Buddha Finger, a Mobile Martial Arts Rhythm Game Developed by Kick-Ass Moms

Anna Marsh and Sarah van Rompaey are a pair of video game industry veterans, having worked on big-budget titles including Tomb Raider Anniversary and Underworld. Together with graphic artist Gabriella Pavan they formed Lady Shotgun, a part-time game studio run by full-time moms. Here’s their first game. Buddha Finger is a rhythm game inspired by…

Call of Duty: Black Ops II Gets Sold Early in Slovakia

Charlie Intel—via callofduty.4players.de and N4G—reports that a PS3 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s Hardened Edition has broken cover several weeks early. It looks like the special edition of Activision’s hotly-anticipated military FPS was legitimately purchased ahead of time in Slovakia

Welcome to Russia, Where Most of Your Friends Are Video Game Pirates

Editor’s note: A couple of weeks ago, we published a story about people who pirate Halo 4. The game has not been officially released, but people were pirating it left and right. A former video game reporter and critic in Russia named Tim Seyfelmlyukov read that story and reached out to me. There was nothing…

Skyrim Will Be Getting a Premium Edition, According to Amazon Listing [Update: Europe Only]

Maybe you held off from getting and playing Skyrim last year, thanks to either the tingling of your wizardly instincts or an emptiness of wallet. Whether you waited or couldn’t get it a year ago, you can get a Premium edition of Bethesda’s hit action/RPG hybrid. According to Examiner.com, the enhanced release of The Elder…

What Facebook is Playing This Week: The Same Things It Was Playing Last Week

FarmVille 2‘s meteoric rise to fame slowly turns this week, as players realize they enjoy building restaurants, playing Scrabble and matching candy much more than they do farming. Actual numbers aside, the composition and positioning of the list as of this writing is exactly the same as last week’s. Things are a bit stagnant at…

For Those Tired of Modern Racing Games, Try Something a Little More Old-Fashioned

There’s a starving genre known as the top-down racer. It’s home to some of the all-time greats like Micro Machines, and some under-appreciated party games like Mashed (yes, totally serious, play with friends after/during beers). It’s also home, sort of, to Real World Racing, an indie title by Italian studio Playstos Entertainment. While it’s got…

Chinese Gamer’s Diet Causes Her To Get Stomach Cancer

Food safety has been a huge concern in China as of late. Ever since the melamine dairy scandal broke in 2008, Chinese people have been on the up and up on food safety, so much so that China has even rejected 6 brands of Korean made instant noodles due to allegations that the noodles have…

Pundit’s Big Prediction: No More Japanese Porn Censorship by 2050

If you’ve spent any time on the internet, you’ve probably seen porn at some point. If you’ve spent any time watching pornography, you’ve probably seen Japanese pornography. One thing that’s quickly noticeable is how Japanese adult videos are censored. Mosaics cover genitalia. In the future, says one pundit, that will change. The future being, oh,…

China Upset With Apple Because Siri Can Find Prostitutes

Apple’s artificially intelligent personal assistant software, Siri, has come under fire by Chinese critics recently over concerns that the program could be used to find “distasteful services”. Since Siri’s inception into the Chinese market with iOS 6 in August, Chinese netizens and prudes have complained that Siri has been too functional; now it appears they…

Zombie Maids Want To Make You Omelets

This past weekend, Akihabara maid cafe Schatzkiste morphed from cute to scary. A “Maid of the Dead” event was held, and zombie maids in blood stained aprons staffed the cafe. The undead served special items like eyeball juice and zombie-finger rice omelets. Have a look at the event, with photos courtesy of Akiba Blog シャッツキステでゾンビイベント「Maid…

The World Is Ending, Let’s Get Married!

A relatively young Chinese couple got married earlier this month on the premise that the world was ending and they didn’t want to be alone. Twenty six year-old Xiao Ai was effectively alone for most of his adult life. Graduating college, Xiao Ai began working as an engineer specializing in automation. Due to the nature…

Foreigners Now Selling Japan’s Most Ridiculous Hostess Game

If you don’t know Dream Club, you apparently don’t know anything about Japan. Or something! (Oh, and there’s a new Dream Club coming out in 2013. Maybe.) クール・ニッポン　～日本のおもてなし「ドリームクラブ」とは～ [YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from…

Resident Evil Character Turned into a Sad-Faced Japanese Meme

Chris Redfield isn’t Japanese. If you go by his Wikia bio, the character is a white American. But what if he were Japanese? And more importantly, what if he looked like one of Japan’s biggest memes? Japanese actor Shoei first made his name by appearing in super sentai (Power Rangers) show Seijuu Sentai Gingaman, which…

Animal Crossing Will Not Have Paid DLC (Thank Goodness!)

When Nintendo first announced it was going to introduce paid DLC, the upcoming Animal Crossing for the 3DS seemed like a perfect chance to nickel and dime players. Seemed like one, maybe, but it won’t be one, says Nintendo. In a recent financial Q&A, Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata talked about paid DLC and Animal Crossing,…

This PC Case Mod Is Perfect for Space Battles

Iconic Japanese anime Space Battleship Yamato (localized and edited for the West as Star Blazers) comes alive with this special case mod. The mod is on display at Akihabara PC shop, Olio Spec, and it was made with Yamato themed pachinko machine parts to achieve that flashy look. ド派手な「宇宙戦艦ヤマトPC」 [Akiba PC Hotline!] Kotaku East is…

This Could Be the Greatest Halloween Costume of 2012

It’ll be tough to top this! Reddit user rdt156 posted this photo of his friend and his friend’s daughter, dressed for Halloween. Dad is a Work Loader from Aliens, and I’m assuming the daughter is baby Ripley? According to rdt156, the baby “was super content. Loved all the attention and didn’t make a peep. When…

The official site for spring 2013 title Tales of Hearts R for PS Vita just launched.

At McDonald’s in Japan, French Fries Are Causing All Sorts of Chaos

This October, McDonald’s Japan has been running a special sale: all French fry sizes are ¥150 per order. So ordering large sized fries, which are usually much more expensive, is now a bargain. It’s not just a bargain, though. It’s also a French fry frenzy that’s pissing some people off. The French fry sale is…

If Only I’d Enjoyed Old Republic As Much As I Enjoyed This Book

Despite still, somehow, being a big Star Wars fan, and also one who appreciates the work that goes into the lore behind a BioWare game, you’d think I’d have been first in line playing Old Republic. But nope. Couldn’t stand it. Which was a shame, because the game’s official encyclopaedia, which I was sent last…

Minecraft Takes The Red Pill

When I think “Minecraft“, I don’t immediately think “The Matrix“, but I guess hbrunav, or he wouldn’t have made this impressive animated short combining the two. It really is impressive. I wish more people went to the trouble of actually animating something like this instead of just using machinima to get things done. I know,…