- Kotaku East
Nintendo Reveals Its Plan for Success
Last year? Man, last year sucked. Nintendo bled loads of cash. Sure, the Nintendo 3DS was neato, but the rollout was rocky. And the Wii? That just gathered dust in anticipation for the upcoming Wii U. But Nintendo is already saying this year is going be fine, that we should not panic. Nintendo is coming…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 - Kotaku East
Japan To Stop Kids from Going Micro-Transaction CRAZY
Some Japanese kids have been going bananas on mobile phone games, racking up insane bills by virtual crap. The country’s six major social game operators decided this week to limit the amount players under 18 can spend to ¥10,000 (US$124). Players under 15 will be capped at ¥5,000 ($62). Even with these spending caps, this…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 - Kotaku East
Why Your Fellow Gamers Are Good, Real Friends
Daigo Umehara recently released a book called “勝ち続ける意志力” (The Will to Keep Winning), in which he gives sage advice from his experiences as the world’s most successful player in major Street Fighter tournaments. He also gives some personal stories from his upbringing as a gamer and a loner. One such story involves the meaning of…
By Toshi Nakamura Published April 26, 2012 - Kotaku East
When Dolls Aren’t Things You Collect, But Family You Live With
Everybody has a hobby. Some people enjoy listening to records. Others collect baseball cards. If you read Kotaku, chances are that your hobby is video games. But Professor Sakai’s? Japanese blogs have recently been pointing to Sakai’s website, dubbing it “way too frightening” and “creepy”. The site shows off his collection of “realistic” love dolls.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
UncategorizedFirst Black Ops 2 “Screenshots” Leaked Via Special Effects Company
Some images, reportedly originating from the website of Hollywood special effects company Reel EFX (but since pulled), look like they could be our first look at the next Call of Duty game. Or at least some parts of it. For a while now, Activision has been teasing the game with shots of a gun-toting “quadcopter”,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012 - Kotaku East
StarCraft Champ Might Be Wrecking His Body, And He’s Not Getting Married
In professional Korean gaming, they don’t get much bigger than Lim Yo-Hwan, aka “BoxeR”. His fan club has a million members, he has big time endorsements, and he is dating famed actress Kim Ga-yeon. He’s known as the “The Terran Emperor.” But all that has come with a price: e-sports have taken their toll. Earlier…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku EastIf You Thought The Ring Was Scary, Check Out This…Baseball Pitch
Holy crap is Sadako scary! Coming in through you television with that mess of long hair. She’s the stuff of nightmares—also the stuff of first pitches. To promote the the upcoming Ring spin-off flick, Sadako (Samara Morgan in the America remakes) threw out the first pitch at a Nippon Ham Fighters versus Chiba Lotte Marines…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 - Kotaku East
Sega on Why Phantasy Star Online 2 Is Free To Play
In March, Sega announced that their upcoming MMORPG, Phantasy Star Online 2 will be smart phone compatible and free to play. In a recent interview with Weekly Famitsu, Phantasy Star series producer, Satoshi Sakai, talked about Sega’s somewhat ballsy decision. Apparently, the decision to make Phantasy Star Online 2 free to play came about very…
By Toshi Nakamura Published April 26, 2012 -
Kotaku EastThis Teenage Gothic Lolita Will Rock Your Brains Out
Yohio, the 16 year-old Swedish musician, finally made his Japan debut. Yohio has dressed as a Gothic Lolita for the past few years, and his anime inspired looks earned him Japanese fans. This week Yohio has been appearing on Japan’s biggest morning shows to promote his Japanese language mini album, which is now on sale.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 - Kotaku East
First Look at Resident Evil Creator’s New Horror Game
Shinji Mikami, best known for creating Resident Evil, is gearing up work on a brand new survival horror game with his new studio Tango Gameworks. It’s codenamed “Zwei”. The image above is very early concept art for the title. With Zwei, Mikami is supposedly committed to making a “pure” survival horror game. “A true ‘survival…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Just Posted Its First Annual Loss
Today, Nintendo announced its first annual operating loss in its history as a public company. Sluggish Wii sales and a strong Japanese yen hurt Nintendo—not to mention a rocky rollout for the Nintendo 3DS. The game maker chalked up a US$455.9 million operating loss for the 2011 financial year. “What went wrong was that sales…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2012 - Uncategorized
A Tetris Swimsuit is Sexier Than it Sounds
Obviously with a ton of Tetris-inspired prints lying around the warehouse, fashion label Black Milk have added a Tetris swimsuit to its existing line of Tetris leggings While the leggings were faintly ridiculous, the swimsuit is a much more sensible affair. Relatively. Though at AUD$90 (which these days is basically USD$90), you better really like…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012 - Uncategorized
Lost Planet 3 Screens Star Frightened Space Jesus
Capcom has updated Lost Planet 3’s website to include a range of new screenshots for the upcoming sequel that, let’s be honest, nobody really asked for. Scattered amongst them are shots we saw when the game was first unveiled, but most are new, showing a mix of killer snow aliens and a man whose beard…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012 -
UncategorizedHow Beautiful Video Game Shirts Are Made
Japan’s King of Games are one of the finest video game clothing merchants on the planet. Anyone who’s owned one of their shirts, or even been around one, know they ooze quality, from the fancy boxes they ship in to the durability of the prints. I’ve had a Zelda shirt of theirs around six years…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012 - Uncategorized
Looks Like Left 4 Dead 2 is Running Officially on Linux
When tech guru and Linux fan Michael Larabel visited Valve yesterday, he promised more info and pics than simply saying Steam was coming to Linux. Looks like he’s come through. Larabel has posted images of Left 4 Dead 2 running natively on Linux, and says a release of Steam itself – likely in the form…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012 - Uncategorized
Dragon Quest X Gets a Release Date for Japan!
Square Enix‘s highly anticipated 10th Dragon Quest game has just gotten a release date! The new online RPG, Dragon Quest X will be hitting the shelves (in Japan) on August 2nd of this year. Much like the 11th and 14th incarnations of the Final Fantasy series, Dragon Quest X will be online only with a…
By Toshi Nakamura Published April 26, 2012 - Culture
The Art of Prototype 2
Because Prototype 2 is out this week, artists involved in the game are now able to share their work. One of those is Venezuelan César Rizo, who did a lot of environment pieces for the game. Rizo has been a professional concept artist since 2005, and has worked with companies like Radical Entertainment and Relic.…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Map Shows All the Places Nathan Drake Has Been
All the places he’s been since we’ve been in control of his good self, at any rate. Posted by Sony yesterday, the map contains some standard infographic stuff, but also a handy guide to just where Drake’s travels have taken him across four games. It’s…not that far, really! You should come to Australia next time,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2012
