- Culture
Whatever You Do, Don’t Look Down
David Smit is a concept artist with a ton of experience working in video games, from stints with studios like Guerilla Games (Killzone 2) and Crytek (Project: Ryse). He’s now a freelancer, who in addition to his video game work has also provided art for clients like Adidas and Playboy. If you like what you…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Wii U’s First Week: The Highs, The Lows, The Massive Downloads
It’s been an interesting week for the Wii U. Nintendo’s—well, anyone’s—first new home console in six years has been met with a curious mixture of joy, bewilderment and even disdain by early adopters and critics alike. Let’s look back, then, on the week that was for the Wii U. Below you’ll find the biggest, most…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Sony’s Glass Controller Sure Beats a Gold Watch
After five years with the team, Sony Computer Entertainment America PR man Jeff Rubenstein recently left the company. In leaving, though—or at least for being there for five years before he left—we get a chance to see something neat. Behold, SCEA’s five-year service reward/award. Sure, five years doesn’t sound long, but in a world where…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Next Hitman Game Won’t Be Like Other Hitman Games
Danish studio IO Interactive, as the creators of the series, have been doing Hitman games forever. But the next Hitman game, the one after Absolution, won’t be made by them. And it won’t be like other Hitman games, either. No, the next Hitman game, in development at new studio Square Enix Montreal, sounds like it…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Sometimes a Bad (Read: Tired) Game Just Needs a Little More Time
I had a very strange thing happen to me this week. I went back and re-played a game I hadn’t previously enjoyed. Only this time, a year removed from my first experience, I actually enjoyed it. The game in question was Assassin’s Creed Revelations. With Assassin’s Creed III out this week, and being a fan…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Oliver Twins want to make a brand new Dizzy game. Here’s the Kickstarter
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Your Official Holiday Gift Guide, For All Your Shopping Needs
Another year, another round of holiday gift shopping. But what should you buy all those special people in your life? What should you be looking for on this hectic Black Friday? We’re here to help. We’ve covered a ton of gift-buying options, from games on various platforms to specific price ranges to help make things…
By Tina Amini Published November 23, 2012 -
Kotaku EastThis Lady Cosplays in Cute Outfits and Then Shoots Deadly Assault Rifles
Japan seems to have an idol for everything. Besides all the typical singing schoolgirl idols, there’s a glasses idol, a retro gaming idol, and even an “ugly” idol. So you can bet there’s also a military idol. Meet Mii Aihara. She got her start working at a Mia Cafe, a maid cafe in Tokyo’s geek…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 23, 2012 - Kotaku East
Report: How Japanese Women Tell If Male Co-Workers Are Totally Unpopular
Are you a working dude? A popular working dude? If not, you might be giving off telltale signs to your female colleagues that you are not popular. Japanese research website Otome Sugoren (via Sugoren) regularly polls its women readers and has come up with the seven most popular ways women (in Japan, at least) know…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 23, 2012 - Kotaku East
If Back to the Future Was Made by Japanese Geeks
It would probably feature a Delorean that looks like this. Behold, the itasha DMC-12, complete with an “OUTATIME” California plate. Itasha (痛車), literally “painmobile”, are cars covered with anime, manga, or video game themed stickers. This Delorean is wrapped in Japanese anime Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and was on display at a recent itasha gathering in Tokyo’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 23, 2012 - Kotaku East
Let’s Overdose on All this Wonderful Mecha Plastic
Gundam models are called “Gunpla” (ガンプラ) in Japanese. And at this year’s Gunpla Expo, there were plenty of them. The event, which runs until November 25 in Tokyo’s Akihabara, not only showcases upcoming models, but also the work of master Gunpla builders and famous fans. Let’s have a look. Some of these are actually entries…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 23, 2012 - Kotaku East
Navy Serviceman Says He Wasn’t “Totally Nude” at the Comic Cafe (But He Did Pee)
Manga cafes might be wretched hives of scum and villainy, but they are also a place where people unwind, read comics, play video games, and pass out after missing the last train. Maybe that’s what happened to 23 year-old Navy serviceman Oscar Hayes Weigle, and his buddy. If so, that’s easy to explain. What actually…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Avengers’ Agent Phil Coulson, Yours to Own And Hold And Do…Whatever
Hot Toys has all the super heroes of The Avengers covered with their amazing line of highly-detailed figures, but what about plain old regular heroes? Here’s one. Everyone’s favourite super dork, Agent Phil Coulson. Available in June 2013 for $175, he comes with all kinds of super accessories like a…folder. And his Captain America trading…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
How The World’s Biggest LAN Party Is Built
Over the rest of this week and the weekend, over 10,000 gamers will be gathering in Jonkoping, Sweden for Dreamhack Winter, the world’s largest LAN party. There’ll be games, parties, e-sports, food, swag, you name it, if it’s got to do with PC gaming, it’ll probably be somewhere at Elmia Fair, where the attendees get…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2012 - Kotaku East
Animal Crossing: New Leaf Doesn’t Seem Like Digital Heroin. But It Is.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf is currently one of the most popular 3DS games in Japan. It hit the shelves on November 8th, and as of the 18th, the game has sold 893,344 copies (not including the download version) and is well on its way to being a million seller hit. The game sells itself as…
By Toshi Nakamura Published November 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
THQ Tries To Clear Up Comments That The Wii U “Has A Horrible, Slow CPU”
Oles Shishkovtsov, from Metro developers 4A Games, delivered a short-but-interesting verdict on Nintendo’s new console recently when he said “[The] Wii U has a horrible, slow CPU.” 4A & THQ PR man Huw Beynon (THQ being the publisher of 4A’s Metro: Last Light) elaborated a little more at the time, but in the wake of…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 22, 2012 -
UncategorizedAngry Birds is Now Hanging on a Wall as Art
It’s not often you get to see a game guide, of sorts, written by an artist. But then, it’s not often a game is as simple as Angry Birds Artist Evan Roth has finished Rovio’s mobile game in a pretty unique way: he managed to record every swipe of his finger throughout the game’s levels,…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 22, 2012 - Uncategorized
Pump Train Puts You In Charge of Saving New York City’s Subways After Hurricane Sandy
One of the most chilling consequences of last month’s brutal superstorm was how Sandy flooded and shut down huge chunks of New York City’s mass transit system. Entire subway stations were submerged and the tunnels that trains travel through were flooded to an unprecedented degree. Much of the subway system was up and running in…
By Evan Narcisse Published November 22, 2012 - Uncategorized
Holiday Gift Guide: What Do You Get The Vita Gamer?
Here we have yet another handheld gamer, and the Vita gamer needs holiday love, too. Perhaps more so than any other gamer, since the pickings are still somewhat (at least relatively) slim. What suggestions do you have for the Vita gamer? Watch out for our editors’ picks down below, but feel free to add yours,…
By Tina Amini Published November 22, 2012