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The Nintendo DSi Drops to $99 May 20
One of the best values in gaming gets even better on May 20, when Nintendo drops the price of the DSi to $99.99, with its larger sibling the DSi XL at $129.99. That’s a $50 drop over current retail, with the $149.99 DSi’s price effectively slashed by 33 percent. What a wonderful price point for…
By Mike Fahey Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
Hey! You’ve Got Ninja Gaiden in My Warriors Orochi
Warriors Orochi 2, a game that brings together characters from the Dynasty Warriors series and the Samurai Warriors series to fight against hundreds of enemy soldiers in epic battlegrounds is being ported to the PSP as Warriors Orochi 2 Special. The new game, like Dynasty Warriors VS for the 3DS, will feature guest characters as…
By Toshi Nakamura Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
New Tales Game Is Coming
Last fall, the Tales Studio died. Things were bleak. But chin up, Tales fans. There’s a new Tales game in the pipeline. The latest issue of Japanese magazine Jump has a teaser for the “next” Tales game. The article states, “Next Tales of…” and calls this a “next generation Tales“. There’s not much info, though.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
At this Cafe, Nobody Will Call You “Master”
In geek districts like Tokyo’s Akihabara and Osaka’s Den-Den Town, maids in frilly dresses serve food and drink. Maids call their patrons “master” (ご主人様). But not all girls want to wear frilly drinks. Not all of them want to call patrons “master”. Sometimes they’d rather wear ice cream hats and hit people with plastic swords.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
Don’t Hold Your Breath for a Kid Icarus: Uprising Sequel
Because, you’ll pass out. While you might be keen to play another Kid Icarus: Uprising, game designer Masahiro Sakurai isn’t keen to make one. “If by ‘lasting universe’ you mean to ask if there’s a sequel, the answer is no,” Sakurai flatly told IGN. “We pushed a lot into the game in order to let…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
When’s Kingdom Hearts 3 Coming Out? Leave That to Your Imagination and Baseball Analogies.
It has been over a month since Kingdom Hearts 3D was released, and with no news on Final Fantasy XIII Versus other than the standard “stay tuned,” Weekly Famitsu asked director Tetsuya Nomura in an interview if Kingdom Hearts 3 was on the horizon. His response? “I’ll leave that to everyone’s imagination.” Adding, “It might…
By Toshi Nakamura Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
When Optimus Prime and Spider-Man Won the Chinese Lottery
Optimus Prime? Lucky guy. The same goes for Spider-Man and Ultraman. All three won the Chinese lottery. Ditto for several bigheaded Pandas. It’s not that these lotto winners are shy. Rather, they’re actually worried about keeping things relatively low-key after their winnings are made public in order not to draw unwanted attention. As website China…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
Ripping Out Your Spine for these Game Screens Isn’t Necessary
Coming to the PS Vita this winter from developer Marvelous AQL, Soul Sacrifice is a dark fantasy action game (with an emphasis on the “dark”), that focuses on power, and the costs to obtain it. In Soul Sacrifice, the player takes the part of a lowly servant. Imprisoned and waiting to be sacrificed by a…
By Toshi Nakamura Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
The Freakiest 3DS Game Box of 2012
It’s only May. I know. But I sincerely doubt 2012 will produce freakier 3DS box art than what this Kobito Dukan game unleashed. As odd as this is, I quite like it. Ditto for Kobito Dukan, which kicks sand in the face of stereotypical Japanese cuteness—in a delightfully freaky way. Read more about Kobito Dukan…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
This Japanese (Social) Gaming Powerhouse Has Nice Digs
Many Japanese game companies have crappy looking offices. Worse yet, they’re dull. Nondescript. But as far as Japanese social gaming giant DeNA goes, these digs aren’t half bad. Heck, there are iPads on the walls. On the walls! The offices have their fair share of meeting and conference rooms, but also a chic cafe and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 -
Kotaku EastFinally! A Robot Ass for You To Spank
From robotic vocal chords to robotic lips, Japan has made a variety of robotic body parts over the years. But one body part has always been noticeably overlooked: robot ass. Not anymore! Enter Shiri. In Japanese, “shiri” (尻) means “buttocks”, and this robot is a “buttocks humanoid that represents emotions with visual and tactual transformation…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 -
Kotaku EastWatch a Man Rip Out His Spine and Wield Excalibur
In upcoming PS Vita game Soul Sacrifice, you stick your hand in the mouth and yank out your vertebrate, which turns into a sword. There’s more to this PlayStation Vita game (more coverage coming later today, too), but isn’t spine ripping sword-swinging all you really need to know? SOUL SACRIFICE 第１弾トレーラー [YouTube]
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedAnother Glimpse at the Future of Video Game Planets
Tinkering around with Directx 11, Romanian developer Silviu Andrei is building an engine capable of rendering not corridors, or arenas, but entire planets Similar to the Outerra project that we’ve featured previously, Andrei not only has a very nice ocean up and splashing, but seamless travel between space and the planet’s surface. While there’s the…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Stop Preordering Video Games
It’s not hard finding things that are wrong with the video game industry these days. From rip-off DLC to paid-for cheats to games that are sold essentially incomplete, consumers are increasingly getting short shrift. If you want to push back, though, what are your options? Stop buying games? Effective, perhaps, but that’s also cutting off…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedAwesome New Racer Drives Outside Your TV Screen
Hobbyist Blair Kelly has been working on a project called Arduino Wifly Mini, which takes a remote-controlled Mini Cooper, crams it full of cameras and has you controlling it with your choice of video game peripherals. You can use either an Xbox 360 or PS3 pad, but the car also supports force feedback if you…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Culture
From Dune to Dublin’s Wilderness to Zombies, This Art Has Seen it All
Mark Molnar is a concept artist and illustrator who has worked with of the biggest names in entertainment. People like WETA, Games Workshop, Time Warner and Square Enix. To see more of his work, check out his personal site Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
World of Warcraft Stems the Bleeding, Stops Losing Subscribers
Since so much has been made over the past year of World of Warcraft’s declining subscriber numbers, it’s only fair to point out that at last count yesterday morning, the game’s playerbase had stalled at 10.2 million, exactly where it was at last count. With an expansion to come later this year, that number may…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
GameStop Admits Defeat, Starts Selling Steam Vouchers
A GameStop source has told Kotaku that, given the relative failure of the company’s push into online PC sales via its purchase of Impulse, it’s now trying something a little more practical. Namely, selling Steam vouchers in its bricks-and-mortar stores. After all, if you can’t beat ’em, skim a little of their money off the…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012