- Kotaku East
A Broken Back. Checking into the Hospital.
Earlier this week, my mother-in-law visited our place to give my boys and me some Valentine’s Day chocolate. When she was leaving with my father-in-law, she slipped and fell. She broke her back. My mother-in-law is now in the hospital and will be for a good bit to come. She also suffered from internal bleeding.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 17, 2012 -
Kotaku EastTekken Tag 2 Has a Surprising Option
With Tekken Unlimited Tag Tournament 2 (temp title), Tekken Tag 2 is coming to Japanese arcades. Besides tag team, it also allows players to play one character vs. one character—which defeats the purpose of tag, no? Here is the game’s trailer, unveiled earlier today at the AOU arcade show in Chiba, Japan. Be sure to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 17, 2012 - Kotaku East
It Was a Whole Day of Japanese Arcade Games
Today, AOU (All Nippon Amusement Machine Operators’ Union) kicked off its annual show AOU Expo in Chiba, Japan. Kotaku East’s Richard Eisenbeis and Toshi Nakamura were on hand to check out the day’s festivities. Here’s a look at what they saw. The show featured new games, such as a Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 17, 2012 - Kotaku East
What a Rush! Gravity Rush Impressions
I wonder how Sir Isaac Newton would feel if he were to play a game inspired by his own legend where real-world gravity physics have been crafted into an interactive playground. Well, if that game were Gravity Rush, I’m sure he’d be amazed—and not just by the existence of a glowing interactive box in his…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published February 17, 2012 -
Kotaku EastAmazing Wii Battles. No US Release in Sight.
With The Last Story getting its European release next week, let’s take a few minutes to talk about its action-packed battle system. Fighting With a Tilt of the Stick The Last Story has no dedicated attack button. Rather, after running into range of a target, all you have to do is push the thumbstick in…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Let China Show You How to Chun-Li and Final Fantasy
You might not know how to Chun-Li. You might not know how to Final Fantasy or SoulCalibur. Chinese photographer Mengjie Luan sure does. His work is showcases games like Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Street Fighter IV, and Dynasty Warriors, among others. The photos are dramatic and colorful. The 29 year-old has an eye for dramatic…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 17, 2012 - Kotaku East
This is China’s iPad. The One Apple Is Getting Sued Over.
Apple’s iPads are disappearing from Chinese stores shelves. The reason is that a Chinese company called Proview is contesting the use of the iPad moniker. Proview originally trademarked the term “iPad” for a computer. This is Proview’s iPad. It looks nothing like Apple’s. That doesn’t matter. Proview’s iPad is short for “Internet Personal Access Device”.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 17, 2012 - Kotaku East
Do You Want To Do It? With This Japanese Meme?
Whether it’s a Japanese video game or a comic convention, he’s bound to pop up. He even appeared on fan-made Valentine’s Day chocolate. He is the Yaranaika Guy, and he’s keen to know if you’d like to screw. So, would you? The Yaranaika Guy is manga character Takakazu Abe from 1987 gay manga Kuso Miso…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
More Gears of War 3 DLC Coming
A new set of downloadable content for Gears of War 3, Forces of Nature, will be out on March 27. It includes three new character skins, three new maps, two old maps, seven weapon skins and Gears of War 2’s Guardian Mode. Forces of Nature will cost 800 MSP. [GameTrailers]
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Half-Life 2’s Strider Comes to Life With This Custom Action Figure
Actually, calling it an action figure does it a bit of a disservice. The term “action figure” conjures all sorts of images, mostly of very small men. This custom Strider from the Half-Life universe is not very small at all. Not only does it look awesome, but its builder, nomadamusic, says it was almost entirely…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Buy Yourself a Real Dragonborn Helmet
You’ve seen Dragonborn helmets made out of yarn. You’ve seen Dragonborn helmets made out of bacon. Both were awesome, but hardly practical. Now, this real Dragonborn helmet, you could crack some skulls with this. This replica helmet is actually about as authentic as you could hope for, as the seller claims it was cast from…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Culture
The Dinosaurs, Robots and BioShocks of Artist Ben Mauro
Ben Mauro is a concept artist from New Zealand who has recently worked on The Hobbit. The new Superman movie, Man of Steel. Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium. Even the upcoming Star Wars TV show, Underworld He’s also done video game work with Insomniac Games on both Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, as well as helping out…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Valve’s $100 Joke Ends in Half-Life Delay Gags
Valve’s $100 Valentine’s Day gag was actually taken up by a lot of people, who figured the money was well spent since it gave them a chance to broadcast a message to the entire Team Fortress 2 community. What resulted, then, were not actual engagements, but people making Half-Life 3 jokes for the whole world…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Damn It, Link, Put Those Eyes Away
Artist OMOCAT takes Zelda and dials the cuteness up as far as it can go without making you puke. Even the Zelda stuff that’s already cute, doesn’t matter, it gets cuter Those with a high tolerance for sweetness head through the gallery above. If you make it out alive, OMOCAT’s got plenty of other awesome…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
KOTOR, Mass Effect & Dragon Age Writer Leaves Games Behind
Drew Karpyshyn, who’s been a writer at BioWare for over a decade now, will be walking away from the games business to focus on his novels. In that decade, Karpyshyn contributed to some of the best-written video games of all time, including Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, the first two Mass Effect games…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWhy People Give a Shit About a 1988 PC Role-Playing Game
Brian Fargo, whose credits include Bard’s Tale and the original Fallout, wants to make a new Wasteland game. This is a very good idea. It’s also a very good idea that Fargo wants to be involved, because there wouldn’t have been a Fallout without Wasteland Released in 1988 on the PC, Wasteland was a pioneering…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallRetro Rumble Episode 1 – Don’t Pee in the Pool
You know how outfits like Major League Gaming are full of sponsored kids playing the latest game at breakneck speeds? This is the exact opposite. Welcome to Episode 1 of Retro Rumble, where a bunch of guys play (usually) terrible old video games to see who is the best. Or, least terrible. Today the crew…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWe Asked The Red Carpet: Were Old Video Games Actually Bad? Or Good?
I have a nearly irrational dislike for retro video games. I assume most of the old “classics” wasted my youth with their needlessly bottomless pits and/or a hunger for my quarters. Do old video games deserve my scorn? Will no one speak up for the quality of these things? I sought an answer to my…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
You Better Think!
Hello, Kotaku! It’s been a wild day—we launched our first installment of Kotaku Melodic, and I think it went really well. I hope you were out there reading. But now it’s time for the open thread. Here are a few things from around the internet for your perusal: Walk on grass, endlessly. – I don’t…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012