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Why Doesn’t Pokemon Get Global Simultaneous Releases?
DS title Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were released in Japan on September 12. The games didn’t come out in North America until this March. With so many games these days getting either global or near global releases, what gives? “We do our best to make our games so North American players can enjoy the game…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Second Look At The Art Of Last Story
The first round of artwork for Mistwalker’s Last Story was great, but there were two things that were missing: people, and maps. Those shortcomings have been rectified in this second round of artwork for the game, which reveal more of the game’s Mediterranean influence, along with teases that the game’s world , the island (and…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Japan Lines Up For…Digital PS3 Recorder
Noodles. Toy figures. And grab bags at New Years. Japan loves lining up for stuff, and the PS3 torne digital recorder is no exception. Torne went on sale as an individual peripheral and also bundled with the PS3. By 9:00am this morning in Japan, over 200 shoppers lined up in front of the Akihabara Yodobashi…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
What Is This: PC Hardware, Or City Of The Future?
This is an “enthusiast” motherboard. The Rampage III Extreme. And by “enthusiast”, manufacturers Asus mean “hardcore PC gamers”. This would normally be where we all start nodding off, but really, take a look at this thing. That’s not a piece of hardware you stuff inside a desktop PC. It looks more like a miniature rendition…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Crap Game of the Year Coming To Xbox 360
Um, Hooray? Forget Game of the Year, the Japanese internet has the Kuso (“Crap”) Game of the Year. And last year’s winner is coming to the Xbox 360. Computer title Sengoku Hime 2 is a historical simulation game in the same vein of Koei’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise, but with adult content. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Splinter Cell’s PC Specs Don’t Need To Be Written On The Side Of A Building
While a lot of the game’s marketing has focused on the fact it’s coming out on Xbox 360, let’s not forget espionage title Splinter Cell: Conviction is also on the way for the PC. As such, and as is customary with major upcoming PC releases, we’re going to need to take a look at the…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
This Character’s Voice Actress Might Surprise You
Hana is a character in Yakuza 4. She is a clerk at in-game finance company Sky Finance. This is what she looks like in the game. What does her voice actress look like? Like this. SEGA used advanced face scanning technics for many of the game’s voice actors so that the character models resemble their…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Meet Yakuza 3’s Real Life Tattoo Artist
One of the most interesting things about Yakuza 3 is how you keep running into men with enormous, fantastic tattoos. Well, those tats are the work of one man: Kazuaki Kitamura. Better known as Horitomo, he’s a Japanese tattoo artist who, while working in Yokohama, was drafted in by Sega to design the trademark body…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Return of the Pee Bottle Guy (And Fishy TV Reporting)
In early January, a Japanese news program did a piece on “netoge haijin” or “online game invalids”. A follow-up to that report has appeared, and some believe the segment is fake. The slang “netoge haijin” went mainstream in 2009 in part due to news reports like this. There was also a book by journalist Osamu…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Muramasa Returns With Colourful, Yet Tasteful Figure
While the game is (sadly) slipping from people’s memory’s, Muramasa’s star Momohime doesn’t seem to be, as evidenced by this delightful new figure. We caught a glimpse of it at Wonder Festival, but the toy is gearing up for a retail release, meaning we now get to check out a range of detailed shots. It’ll…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Yakuza 4 Hummer Limousine Pulls Up
In large Japanese cities, driving a big American car can prove challenging. There are endless narrow backstreets and fixing the car in a parking place can be a nightmare. Try imagining doing that in a Hummer. No, a Hummer limousine. To draw stares, SEGA rolled out this Yakuza 4 branded Hummer limo on the Tokyo…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Heavy Rain Patch Is On The Way
Since the release of Sony’s Heavy Rain last month, users have been complaining about a range of bugs and glitches. Well, complaining about most of them. Good news, complainers: a patch is on the way. The publisher has posted a notice on its official forums, revealing that the patch – which should hopefully (though it’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Command & Conquer Copies Ubisoft’s Awful DRM
Well, here’s something that slipped through the cracks. While we were all busy condemning Ubisoft for its restrictive, must-be-online PC digital rights management, EA has crept in and done the exact same thing. In a post over on Command & Conquer 4’s forums, EA community manager Apoc writes “First thing to be clear about, Command…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Census 2010: The Personal Computer
It’s the backbone of the video game industry. Consoles come and consoles go, but the personal computer has always been there, and maybe, always will be. So let’s talk about it, eh? From upgrades to digital delivery, today we’re going to be asking you all about the PC. And not the dusty old Dell you…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Amazing Bill Paxton Pinball Machine
The incredibly talented (and patient) Ben Heckendorn, hacker and modder extraordinaire, has revealed his latest and greatest creation, a built-from-scratch pinball table based on the works and quotes of actor Bill Paxton. Heckendorn crafted almost everything you see here from raw materials combined with blood, sweat and tears, including the LED display, the body, the…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Off Topic: Shamrocked
It’s a special St. Patrick’s Day edition of Kotaku Off Topic, a chance for the conversation to be not just about video games, but not just about pounding Guinness and Irish whiskey as well. Well, my conversation starter is going to be about today’s holiday. I’m half-Irish, so I’ll be putting in half the effort,…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2010 - Uncategorized
Video Games Can Save The Planet, But Only If We Play More
Only video games can save the world, says Jane McGonigal, but only if we dedicate more time to playing them, some 21 billion hours of game time per week needed to survive the next century. McGonigal, director of game research and development at Institute for the Future and one of the people behind the do-good…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2010 - Uncategorized
What Do PlayStation 3 Owners Want Most From Sony?
Cross-game voice chat. How do we know? By looking at the newly launched PlayStation.blog Share, a PlayStation fan’s sounding board that will let the powers that be know just how badly you want auto-syncing trophies and backwards compatibility. In fact, those are the top three demands PlayStation 3 owners are making of Sony right now,…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2010 - Uncategorized
Natal Has At Least One Sega Project On Board For E3, “Several” More Later
Sony has already showed its hand in the upcoming motion control battle, debuting playable PlayStation Move games at GDC last week. Looks like we’ll see Microsoft’s response with at least one Sega game in tow at E3. Sega bossman Mike Hayes tells CVG that its Japanese studios have something “brilliant” up and running for Project…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2010