• Kotaku East

  Study Hard with an I.V. Drip

  Think you’ve got it hard at school? Ha! You could be studying your brains out for China’s Gaokao, or the country’s notoriously stressful national college entrance exam. These photos were taken at a high school in Xiaogan City, China. Seniors are getting amino acid drips so they can keep cramming for their college entrance exams,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  The Super Moon Made Giant Gundam Even More Awesome

  Did you see the Super Moon (née “SuperMoon”)? On May 5, the moon was, as NASA pointed out, 14 percent bigger and 30 percent bright than all other full moons of this year. Impressive! Even the giant Gundam in Tokyo’s Odaiba checked out it out. In this stop motion video, clever editing, smart filmmaking, and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The Cars and Cosplay of this Party Are Dreamy

  Held in both Osaka and Tokyo, Dream Party is a bi-annual event for bishoujo (beautiful young girl) computer games. This weekend, Dream Party rolled through Tokyo, filling the Tokyo Big Sight convention hall with cosplayers, figurines, computer games, and cars covered in nerdy decals. Last year, cosplayers got in the way of the crazy cars;…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Schoolgirl Hogs Subway Seats with Her Furry Friends

  Japanese subways are cramped. During rush hour, you’re lucky to get a seat. Most likely, you’ll probably find yourself standing, packed in like sardines. But this isn’t rush hour. It’s comedy hour. A young schoolgirl apparently hogged an entire bench with her plush toy commuter friends. This looks to be a gag—and a very amusing…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
• Kotaku East

  One Day Your Grandkids Might Play Final Fantasy Versus XIII

  Final Fantasy Versus XIII is a game that exists. But for players, it exists only in screenshots and trailers. And has so for many, many years. That looks like it won’t be changing anytime soon for the game. Late last week, Square Enix confirmed which games it will be bringing to E3. Big, highly anticipated…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
• Kotaku East

  At These Cafes, You Pay To Play with Cats

  For many Tokyoites, an evening after work spent in a “neko cafe” (cat cafe) sounds purrfect. The metropolis is home to several dozen of these cafes, which charge patrons by the hour to play with cats. But new regulations threatened to put their paws all over these cafes. For regulars, the cafes offer a place…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Kotaku East Starts Right Now

  Kotaku East runs from 4am to 8am Eastern. For more info about Kotaku East click here

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Child Soldier Goons are Being Undone by Video Games

  The thugs in charge of recruiting kids for use in bloody African wars are finding their efforts are being hampered in Somalia. Not through the direct actions of the government or the UN, but because kids now have enough things to do in their spare time to keep them off the streets. A report in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Binding of Isaac is Getting an Expansion

  No joke, it really is! It’s called Wrath of the Lamb, and for $3 you’ll get new chapters, new enemies, new achievements, new bosses, new room types and even a “new final (final) chapter and boss with new endings”. It’s out on Steam on May 28.

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Avengers Spelled a Game Company’s Name Wrong, Reveals the Worst Job in Hollywood

  If you’ve seen The Avengers, you’ll know there’s a mildly awkward moment where, of all games, Galaga is mentioned, then actually shown. Aside from coming across as an advertisement, it’s short, and it’s relatively harmless. Thing is, because it needs to be officially mentioned, Galaga and its publishers Namco Bandai are then listed in the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Culture

  Have a Lollipop, Batman. You’ve Earned it.

  Leonid “leopardsnow” Enin is currently working as a concept artist with mobile gaming powerhouse Gameloft. He’s also done work for other video game companies like Sidhe and Realtime Worlds. Say what you will about Gameloft’s games, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this artwork. On the contrary. It’s fantastic, even if a lot of it is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Video Games are Coming to Life and Destroying (or at Least Confusing) San Francisco

  Kenny Kong is an artist who, for the past three years, has been working with Zenimax on The Elder Scrolls Online. Having since chucked that in to pursue a Masters at California College of the Arts, he’s been able to do things a little more interesting. He’s working on a series of sculptures where video-game…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Mr. Potato Head Goes to Rapture

  Thank Ginger Troll for this custom Mr. Potato Head figure, swapping out his standard attire for something a little more nautical, from the underwater world of BioShock. In the spirit of recent Mr. Potato Head licensing efforts, though, he needs a stupid nickname. I’m looking at my shelf right now and seeing things like “Optimash…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Well, at Least GlaDOS Won’t Drink a Jar of Piss

  We of course have a ton of inspiring video game cosplay to get through this morning in our weekly roundup. But before we begin, in case you were wondering what the redhead above was doing, well. She’s Firefox. You know. Browser cosplay Most others this week, you’ll spot straight off the bat, including a wonderful…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Fez’s Village in Minecraft is an Amazing Thing

  Yup, people are still making other people’s stuff in Minecraft. Like this village, modelled after the starting point of Fez, and which thanks to the use of a custom texture pack looks terrific. While the creator admits its not pixel perfect – he built the “front” perspective first then moved on from there – it’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2012
• Uncategorized

  When Internet Memes Become Art

  Nerd stronghold Gallery 1988 is currently holding quite the exhibition, showcasing a ton of works done by artists all inspired by the one thing: internet memes. The memier the better. So be warned: while there are awesome pictures to follow, there are also a lot of rainbows, cats and keyboards. The show runs until May…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 6, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Avengers’ Wonderful Weapons are Made From LEGO

  To celebrate last week’s release of The Avengers, LEGO builder Ken Robichaud has gone to town building a range of weapons and props from the film out of little plastic bricks. He’s built Thor’s hammer (and brace), Captain America’s shield, Hawkeye’s bow and a set of arrows and some of Black Widow’s equipment. Sadly, he…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 6, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Pretty Mugshots of Mass Effect’s Bad Guys

  Indonesian artist Machine56 has come up with these pictures of Cerberus troops from the Mass Effect series, making them available as some rather fetching wallpaper fodder. He’s also looking to get them printed up as shirts (the “order form” in this gallery is just a mock-up), which would be great; the same artist came up…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 6, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Drug Smuggler Hides Cocaine in Xbox 360, Fails Miserably

  Carlos Valenzuela was driving around Texas the other day, minding his own business, when he forgot to signal a turn at an intersection. For this oversight, he was pulled over, and probably would have got off with a warning/ticket if he hadn’t, you know, had three enormous bricks of cocaine inside his car. Two of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 6, 2012
• Culture

  What’s Yours is Mine

  Mother’s Day isn’t typically a huge sales weekend for video games and the upcoming launch schedule reflects that. Minecraft‘s console release is the week’s only highlight. Tuesday Warlock: Master of the Arcane (PC) Asura’s Wrath: Lost Episode 1 – At Last, Someone Angrier Than Me (PSN, XBLA) Datura (PS3) Wednesday Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (360)…

  By Owen Good Published May 6, 2012