With the announcement that Yakuza 5 will feature 5 main characters in 5 major cities across Japan, and a new game engine to upgrade the outdated look of the series, Sega has released a teaser site and revealed the back story of the new chapter. Back Story: 2010. The feud between the two yakuza clans,…
There’s an image floating around online. It’s rumored to be a “major specifications” sheet for the PlayStation 4. Personally, I don’t buy it. The PlayStation 4 is coming. It’s inevitable. Kotaku first broke that the console is codenamed Orbis. This “major specifications” sheet, however, certainly can be disputed. However in Japan, websites and blogs are…
In years past, video games have been scapegoats. Need something to blame social problems on? Blame video games. This is changing, sure, but that doesn’t mean people still don’t try to do it. Heck, even suspected criminals do. On April 30, a 38 year-old Osaka City bureaucrat was arrested for taking upskirt photos of a…
Mamoru Oshii, the creative force behind the Ghost in the Shell anime, recently helmed a live-action TV spot for Kinect game Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. This is it. The result will look familiar to those who saw Oshii’s 2001 live-action flick Avalon Yes, this is a nice spot. Needs more basset hound, though. Check out…
While some Japanese vending machines are under fire for offering sexy good times, the vast, vast majority of vending machines offer only beverages. Good times, though! You can buy either cold or hot canned drinks. I’ve always been fascinated about being able to buy a can of hot coffee. It’s truly marvelous. And sometimes you…
Guild 01, the collection of 4 different games by 4 different directors from Level-5 for the 3DS, which will be hitting the stores in Japan on the 31st of this month, already has a sequel in the works. Guild 02 does not have a release date yet, but already it’s looking to be as outlandish…
If you are a nerd, be proud. But also beware that some people in Japan might not be totally cool with your otaku (geek) lifestyleā€”even fellow geeks. There are otaku belongings, let’s call them lifestyle products, that make some recoil. Everyone has his or her own boundaries! Japanese website Sugoren ran a list of nine…
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Jace Wallace is a concept artist currently employed by Electronic Arts. Some of his more recent works include The Sims 3. But don’t let that put you off what you’re about to see. Because what you’re about to see is some beautiful art. You can see a lot more stuff at Jace’s personal site To…
Though it was unveiled last month at an event in Hong Kong, it was tough to get an idea of the scale of threeA’s Metal Gear Ray figure until now. And boy, it’s just as big and ridiculously excessive as the company’s Metal Gear Rex was That “small” figure underneath it is Square Enix’s Cyborg…
There comes a point in Mass Effect 3 where, your actions permitting, you get to see what Tali looks like under her mask. To say it’s a crushing disappointment is to take the piss Rather than stew in her own rage and/or send hostile emails to BioWare employees, Finnish artist K4ll0 decided to set things…
Novy Soyuz is an upcoming game from Best Way, the Ukranian devs behind the excellent strategy series Men at War. It’s basically Fallout, only set in the USSR. The story – translated by Reddit user Dreamercz, since the game’s page isn’t in English – is that the Cuban Missile Crisis doesn’t end so peacefully, and…
It’s been really disappointing in the last few years watching companies like Nintendo do so little to really commemorate significant anniversaries in the life of beloved game franchises. Mario got a tiny little extras disc while Zelda got even less. Capcom, though, seem to know what long-time fans are looking for with their anniversaries, that…
International Trade Commission judge David Shaw has recommended that the import and sale of Xbox 360 consoles in the US be halted immediately. Sounds drastic, I know, but maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds. Speaking with GI.biz, patent expert Florian Mueller says “I’ve never seen an ITC judge make any other recommendation than…
Most likely spilled by a disgruntled current/former employee of developer 38 Studios, which isn’t exactly having the best time of it at the moment, a Kingdoms of Amalur fansite has what sure look like the first screens from Copernicus, the codename for 38’s upcoming MMO. While we recently got to see a trailer for the…
Like something out of the book 1984, The Republia Times is a small flash game that forces the player to become complicit in a government’s attempt to increase public loyalty. You are a news editor tasked with choosing stories that best function as propaganda. You need to assure the world that Everything Is Okay in…
You can keep your Diablos, the most interesting thing to happen to PC gaming this year has easily been DayZ, a zombie survival mod for military shooter ArmA II What’s even more impressive than the experience itself, though, is the fact it was created by a single man, New Zealander Dean Hall. So earlier this…
Japan has a long and storied tradition of developing games where you are a train driver. Doing very little but going forwards, backwards and slowing down at stations. If that sounds a little too pedestrian for your tastes, well, there’s always Tokyo Bus Guide. Released around the turn of the milennium on the Dreamcast (and…
This is Game Over, a title for the Spectrum, first released in 1987. A game released amidst controversy. See, while later editions of the game would feature slightly edited variations of the box art, the original featured one of video gaming’s first wardrobe malfunctions. You could see half a nipple. And it caused an outrage.…
Hello there, Kotaku. We had a crazy day today, and I haven’t been able to accumulate links for you. So instead, here, have one of my favorite stand-up routines ever. When I was a kid, my parents would play us Bill Cosby tapes when we were in the car, and this bit in particular has…
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