- Kotaku East
Japan Tries To Figure Out Why Everybody Loves One Piece
While the overall sales in manga are slowly declining in Japan, there is one notably strong on-going series: One Piece. The manga’s latest volumes, volume 64 and 65, have both sold over 4 million copies each in their first print run. In 2010, volume 57 of One Piece sold a record-breaking 3 million copies in…
By Toshitaka Tachibana Published April 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
Your Girlfriend or DotA? An Online Love Story.
It could be a complete fabrication. Or it could be a true story. Regardless, a love story is making the rounds online in China. It’s not just any love story. It deals with addiction, DotA, and one decisive match. The boyfriend in the story, as website Tech In Asia pointed out, seems like a jerk.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
From Persona to Baseball Hot Pants
Lisa Yoshiki sure is busy. When not cosplaying as virtual idol Hatsune Miku in glossy magazines, she’s appearing on stage in the recent Persona theatrical play. And when she’s not doing that? She’s doing other things, like appearing at Japanese baseball games. Yoshiki, who grew up wanted to be a manga artist, recently threw out…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 10, 2012 -
Kotaku EastJamming to The World Ends With You Remixes in Kingdom Hearts 3D
As Kotaku‘s own Kirk Hamilton pointed out last week, one of the most amazing things in Square Enix’s DS hit, The World Ends With You, was its techno/pop/rap soundtrack. While we aren’t getting a new game in the series anytime soon (if ever), we are getting the next best thing, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published April 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
China Gets Its First Female Street Fighter Champ
Xiao Zhao became her country’s first female Street Fighter champion after coming out on top at a Super Street Fighter IV: AE v2012 tournament. Playing as Dhalsim, she defeated her competition at the Nanning Mario Arcade Center in Guangxi last month. Her prize? Besides self-satisfaction and that large cardboard cutout, Xiao Zhao was awarded an…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
North Korea Has a Tractor Simulator. It’ll Plough the Fields of Your Mind.
The wizards in North Korea created this: a computerized simulator that teaches students how to drive a tractor. It may not be pretty (it’s certainly not), but goodness, doesn’t it look amazing? This photo was taken at the Samjiyon Schoolchildren’s Palace in Samjiyon, North Korea. It’s an institution that specializes in after school programs for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 10, 2012 - Kotaku East
Akaneiro Is the Next Game from American McGee’s Spicy Horse
Game designer American McGee and his Shanghai-based Spicy Horse are known for their vivid fantasies and brilliant art design. The studio’s upcoming title Akaneiro: Demon Hunters looks to be no exception. Spice Horse has already done its twisted take on Alice in Wonderland. With Akaneiro, the studio is putting its spin on Red Riding Hood—in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
It’s Dangerous to Drink Alone. Take Cards.
A year ago, Swiss artist Nelde released some images of an idea for a deck of Zelda playing cards. They were, given the template, almost perfect. Well, encouraged by the positive feedback received, Nelde went and deigned the rest of the deck and has had them printed up by the lovely people at Fangamer. The…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
This “Oh Shit” Flash Game Will Destroy Your Day
Oh boy. This is amazing. If you’ve seen former R&B star R. Kelly’s incredible Trapped in the Closet (if not, begin), well, this is a flash game based on Trapped in the Closet The game’s instructions are as follows: Click on R. Kelly’s face whenever he says “Oh shit!” Maybe some other stuff too. If…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedSonic 2 HD Contains Keylogger, Delete Immediately [Update 3]
A group of fans recently released Sonic 2 HD, an alpha version of a very fancy home-made tribute to Sega’s classic platformer. The game even, inadvertently, throws in a bonus: free keyloggers for everyone! [Update: no it doesn’t!] It’s being reported that a “professional antivirus employee” has confirmed that copies of the game include “a…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedA Kid’s Cardboard Arcade is the Most Beautiful Thing You’ll See Today
Caine is nine. And like all the best nine year-olds in the world, Caine is obsessed with video games. In Caine’s case, it’s arcade games, and he’s so obsessed he built himself a giant cardboard arcade. This is the story of Caine’s arcade. If you’ve had a shitty day, or just need something to make…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Mass Effect Prankster Livens Up TV Show
Q&A, an Australian current affairs program, ran an episode over the weekend about Easter. A big part of the show is that, while conversations are taking place in the studio, a ticker on the bottom of the screen lets viewers get their $0.02 in. Given the topic involved religion, then, it’s easy seeing how ceekel…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Bulletstorm Probably Won’t Get a Sequel, PC Pirates Blamed for Poor Sales
Bulletstorm, one of 2011’s more surprising critical successes, wasn’t as big a hit at the register, with Epic Games boss Mike Capps telling GameSpot that “From a sales perspective it was good, but not amazing. I think EA was hoping we’d do better.” In terms of whether this means we’ll see a sequel or not,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedIs This Footage From Valve’s Mysterious Space Game?
It’s been whispered about for years now that Half-life creators Valve either are, or at least were, working on some kind of sci-fi game. There were rumours, there was rumoured concept art of spaceships, and now there might be test footage of the game (or at least its universe) in action as well. Gray Horsfield,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Cutest Damn Video Game, Comic and Movie Stars You’ve Ever Seen
Artist Mike Mitchell recently held a show at the kinda-famous Gallery 1988, in which he showed off a whole ton of nerd superstars with enormous heads, enormous eyes and tiny, tiny little arms. You can buy prints of just about all of these from Gallery 1988’s site, or if you’re after something more authentic, some…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 10, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallIn 1974, Arthur C. Clarke Predicted the 2001 Internet
Not just as a vague concept, either. The famed science fiction author absolutely nails it, from the bank statements to the hardware to the social changes to the possibilities for communication. “Visionary” is an awful, over-used word, but it’s cases like this which are the rare exceptions you can actually use it and it fits.…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 9, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallRIP, the Man who Helped Get me Into Video Games
When I was four years old, my father took me out to a local electronics store and said we were buying a computer. OK, I thought, not really knowing why that was such a big deal. Twenty-seven years later, I now know it was one of the most significant days of my life. That day…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 9, 2012 - Uncategorized
Wait, I’m Doing the Open Thread Tonight? Quick, Find Me a Cat With a Cherry!
Thank goodness for Reddit. Otherwise you’d be staring at something other than this picture of a cat with a cherry right now, and that headline would make absolutely no sense. Kirk is out today, having traveled to Imagination Land to be given the key to the city for his bravery in doing something very brave…
By Mike Fahey Published April 9, 2012