This Week’s iPad Charts: What Happens When You Set the Zombies Free

Last week it was Infinity Blade, this week it’s Plants Vs. Zombies. It’s really not fair to the real free games when you temporarily give away wildly popular paid iPad games you guys. Poor Temple Run 2. It was on top of the free iPad app world at one point. Now it’s got Monsters, Inc.…

Hungry for more Dreamfall? The devs are streaming the 2006 game and commenting live on TwitchTV, starting at 12PM EST.

In Japan, People Do Not LOL. They wwww.

You see it on Japanese forums. Strings of “w’s”. I often quote individuals as writing “lol”, “LOL”, or even, “lulz”. But let’s get something straight. People in Japan do not laugh out loud. Oh, no. They wwww. Using “w” is not new. Online in Japan, people have been using them for over a decade, which…

Serving Cooked Penis in Tokyo Won’t Get You in Prison

In May 2012, a Japanese illustrator named Mao Sugiyama oversaw an event during which his post-op genitals were served up for dinner. Five people paid money to eat them! And that they did. The event gained international attention. Japanese police began investigating the event, hoping to pin Sugiyama and the event’s organizers for breaking food…

Sony told a Japanese journalist that the PS4 won’t support CDs or Super Audio CDs, like the PS3 did.

Why I Gave Monster Hunter a Second Chance

Monster Hunter: it has sold millions of copies in Japan. I have personally seen it played in parks, on trains, and in countless fast food restaurants in the Tokyo area by everyone from kids to adults. Simply put, it is one of the most prevalent and popular gaming franchises in Japan. The same cannot be…

A Badass Samurai Helmet Fit for Mickey Mouse. Yours for $2,600!

Every spring in Japan, families with sons display miniature samurai armor. The armor, called yoroi (鎧), or samurai helmet, called “kabuto” (兜), are for Children’s Day. Families want their sons to grow up strong and healthy. It’s a Japanese tradition. Starting March 1, Disney, never one to shy from merchandising, is offering a “Disney Pure…

A New Disgaea, The Guided Fate Paradox, and Time and Eternity Are Coming to American Shores

Last night at their press event in San Francisco, NIS America announced they would be releasing three new Japanese titles this year. The first of these, Disgaea Dimension 2: A Brighter Darkness, is the newest PS3 title in the long-running strategy RPG series, Disgaea. It is a direct sequel to the first game in the…

Deciphering Pokémon‘s Mysterious Language

The Pocket Monsters anime originally used Japanese writing for on-screen text and signs. A pain in the ass if you need to localize the cartoon into other languages. So the Pokémon folks came up with a solution: a made-up language. A Pokélingo, if you will. Starting with anime series Pocket Monster Best Wishes!, the anime…

I Used to Dislike Monster Hunter. Then, I Played This Game.

To start with, a fair bit of warning: I am not what you would call a Monster Hunter fan. The first (and last) game of the series I played was Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and that experience left me feeling that Monster Hunter just wasn’t the series for me. But then I saw Monster Hunter…

Dance Around, Take Off Your Clothes, Make Out Naruto Style

Naruto might be the namesake of manga and anime juggernaut Naruto, but the star of this mesmerizing animated GIF is a dancing Itachi Uchiha and his co-star Kisame Hoshigaki This image originally appeared on a Japanese internet thread called “I also made my own animated GIF lol.” Look at how he snaps off that shirt…

How to Navigate the Japanese PSN on Your Vita to Download Games, Demos, and DLC

So you have a Vita and love Japanese games. We’ve already shown you how to make a Japanese PSN account and how to reset your Vita region to access the Japanese PSN on a non-Japanese Vita, but why go through all the hassle? Well, maybe you’d rather download the games you want to play instantly…

Even Sony Doesn’t Know Yet What the PS4 Will Look Like

Thought it was odd that Sony didn’t show off the PS4 at… a PS4 reveal? Well, you’re not alone! It was odd. But it was also understandable, seeing as how, you know, Sony doesn’t know what the final retail machine will look like, either. In an interview after this week’s unveiling, Hiroshi Kawano, President of…

For $10, You Can Get Lightsaber Training

For two years now, a pair of fencing aficionados have been running Golden Gate Knights, a service that “offers experienced instruction in saber choreography.” In other words, they teach you how to sword fight like you were in a Star Wars movie. One of the ones where people actually fight, too, not the old man…

This Amazing Car Chase Video Wasn’t Made With Real Cars (Or Computers)

The official description on this video simply says “An RC Car chase made entirely out of cardboard, hot glue, and spray paint.” That doesn’t do it justice. What you’re seeing here is a Hollywood car chase scene created with remote control vehicles and home-made props. It’s just… wow. The Cliche RC Action Chase [FinalCutKing]

Jimmy Fallon Gets the First PS4 Hands On

On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, talk show host Jimmy Fallon checked out the new PS4 controller and Killzone: Shadow Fall Fallon plays through the Shadow Fall demo as does comedian Anthony Anderson. Fallon shoots up a wall, while Anderson unleashes on a bunch of… air conditioners? PlayStation 4 Demo of Killzone: Shadow Fall [YouTube]

The PS4 Reveal Gets Crazy On Taiwanese News

Next Media, the Taiwanese news team now internet-famous for their bizarre animated sequences, have today turned their attentions towards the announcement of the PlayStation 4 I don’t remember transforming robots as part of the presentation. Which is a shame.

DOTA 2’s Art Is Like An Ice Cream Sundae For Your Eyeballs

I’m finding it increasingly difficult to get excited about DOTA 2, since my dalliances with League of Legends ended in me promptly uninstalling League of Legends, but I still check the game’s blog every single day. Why? Because there’s always the chance Valve will release more character art of the game’s heroes, which are some…

Deus Ex Movie Not Really Based On The Game, More “A Cyberpunk Movie”

Director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill have been speaking with Crave about the upcoming Deus Ex movie project, and things are, at least from a philosophical standpoint, sounding promising. “…the chief philosophy is we’re not making a video game movie, we’re making a cyberpunk movie”, Cargill says. “We’ve taken a look at what’s…

Sony Is “Waiting For The Right Time” To Show The Last Guardian

The Last Guardian should be out by now. It’s not. It could have been shown off at the PS4 unveiling. It wasn’t. Fans looking forward to the game have every right to wonder what the hell is going on, then, and to them, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida would like to say he’s sorry.…