Five Hong Kong Crime Movies You Should Watch Before Playing Sleeping Dogs

The best gangster movies I’ve ever seen didn’t come from Hollywood. They’ve emerged from the Hong Kong film system and make the relationships between police and lawbreakers feel more seductive and complex than most of the similarly themed films in the West. I’ve written before about how Sleeping Dogs might be the game to finally…

Indiana Jones Couldn’t Shoot His Way Out of This Expedition

Classic adventure-themed Lost Cities is a pretty great card game. It’s now a pretty great iOS game as well. While available on other platforms, from Facebook to – albeit briefly – Xbox Live Arcade, the iOS version of Reiner Knizia’s game of risk and reward is easily the best, combining snappy controls with smart visuals…

A Mother Goes Insane Trying To Keep Her Kid Away From Games In This Animated Short

Oh, the perils of motherhood. Once you’ve introduced your kid to that first joystick, they’ll undoubtedly crave more. Gone are the days of bouncy red balls thrown in gleeful delight with other children. Only the upbeat soundtrack and glow of a television screen prevail. But one courageous mother is dead-set on introducing her son to…

Talk Amongst Yourselves is where you should go to talk about games. And life. And egg creams.

The Next Game From The Makers Of Professor Layton Could Be Coming To U.S. Shores

Us lucky Americans could be getting our hands on Guild 01, the next game from Japanese developer Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dragon Quest IX). Guild 01, a compilation of four games for 3DS that includes titles from Sim Tower creator Yoot Saito and Vagrant Story designer Yasumi Matsuno, was released in Japan earlier this year. So…

You Shall Not Pass Up a Chance to See the Latest LEGO Lord of the Rings Trailer

If Peter Jackson had cast LEGO minifigs to star in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, then maybe I wouldn’t have fallen asleep so much. I enjoyed the films. They were just very long, and there was a lot of walking. I suppose the fact that I knew where the walking was leading didn’t…

The Best Super Mario Surprise Ever Made

Some of the most beautiful things in video games, as my colleague Patricia Hernandez noted on Friday, are the mistakes, the glitches. Some of the best surprises, however, are the ones game developers intentionally hid for us somewhere in the forests of the games we play. These delights are planted along the path to please…

Nintendo’s Portable Lineup Dates Paper Mario, Moves Luigi to 2013

With the release of the new 3DS XL just a week away, Nintendo releases its massive list of 3DS, DSi and eShop game releases, solidifying a November release for the next installment of Paper Mario, giving Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon a 2013 move-in date, and dropping a few surprises for Nintendo’s portable power players. While…

The Chinese One Piece Game I Wish I Never Played

The Japanese manga and anime sensation about pirates, One Piece, is very popular here in China—so much so that it almost spawned a theme park. Perhaps it is because that I that I actually enjoy One Piece that I found its latest offering in the form a Chinese licensed (which may turn out to be…

Japan’s Biggest Role-Playing Game Gets its Own…Minivan

To promote online role-playing game Dragon Quest X, Square Enix and Nissan joined forces for this: a Dragon Quest branded Nissan Serena. The Nissan minivan was wrapped in Dragon Quest characters. The Japanese car maker is rolling out seven of these to appear at Dragon Quest events and promote the game. One lucky individual can…

Here’s a Sex Doll Reviewing Game Hardware

Before you go all what is this I don’t even, yes, you are looking at sex doll that reviews video game hardware. From handhelds like the 3DS XL to racing wheels, this pleasure aid reviews them all. The doll’s name appears to be “Doll”, and she has a huge collection of all the latest gaming…

Godzilla, Dissected for Your Viewing Pleasure

Since 1954, Godzilla—née “Gojira”— has stomped over miniature Japanese cities. The character is a movie icon. But have you ever wondered what’s inside the enormous kaiju? (Well, besides Godzilla guts…) This, apparently. The illustration seems to be from a Japanese children’s book, and it lists the different parts of Godzilla’s anatomy, including his brain, uranium…

A Look Inside the Smoky World of Chinese Internet Cafes

Chinese internet cafes get a lot of bad press in Western media, most of which involves young people gaming for days on end and then passing… But while the cafes are seedy places, they aren’t exactly bad. Nearly everywhere you go in China that has a steady internet connection, you will find an internet cafe.…

The Queen of Pokémon Will Gross You Out. Again.

Like clockwork, every summer in Japan, you can hear cicada, or “semi” (セミ), throughout the country. That buzzing cry is something that people instantly associate with the season. And like clockwork, idol Shoko Nakagawa is back this August with more stomach-churning cicada photos. Yay? See Nakagawa, who is Japan’s queen of Pokémon, collects cicada skins—and…

That Jet Li MMO Isn’t Half-Bad

Chinese company Woniu.com recently came out with a new martial arts based MMO call the The Ninth Sutra （九阴真经). Despite looking like every other martial arts based MMO ever released, the one thing that set the The Ninth Sutra apart was the fact that they were able to use martial arts expert Jet Li’s image…

This Gaming Laptop Is So Bright, You Gotta Wear 3D Shades

Samsung is giving its first dedicated gaming laptop, dubbed Series 7 Gamer, a not-so-subtle coat of bright yellow gloss. As website Engadget points out, the laptop gets an AMD Radeon HD 7870M and a SuperBright 3D LED display. It’ll be out August 14 in South Korea for the equivalent of around US$2,640. No word on…

The Cosplay Insanity that Roared Through Tokyo

Starting on Friday, the biannual Comic Market (aka “Comiket”) was held in Tokyo. Just as in previous years, the 2012 summer Comiket featured a whole slew of cosplayers milling about and posing for pics. Here are some of them. Sister site Kotaku Japan and cosplay blog Asagawo were on hand to soak up the festivities…

Kazunori Yamauchi won’t say when GT6 is coming out, because people will say it’s been delayed. Talk about forecasting.

This Store Sells Food. Plastic Food.

In Japan, fake food can look very, very real. It’s called “shokuhin sample” (食品サンプル) or “food sample”, and it appears outside restaurants so customers can know what they are ordering. Website DannyChoo.com recently visited a Tokyo shop called “Maizuru” that specializes in selling shokuhin sample. Most restaurants work closely with plastic food makers to accurately…

The Flood Tragedy Is Real. This Viral Photo Is Probably Not.

Last week, torrential rain battered the Philippines. According to CNN, flooding has impacted 2.4 million people. Tragically, the death toll has reached 90, and there are concerns over the spread of disease. Serious stuff. Online in Japan, there are photos of Filipinos dealing with an awful situation the best way they can. Some of the…