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UncategorizedSaudi Arabia Banned This Shoe Shopping Game for Sounding Too Sexy
Shoe Wars is a simple little iPhone jumper about a woman looking for shoes at the mall, an activity many would consider a blissful experience. A little too blissful if you ask Saudi Arabia. The relatively harmless free iPhone app features a woman carrying a shopping bag jumping from platform to platform in a never-ending…
By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
One Indie Developer Walked Away from Zynga’s $210 Million Acquisition of OMGPOP
Zynga’s absorbed a lot of companies in the last two years, but few experienced the sudden shift in fortunes that OMGPOP did over the last few days. Within two months, the studio saw their Draw Something become a breakout hit, which lead their getting snapped up by the social game giant. A recent New York…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 27, 2012 -
UncategorizedPreorders Begin for Old School Dungeon Crawler The Legend of Grimrock
The first-person grid-based PC dungeon crawler rises again on April 11, when indie developer Almost Human releases The Legend of Grimrock on Steam and GOG.com. Act now and it’s far cheaper than it should be. You might recall The Legend of Grimrock from a story I posted about the developers changing the game to accommodate…
By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012 -
UncategorizedIn BioShock: Infinite, This Siren Will Raise the Dead
In the above video, Irrational Games introduces the Siren—a creepy baddie who is able to raise the dead. In the above clip, BioShock: Infinite‘s creators talk about the character and briefly show game footage of her. Blink and you’ll miss it. BioShock: Infinite is slated for release on Oct. 16.
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 - Kotaku East
Why It Took Me A Year To Buy a 3DS
When the 3DS was announced in March 2010, I knew it was only a matter of time before I bought one. It wasn’t the wonder of 3D or even the games Nintendo was sure to release that gave me this moment of clairvoyance. It was the simple fact that eventually, I buy every system. The…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 27, 2012 - Kotaku East
Marvel at China’s Movie Poster Rip-Offs
If you think Hollywood (or the game industry, for that matter) isn’t creative, check out the folks working China’s dream factory. Many of the posters are straight up copies, while some of them *could* be kwinky-dinks, such as the Hero and the DOA: Dead or Alive posters. One of the most interesting things about Chinese…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 -
Kotaku EastFive Songs That Must Be Added to Theatrhythm
The Final Fantasy series has been renowned for excellent soundtracks since back in the 8-bit era. So it’s really no surprise that Square Enix would release a game like Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy. Despite hitting the streets in Japan back in February, it has only recently been announced for Western release. There are five songs from…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 27, 2012 - Kotaku East
Namco Bandai Updates Its “X” with “Action Adventure”
Thrilling! Day two of Namco Bandai’s drip-fed PR continues. In this installment of irritating corporate promotion, Namco Bandai added the words “action adventure” in Japanese, along with three question marks. I don’t know what the game is, but unless it’s something utterly fantastic, I already hate it. New Title [Namco Bandai]
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 -
Kotaku EastTheatrhythm‘s Three Types of Gameplay in Action
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a music game much like Oendan/Elite Beat Agents where you tap the 3DS’ pen on the touch screen in time with the beat. There are three different types of stages (four if you count the unfailable opening and ending bonus songs): 1) Event, where the song path can move anywhere on…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 27, 2012 -
Kotaku EastUsing Giant Anime Breasts To Promote Cycling
This promo clip looks like it could be promoting a myriad of things, the least of which is pro cycling. But that’s why the Nagoya Keirin Association had Japanese character designer Ikuo Nakamura and anime studio Madbox whip this up. The result is a jubblie anime lady named Pist-Star. Keirin is track cycling, which originated…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 - Kotaku East
Capcom Is Opening a Store. A Real, Retail Store.
Earlier this year, Capcom opened an official Capcom bar, where people can get hammered. And this spring, it’s opening an official Capcom shop, where people can buy stuff. Other Japanese game companies have official shops in Japan—Konami, for example, has a Konami store in Roppongi Hills. The Capcom store, which is called Capcom Official Shop…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 -
Kotaku EastLupin Makes Anime Cool and Sexy Again
For a long, long time, Japanese anime has been moé. The word actually means “budding”, but it’s actually geek slang for cute things that give otaku warm fuzzy feelings. Screw warm fuzzy feelings. I’m sick of them! Aside from the momentarily blips of hope on the anime radar, the moé aesthetic has dominated Japanese TV…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 - Kotaku East
Before There Was The Hunger Games, Japan Had This Brutal, Bloody Opus
Were you one of the oodles of theatergoers who packed into American cinemas to see The Hunger Games? The movie is raking in the box office cash—and it’s being hailed as a smash hit. But in Japan, people are referring to the flick as something else: “Hollywood’s version of Battle Royale.” Based on a 1999…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nearly-Nude Men are Selling Nintendo 3DS Games
If our gripping gameplay footage of the title from last year’s Gamescom wasn’t enough, here’s an advertisement for the upcoming Farming Simulator 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. Not that I looked that closely at the pic, but it does creep me out a little that his red underpants seem to be Photoshopped on. UPDATE –…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Saddest, Loneliest Screenshots in the World
Video games are meant to be fun. Social networks are supposed to bring us together with friends. Sadly, not everything goes according to plan. Screenshots of Despair exists to catalogue the more depressing side of the modern internet: empty friends lists, nobody sharing anything, the fact you have won absolutely nothing Click through for a…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
Batshit Crazy Fake Star Wars Figures are Cooler Than Real Ones
In the late 1980s, a line of bootleg Star Wars figures was released in Turkey called Uzay. What’s so great about these figures isn’t the fact they’re horrible copies of the originals because, given the time, the toys themselves weren’t that bad. What makes them so great is the packaging. It’s just bananas. The Imperial…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Gears of War Gun is Terrifyingly Real
Prop-builder and artist Ryan Palser, whose Portal turret wowed the internet last year, returns with a replica Gears of War weapon so real you’d think you could play a minigame just to reload it quicker. It’s a Digger Launcher from the third game in the series, and Palser worked on it alongside his wife Dena.…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012