In Japan, Living People Are Lying in Coffins

Death is inevitable. And for many, it’s also scary. In Japan, some are confronting death head on in a rather unusual way: climbing into coffins. Earlier this spring, end of life counselor Atsushi Sakabe and coffin manufacturer WiLLiFE began an “Experience Being Placed in a Coffin” (入棺体験 or “nyuukan taiken”) event. Nikkei reports that the…

How to Sign Up for Chinese Online Games

Recently, there have been more and more interesting online games coming out in China. With Monster Hunter Onlineand Call of Duty Online, there will be two top tier free-to-play games in the middle kingdom. While these games are only available in China, that doesn’t mean enterprising players abroad can’t play them. Playing Chinese games abroad…

Eurogamer reports that Sega is suing bankrupt publisher THQ for $941,710.93—the total amount of money, sans Valve’s cut, that THQ received for pre-orders of Company of Heroes 2 on Steam between September 2012 and January 24, 2013, when Sega acquired the game (and its developer, Relic) from THQ.

Hey Pranksters, Get Your Ridiculous Level-5 Wallpaper Right Here!

Recently, Level-5 held a popularity contest, with the most popular characters appearing in a special wallpaper. Good thing internet pranksters apparently rolled the poll, because the ensuing wallpaper is all kinds of fun. Sure, the airplane is easy to spot, but you find the porter from Aero Porter? Download the wallpaper in the link below.…

Man’s Online “Girlfriend” Turns Out To Be Part of a Pyramid Scheme

In this day and age of technology and the internet, online dating is becoming more and more “normal.” Unfortunately, every now and again online relationships tend cause problems with one party being untruthful to the other. Well, for one Chinese man, his digital girlfriend turned out to be more than just a scammer. Originally reported…

Scribblenauts Crosses Over to the DC Universe on September 24

There will be Supermen. Yep, in the plural. Scribblenauts Unmasked, as you might recall, is 5th Cell’s newest puzzle-word game-platformer thingamajig where you conjure up a whole lot of different DC universe heroes and villains to solve puzzles. That’s heroes, villains, and various new objects; “thousands” of them, according to the description, used across the…

Korea’s Photoshop Trolls Make the Internet a Better Place

On June 26, a Korean language Facebook page called “We Do Phoshop” appeared online. The site solicited Photoshop requests, and the ensuing ‘shops weren’t exactly what askers had in mind. Or what anyone had in mind, for that matter. There’s a tradition of these kind of Photoshops online in China. People would ask “Photoshop masters”…

Report: China Is Ending Its Ban on Video Game Consoles

Since the year 2000, video game consoles have been banned in China. According to a new report, however, that is about to change. Video game consoles could soon be legal in the world’s most populated country. The South China Morning Post is reporting that the Chinese government is expected to reverse its 13-year video game…

Game Trailer Or Bad 80’s Sci-Fi Show? You Decide!

Red 5 Studios went to a lot of trouble to make some real-life outfits based on their online shooter Firefall, so it’s understandable they went and made a live-action trailer for the game’s impending public debut. It’s just a shame that it…yeah. On the bright side, Firefall is now in open beta! It’s not technically…

Hacked Mario 64 Lets Boy Smash His Own Face In

OK. So this is weird. Reddit user pourmeanother77 has edited a copy of Mario 64 so that his son’s face replaced the texture on the game’s goombas. It’s about as simple a modification as you can do to a game, swapping one file for another, but when the result was “He laughed for a good…

It’s Like League Of Legends, Only For The iPad

Brandon Kitkouski, who used to work at id Software and has also done stuff for Magic: The Gathering cards, now works at a small indie studio called Hammer & Chisel, which is working on “the only MOBA designed exclusively for tablets”. That game is Fates Forever, and while there’s not much to go on at…

Tonight’s Nightmares Are Brought To You By This Last Of Us Cosplay

The last time we saw someone go the trouble of dressing up as a clicker from The Last Of Us, it was a work of art. These guys, while also impressive, are also a little more horrifying. I’m not sure whether that’s down to the costumes or the HDR, but it’s good they remembered to…

The Internet Reacts Stupidly/Hilariously To GTAV’s New Trailer

As is becoming custom every time Rockstar releases a new Grand Theft Auto V trailer, the Tumblr gtavtrailercomments has rolled up its sleeves and lurched through the very best internet comments available on the new media And by best, I really mean worst. Oh internet. gtavtrailercomments [Tumblr]

Why Are You Here? Shigeru Miyamoto On The Ocarina Of Time

For many, Ocarina of Time is the greatest video game ever made or, at the very least, one of the most influential. In this Kotaku feature story we speak to its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, about the making of the game we waited seven years for. “Mr Miyamoto, what are you doing? Why are you here?”…

Laharl, Etna and Flonne return to their proper headlining roles when NIS America brings Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness to the PlayStation 3 on October 8 in North America, September 27 in Europe. Still too long to wait.

Rockstar Might Actually Bring GTAV, Other Games To PC

Red Dead Redemption never made it to the PC. Grand Theft Auto V hasn’t been announced for PC. Such sadness. But what’s this? A personal computer-shaped rainbow on the horizon? Rockstar’s Leeds studio recently posted a job opening for somebody to “help bring our latest titles to the PC platform”. “Working together with the other…

All Twin Peaks‘ Pie And Coffee References In One Damn Fine Supercut

I finally watched Twin Peaks for the first time about a year ago. Man oh man, did that show make me hungry. All I wanted to do was drink coffee and eat pie. I can’t imagine why that was! Oh wait, yes I can—the show won’t shut up about coffee and pie, as evidenced by…

Now The Secret World Has A Snowmobile Chase, And That’s Beautiful

In the Issue #7 update for Funcom’s paranormal MMO The Secret World, the player gets to wear a tuxedo and participate in a James Bond-esque snowmobile chase. There are rockets. This is why I love The Secret World. While other, more popular MMOs layer on the pop culture references, cramming them into settings where they…

Nintendo Changes Mind, Allows Smash Bros. Streaming

Only hours after Nintendo blocked fighting game tournament Evo from streaming Smash Bros. Melee matches, the publisher has swiftly reversed its decision. A notice on SRK reads: I’ve just receive word from Nintendo that the Evo Smash Bros. Melee stream will be allowed to proceed. We will be restoring the original stream and tournament schedules.…

Little Witch Academia 2 Is Now Officially Funded. Hooray!

Well, that didn’t take long. Little Witch Academia 2 was on Kickstarter for 3 hours before being fully funded.The page lists no stretch goals, although it sounds as if they’re coming soon. Beyond that, Trigger’s Facebook page also suggests they’re looking into dubbing the new animated short. You might recall that Little Witch Academia is…