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Celebrate Five Years of Lord of the Rings Online with Free Stuff
Has it really been five years since Turbine took the world’s most beloved fantasy world and transformed it into a massively multiplayer online game adored by a handful of players until it went free-to-play? Well I sure hope so; otherwise this post is pretty pointless. Lord of the Rings Online launched on April 24, 2007,…
By Mike Fahey Published April 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedWhat the Hell These Game Developers Did with Your Kickstarter Money
The folks at War Balloon Games thought that they had it made. After asking for 20 grand on the web’s most popular crowfunding site, backers shoveled all of that and 16,000 more to help make the dev studio’s Star Command mobile game a reality. Smooth sailing from here on out, right? Not exactly. In a…
By Evan Narcisse Published April 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
Crysis 3 Transforms New York City in 2013
This morning EA and Crytek have officially unveiled Crysis 3, the third installment of the high-tech military shooter franchise and the second set in New York City’s lush rainforests and teeming swamps. Wait, what? The first Crysis took place on a tropical island. The second Crysis took place in New York City. The third mashes…
By Mike Fahey Published April 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
Let These Beautiful Fantasy Images Kick You in the Face
And they’re not just sci-fi. As you can see in the above image, there’s fighting game Tekken, too. Whether it’s World or Warcraft or Avatar, photographer Michelle Monique mixes photos and art for her wildly vivid pictures. “I wouldn’t call myself a ‘traditional’ photographer because I like to create not interpret,” Monique wrote on her…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Spurned Singer Arrested for Computer Crime
The Japanese entertainment industry is crawling with young women who hope to become the next geek idol. With her anime songs and maid outfits, Mako Okita might seem like any other hopeful, but she stands out. How many idols can say they’ve been arrested for cyber crime? Late last week, Okita was arrested by Japanese…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Decline of the Chinese Gaming Industry. One Dude’s Opinion.
China’s game industry to many, is nothing more than copy and pasting Western and Japanese games. China knows it, the world knows it. A Taiwanese game developer named “Marco” came out and talked about the possible death of the Chinese gaming industry. The following are excerpt explains Marco’s change from Taiwan to the Mainland, and…
By Eric Jou Published April 16, 2012 -
Kotaku EastSquare Enix’s Dual-Wielding Game Shooting Up a Japanese Arcade
Gunslinger Stratos is an upcoming third-person shooter for Japanese arcades. The Square Enix title features four-on-four online combat that allows players to face off against others across Japan. It is also dual wielding. Players can take their pistols and conjoin them to form new weapons. Check out gameplay in the above video. More details in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Can China’s Monster Hunter Clone Slay…Monster Hunter?
China’s Monster Hunter styled MMO, Hunter Blade, looks, plays, and feels exactly like Monster Hunter—well, almost. Despite adding some much needed gameplay elements to MH, Hunter Blade is a flawed monster hack and slash. Developed by Joy China, Hunter Blade, takes all the elements of MH and turns it into an MMO. Joy China didn’t…
By Eric Jou Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Stop Creeps From Looking Down Your Shirt Forever
This is the “Breast Line Cover”, and it’s here to block unwanted leering. Priced at ¥1,050 ($13) and available in six colors, the Breast Line Cover is for those women who want wear stylish clothing, but want to avoid embarrassing “accidental glimpses of cleavage”. The Breast Line Cover resembles a camisole, but simply affixes itself…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Japanese Nintendo 3DS Pitchman Shows His Toilet Gaming
Kazunari Ninomiya, best known in the West for Letters from Iwo Jima, is a member of Japanese boy band Arashi. Ninomiya’s also a Nintendo spokesperson. And a toilet gamer. Lots of people game on the throne! (Heck, game designer Goichi Suda thinks up video games on the toilet.) Recently on Japanese television, Ninomiya admitted that…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
The World’s Strongest, Thickest, and Most WTF iPhone Case
When you are shopping for iPhone cases, you probably want something durable, something strong. You probably do not want something that weighs over 4.5 pounds and could be used as a murder weapon in Clue Dubbed the “One-Inch Armored Case”, the case can possibly stop a 50-calibre bullet. Priced at ¥52,500 (US$648), the case comes…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Rumors of an iPad Mini Swirl in China
The Chinese rumor mill has hit full blast today claiming to have details about the imminent release of an iPad mini. Chinese net portal, NetEase, has a story on a rumored new mini Apple tablet. NetEase claimed that the device will be released around the third quarter of this year to “counter attack” the upcoming…
By Eric Jou Published April 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
EA Says “There Are no Lay-Offs as Such”
Responding to an earlier report on website Startup Grind, which claimed between 500-1000 employees would be laid off soon, EA has said “There are no lay-offs as such, we always have projects growing and morphing”. More at the update in the original story
By Luke Plunkett Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Transgender Ninja Aerobics Does Not Require Fishnets or Thongs
In ninjutsu, the concept of “shinobi” (“stealth”) is key. So what happens when you mix it with aerobics? Fishnets and a thong, apparently. Sneaky! Exercise guru and former cabaret dancer Hibari Igano, the self-styled “World’s Toughest Transsexual” of Ninja Warrior fame, was a member of a ninja breakdancing team during the 1990s. Once again, she’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Even in Plastic, That’s a Big Sword
This summer, Alisa from Namco’s monster hunting game God Eater Burst is getting her own figurine. It’s not very subtle! And at ¥8,190 (US$101), the 1/7 scale figure is not exactly cheap, either. God Eater is one of the PSP’s most successful titles in Japan. The series is similar to Monster Hunter, but does offer…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 -
Kotaku EastHow Does Nintendo Sound in Korean? Like This.
Later this month, Nintendo is releasing the Nintendo 3DS in South Korea. To mark the event, Nintendo’s South Korean branch held an online Nintendo Direct press conference. The head of Nintendo Korea, Hiroyuki Fukuda, and Nintendo Co., Ltd.’s President Satoru Iwata both put in appearances. Instead of giving their speeches in Japanese with Korean subtitles,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 - Kotaku East
Japan’s Black Widow Killer Met Men Online. Then She Killed Them.
On the morning of August 5, 2009, Yoshiyuki Oide logged onto his blog. He posted some photos of a model tank he was working on as well as some cookies he recently got in Tokyo’s geek district, Akihabara. “To tell the truth, I’m getting married, and today, I’m going to meet her family,” Oide blogged.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedIt’s People Like This That Make me not Want to Play Battlefield 3 Any More
I mean, what’s the point? I hide in tanks to stay away from guys like this, but the more they level up, the more tools they get to pry me out and do terrible things to my corpse. Seriously, if you play Battlefield 3 – or even can appreciate a skilled player of first-person shooters…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedTeam Fortress 2 Meets One of the Greatest Films of all Time
Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, a masterpiece of both comedy and propaganda, is rightly regarded as one of the most important motion pictures ever made. Meaning it’s well worth watching in its own right. If you’re put off by all that black and white, though, maybe ease yourself in with some Team Fortress 2 machinima?…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 16, 2012