• Uncategorized

  Everybody Loves Dressing as Bridget. Everybody.

  Fighting game fans know that girlish good looks and feminine moniker aside, Bridget is a dude. He’s not only one of Guilty Gear‘s most memorable characters—that nun outfit, that yo-yo, that huge handcuff—but also one of gaming’s. No wonder why people want to dress up as him. But who does it best? Born as a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Why an Olympic Judo Athlete Was Inspired by…a Pokémon Fight

  Gotta catch ’em all! And then, flip them over your shoulder. Judo athlete Ashley McKenzie, who competes for Team Great Britain, went from young Poké punk to serious athlete after a fight broke out over his Charizard card. When McKenzie was 11, another kid tried to swipe his Pokémons. “This Charizard was the best card,”…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012
• 

  Kotaku East

  Traffic Light? This Is Too Damn Cute for a Traffic Light

  The city of Xi’an in China has a new crosswalk signal. And neighboring Japan points out the obvious: this is way too cute for a traffic light. In China, the anime-style character on the sign, people in Japan speculate, is probably aimed at children. This traffic signal uses a young LED anime-style girl to preside…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Just Look at How Nintendo Is Embracing Digital Releases in Japan

  Nintendo is selling 3DS games, like New Super Mario Bros 2 and Demon Training, as digital downloads. Those who don’t like purchasing items online can swing buy their local retailer in Japan and be greeted with aisles of download cards. Aisles of this. 3DSのDL版(店頭販売)が高すぎｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ [2ch]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Please Don’t Masturbate in Japanese Arcades

  There’s a time and place for everything. When you are in a Tokyo arcade, you should play video games, not with yourself. Common courtesy, folks! According to Final Round organizer Scott Popular, one male gamer seems to have confused his joystick with an arcade one. Recently, Popular was at Shibuya Kaikan, one of Tokyo’s most…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012
• Kotaku East

  For the Next Few Months, Nintendo’s Schedule Looks Kinda Like This

  Get out those calendars! Today, Nintendo provided a list of upcoming titles it will release the rest of this month—and beyond. This isn’t a full list by any means, and many of these games (and release windows) are already known. But here they are all together in one place. •Japan 3DS Nintendo 3DS XL –…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Meet the Guys Who Kidnap, Then Mess With, Other Humans in DayZ

  So, that nutty DayZ video from the other day, when a guy gets on a bus thinking he’s going to be saved only to end up exceedingly unsafe? It was seen from the perspective of the poor guy on the receiving end. Here, remarkably, is the other side: a recording made by one of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  What a Celebrity Game of Team Fortress 2 Looks Like

  That’s a relative term, of course, as these are video game celebrities, but still. If you’ve ever wanted to see Minecraft creator Marcus Persson, Valve’s Robin Walker and internet superstar Freddie Wong go at it over Team Fortress 2, here’s your chance. To cut out the fluff, the actual game – which also includes other…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• Reviews

  Captain America Has a Great Butt (Shame About His Face)

  Hong Kong collectible company Hot Toys has been on Kotaku a lot lately, mostly for its wonderful work on big, expensive figures based on the Chris Nolan’s third and final Batman movie, Dark Knight Rises. Today, though, we’re turning back to that other comic book blockbuster of the year, The Avengers. Actually, we’re turning back…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• 

  CultureFeature

  The Awesome Japanese Models Behind 2012’s Coolest Shooter

  Kow Yokoyama's Maschinen Krieger casts a long shadow

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Let’s All Read This Terrific 1992 Star Fox Comic

  If you think everything Nintendo did in the early 1990s outside actual video games sucked, well, no! Sure, there were some awful TV shows, but not everything was bad. This Star Fox comic, for example, was great. It ran in Nintendo Power magazine in 1992, and had – considering the scale of the project –…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  Gamers “Really Loved Killing” Lara Croft, Because She Was a “Strong” Character

  There’s an interesting interview with Toby Gard, the creator of Tomb Raider, over on Critical Path’s site. And it reminds us that, for all the platitudes heaped on the series for portraying a strong female character, the fact is a lot of men enjoyed playing as just such a woman for the wrong reasons. Eerily,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Nintendo Ran a “Mario School” to Teach People How to Make a Mario Game

  During the development of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo did something it had never done before: it invited employees from other areas of the company, who don’t normally make Mario games for a living, to come and learn how to make Mario games for a living. It was informally dubbed the “Mario Cram School”,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This French Game Store’s Carpet is a Total Mind F**k

  The wonder of optical illusions: this is a French video game store with regular, flat carpet. Not, as you may think, potholes leading into other dimensions. Beware of Gravity Dips [MAKE]

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Giant Halo Figures Might be the Best Video Game Toys Ever Made

  These enormous, insanely-detailed Halo figures (which we caught a glimpse of a few months ago) from ThreeA don’t have an asking price. They’re like a luxury car, or a designer watch. If you need to ask how much, you probably can’t afford it. If you could, though, boy. If these aren’t the best video game…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 24, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Whoah, Someone Actually Got a Tattoo Like Mass Effect’s Jack

  For tonight’s “I can’t believe someone actually did this but it’s kinda great that they did” item, witness this lady, who covered her back in a tattoo normally only found on Jack, a tattoo-covered star of Mass Effects 2 & 3. While it’s not a replica of Jack’s own back in the game – this…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 24, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Who Knew Shakespearian Theatre Would Make For Such Great TV?

  I’m just saying, I wouldn’t have thought that the trials and tribulations of a Shakespearian acting troupe could make for an entertaining modern TV show. That is, until I saw Slings and Arrows, an amazing 2003 Canadian TV show that I mainlined last weekend. Co-written and -created by Kids in the Hall‘s Mark McKinney, Sings…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012
• Culture

  How The First Death Star Was Built

  You see the Death Star being built in Revenge of the Sith, but only from a distance. You see the second Death Star under construction during Return of the Jedi, but you don’t actually see it being constructed. There’s no extended footage of imperial workers swinging space hammers, popping galactic rivets or doubling their efforts.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 24, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Little Vector-Based Console That Couldn’t is Reborn on the iPad

  In 1982 Smith Engineering released the Vectrex, a self-contained video game console that delivered cutting-edge vector based games to the masses. It was the first game console with a 3D peripheral. It was brilliant. It was also released right before the video game crash of 1983, so the system that hit the market at $199.99…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 24, 2012
• Reviews

  Review: The Astro A50 Wireless Gaming Headset

  Finding a good gaming headset really shouldn’t be as hard as it is. And yet for the longest time, I couldn’t find a decent set of gaming headphones. Until Astro came along, that is. It seemed simple enough: I like playing video games with headphones. I was starting to play more games online, and liked…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012