• Kotaku East

  Summer in Shinjuku Is Hot and Bothered

  Thought Akihabara was the only, forgive the pun, hotspot in Tokyo? Nope! Shinjuku heats up in summertime, too. Website DannyChoo.com recently checked out Shinjuku and snapped some pics of the area. If you’ve played Sega’s Yakuza games, Shinjuku should look familiar as the area inspired the in-game locale. Keep your eyes out for a Robot…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Anarchy Reigns is a Glitchy Yet Overall Enjoyable Game

  Anarchy Reigns (released as Max Anarchy in Japan) is a beat ‘em up title from the makers of Bayonetta in the vein of Devil May Cry and God of War. Released in Japan two weeks ago, it was originally slated to hit the Western market at around the same time. However, shortly before release, Sega…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 20, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The Art of Beat Takeshi Will Disturb and Delight

  Beat Takeshi isn’t just a comedian. Or an actor. Or a writer. Or a filmmaker. Or a variety show host. Or a video game designer. He’s also an artist. Until September 2, Takeshi is exhibiting a showcase of his art. The collection was first shown in 2010 at a gallery in Paris. Takeshi first started…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2012
• 

  Kotaku East

  The Many Multiplayer Modes of Anarchy Reigns

  Anarchy Reigns may have a decent single player campaign, but where this game really shines is in the multiplayer. The game sports a roster of 17 characters (18 with Bayonetta) and has 13 separate types of multiplayer. These range from the classic—deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag—to the crazy—chopper battles and a rugby game.…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 20, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Mass Shooting at Dark Knight Rises Premiere

  Early Friday, 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured after a suspect opened fire at a midnight Dark Knight Rises screening outside Denver. Colorado NBC affiliate 9 News is reporting that 12 were killed—ten of which died in the movie theater. Over seventy people were shot in total. The shooting happened in a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Sixty Feet of All Woman. Inflatable Woman.

  It’s the summer of enormous ladies in Japan! As previously mentioned, iconic anime heroine Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion is being turned into a large slide attraction. This is it. The huge, 61-foot Rei appears to be an inflatable balloon. Since this attraction will only be up until August 26, that makes sense. It’s…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Nintendo Is Selling New Super Mario 2 Via Digital Download

  Welcome to the future, er present, Nintendo! On July 28, the game maker will be offering both New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Demon Training via the eShop for ¥4,800 (US$61) and ¥3,800 ($48). [任天堂]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2012
• 

  Kotaku East

  Rumor: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Is Dead [Update]

  It’s been six years since Square Enix first showed Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s debut trailer. Six long years. When that trailer premiered, George W. Bush was president, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden were alive, and the global financial crisis had not yet hit. 2006 was a different world, a long, long time ago. Now…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Who Needs Cosplay Photos When You’ve Got Slow-Motion Cosplay Swordfighting Videos?

  Cosplay cinematographer and convention hound Angel James de Ocampo was at Japan Expo 2012 this year, a French show that’s fast becoming one of the best places in the world to see people dress up as people from other stuff. What’s cool about his videos is that, instead of just taking cosplay photos, he gets…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• Culture

  Nazi Explosions Meet Beautiful Landscape Paintings in This Video Game Concept Art

  Geoffroy Thoorens is a French concept artist who currently works at Quantic Dream, the developers of Heavy Rain and the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls. He’s also done stuff for movies, TV shows and even board games, so the gallery you’ll see here is a mix of all kinds of work, ranging from landscape painting to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Panorama Shots Wrap This Game Around You

  Reader Daniel, who’s playing MMO The Secret World, made these panorama screenshots and asked if we thought they looked interesting. I don’t have the slightest care for the Secret World and looked at every single one of them, so yeah, I guess that’s a yes!

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  It Took Japan to Add a Little Style to Alien vs Predator

  It’s been over twenty years since some bright sparks decided it’d be cool to see Aliens fight Predators. Since then we’ve had good comics, good video games, bad video games and terrible movies based on the idea. When people talk about the games, though, they almost exclusively remember the three first-person shooter titles. While the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  The Dangers of Using Wikipedia for Video Game History

  When I put Total Recall stories together, I use a ton of sources. My memory/brain, for one, but also specialised history and collector sites, weird blogs, books, all kinds of places. Wikipedia is, sometimes, one of those places. It’s also not always the most reliable. A great piece this week over on Hardcore Gaming reminds…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• Uncategorized

  DayZ Might Have Some Competition From a New Zombie MMO

  Zombie survival sim DayZ is awesome, but its ability to really follow through on its promise is limited somewhat by the constraints of the game it’s a mod for, ArmA II. The War Z, which has an awful name, sounds like it’s doing much the same thing, dropping people into a zombie-filled world and asking…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Here’s the Gorgeous Intro (Well, Intros) to Guild Wars 2

  It’s testament to just how damn pretty Guild Wars 2 is that, despite me being someone who’d normally rather set my face on fire than play an MMO, I’m quietly excited about sitting down the game. Until that time comes, though, I’m going to have to content myself with watching these intro videos instead. Which,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Men Spend 71 Hours Sorting 65,000 Pieces of LEGO. And Film It.

  Delightful Swedish pair Rymdreglage, whose LEGO videos you may have seen here before, are making another LEGO video. This is a LEGO video about the LEGO video they’re making. In which they left a camera running while they spent 71 hours sorting 65,000 pieces from 100 boxes. Most of it is done by the one…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 19, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Moscow’s Metro Isn’t a Post Apocalyptic Wasteland. It’s Actually Quite Lovely.

  For a generation of gamers, the words “Metro” and “Moscow” will conjure images of an oppressive, bleak place, a last refuge for humanity against the forces of mutants, darkness and whatever the hell else had been conjured up when we blew up the planet. Which, I think, is a bit of a shame. Because in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 19, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Total Recall, Kotaku’s History Section, is Moving

  Just a quick public service announcement to let you know that Total Recall, Kotaku’s history feature, is changing timeslots. It’ll now appear between 1am and 2am Eastern, Tuesday through Friday.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 19, 2012
• Uncategorized

  It’s Time For A Breaking Bad Death-Pool

  Tell me you guys watch Breaking Bad. You do, right? If you don’t… well, you should. It’s a very good show. It features a lot of what my sister calls “Capital ‘A’ Acting,” and kickass cinematography and cool music and it’s basically just wicked-cool. As the show fires up its final season (well, the first…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 19, 2012
• Reviews

  An Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse So Powerful You Can Use It One-Handed

  Not a day goes by that I don’t get an email from left-handed mutants wondering why I don’t review mice made just for them. I believe I just answered that question. What I can do, however, is review a gaming mouse for people both right and wrong-handed. A mouse that weighs its fearful symmetry to…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 19, 2012