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This Formula One Champ is a Big Japanese Role-Playing Game Geek
A favorite otaku (geek) hobby in Japan is taking photos of toys. The pictures can make oh-so-cute miniature figurines look lifelike. But this trend isn’t only a Japanese thing. It’s also a Formula One racer thing—at least for one man. Via social media, Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso provides a look at Formula One that…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012 - Kotaku East
These Things Japanese People Don’t Want To Do Alone
Some things are fun in a group. Some things are fun alone. And something things are just unpleasant without the company of others. An online research site polled nearly one thousand of its users about things people find painful when flying solo. Here’s a look (those polled could list multiple answers): 9. Eating at a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012 - Kotaku East
Mark Zuckerberg’s Unintentional Cameo in a Chinese Cop Documentary
Facebook honcho and newly married dude Mark Zuckerberg might be dealing with Facebook stock headaches, but he can take solace in one thing: If his social media business goes south, he can always get unpaid work as an extra in Chinese documentaries. Unpaid? Oh, right, never mind! While visiting Shanghai this past March, Zuckerberg and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012 -
UncategorizedYeah, This is Basically The Road: The Game (With Zombies)
Just in case you hadn’t yet picked up on the heavy – and welcome – inspiration The Road has had on upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title Deadlight, check out this new trailer. So, yeah, it’s the dead world/broken society of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic tale with zombies thrown in. Which is as good an elevator pitch…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012 -
UncategorizedGet Started Learning Japanese With This Little Video Game
Given the nature of this job, and the fact I make an almost annual pilgrimage to Japan, I’ve been meaning for a while now to get off my butt and learn more of the local language than simply what I need to order a beer. Hiragana Pixel Party is just what I needed to knuckle…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012 -
UncategorizedExcuse me, I’m Going to go Lie Down on This Beautiful Video Game Grass
Time to check in again with the Outerra project, an engine that’s currently being developed that threatens to make video games more awesome. How dare it. The last time we checked in, things were on a planetary scale. This time, let’s close in, look at some grass. Which may sound boring, but when it’s done…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Essence of DayZ, Captured in a 3-Minute Video
So much of what makes zombie survival mod DayZ so enjoyable to play is in the intangibles. You can’t sum it up in bullet-points, or just say “it’s fun”, you need to experience a night in the dark with no food or water, on the run from both the living and the dead, to really…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nothing Says Cosplay Like Cheerleaders, Dragon Age, Catwoman and…Jak and Daxter?
Jak & Daxter cosplay. I don’t know why there’s a lady in Jak & Daxter cosplay this week, but I don’t care. I applaud her for it. I also applaud the Team Fortress 2 squad you’ll see in the gallery, because they realise it’s not the guns or the outfits that are the most important…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe BBC Might Have Confused Halo With the United Nations
If this video is real – and given its shoddy quality, that’s no guarantee – It would appear the BBC have some issues using Google Image Search. For a piece on Amnesty and the United Nations Security Council’s response to events in Syria last week, it seems the BBC’s production crew needed a graphic for…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
These Little Halo Toys Are Disturbingly Desirable
First shown off at this year’s Toy Fair, there’ll soon be a line of action figures based not just on Halo, but on the Halo gear your little Xbox 360 avatars can wear. Which should make these all kinds of awkward, but the end result is surprisingly endearing. The ones that are clearly avatars, I…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2012 - Culture
Memorial DLC
Slow action in North America as the United States takes a break for cookouts on Monday. Mass Effect, Prototype and Arkham City all have notable content drops. Resistance: Burning Skies arrives on PS Vita. Monday • The Binding of Isaac: The Wrath of the Lamb (PC) Tuesday • Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (XBLA, PC)…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012 -
UncategorizedMadden 13 Swears It’s Not the Same Old Song—So It Had to Get a New One
No sports video game—no video game, I’d argue—is as harangued as Madden NFL. Read any forum thread, read the comments to any story, including this one, and the list of gamer demands for the upcoming release is quite long and quite detailed. “New music” doesn’t appear in any of it. Why, then, is Madden NFL…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
Three Nintendo Icons Draw Kirby
Nearly 20 years ago, three household names in Nintendo gaming took a shot at drawing Kirby inside the official strategy guide for Kirby’s Adventure. Masahiro Sakurai, the game’s creator (and creator of the Super Smash Bros. series); Shigeru Miyamoto, who really needs no introduction, and Satoru Iwata, who doesn’t either, unless you don’t know who…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
Minecraft Breaks Call of Duty’s Grip Atop Xbox Live’s Chart
In news certain to delight indie games fans, Minecraft has done something that has not been seen in a long time—knock a Call of Duty game out of the top two on the Xbox 360’s most-played list. To put this in perspective, the only thing that knocked Call of Duty: Black Ops out of the…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
Whether Sequel or Reboot, New Need For Speed: Most Wanted is Basically Confirmed
Not too much of a huge surprise, as Electronic Arts earlier this month told everyone it’d be publishing another Need For Speed title in the final three months of the year, and everyone figured that would be Need For Speed: Most Wanted 2. Yesterday, IGN reported that an EA E3 booth schedule being sent around…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Hitman 500
Joey Logano, the driver of Gamestop’s No. 20 Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, by all rights won Saturday with his outstanding Hitman-themed racing suit, patterned to look like a jacket and red tie. Gamestop’s put a ton of games on the hood of that car, but the suit is some next-level stuff. And we’re…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
Well, I believe this is the Kotaku ‘shop equivalent of a hat trick. Pan_1da7 was both a dual finalist in yesterday’s ‘Shop Contest and the overal finalist (that’s happened only once before) and he’s followed that up with the next day’s TAYpic. Gang, I really do try to feature other readers, but he’s really the…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012