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  Adventure Time Mastermind Talks About the Differences In Making the Show Versus the Game

  Adventure Time—the lovable, adventurous Cartoon Network series penned by mastermind artist and writer Pen Ward—has blown up to staggering popularity. Search for the show and its characters online and you’ll find a mess of fan-made renditions and mash-ups and even new inventions (like the currently non-existent baby product of Jake—a dog who can stretch to…

  By Tina Amini Published September 4, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  There’s a New Arc System Works Game. It’s Not What You Expect.

  Arc System Works is famous for fighting games like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. This is not Guilty Gear. It’s not BlazBlue. It’s Tottemo E Mahjong for the PS Vita. No, really. Arc System Works Has A New Vita Game. It’s Moe-ized Mahjong [Siliconera] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Making Giant Mecha Is So Very Romantic

  Wataru Yoshizaki is developing software that powers a giant mecha—a giant mecha that you can actually buy. In the above video, he waxes about working on the KURATAS, which is a huge mecha Kotaku previously featured (here, here, and here). In the slick video, Yoshizaki says he wants to create a society in which we…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  Ken, Your Foot Looks Bigger When It’s Kicking My Face In

  Even during the past twenty-five years of Street Fighter (25 years, crazy!), there are some angles I’ve never seen in Street Fighter. Until now. Artist Kobus Faber did a series of “forced perspective” SF poses. Characters include Ken, Sagat, Cammy, Chun-Li, and Makoto, among others. The result is not only spectacular, but also fresh and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Man Is Flabby, Heroic

  At a recent body building competition in Taichung, Taiwan, muscle-bound dudes gathered and flexed. One contestant, however, wasn’t entering a body building competition, but a courage competition. Online, he’s been dubbed “flabby brother” by netizens, who applaud his determination. What this fellow lacks in muscle and coordination, he more than makes up for it in…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki is not Ghibli, But it’s Pretty Darn Close

  The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki is the newest film from Mamoru Hosoda, the acclaimed director of Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. In many ways, the film is reminiscent of the best Ghibli movies. It is a modern fantasy tale, filled with themes relating to family, nature, and growing up. So…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published September 4, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Gamer Energy Drink Gives People Erections

  There are numerous companies that churn out energy drinks. Some of them even market their beverages to gamers as “fuel”. But how many video games have energy drinks designed to help you get it up after your first round of sex? 3DS game Senran Kagura Burst does, that’s for sure. Akahige Pharmacy, “Red Beard Pharmacy”,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  The Virtual Idol Gaming Forgot About

  Here at Kotaku East we have had a lot to say about Japan’s most popular virtual idol, Hatsune Miku. But just because she is the most popular one doesn’t mean that she is the only one. Back in 2006, Tetsuya Mizoguchi—creator of Space Channel 5, Rez, Lumines, and Child of Eden—teamed up with record producer…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published September 4, 2012
• Kotaku East

  New Resident Evil Movie Is Marred By Japanese-Chinese Political Tensions

  Resident Evil: Retribution might be a Hollywood movie, but it’s based on a Japanese video game. One of the places it takes place is, well, Tokyo. Yet, the actress who plays RE character Ada Wong now wants nothing to do with Japan. Ada Wong actress Bingbing Li did not show at the recent Tokyo premiere…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  Report: Sony (Mobile) Hacked

  Over the Labor Day weekend, some hackers were apparently hard at work. Hacktivist group NullCew announced that it has made its way into Sony Mobile’s servers, reports ZDNet. A Pastebin dump shows a list of several hundred usernames from the website Sonymobile.com as proof of the infiltration. The Pastebin dump has the following message: Sony,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  The More You Watch The PSYning, The Scarier It Becomes

  Kubrick and King? Ha! Those jokers have nothing on the horrors that ensue when you’re snowed in and only have the beats of Park Jae-Sang to pass the time. 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…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  Remembering the Video Game Work of Michael Clarke Duncan

  Oscar nominated actor Michael Clarke Duncan passed away earlier today. The 54 year-old died from complications from a heart attack he had earlier this summer. Duncan is best known for his roles in The Green Mile, Armageddon, and Talladega Nights—among many, many other films. The actor did more than movie work. Blessed with powerful pipes,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 4, 2012
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  Dark Souls Might Get An “Easy” Mode

  Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki is thinking seriously about adding an “easy” mode to the game. Speaking to London’s Metro, he says of the notoriously difficult game, “I personally want my games to be described as satisfying rather than difficult. As a matter of fact, I am aiming at giving players sense of accomplishment in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  Skyrim Tattoo Turns Reader’s Boss Into RPG Hero

  A reader sent us in this pic of their “middle-aged boss'” tattoo. His name is Jim, apparently, which I guess is short for Dovahjiim? Note that’s Dovahjiim, the Dragon Middle-Aged Man, not Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn.

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  If The Ouya Fails, You (Probably) Won’t Be Getting Your Money Back

  The Ouya console might not have been the first video game project to hit it big on Kickstarter, but it’s easily the biggest, with around 57,000 people contributing money towards a machine that doesn’t even exist yet You’d hope that, come 2013, those 57,000 peoople will see a return on their investment in the form…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  Halo 4’s Ten-Minute “Documentary” Is Also One Giant Game Trailer

  Well, here’s a pleasant surprise. This is a “documentary” on the making of Halo 4 that runs for over ten minutes. You’d think such a clip would be full of agonising monologues by developers, and it is, but instead of just focusing on talking heads you’re also seeing a ton of of in-game and cinematic…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  A PC Game Where You Manage a Space Colony? Wonderful.

  Maia is an upcoming indie game where you’re put in charge of managing a sci-fi facility. The world will be procedurally-generated, will contain various different hostile environments, and require you to defend it from hostiles. Which all sounds great. And looks great, too, in this test footage which shows that the game’s proprietary engine can…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  Battlefield 3 With The Lights Out Is Like An All-New Game

  Despite early predictions that its fancy Frostbite engine would make it almost impossible for modders to mess too extensively with Battlefield 3, there’s a mod that messes extensively with Battlefield 3. And with great results! While seemingly only doing a single thing – turning off the sun and transforming the game’s daytime maps into night…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  Tomb Raider’s First 14 Minutes Are About Jumping (And The Slaughter of Deer)

  The new Tomb Raider was at PAX. Were you at PAX? Me neither, so this is the first I’ve seen of the demo that was running over the weekend. It goes for 14 minutes, so you might want to make a cup of tea. When you do, and get back, you can join me in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  Easy Modes Can Ruin Games? Um, No.

  Alex Hutchinson, the lead designer on Assassin’s Creed III, has some very interesting thoughts on video game difficulty. “A lot of games have been ruined by easy modes,” he tells Edge. “If you have a cover shooter and you switch it to easy and you don’t have to use cover, you kind of broke your…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012