• Kotaku East

  Naruto, All Freakishly Tall and with Breasts

  Nana-chan ningyou (“Nana-chan doll”) is a huge female mannequin in front of Nagoya’s Meitetsu Department Store. Since 1973, she’s towered over shoppers in a variety of seasonal and promotional outfits. Recently, Nana-chan donned Naruto gear as part of a campaign for the new Naruto animated film, Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, giving Nagoya the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 1, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The Upcoming Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Title Will Be Revealed Next Month

  As previously hinted, Square Enix will be revealing the latest entry in its Final Fantasy XIII “Lightning Saga” at the upcoming Final Fantasy anniversary event in Tokyo’s Shibuya on September 1. Square Enix’s Yoshinori Kitase confirmed to Famitsu that work on the latest entry in the Lightning Saga has “just begun”. At the Final Fantasy…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 1, 2012
• Kotaku East

  A Chinese Arcade Cabinet Built for RPGs

  Side-scrolling role-playing game Zhan Hun (roughly, “Soul Decapitation”) made an appearance at the recent China Joy gaming convention in arcade form. The wuxia game is a single player role-playing title set in ancient China, and its arcade demo cabinet was outfitted with buttons and a joystick for those who like arcade controls as well as…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 1, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Is Not Fried Chicken. You Cannot Eat It.

  Your mouth might water. Your stomach might growl. You might want to reach out and shove these chicken wings into your mouth. But you cannot for two reasons: One, they exist on the internet, and two, they’re not actually fried chicken. They’re fake. In Japan, plastic food is called “shokuhin sample” (食品サンプル) or “food sample”.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  A Tribute to Old Games (and Life!)

  Swedish artist KJ Andersson pays a strangely powerful tribute to Ernest Kline’s “When I was a Kid“. I say strange because, you know. For all the cheery retro graphics on display, cutting just those two lines out and sticking them front and centre reminds me a little too much of my own mortality. Embroidery [kjandersson,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Here’s How to Play Crytek’s New Online Shooter (That You’re Not Really Supposed to be Playing Yet)

  Crysis developers Crytek (or, at least, their Kiev satellite studio) have been working on Warface, a multiplayer shooter for the PC that while looking entirely unremarkable also boasts visuals that look bloody amazing The game’s actually playable right now, and what’s more it’s free! But there’s a catch: it’s only live in Russia, and the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• Culture

  Concept Art From Guild Wars, Halo and Beyond

  Meet Thomas Scholes. Well, meet his art. An illustrator and concept artist who has worked at 343 Studios, ArenaNet and Disney, he’s now a freelancer who can draw some of the nicest pieces of environment art around. In the gallery below you’ll see examples of his work on games like Halo 4 and Guild Wars…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  GameStop’s Trade-In Program, the 1993 Edition

  Here’s a flyer for Electronics Boutique’s (now part of GameStop) fledgling trade-in scheme, which not only warns you that the program could end at any time (oh no!), but demands you bring the instructions in. No manual, no trade-in. Compared to the “sure we’ll take any old piece of shit” policy the company has now,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  The Only Game Where You’ll Find James Bond, Capcom and Rob Lowe in the One Place

  You don’t need me to tell you how awful most FMV games from the 1990s were. But amidst the wreckage of bad racing games and even worse adventure games, I have a soft spot for Fox Hunt. Mostly because, over 15 years later, I can only now appreciate how batshit crazy the whole thing was.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Return of the Jedi LEGO Has a Freakin’ Sarlacc Pit

  There’s been a lot of great Star Wars LEGO over the years, but these two new sets, both based on the opening of Return of the Jedi, are my new favourites. The first set is Jabba’s Palace ($120). It not only has a moving throne platform, for trapping Luke beneath while he sticks bones in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Online Game Suspected of Causing Teen to Shoot at, Stab a “Friend”

  An unspecified online game is suspected of leading to a stabbing and attempted shooting in Oakley, California, with a 17 year-old boy now in police custody following the incident. On Monday afternoon the arrested teen and a 20 year-old man – reportedly a “family friend” – had been playing the mystery game together online when…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  DSi Coming in Two New, Rather Fetching Colour Schemes

  While the 3DS is the flagship handheld at the moment, Nintendo hasn’t forgotten about the DSi, with plans to release two new colours for the device “as early as this week”. The two colours are “Matte Red” and “Matte Blue”. A sneaky Olympic-themed marketing move? They’ve only been announced for the North American market at…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Air Force Dad Surprises Son by Coming Home as a Jedi Knight

  Col. Rob Kiebler spent 14 months away from his family serving with the US Air Force, both training and on a tour of Afghanistan. He recently returned home, and having not seen his son for over a year, wanted to really surprise him. Adorable. What just about brought the tears down for me, though, was…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012
• Uncategorized

  There Are Many Places Cats Do Not Belong

  I’m not Kirk. I don’t look a thing like him. I can’t even play Kirk on TV. He’s a jazz saxophonist. I’m a classical French horn player. I mean, really. We’re just worlds apart. But what I can do is bring you evening nonsense. Despite the fact that Guybrush—an on-topic cat—has taken over my mouse…

  By Kate Cox Published July 31, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Batman’s Morgan Freeman & Catwoman Look Almost as Good as 3D Models as They do in Real Life

  Say what you will about the in-game graphics (which look pretty good for a phone game!), this 3D character art for the Dark Knight Rises game is incredible The work of artists Uri So and Shenggang Dong, both from Redsteam (another of whose artists we’ve looked at Kotaku previously), they’re nestled right at the depths…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  The Daring Adventures of LEGO Steve and the Creeper Explosion

  Not a day after I get my hands on the official LEGO Minecraft set and this exciting stop-motion video has appeared, bringing the tiniest Creepers on the planet to terrifying life. Who shall save LEGO Steve? The first in a series of animated Minecraft LEGO shorts from YouTube user ForlornCreature sets up an odd alliance…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 31, 2012
• Reviews

  With The Old Republic Going Free to Play, Now You Can Afford This Ridiculously Overpriced Keyboard

  When Star Wars: the Old Republic launched last year, peripheral maker Razer was ready, delivering a stylish mouse and headset combo that evoked the feel of the Lucasverse at a modest premium over similar devices. Razer was not, however, ready with the $250 keyboard. Delayed due to last-minute redesign (it used to feature a strip…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 31, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Need to play Spelunky Right This Second? In Your Browser? Now You Can.

  Cave exploration has been all the rage this summer. Well, virtual caves, at least. With deadly, deadly consequences. In other words, everyone keeps playing and talking about Spelunky ever since its July debut on Xbox Live. But what if you really need to get yourself killed in new and creative ways when you’re someplace with…

  By Kate Cox Published July 31, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Now Valve is Trying to Stop People Suing Them, Too

  Joining the likes of Microsoft, Sony and Electronic Arts, developers and online retailers Valve have announced changes to Steam’s subscriber agreement that seek to prohibit users from filing lawsuits against the company. Saying that they “considered this change very carefully”, a Valve statement explains that “It’s clear to us that in some situations, class actions…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012
• Uncategorized

  GTAIII on PSN Delayed

  Originally due out today, the PSN re-release of Grand Theft Auto III has been delayed due to music licensing issues.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012