• Kotaku East

  The Cutest Little Eclipse Gazers Will Melt Your Heart

  Yesterday, much of Asia and parts of North America witnessed a solar eclipse. The result was beautiful. However, add in some welding masks and some little kids, and the result was adorable Check out the above gallery, with pics of miniature eclipse gazers from across Japan. 溶接面で金環日食を楽しむ人々 [Naver via RocketNews]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 22, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  The Other Game Starring A Zombie-killing, Chainsaw-wielding Schoolgirl

  Zombies. They are everywhere, and Japanese games are no exception. However, while in the West a shotgun blast to the head seems to be the most efficient way of killing them, the Japanese have instead found the “natural enemy” of the walking dead: schoolgirls. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in Suda51’s upcoming title, Lollipop…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published May 22, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  See if This Alchemy JRPG’s Gameplay Has Good Chemistry

  Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Twilight Land, the latest entry in the Atelier role-playing games, shows off its gameplay in this new clip. So. Whaddaya think? Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Twilight Land is out this June in Japan on the PlayStation 3. In case you missed it, here’s the game’s opening.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 22, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Beat Takeshi Explains His Controversial Gay Marriage Remark

  Last week, entertainer and filmmaker Beat Takeshi came under fire due to comments he made on Japanese television about gay marriage. When shown footage of people celebrating President Obama’s support of gay marriage, Takeshi said, “Obama supports gay marriage. You would support a marriage to an animal eventually, then.” Everyone is entitled to his or…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 22, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Watch the Wii U Controller Change Before Your Very Eyes

  Over the weekend, a new photo surfaced of what’s supposedly the Wii U controller. It looked, well, different. But how different? This is not perfect, but here is a GIF that shows just how the controller has apparently changed between summer 2011 and this spring. The photo showed a new square button on the left…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 22, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Aliens in Japan, Kiss Your Gaijin Card Bye Bye

  After over a decade in Japan, this week I got a letter from the Japanese government. It said that the alien registration card (外国人登録証明書), or informally “gaijin card”, was vanishing. Starting this summer, the credit card sized i.d. will be replaced. This is a card I’ve had since I’ve been in Japan, and one that…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 22, 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 May 22, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  What, This Looks More Like a PC Game Than an iPad Game

  I don’t just mean visually, because let’s face it, these days what you’re seeing here isn’t that out of the ordinary. But look at the game mechanics on display, compare them to PC games of the same ilk and wonder why the hell hasn’t anyone done this earlier? Autumn Dynasty, a former 2009 IGF China…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
• Uncategorized

  What if Mass Effect’s Reapers Had Captured the Useless Species Too?

  During the Mass Effect trilogy you fight a few friendly species “re-appropriated” as bad guys by the Reapers. But not all of them. So concept artist Andrew Ryan decided to imagine what it would be like if the Reapers had been a little more thorough. There are some major and predictable races on show, like…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
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  Real Steel Action Figures Are 1000x Cooler Than the Movie

  Despite the fact it featured fighting robots, Real Steel was a massive disappointment because it had too much human drama, not enough fighting robots. Not that this matters when it comes to action figures based on the movie. Because they can simply be giant, badass robot action figures. And they can be works of art…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
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  Turning One of the Internet’s Most Annoying Tasks Into a Game

  You know what CAPTCHA is? It’s that thing that makes you enter letters and numbers on a website to prove you’re a human, and not a machine hell-bent on learning our human ways and killing us all by downloading a .zip file. It’s probably the thing I hate most about the internet, so it’s lovely…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
• Culture

  The Colourful Concept Art of Pink77

  Chinese artist XiaoPeng Xing, aka Pink77, has been working in the games industry for eight years now, lending his talents out to clients like Activision/Blizzard and online juggernaut Tencent. His calling card? Bright colours and the female of the species. Some of these images are for professional projects, others – like his King of Fighters…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
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  Daytona Cars Look Better as Transformers

  Video game clothing emporium Meat Bun returns just in time for my Australian winter with a range of shirts based on that most timeless and unchanging of genres: racing games. The four news shirts draw on everything from Ed “Big Daddy” Roth to Mario Kart to OutRun to a Daytona x Transformers crossover. My body…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
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  If You Don’t Have 64-Bit Windows in 2013, You’ll be Missing Out

  Not in an advertising sense, “missing out” on pointless features. You will quite literally be missing out on some games, as EA has revealed that come 2012 a whole range of titles using DICE’s Frostbite 2 engine – the one powering games such as Battlefield 3 – will need a 64-bit operating system to even…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The Game of Thrones Games Suck, so Try These Awesome Mods Instead

  It’s a predictable tragedy, but a tragedy nonetheless: both of the recently-released Game of Thrones video games suck Those wanting to mess around with a virtual Westeros, though, know that all is not lost, because some mods for existing games are here to help soften the blow. While these aren’t official, standalone titles – and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 22, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Now You Too Can Play the Terrible Akira Video Game!

  In 1988, Taito released Akira, cash-in on the hugely-popular animated film of the same name. Just in case you were wondering if Japanese developers somehow made better movie adaptations in the 1980s, no, they did not. The game was terrible. Still, that’s mostly second-hand information, as most Westerners have never actually played the game, since…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 21, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Activision’s 1984 Catalogue Did Not Feature Call of Duty

  Before the internet, before people even really cottoned onto the idea of games magazines, publishers had to sell things the old-fashioned way: with TV ads and catalogues. Most catalogues were simple affairs, all bright lights, screenshots and slogans, but sometimes publishers went a little left field. Like Activision did in 1984 when it basically commissioned…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 21, 2012
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  60% of the Time, It Works Every Time

  You know what they say about Sex Panther… Hi there Kotaku, and welcome to another week under the sun. Here now, some things to read and maybe talk about. “The Real World” has turned 20 – Well that is quite a while ago. Our Father’s Not in Heaven: The New Black Atheism – Super provocative,…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Sony’s Got a New Multiplayer Shooter in Development

  Sony has tasked German studio ACONY Games with the development of Bullet Run, an upcoming multiplayer shooter that’s based on the premise of a reality TV series gone bad. Taking a page out of properties like Running Man and Battle Royale, Bullet Run has players take control of contestants “in a fight to the death…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 21, 2012
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  Nolan North is in Star Trek 2 Because J.J. Abrams Likes Uncharted

  It seems like Nolan North is in everything. If there is a video game, and that video game has a voice cast, he is somehow bound to be in it somewhere. North is now best known for his starring role as Nathan Drake, in the PS3’s Uncharted series. He’s a smart-ass Indiana Jones for the…

  By Kate Cox Published May 21, 2012