I’m Sold on the Wii U GamePad’s Multiplayer

While at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, I got my first hands on with the Wii U. Other Kotaku editors have used the Wii U plenty, but since I didn’t go to E3, this was my first. Prior to picking it up for the first time, I really didn’t have high expectations for it—nor did…

Macau: The Gaming Capital Of The World But With Less Games and More Games

Macau or as the Chinese spell it, Macao, is the gaming capital of the world. Its annual gaming revenue stream is set to be five times that of Las Vegas by the end of this year and it’s expected to continue to grow. However while Macau is the gaming capital or Asia, all it really…

Nintendo has confirmed to Eurogamer that the Wii U will be region locked. Surprised?

Luffy Appeared in Dragon Ball Before One Piece Launched? Not Sure…

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is a huge fan of Akira Toriyama, best known for creating Dragon Ball and designing Dragon Quest‘s characters. Oda really digs Toriyama’s work, but was the One Piece character Luffy inspired by Dragon Ball? A Chinese net user uploaded a panel from what’s supposedly an old Dragon Ball manga. In…

The Factory That Makes The iPhone 5 Is Under Attack by Its Own Workers [Update]

Foxconn, the company best known for suicidal workers, terrible working conditions, and building anything and everything Apple, had to shut down one its assembly plants today because of a supposed riot that took place late Sunday night. According to a quote from Foxconn via Chinese web portal Sina.com, the plant was closed Monday to allow…

The Most Amazing Counter-Strike Kills I’ve Ever Seen

Over the weekend, the Asia E-Sports Cup was held at the Tokyo Game Show. Local Japanese team myRevenge (formerly UNiTED) faced off against the largely Singaporean team Asking Questions. Noppo has been playing competitive Counter-Strike for a while now and is one of the best players in Japan—and the world. The above clip is from…

Ex-Rare Developers Dazzle with a Beautiful and Relaxing Japanese Game

iPad game Tengami is centered around the traditional Japanese pop-out arts and crafts. Designed by Nyamyam (an indie studio started by former Rare devs), Tengami utilizes the idea of paper popping up and down when turning a page. In that way, the game could be considered a book (or like a book) as the story…

Mark Of The Ninja Is Coming To Steam, Won’t Subject You To Games For Windows Live

Good news for PC-owning stealth-fans—Klei Entertainment’s Mark of the Ninja is coming to Steam in a couple of weeks. The game, which Patricia liked and Jason and I can’t shut up about will be on Steam on October 16 for $14.99. In an email to Kotaku, lead designer Nels Anderson had some assurances to make:…

Burger King Is Launching Squid Ink Ketchup and a Black Hamburger

McDonald’s China isn’t the only place with black buns. In Japan, Burger King will soon offer the Premium Kuro (Black) Burger on September 28. This burger marks the fifth anniversary of BK’s return to Japan and the concept behind the hamburger is “irrationality”—because hamburgers with black buns ARE CRAZY. To achieve that dark hue, the…

Dragon Ball Looks Exhausting on Kinect

Dragon Ball Z is coming to Kinect as Dragon Ball Z for Kinect. They really should’ve called it Dragon Ball Z: Total Body Workout. Not sure who the gentleman playing is (or for which press outlet he writes for). If he lets me know, I’d be more than happy to add it right here! Kotaku…

The Next Big Japanese Thing? Cat Tails Powered by Your Brain.

In Japan, catgirls have been popular for a long, long time. They’ve inspired endless video game, anime, and manga characters as well hairstyles and even a set of cat ears (“neko mimi” in Japanese) called “Necomini” that can read your brain waves. The folks behind that product, a Japanese company called Neurowear, are at it…

An Adventure Game That Should Have Been Called Milhouse: The Later Years

Anna’s Quest is a new episodic adventure game series from indie developer Dane Krams, with a cute little art style. It gains added weight, though, when you see the poster/art for the game, and notice it features what looks like a 70 year-old Milhouse. Good to see he got over Lisa Simpson and moved on…

The History of Music. In Animated Gif Form.

Those lacking the will to read up on the history of music, or even watch a nice documentary, here: the history of music, presented in the form of animated gifs. They’re the work of musician Joshua Carrafa, and what I like best isn’t the fact they’re genuinely educational (in a “Trivial Pursuit card” kind of…

New Trailer For The New Kingdom Hearts Game…Collection…Thing

Square Enix was really weird about Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix at the Tokyo Game Show. Kept saying it was a “video work”. We’re sure there’s going to be game in there somewhere, probably a lot going by the footage here, but just how much, we won’t know until Square stops being so weird. Anyway,…

From Mass Effect to…Death Metal Horror Movies

Richard Boylan, a cinematic artist at BioWare, has spent his waking hours for the last few years working on the Mass Effect series. All that synth, and white walls, and clean space stations…it’s enough to drive a man to make a death metal horror movie. So, you know, that’s what he’s done. Boylan has written…

When Brilliant Scientists Also Have Amazing Toy Collections

Dr. Mark C. Glassy’s official bio reads like this: Dr. Mark C. Glassy is the Chief Executive Officer of Nascent Biologics, Inc., the Director of and Professor at the Integrated Medical Science Association Foundation, and is on the faculty of the University of California, San Diego in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and Bioscience…

Animal Crossing Only Makes Break-Ups Worse

If you’ve ever played an Animal Crossing game, you’ve surely done it at least once: name something, or somewhere, after a friend or loved one. It seems a good fit, bringing the real world into your clockwork virtual one, but that door swings both ways. What seems cute or appropriate when things are going well…

A Week of Cosplayers Doing What They Do Best

While all eyes were on Japan this week at the Tokyo Game Show, where cosplay is almost as big a draw as the games themselves (at least on the weekend), those engaged in the art elsewhere quietly had one of the most impressive weeks we’ve seen in a while here on Fancy Pants. Seriously. If…

The World Would be Cooler if it Was Made Out of Polygons

Designers Jeremiah Shaw & Danny Jones have set up a site called Geo a Day. The idea is simple. It’s a “daily exercise in exploration of shapes and form”, meaning every day we get a new image made entirely out of geometric shapes. It’s like children’s television, video games and graphic design got together and…

This Brand New Neo Geo Game Will Make You Move Your TV

From the same guys who brought you Gunlord, comes NEO XYX, a shooter for the Neo Geo that…yes, this will be a Neo Geo game. On a cartridge and everything. Because it’ll only be made in a small run, and because it’s being made for a dead console that uses expensive cartridges, don’t be too…