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Dying in an Internet Cafe Is More Terrible Than You Can Imagine
As Kotaku previously reported, a 23-year-old man recently died at a Taiwanese internet cafe. Nine hours later, someone noticed. The country’s Next Media Animation—who’s behind all those computer animation recreations—portrayed the event in its news story. The computer CG scenes, along with the actual news scene, make the clip not only highly disturbing, but also…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
My In-Flight WiFi Is Better than Yours!
Back in November 2011, Air China (China’s national airline) launched its in-flight wifi service. Unfortunately it wasn’t a real wifi network, users only connected to the in-flight intranet instead of the real internet. Users could access services such as the in-flight movie and music selection but not social networking sites or instant messenger services. Now,…
By Eric Jou Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
Square Enix Is Not Remaking Final Fantasy X
Instead, as the company explained at the Taipei Game Show, Final Fantasy X is getting a HD remastering—like Metal Gear or Shadow of the Colossus—and not a full-on HD remake. [Gematsu via FF-Reunion]
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 6, 2012 -
UncategorizedJapanese Cosplayer Is Too Hot for Taiwan
Won’t somebody think of the children? You think of the children; Ushijima Ii Niku (“Good Meat”) is going to push every envelope she can with her daring cosplay. Taiwan’s TTV visited the FancyFrontier event in Taipei, which is filled with self-published comics. As Kotaku previously posted, the event is crawling with cosplayers. But they’re wearing…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
PS Vita Will Support the Mac OS
On Feb. 8th, Sony is launching the System Firmware Ver. 1.60 for the Vita. Here is some of what this update contains: a new Map application, video recording, and Mac OS support. The new map application will allow the user to locate his current location, search for specific addresses, and set destinations. The application can…
By Toshitaka Tachibana Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
Glittery Crotch Is Not Already Dead. Somebody Purchased It.
Fist of the North Star‘s Kenshiro got a life-sized statue last fall. It was covered in 500,000 Swarovski crystals, apparently worth ¥10,000,000 or $130,000. For those not familiar with Fist of the North Star, watch this. It’s badass. The figure was put on the Yahoo! Auction block, with the winning bid hitting ¥3 million yen…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Taipei Game Show Is Looking To Go International
TGS, no not the Tokyo Game Show, but instead the Taipei Game Show is closing today in Taipei, Taiwan. In its 10th year the Taipei Game Show is looking to attract more visitors by becoming more international. Companies such as Sony Computer Entertainment and Mircrosoft have set up large booths to show off their latest…
By Eric Jou Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
An Examination of Japanese Characters’ “Whiteness”
Japanese anime, manga, and game characters sometimes have blond hair. Sometimes they have blue eyes. But, that’s merely cosmetic, no? There must be some sort of analysis that cuts closer to the bone. Literally. Back in fall 2010, Kotaku ran a story titled “Why Do Japanese Characters Look White?” It was based on a post…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
The NES Zapper Becomes a Transformer. A Bright, Orange Megatron.
New York LEGO builder Baron von Brunk has done something I’m surprised it’s taken decades for someone to do: take Transformers villain Megatron as inspiration and build a transforming NES Zapper. Christening his Nintendo-themed Transformer Plasmashock, von Brunk provides instructions on how the robot was created and how it transforms, before pledging to do a…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 6, 2012 -
UncategorizedThis is Cannon Fodder 3. Sort of.
We got a little excited last year when we heard a new Cannon Fodder game was being developed. Excitement quickly gave way to not-giving-a-fuck, though, when it turned out the game was for the Russian market and was likely never going to be released in the West. Still, it appears while we had our collective…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Very Best In Cosplay: LJinto
Our little journey around the best of the best in cosplay continues today with a look at another photographer, one who, pound for pound, is probably the most widely-seen on the planet. That photographer is LJinto, and his work is amazing Comprising both dedicated cosplay shoots and pounding the pavement at conventions and shows, LJinto…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
Report: Zynga Insider Spills his Guts, Talks Spying and Bad Math
A user over on Reddit, claiming to be a former Software Engineer at social games giant Zynga, has not only gone and posted the rather dense separation letter he received upon quitting the company (above), but done a little extra guts spilling at the same time. Among the claims user mercenary-games makes are, when asked…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 6, 2012 - Uncategorized
Half-Life Art is Thinking With Portals
If you need a Half-Life chaser after playing (or not playing) Half-Life 2 this weekend, take a look at these. While drawn by two different artists, they both do the same thing, bringing the worlds of Half-Life and Portal a little closer than they already are. The image up top is by Jade Law, while…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 6, 2012 - CultureTotal Recall
When EA Sports Accidentally Put a Game’s Source Code on a Demo Disc
In 1997, EA Sports released a demo disc for the latest iteration of its FIFA football series. Anyone picking this disc up got a lot more than they bargained for. Late last year, Blackbird Interactive’s Yossarian King (whose studio is now working on Hardware) wrote a piece on industry blog #altDevBlogADay about building engines. Tucked…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 5, 2012 - Uncategorized
PSN Update Stops Users From Accessing Paid Content
A routine bit of maintenance on the PlayStation Network last week has gone a little pear-shaped, it seems, with users in Europe complaining that post-update they’ve been unable to access content they’ve already paid for. While North American users appear unaffected, the problem has struck hundreds of users in PAL territories like Britain, continental Europe…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 5, 2012 -
UncategorizedSkyrim’s Creation Kit Launches Tuesday
The very fancy, highly-anticipated Creation Kit for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be out this Tuesday, Bethesda’s Pete Hines has revealed. “For our Skyrim PC fans, the Creation Kit is on track for release on Tuesday”, Hines wrote on Twitter. “And, we also have a special surprise with it.” That special surprise may already have…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 5, 2012 - Uncategorized
Street Cred
Street Cred | “In response to your latest post of the Mega Man collection, thought I’d share with you photos of my Street Fighter game collection,” says reader Clarence L. “All games are NTSC-1. Every game, version, variant, demo, cameos, even games with official Street Fighter special moves … all in original packaging.” (submitted photo)…
By Owen Good Published February 5, 2012 - Culture
Reckoning and Revelations
38 Studios’ action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning leads the list of new titles deploying this week. Other big names include Resident Evil: Revelations and The Darkness II Tuesday • Fallout: New Vegas – Ultimate Edition (PC, PS3, 360) • Forza Motorsport 4: February American Le Mans Series Pack (XBLA) • Gotham City Impostors (PC, PSN)…
By Owen Good Published February 5, 2012 - Uncategorized
GameStops Have PS Vita Demo Units, but Call Before You Head Over to Play One [Update]
Game Informer (owned by GameStop) this weekend announced that more than 3,300 GameStop locations in North America have demonstration units of the PS Vita available for people to come by and play. I’d advise calling first to see if your local store is letting it out for everyone to handle. [Update: Monday, 10:44 p.m.] The…
By Owen Good Published February 5, 2012