• Uncategorized

  The Diablo III Starter Edition Lets You Play Before You Pay

  Too terrified of a little clicking to put your money down on Diablo III? Perhaps you can talk someone out of a Diablo III Guest Pass and gain access to the free Starter Edition, AKA the purgatory of the undecided. Much like it did with StarCraft II, Blizzard is releasing a fancifully-named demo for its…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 14, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Welcome to Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that aren’t even out yet? Knock yourselves out! Just like Chell did against GLaDOS, Angry Impoverished…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 14, 2012
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  With the Galaxy in Flames, My Video Game Hero Finally Came out of the Closet

  I got my idea to play the sci-fi epic Mass Effect 3 as a closeted male version of the lead character, Commander Shepard, before the game’s creators said the third game in the three-game saga would finally include male same-sex romance As someone who did enjoy the series, I wanted to lovingly mock it while…

  denis farr Published May 14, 2012
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  Steam Codes Are Now Officially Coming To GameStop

  As Kotaku reported last week, GameStop will indeed be selling Steam codes, the retailer said in a press release today. The program is called Steam Wallet and codes will be available at $20 or $50. You’ll be able to use them to access Steam’s “more than 1,800 titles,” GameStop said. You can buy them in…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 14, 2012
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  Maybe the PlayStation Orbis Will Play Used Games After All

  Used games: you love them, need them and want to marry them. Publishers and developers blame the second-hand market for lack of innovation, saying the money they don’t see from used games would let them be more creative. Reports that the next consoles from Sony and Microsoft wouldn’t support pre-owned games only fueled this fiery…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 14, 2012
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  Pikmin 2 Makes Its North American Wii Debut June 10

  Nintendo’s Selects line of $19.99 Wii titles expands by two next month, when Mario Power Tennis joins the long-awaited North American release of New Play Control Pikmin 2 in retailers “games too inexpensive to be in the case” sections. One of the best alien plant-based real-time strategy games ever created, Pikmin 2 originally hit the…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 14, 2012
• Reviews

  Sizing Up China’s Home Video Game Console, the CT510

  China’s first foray into creating a mainstream video game system is a solid try in the right direction, except the system isn’t a game system, it’s an Online Multimedia Motion-sensing Device. The eedoo CT-510 already exceeded my expectations when I first saw it, it did exactly what it set out to do, entertain while providing…

  By Eric Jou Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Welcome to Your Retro Gaming Dreams

  Super Potato. I’ve been to the Akihabara branch a whole blot—I’ve been to the Osaka branches of this gaming retail chain even more. I’ve seen tons of Super Potato photos. I’ve taken tons more. Yet, I’ve always liked the photos Danny Choo of Culture Japan takes (they’re usually quite nice), and this batch of Super…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Let’s See What Kind of Alchemy This JRPG Opening Holds

  Have a look at the latest entry in the Atelier series of Japanese role-playing games with the opening of Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Twilight Land. The game is out this June in Japan on the PlayStation 3.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Meet The Cat Hair Girls

  Whether it been interesting outfits or make up, Tokyo’s Harajuku is famous for its inventive fashion. The latest trend, according to the Japanese media? Cat ear hair. For years, “cat girls” have been popular in Japan. The trope is ubiquitous in Japanese video games, manga and anime. But now, otaku (geek) culture is melding with…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Life-Sized Lupin Figure Is Over $6,000 and Looks Crappy

  Professional crook Fujiko Mine has her own new Lupin anime. In it, she looks sexy and fantastic. This new life-sized Fujiko figure, though, does not. Online retailer AmiAmi lists this life-sized Fujiko’s price at ¥504,000 (US$6,300) and calls it “high quality”. I call it “overpriced garbage”. Pre-orders for the figure start this summer. It goes…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Uncategorized

  How Chinese Browsers Are Aiming for the Big Leagues

  Unity Technologies and Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd announced last month of an agreement which will allow over 400 million Chinese Internet users to access Unity3D-powered 3D games through 360 browsers. Qihoo’s 360 browser along with its 360 anti-virus software are immensely popular in China. So popular in fact that according to Baidu.com’s statistics that…

  By Eric Jou Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Would You Like To Pilot the Life-Sized Gundam? Virtually?

  Yahoo! Japan is running an auction that will give one lucky winner the chance to virtual pilot the one-to-one scale Gundam in Tokyo’s Odaiba. Don’t get too excited just yet. You don’t actually get to sit in the cockpit. The winner will get his or her image displayed on the one-to-one scale’s virtual cockpit. Thus,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Angry Birds Pork Products, How I Wish They Came With Scrambled Eggs

  China has some very interesting culinary habits some of which folks from the west will find just outright whacky. One slightly normal but definitely strange habit is the Chinese love for pork products, and in particular the ham sausage (火腿肠). Now Rovio and Chinese pork products producer, JoyCome, have partnered together to bring Angry Birds…

  By Eric Jou Published May 14, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  You Don’t Have to Rip Out Your Spine for an English Translation

  Because the folks at PlayStation Japan kindly posted one! Here is the Soul Sacrifice presentation in English for your listening pleasure. In it, there is game imagry, Japanese game people, and flashing lights. Who doesn’t love flashing lights?

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  This Nightmare Car Crash Looks Like a Video Game, But It’s Real and Awful

  It looked like Grand Theft Auto, but it was very real—and almost very deadly. Last week, a Hyundai YF Sonata pulled out of traffic and went tearing down the street, weaving through traffic, and piling into a stopped car. Ten people were injured (the driver broke ribs, while the passenger’s vertebrae was damaged), and the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Countdown to the Next Tales Game

  As previously posted, Namco is working on a new Tales role-playing game. Here is the countdown clock if you are into those. I’m not! Namco]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Teacher Ate SD Card after Allegedly Photographing Up a Woman’s Skirt

  On May 12, a 54 year-old junior high school teacher spent the evening at anime shop, Animate, in Osaka’s geek district, Den Den Town. The teacher, Manabu Wakita, was a regular, but he wasn’t looking for DVDs or anime goods. He supposedly had something else in mind: trying to snap photos up a woman’s skirt.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  That Sure Looks Like a Final Fantasy Logo

  For the Final Fantasy role-playing games, the logos are iconic. You can spot them a mile away and immediately recognize them. Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII is no exception, which makes this kwinky-dink all the more noticeable. Level-5, which has developed several titles for Square Enix, is working on a new multi-platform game called Time…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Good Foreigners Doing Good and Bad Foreigners Doing Evil

  It was a touching scene. A young American male sat outside of a McDonald’s in Nanjing, sharing a meal with a homeless lady. He had purchased two orders of French fries and poured water into her water bottle. A passerby snapped photos and uploaded them onto a Chinese social working site. Online, people praised the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 14, 2012