Accel World: Awakening of the Silver Wings Is Interesting, But Flawed

Accel World is a popular anime series based on a series of popular light novels centering around a secret MMORPG fighting game that gives you startling powers in the real world. While this seems like the perfect setting for a fighting game tie-in, its first game is instead an odd cross between a dating sim…

The Complete Shin Megami Tensei IV Trailer Is Almost Five Minutes Long

3DS-bound Shin Megami Tensei IV got a shorter trailer last month. Here’s the full, uncut trailer, and it’s nearly five minutes long. That’s pretty long! 『真・女神転生IV』セカンドトレーラー ノーカット版 [Atlus@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 4am…

This Gamer Girlfriend Advice Sure Seems Patronizing

Hey world, guess what! There are female gamers. There are also females who are not interested in games. And there are dudes who don’t like games, either. SHOCKING, I KNOW. Yet, there’s this: Japanese website Sugoren did a story on nine ways you can get your “beginner gamer girlfriend” to have fun while playing few…

Don’t click on this Resident Evil 6 teaser site. Just don’t!

Some of Japan’s Best Anime-Based Games Have Never Come West

My recent forays into Japan-only anime tie-in games have been a little less than fruitful. Regardless of the quality of the source material, they have either been interesting in concept (but failed in the execution) or have just been mediocre at what they were trying to do But despite my recent frustration at finding good…

Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce is rewriting the script for the new Hollywood Godzilla flick.

Apple Isn’t Trolling South Korea with Apple Maps. The Maps Just Suck.

Apple’s new maps suck. Everyone knows that. They especially stink in South Korea. For example, the Blue House, the country’s executive office, is mixed up with a Chinese restaurant in a Seoul train station. This is among other misses, including overlooking the names of important mountains that everyone knows. According to Livedoor, The Korean government…

It’s Persona 4, But with Real Humans and Big Costumes

With Visualive Persona 4 the Evolution, popular title Persona 4 returns to the stage. Once again, it’s a theatrical extravaganza that mixes multimedia effects to bring Persona to life. Japanese game site Famitsu was on hand to check out the recent performance, which runs until October 9 at The Galaxy Theatre in Tokyo. 舞台”VISUALIVE『ペルソナ4』the EVOLUTION”上演開始！…

There’s a Macross Stage Musical (And We Have Video Evidence)

Music has always been one of the pillars of Macross—along with love triangles and space wars. But only now, 30 years after the airing of the original Macross, is it getting its first stage musical: Macross: the Musiculture. While such performances are somewhat common (like Persona 4‘s own stage adaptation), this musical is actually an…

Airline Pissed about Masturbation News Clip. Wait, What?

Taiwan’s Next Media, famous for its Sims like news recreations, totally pissed off Cathay Pacific when it ran a video showing male passengers pleasuring themselves in business class. The above clip might be NSFW. “Cathay Pacific, of course, did not like the video,” Next Media wrote on YouTube. “It asked NMA to remove the video…

Tales of Geeked Out Toyotas

Like the Tales of Xillia 2 bus, here’s a pair of cars (Auris and Aqua) that were turned into Tales itasha. They were spotted by CNET Japan at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro as part of what looks like a viral campaign to promote Tales of Xillia 2 Does this mean most Tales players…

Where the Hell Is My Lime Green Wii, Nintendo?

I was told to arrive early—that Nintendo would be announcing something big. Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata stood before the 2005 Tokyo Game Show podium and did just that: he showed off the new controller for the very first time. The console was then codenamed “Revolution”. It was later released as the Nintendo Wii and was a…

These Yakuza Photos Tell Brutal Tales of Chivalry

They’re called thugs. The Japanese media labels them “bouryokudan” (暴力団), or literally “violence” (暴力) “group” (団). They call themselves humanitarian outfits. The world knows them as the yakuza. Here is a glimpse inside. Photographer Anton Kusters and his brother, Malik, documented two years in the life of the Shinseikai family, which operates in Tokyo’s Shinjuku.…

A Gun-Shaped Controller For the Wealthy and Insane

There are controllers, there are controllers, and then there’s a very special place in the world—alongside inflatable rafts—for peripherals like the Delta Six. Shooting (SORRY) straight for the mildly crazy Call of Duty fan, it’s essentially replicating the actions of a standard video game controller, only in the most convoluted and theatrical way possible. A…

Oh so quietly, the Homestuck project has become the third-biggest game in Kickstarter history, raising $2.4 million

Here, Let Kinect Show You What Isaac Newton’s Face Looks Like

Perhaps because old-timey paintings can be naught but artistic lies, it’s tough knowing exactly what a notable person from history actually looks like. Oh, unless you’ve got a record of their actual face. And a piece of modern technology that lets you scan and reproduce it. A collaboration between Microsoft, the Royal Society of London…

A Rube Goldberg Machine That’s Powered By Parkour

The entirety of this video is impressive, but things start to get really crazy around 1:50 in. If you’re wondering where these guys got the time/money to build something you’d normally only see in a platforming video game, Red Bull stumped up the cash. Human-Powered Freerunning Machine – with Jason Paul [YouTube]

3DS XL’s Circle Pad Pro Gets a Release Date in Japan. This Is It!

The 3DS XL add-on circle pad got its first public airing at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. I checked it out—and it was pretty good! Nintendo, however, didn’t give a release date for the peripheral. Until now. The 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro will be out in Japan on November 15, Nintendo announced today. It’s…

Love Wind Waker? Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is.

The delightful Zac Gorman, who must be a good person if he loves Wind Waker this damn much, has come up with both a t-shirt and a poster paying tribute to Nintendo’s post-apocalyptic high seas adventure. They both feature different pieces of art, and are available from his store either individually or as part of…

Spanish Cops Name an Investigation After Pokémon. No, Seriously.

Police in Spain have won the admiration of Nintendo nerds worldwide this year after naming a major sting operation after a bunch of Pocket Monsters. Operation Pokémon is the name given to an effort by Spanish police to stamp out corruption amongst the ranks of the nation’s politicians. Why “Pokémon”? There are two theories. One…