (No Matter How “Stupid”)

This weekend, I came upon a curious conversation: a stranger telling a friend of mine if they wanted to play Fire Emblem: Awakening for the “throwaway romantic skits,” that they were doing it wrong. And all I could think was: those “throwaway” skits are the only reason I care about that game! The reasons we…

PC Modders Still Hard At Work Fixing Aliens: Colonial Marines

You may have heard that Aliens: Colonial Marines has some problems. Among those problems is the fact that the PC version of the game looks like pretty raggedy. The ship interiors and darkly-lit alien worlds taking very little advantage of recent advances in PC graphics technology. While the game itself—the levels, the writing, the audio—may…

A Tribute To Fire Emblem‘s Most Gloriously Overpowered Character

The opening hours of Fire Emblem: Awakening can be harrowing. As with most role-playing games, your characters all start out pretty weak. It’s a long road to mastery—you’ll have to win many battles, earn enough money to afford better gear, and plunder treasure chests for rare spells before it starts to feel like your a-team…

The New York Times has an interesting write-up on the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Do you want one?