- Kotaku East
Earn Extra Money Finding Hand Grenades!
Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture is, according to Fuji TV, offering people ¥100,000 (US$1,200) for each found hand grenade. In the past year, there were five arrests in Fukuoka involving grenades. Police reported that some residents have discovered hand grenades. One was even seized from a car, noted Japan Today It’s unclear whether these are factory-made hand…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Kotaku East
PS Vita Free-to-Play Game Goes Offline-Until-April-17
Sega’s Samurai and Dragons has had network issues since its March 29 launch in Japan. Sega is taking the free-to-play game offline to improve server issues. On April 17, the game will resume service. [Sega]
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Sony Firing Folks Thanks to Modern Medicine
It was wildly thought that Howard Stringer, a foreigner, was brought in to fire a bunch of people at Sony. Japanese companies traditionally bring in outsiders to fire folks, and Stringer, a foreigner, was even that further removed from the old boys’ network. This April, Kaz Hirai assumes Stringer’s old job at Sony. He’s a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Kotaku East
Hanging Out with Naked Folks All Weekend
One of the most popular things to do on vacation in Japan is head to an onsen or “hot springs”. They’re dotted all over the country, and people—both young and old—enjoy visiting onsen towns, where they eat delicious food and bathe. When taking a bath in Japan, you wash first and then enter the water…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Kotaku East
Would You Buy a Skyrim Hug Pillow?
So many Japanese games have hug pillows—even game voice actresses do. Western games, however, come up short in the hug pillow department. That’s something this Japanese April Fools’ joke appeared to remedy. Yep, you are looking at a phony Skyrim hug pillow mock-up that features Lydia, your in-game “companion”. It should cost ¥18,450 and should…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 -
Kotaku EastTaiwanese Woman Trashes Convenience Store. Clerk Just Watches.
Convenience stores are wonderful. They are truly magical places, but apparently not to this young woman in Taiwan. The woman turned a Family Mart, a Japanese chain which has branches throughout Asia, into a messy mart after going on a rampage, randomly flinging instant noodles, drinks, and sandwiches onto the floor. The Family Mart employee…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 -
Kotaku EastFinal Fantasy Versus XIII Finally Emerges. On the 3DS. As Music Game DLC.
Where the hell is Final Fantasy Versus XIII? Who knows. Oddly, a song from the unreleased game is launching as paid DLC for Nintendo 3DS game Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy on April 4. Hopefully, this means that Square Enix will be talking more about Final Fantasy Versus XIII in the near future—instead of, you know, simply…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Kotaku East
Postponed by the Earthquake, the Anti-Establishment Anime Event Finally Happened
This weekend, the 2012 Anime Contents Expo kicked off in Chiba, Japan. Sister site Kotaku Japan was in attendance to check out the cosplayers, the itasha, the Neon Genesis Evangelion smartphone, and the enormous Maken-Ki! boob pad. The Anime Contents Expo was originally created after anime creators joined forces to protest strict anime and manga…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
These Adult Gaming Peripherals Existed Only One Day
And that day was yesterday, April 1. As it does every year, the Japanese erotic game industry showed its sense of humor with a handful of adult-related gaming peripherals that will thankfully never see the light of day. Or will they? There’s Nexton Liquid with Liquid Black Cute, a “dedicated erotic game hardware” it’s apparently…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Hey, Zelda, Get off Link’s Back
He’s got enough to worry about without you banging on about saving this, or doing that, or going wherever Like it? You’ve got artist George Alexopoulos to thank. Then you’ve got a trip to his website, below, where you can check out other cute little paper figures he’s made Zelda [George Alexopoulos, via GamOvr]
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Awesome Die Hard Action Figure has Smaller Feet Than my Sister
Die Hard’s John McClane finally gets the action figure he deserves, courtesy of custom toy builder Greggo. He got everything right. The bare feet, the cigarette, Willis’ late-80s-wireframe physique, the blood, everything The actual figure is based off a Hot Toys body and a custom head, while the base, blood, outfit and tattoos were all…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 -
UncategorizedFigure-Skater Uses Chrono Trigger Music, Sadly Does Not Win
Canadian figure skater Kevin Reynolds competed at the Four Continents Championships in Colorado early last month. He only finished eighth, but in our eyes, he was the real winner for his choice of music. Forgoing the obvious choices of either classical or pop, Reynolds skated along to a medley of music from classic RPG Chrono…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Kid’s Colouring Books Explode With Amazingness
Or, a the project is called, “The Best Coloring Book Ever”. Either label is entirely justified, because unlike the lifeless books kids are actually subjected to, this one has Mario fighting Spider-Man and Starscream It also features a single page with Luke Skywalker running at TMNT’s Raphael while Bumblebee…well, while Bumblebee fucks Luke’s X-Wing. Size…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Horror, and the Glory, of Kinect Star Wars’ Dancing Game
There are enough copies of Kinect Star Wars out there in the wild now that people are stating to upload gameplay videos to YouTube. Obviously, we’re only concerned with the dancing battles, because they are at once the most excruciating and enjoyable things about the game. Sure, it’s a wholly unoriginal mechanic, and sure, the…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Very Best In Cosplay: Linda Le
We’re nearing the end of our world tour of the very best in cosplay, but it’d be wrong to bring this to a close without highlighting the work of American cosplayer Linda Le. Otherwise known as VampBeauty, or Vampy, Linda is a cosplay machine, renowned not just for the quality of her costumes, but their…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Monkey Island Board Game Fights Like a Cow
Reader Saskia, aka NagatoPyon, has done the world a service and filled the marketplace gap once clearly labelled as “NEEDS MONKEY ISLAND BOARD GAME”. The game she’s made involves Murray the skull, has devil chickens, the Tri-Islands area and cannibals. Just about everything you’d want, basically. What’s more, she’s made the files necessary to play…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Why is Razer Making Another Left-Handed Mouse?
After a successful Facebook PR campaign, peripheral manufacturers Razer have announced they’ll be making a left-handed version of their Naga mouse. It’s not the first time this has happened – not even for Razer, whose DeathAdder has previously been available for Southpaws – but it still makes me scratch my head. I’m left-handed. And I,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
My Favourite Game of 2012 Also Has the Absolute Worst DLC
Keep your space operas and fighting things things, my favourite game of 2012 so far has been the wonderfully deep marriage/backstabbing simulator Crusader Kings II It’s a shame, then, that the game now has the year’s worst DLC to date. And that’s including a game where you’re being charged for the ending On April 17,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2012 - Uncategorized
These Might be Images of Another Cancelled Star Wars: Battlefront Game
In 2010, Kotaku learned that SOCOM and Resident Evil series part-timers Slant Six Games had been working on a game in the Star War universe. Specifically, a new entry in the Battlefront series of multiplayer shooters. While that game was eventually cancelled, a user on website Betagames.org claims to have found a series of images…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2012