• Kotaku East

  Come October, YouTube Could Be Outlawed In Japan

  While the Japanese public watched a cult terrorist get arrested, its leaders in government quietly made a move that could make watching YouTube illegal in Japan… SOPA and PIPA are still rather fresh in people’s memories. For those of you who don’t know what SOPA and PIPA are, and yet are tech savvy enough to…

  By Toshi Nakamura Published June 21, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Report: Naruto Storm 3 Ready to Rain Down Next Year

  According to leaks from the upcoming Jump magazine, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is headed to the Xbox 360 and PS3 next year in Japan. If this leak is true, expect more details (and images) once the issue is finally published. The first Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm was released back in 2008 and was developed…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Isn’t One Piece Brought to Life, It’s a Photoshop Overdose

  When Xia Xiaowei isn’t posing with game hardware, she’s posting with other types of hardware. And when she’s not doing that, she’s appearing in cosplay pics. The 20-something Xia Xiaowei is a model with Tencent, the company that just purchased a stake in Epic Games. Here, she appears as One Piece‘s Nico Robin and Nami…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2012
• Kotaku East

  How Does HD Okami Compare to the Original? See for Yourself.

  Okami is coming to the PlayStation 3 in 1080p—that’s full HD! The game was originally released on the PlayStation 2, and while it was a beautiful game, hi-def graphics are going to make Okami sparkle. Don’t believe me? Capcom released a series of comparison images on the game’s official site. Obviously, the better looking ones…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Konami Denies Olympic Medal Money Report

  Konami not only makes video games, it also owns a string of sports clubs in Japan. One of its employees, Kohei Uchimura, is on the Japanese Olympic team—one of four Konami employees, that is. According to Japanese daily Nikkan Gendai, Konami will allegedly pay the gymnast a “gold medal bonus” if he takes gold at…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  This Man Would Like to Sell You Sex Toys, Er, Mushrooms

  A Chinese news program ended up red-faced after mistaking a male masturbation toy for a “mysterious mushroom”. The program now looks at that segment as an embarrassment. This Chinese street vendor looks at it as an opportunity. Soon after the program aired, a street vendor was spotted trying to pass off sex toys as real…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 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 June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  If One of America’s Great Artists Painted One of America’s Great Video Games

  Norman Rockwell, one of America’s truly great artists, didn’t live to see Valve’s Portal released. Dying in 1978, he didn’t come close. But let’s imagine, just for a moment, that he had He just might have come up with something like this. Jesse Rubenfeld’s painting, called This Was a Triumph, is based on Rockwell’s famous…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Are You a Bad Enough Dude to Watch Abraham Lincoln Kill Vampires?

  New movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is about as self-explanatory as it comes. As is this clip, 8-Bitham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which imagines the flick as a retro side-scroller. Think Konami’s old TMNT or Simpsons games. Only, with the 16th President of the United States, doing what he does best. No, not free slaves, or…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Fancy Soundwave Figure is Probably the Coolest Transformer of 2012

  The Transformers Masterpiece line of figures exists for one reason: so cashed-up adults can buy giant, expensive versions of toys that finally look like they should have back in the 1980s. They’ve been a little hit-and-miss of late, some wonderful figures (like Grimlock) balanced out by some lazy repaints (ie every Decepticon jet), but this…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  How to Find Out Just How Many Hours You’ve Spent Playing Games on Steam

  While Steam tracks the time you’ve spent playing individual titles, it doesn’t keep track of how much time you’ve spent on the service overall. For some, that’s probably for the best, but just in case you actually want to see that tally, now there’s a way. This handy site lets you enter a Steam ID…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Culture

  Now This is How You Design Aliens: Actually Make Them Look Alien

  Aussie artist Alex Ries used to work for THQ, until THQ decided it couldn’t afford an Australian studio anymore. Since then, he’s been doing other stuff. What’s great about Alex’s work is that, unlike most other artists we feature here, he has an interest in zoology and biology, and an ability to create new species…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Video Game Companies Really Shouldn’t Send Abusive Text Messages

  Maybe they’ve been drinking. Maybe they’re just assholes. Whichever it is, these abusive text messages from major video game companies can at times be painfully unfunny, but at others – ahem, Capcom – be heart-breakingly on the money. These were put together by IGN. We’ve got some of the better ones here, but the full…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Isn’t How I Imagine a Star Wars / Rogue Squadron Pilot to Look

  When I think “Rebel Alliance” (or “New Republic”) pilots, I think of people like Wedge. Biggs. Porkins. Maybe even poor old Dack. But that’s a close-minded view based on a decades-old film trilogy! As regular Kotaku readers may already know, in Star Wars’ expandiverse, Jaina Solo – daughter of Han and Leia – ends up…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Game of Thrones Totally Needs These Spin-Off TV Series

  Like Cheers, Family Guy and, uh, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones is so wildly popular that the idea of a spin-off TV series isn’t as crazy as you might think. Especially when you remember the franchise already kind of has a spin-off already. Getting in ahead of the TV executives, professional writers and fanfic authors,…

  Jason Schreier & Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  Such a Pretty Video, Such a Terrible Game

  Ah, Bleeping Relics, we meet again. The Beligan retro crew with a taste for rad hardware (and a very nice camera) are this episode sitting down with Puck Monster, a rather crude Pac-Man clone. Which should be a recipe for five minutes of boredom, but this isn’t about game reviews, or judging companies who choose…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 20, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The Lies McDonald’s Tells Us

  Greetings, Kotaku, and welcome to the mid-week open thread. Maybe you’ve seen this video, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at how McDonald’s spruces up its normally ugly food to look good in commercials. Or perhaps not, in which case, check it out. The (maybe?) wild thing here is that McDonald’s themselves made this video. I…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Trades Its Massive Controller for Really Low Review Scores

  In 2002 Capcom released Steel Battalion for the Xbox, a mech game so complex it was bundled for $200 with a massive proprietary controller. It didn’t sell particularly well, but Capcom didn’t let that stop them from creating a sequel that will probably sell worse. By combining the Xbox 360 controller with Microsoft’s motion-sensing Kinect…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 20, 2012
• Uncategorized

  NHL 13 Crowns Its Cover Star at the League’s Awards Night

  Claude Giroux, a pivotal figure in the Philadelphia Flyers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010, was named the star of the cover of NHL 13 at the league’s annual awards banquet on Wednesday night, prevailing over Pekka Rinne, the Nashville goalie, in a fan-voted contest. Giroux won out after an extremely long—March 29…

  By Owen Good Published June 20, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  If Minecraft Had a High-Tech Physics Engine

  One of the charming (and most would say, integral) things about Minecraft is the game’s floaty, particular physics engine. But what if it had a “proper” next-gen physics engine? This video, made in Blender 3D, seeks to show that very thing. It also wonders “What would happen if a couple hundred Minecraft dudes all tumbled…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012