- Kotaku East
Bringing Anime Food to Life
For Chinese who grew up in the 80s and 90s, Japanese anime had a profound impact on their lives. You can walk along any Chinese university and see someone wearing a Rukawa Kaede basketball jersey from the basketball anime Slam Dunk. Walk down to some young hangout areas, and you’ll see Chinese girls wearing Arale-chan…
By Eric Jou Published May 7, 2012 - Kotaku East
Idiot Calls in Bomb Threat to Imitate Video Game
Bomb threats are never fun; they scare the living daylights out of people and create massive delays at airports. One Chinese gamer, thought it would be fun to imitate the plot of a video game and decided to issue a false bomb threat against Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport. On the evening of April 27, the…
By Eric Jou Published May 7, 2012 - Kotaku East
Japan’s Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Lost $700 Million Today [Update]
Think you had a bad day? Japan’s youngest self-made billionaire, Gree honcho Yoshikazu Tanaka, just lost US$700 million bucks. This weekend, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Japanese government could regulate social games that have players pony up extra cash for the chance to win rare in-game items, because it could be illegal. Previously, Kotaku reported…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012 - Kotaku East
Meet China’s Video Game Rumor Monger
As gamers, we all know that Blizzard, known notoriously for their “it’s done when it’s done,” policy, is the master of building game hype. In China, there are so many game companies filling the online space, meaning that marketing and hype has become somewhat problematic. Opting for the Blizzard method, some companies refuse to say…
By Eric Jou Published May 7, 2012 -
Kotaku EastSome of Japan’s Biggest Names Team Up for…an iOS Game
Famed role-playing game music composer Nobuo Uematsu. Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima (Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII). Art director Hideo Minaba (Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy IX). And character designer Nakaba Higurashi (Baten Kaitos). All are going forces for iOS role-playing game Borderwalker. In the game, your goal is to restore the world…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 7, 2012 - 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 -
Kotaku EastThe 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 - 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 -
UncategorizedBinding 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