• Kotaku East

  When Games Force You to Read Books in Korea

  In the top picture, you can see a yellow rubber band running around the case of a Korean copy of Red Dead Redemption. That rubber band came free with a used copy of that game, and it holds together the disc case and a booklet in the back. That booklet is the Korean translation of…

  By Chi Lee Published March 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Cosplayers Selling Pics and Posing for Them

  Usually when cosplayers pop up at events, they’re just there to pose for photos. But at Romket, they’re they to sell their cosplay discs and pose for pictures. Visitors must pay a ¥2,500 for the standard entrance fee. Coplayers offer their ROM discs for purchase—much like they do at Comic Market if you’ve attended that.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 28, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Relax! Sometimes Hollywood Doesn’t Whitewash *Everything*

  Yesterday, it was revealed that Hollywood acquired the rights to the 1970s Japanese manga Lone Wolf and Cub. Upon hearing this, my heart sank. There are already a series of wonderful Lone Wolf and Cub films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, older brother of legendary Zatoichi actor Shintaro Katsu. My heart sank because Hollywood, no doubt, is…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 28, 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 March 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Man, This Indie Game Action Movie Looks Badass!

  Indie Game: The Movie, a documentary following the careers of a few of the more notable indie devs going around, moves men to tears. It’s also, by all accounts, rather good. But I never knew it was this good. Seriously, the early trailers have been awful. If it takes you this long to get to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Stunning Tech Demo Made Using Single Texture

  Artist Tor Frick is the sole man responsible for the Unreal Engine tech demo you see above. If you just watch it, it looks lovely, but also looks like nothing out of the ordinary. It’s only when you find out he made it using a single 256×512 texture that you go “wow”. For reference, in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Get a Real Good Look at the New Portal Gun Toy in Action

  Limited to just 5000 pieces and priced at $150, most of you will never get your hands on one of NECA’s replica Portal guns. Ah well. You may as well do the next best thing and check out this video of one of the beasts in action. It certainly looks the part, and the flashing…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Battlefield 3 Looks Wonderful as a Strategy Game

  With a little camera trickery and some added effects, Battlefield 3 – which is very much a first-person shooter – suddenly becomes a real-time strategy game. If you’re wondering why you’re enjoying this so much, the Red Alert theme song might have something to do with it.

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Most Realistic Link You Ever Did See

  Plenty of people cosplay as Link, star of the Legend of Zelda. Some people do it really well. Few, however, can ever seem to really match the appearance of the little guy. Probably because he’s a small, cartoon-like boy with giant ears and huge feet. Cosplayer Amouranth has given it a damn good shake, though,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
• Uncategorized

  There Was Too Much Blood On This Game’s Cover

  The upcoming Risen 2: Dark Waters has been asked by the ESRB to change its front cover, because there was simply too much of the ol’ claret splashed across the box art. The body places limits on the amount of violence that can be shown on marketing materials, and as a result the marketing team…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
• Uncategorized

  EVE Online Suicide Taunter Goes Well Beyond Apologising

  The Mittani, a senior player in the EVE Online community and the man at the centre of yesterday’s story about suicide taunts at a game convention, has gone well beyond apologising for his actions. Saying that “actions > words” and that he hates it “when people use alcohol as an excuse” for their behaviour (The…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
• 

  Esports

  The World Cyber Games Sounds Like it’s Done for

  The World Cyber Games, or WCG, for a long while regarded as the pinnacle of the e-sports movement, has all but given up with news that it’s dropping all support of PC and console titles and switching to competitive…mobile gaming. In a letter leaked to cadred, and confirmed as authentic by Gamearena, WCG CEO Brad…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Nintendo’s Shameless 1970’s Advertising

  Before Nintendo made home console titles and hardware, the company made, among other things, arcade games. Behold, then, the might and majesty of Nintendo’s advertising, circa the late 1970s. In which the company releases clones of other people’s games (in this case Space Invaders), and is damn proud of it to boot! Flyers out of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Japan’s Most Famous Foreigner in Today’s (Well, Yesterday’s) Best Game Trailer

  UFO Kamen Yakisoban was a 1994 Super NES game that was basically one giant commercial for instant noodles. The star of the show? The dude in the black cape with the fork who ends up covered in giant noodles? That’s Dave Spector, probably the most famous foreigner working in Japan [via VGJunk]

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  James Cameron, Why Didn’t You Shoot Anything?

  The eyes of the world were on Hollywood director James Cameron this week as he became the first man in decades to reach the deepest point of the ocean floor, and the first man to ever achieve the feat by himself. Good for you, James Cameron. Me, all I could think of was, why can’t…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Total Recall Starts Now!

  The history of video games. Let’s not look back in anger, OK?

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012
• Culture

  A Review of Mass Effect 3’s Cupcakes

  With Fuss Cupcakes in the news today, having been contracted to bake then send 400 cupcakes to Mass Effect 3 developers BioWare, one man sat down with the company’s wares to try them out. The final verdict? “It was pretty damn delicious”. Take that, BioWare! Just how good are the Mass Effect 3 protest cupcakes?…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012
• Uncategorized

  We’ll Always Have Taco-Mail

  Hello, Kotaku, and welcome to the evening Open Thread. I hope you’ve had a nice Tuesday—it’s been raining in San Francisco, and but that’s been kind of nice. Here, gathered from the internet, are some things to amuse and bedevil you. Not a ton of links as today has been very busy! We’ll have more…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published March 27, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Sony Killing PSP Games to Prevent Vita Piracy?

  Over the past few weeks, hackers from Wololo.net claimed to have exploited code found in two downloadable PSP games, allowing for the playing of homebrew games on the system. Those two PSP games were Everybody’s Tennis and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, the latter of which was shown off with a hacker playing the PC version of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The True Ending of Asura’s Wrath Drops Next Month, Followed by Street Fighter

  Today sees the release of the first of five rounds of downloadable content for Capcom’s interactive anime epic Asura’s Wrath, the beginning of a five round cycle that ends with a pair of Street Fighter grudge matches. The Asura’s Wrath DLC spectacular kicks off today with the release of Episode 11.5: Forging Ahead, followed next…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012