• Kotaku East

  Okay, This Tomato Looks Like a Duck

  In Shizuoka Prefecture, there’s a tomato that looks like a duck. A local restaurant got a bag of produce from a customer, and in it there was this. Part of it had yellowed, forming the bill, and a spot looks like the duck’s eye. The restaurant owners thought it looked too cute to eat, so…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Watch This Elderly Japanese Couple Tear Up DDR

  Meet Mr. and Mrs. Akiyama. Now 72 and 68, they first appeared on Japanese television two years ago to show off their love for DanceDanceRevolution. Japan has its fair share of old people. It also has its fair share of old gamers (here, here, here, and here). Recently, Akiyamas appeared on a “where are they…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Death Blogger Might Need an Internet Time Out

  It hasn’t been a good past few months for Japanese actress Aki Higashihara. Her blog—nicknamed the “Death Blog”—has been on a roll. That’s…not good. Higashihara’s blog is called the “Death Blog” after the Japanese manga Death Note, because her entries seem to make bad things happen. Over the years, her luck has been infamously bad.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Catherine Returns in Figure Form, But Cannot Out-Sexy Her Former Self

  Back in summer 2011, Japanese figure maker Max Factory showed off one sexy Catherine statue. This summer, it’s Art Spirits’ turn with a sexy figure of its own. Thing is, this new figure doesn’t surpass last summer’s effort. Heck, it doesn’t even come close. Website Moeyo had a chance to check out this figure, which…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Metal Gear Solid 4 Is Finally Getting Trophies

  Good things comes to those to wait—or trophies, rather. MGS4 is finally getting PlayStation trophies via patch. The timeframe isn’t clear, but it could be in August, when a budget re-release of the game hits in Japan. [ゲーム情報！]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Why Japan Is Delighted with Obama’s Twitter Account

  Right now in Japan, President Obama is trending on Twitter. It’s not his politics. It’s not something he said. It’s something he’s done. Rather, it’s something his Twitter account allegedly did. In Japan, people are saying President Obama’s official Twitter account is following an anime girl. Make that, an anime girl bot. Okay, yes, Obama’s…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Kotaku East Starts Now!

  Kotaku East runs from 4am to 8am Eastern. For more info about Kotaku East click here

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Giant LEGO Bridge Looks Photoshopped (But It’s Not)

  Street artist MEGX painted this bridge in Wuppertal, Germany to look like it was made out of LEGO. His use of colour and contrast makes the thing look like a hideous Photoshop job, but nope, it’s real. The guy got busy with paintbrushes and, after four weeks on the job, left the world with the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Giant Hunk is Playing Master Chief in the Halo Series

  This is Daniel Cudmore. He’s a Canadian actor who you’ll probably recognise most easily as Colossus from the X-Men movies. You’ll also soon be seeing him play the role of Halo’s Master Chief. Well, sort of. With the sci-fi series’ big-screen adaptation dead in the water, Cudmore will be the first man to play the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The Murder Rate (and Bastard Rate) in Game of Thrones Explained, in Pictures

  While you naturally think about them while reading the books/watching the show – I mean, they’re right there – it’s not until you see them mapped out in graphs that you realise just how messed up the death rates (and incest rates, and boring food-eating rates) are in the realm of Westeros.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Oh God, Sub-Zero, STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT

  This is a life-size bust of Mortal Kombat’s Sub-Zero. That means, yup, if you held it up to your own head, unless you are a small child (GO TO BED), it’ll be about the same size. Hopefully that’s where the similarities end, though. Because if your face could pull an expression like that, you’d be…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
• Culture

  The Art of a Rockstar Games Legend

  Scottish artist Ian McQue has worked at Rockstar North since, oh, the dawn of time. Over the years he’s contributed art to games like the Grand Theft Auto series, Bully, Manhunt, Agent and even Body Harvest, the studio’s cult N64 game Currently lead concept artist at Rockstar North, the home of the core Grand Theft…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
• Uncategorized

  If You Hate Capcom’s DLC Policy, Read This

  Japanese publisher Capcom has taken a lot of flak this year for its policy of hiding “downloadable” content on a fighting game disc, then charging users to unlock it. Sure, they had their business reasons, but when people spend $50-60 on a game, they expect to own everything on that disc. So it’s awesome to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Two Reasons You Shouldn’t Ride Motorbikes in DayZ

  Reason #1: They’re really, really hard to find spare parts for (the game forces you to repair a vehicle before driving it). Reason #2: They’re bad for your health. [via PC Gamer]

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Twenty Minutes of Dead Space 3 Footage is Enough to Freeze Your Shins Off

  No fancy trailers here, no live-action distractions, this twenty-minute clip consists almost entirely of gameplay footage from EA’s upcoming Dead Space 3. WARNING: May contain traces of pre-recorded developer hype in some scenes. Dead Space 3 Gameplay Video [GameSpot]

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Nazi Germany Toys Look Less Dangerous (But More Creepy) Than the Real Thing

  We cover a lot of pop culture stuff in our toy coverage here on Kotaku, so today, let’s look at something a little different. Action figures based on historical figures. Repulsive, dangerous, bloodthirsty historical figures. Let’s begin with a toy company called 3Reich. A company whose sole products are large action figures based on the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Poor Godzilla, a Game Boy is Too Tiny For His Giant Fingers

  When he’s not crushing major Japanese cities, Godzilla likes nothing more than to kick back and play his own video game on the original Game Boy. Only, because his giant claws can’t hit the buttons properly, he’s always dying, which pisses him off, causing him to stomp around crushing cities. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 10, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Smash Bros. Creator’s Studio Closes Down, Smash Bros. Sequel Apparently Unaffected

  Project Sora, the studio headed up by Smash Bros. Masahiro Sakurai, has been dissolved. Project Sora, a spin-off studio of Sora Ltd. (both run by Sakurai), last worked on Kid Icarus: Uprising. Sora Ltd. was established in 2005 as freelance gaming agency for Sakurai to work on games, and Project Sora was established in 2009…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  History is Littered With the Corpses of Failed Consoles

  So, you’re excited about this weird new Ouya console? Having made over $1 million from Kickstarter backers in a single day, you probably are! So now’s the time I’m going to tell you to cool your jets, if only a little. Why? Because there’s a lot more to making a video game console than just…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 10, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  This Guy Could Film An Entire Game Of Thrones Episode By Himself

  YouTube user Weave613 has an interesting skill of Game of Thrones impersonations. He couldn’t really handle an entire episode, what with the lack of the many female characters, but I’d say he could do some funny low budget sketches at the least. Particularly because he excluded Joffrey, since we all know Joffrey is the absolute…

  By Tina Amini Published July 10, 2012