Young Couple Funded Gaming Habit By… Robbing Gamers

Twenty-four year-old Jun Kanemaru met his girlfriend, a runaway, via an online dating site. Once a couple, they allegedly stole from arcade gamers in Tokyo’s geek mecca Akihabara. Today, Fuji News Network reports that the unemployed Kanemaru and his unemployed girlfriend were arrested for allegedly stealing a wallet from a woman’s purse. At the time…

Kojima Torments Fans with Photos of the Next Metal Gear on PS4

With only two months left ’till release, fans all over the world shout his name while shaking their fists in impotent anger. As spotted by Dualshockers, Metal Gear showrunner Hideo Kojima recently tweeted two photos of him playing (well… more “poking at,” really) Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on a PS4, showing off the…

Everquest Creator Seeks to Crowdfund… Another Everquest, Basically

Another Everquest, with old-school charm. Also, sweet double-barreled crossbows. The game’s called Pantheon, and it popped up on Kickstarter yesterday, promptly raking in over $40k in pledges. The guy behind it all, Brad McQuaid, had previously worked on both the first Everquest and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. It really shows. Take a look: We’re looking…

Japanese Town Gets Official Lupin The Third License Plates

Well, this might be the best Japanese town then, no? Starting April 1 (this is no joke!), the city of Sakura in Chiba, Japan is issuing 3,000 limited edition Lupin the Third motorcycle license plates. According to the city’s official site, the image of Lupin is from the first anime series. Lupin the Third‘s creator…

Inside One of the World’s Biggest Game Companies

Nexon, perhaps best known for Maple Story, was founded in South Korea. Its headquarters is now in Tokyo, however. We are not going to look in its headquarters. Instead, let’s have a look in its new South Korean digs. As pointed out by Han Kyung and GameFocus (via tipster Sang), Nexon moved into this office…

Super Sonico‘s Theme Song Sounds a Bit Familiar

This morning as I sat on my exercise bike—peddling madly while watching the new anime Super Sonico—I was struck by the sudden realization that I had heard part of the anime’s theme song somewhere before: in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The opening song from the first episode of the anime (the second episode uses…

Man Paralyzed After Playing an Arcade Game

Two months ago, a 29 year-old man visited a game center in Foshan, China, while waiting to get his phone fixed. To pass the time, he tried a boxing arcade game. Three days later, he woke up, unable to speak or move his body. According to Shenzhen Satellite Television, the man, given the alias “A.…

Japan’s Latest Photo Trend: Hair Smiles

Forget duck face. And sparrow face. The latest photo trend to hit the streets of Tokyo’s Shibuya is to look down when someone snaps a pic. Kinda defeats the purpose of taking photos, no? The latest photo trend to hit the “gal” (ギャル or gyaru) subculture was recently covered by Japanese television and has become…

Slugcats Do Not Have Nine Lives

Rain World is a game that’s the work of two people, Joar Jakobsson and James Primate. They’ve spent two years building a world where rain is deadly, monsters will kill you and you control a slugcat that’s a lot cuter than anything with the word “slug” in its name has any right to be. It’s…

Jake Kazdal has had one hell of a career. He’s been a Nintendo Gameplay Counselor. Made N64 games. Worked on both Rez and Space Channel 5. Made Skulls Of The Shogun. Edge has a great story on his journey from artist to developer that you really should read

Track: I | Album: Glaciers | Artist: Blue Sky Black Death Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to—and gaming to—at the moment.

When DualShock 4 Controllers Explode (On Websites)

Sony’s got a fancy new store page that lets you scroll down and, as your mouse wheel rolls, some cool animations play. Like this one, of an exploding DualShock 4. If you ever wondered why controllers are $60 new, it’s because there’s priceless Italian art hidden inside every one. Discover [Sony, via Kotaku AU]

​Holmes And Watson Harmonize in Sherlock: The Musical

Sometimes when I’m watching Sherlock, I find myself wishing that Watson and Holmes would just drop the pretense and burst into song. This new mini-musical from AVbyte (makers of that goofy console wars musical) gives a good sense of what a Sherlock musical might look and sound like; they even worked that kicky Sherlock theme…