You Won’t Believe How Shockingly Nerdy This Dating Party Was

Recently, in the city of Kuki, Japan, a speed-dating event was held for otaku (geeks). What made this event unique was that the participants wore masks as they looked for a prospective marriage partner. What better way to fall in love, than with someone with Chimchar on his or her face! In English, the event’s…

Exchange Student: I Love You China, But Your Games Suck

An editorial written by a South Korean exchange student about Chinese online games has been circling the Chinese internets as of late. In his article the author talks about his love for China and all things Chinese, but he delves furthest into his disdain of China’s video games and its gaming industry listing his top…

Germany’s “Pick Up Dog Sh*t” Game Is Coming to Japan

Kackel Dackel, the infamous German game in which a plastic dog craps rainbow turds, is coming to Japan as “Buriwan” for short (the full title is “Burittoderuwan” ブリッとでるワン, with “buri” referring to the noise made while pooping). In case you missed Kackel Dackel when it first raised eyebrows a few years back with this ad,…

Manga Artist Sells Used Sex Toys Online…with Rice

Manga artist Pikupikun is considered a dreamboat by his adoring fans. When not drawing erotic manga, he often posts pictures of himself in the shower or in frilly outfits. And when he’s not doing that, he’s furiously masturbating—something that actually caused him to once miss a publication deadline. Last week, he put not one, but…

Good Thing the PlayStation 2 Didn’t Derail a Japanese Passenger Train

On November 4, a sixty year-old man noticed something suspicious at a railroad crossing in Yabu, Japan: a large black box. He called the police, and an officer showed up on the scene, only to discover the large black box was a PlayStation 2. After the man, who was crossing the railroad tracks, noticed the…

China’s Homegrown Console Still Lives!

China’s first officially not really for video games but really for video games console, the CT510 has received a much needed price drop, sort of. The price drop seemed interestingly timed as the Lenovo-backed eedoo, the people behind the CT510, set up shop across China to lure in consumers. Not only did the price drop…

How Japan’s Nuclear Fears Are Manifested in a Cartoon Character

Many Japanese are anti-nuclear—and for good and obvious reasons. The nuclear disaster at Fukushima has made many question how safe nuclear power is, resulting in the country’s decision to take 48 of its 50 nuclear plants offline. It’s also why the government is pledging to end its dependence on nuclear power in the future. But…

You’ve Probably Never Seen Japanese Beef Promoted Like This

Kagoshima black beef is some of most delicious wagyu Japan has to offer. Most people in Japan probably already know that! Still, to help get the word out, this special character was created. His name is Kagoshima Kuroushi, which means “Kagoshima Black Cattle”. He’s a macho wrestler. Because nothing says delicious Japanese beef like a…

Project Zwei, Shinji Mikami’s upcoming “pure survival horror game”, has an official site. Platform TBA.

Black Ops II Zombies Leak All Over the Internet [Correction]

Footage of Black Ops II Zombies has hit the web. Have a look, courtesy of As discussed by YouTube user xFlandies, gameplay footage of Black Ops II‘s zombie-infested maps made their way to YouTube, but have since been pulled. Videos of Black Ops II Zombies have been making their way online since late last week.…

F**k You, Ugly Pikachu!

Earlier this month, the fifth annual Wenzhou International Animation Festival was held in China. There were cosplayers, anime, and truly frightening Pocket Monster statues. These photos appeared on Taiwanese site CK101, and show how pleased at least one attendee was with the large Pokémon pieces. The statues, which ranged from 2 to 4 meters tall,…

I’m Only Scared of the Dark When it’s Full of Crazy People

We caught a first look at it a couple of weeks back, but here’s a longer, better look at Outlast, an upcoming survival horror game from Red Barrels, a new studio made up of former Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted and Splinter Cell developers. If you’re not a fan of the setting up top, you’ll hopefully like…

If You Buy The Game Of Thrones’ Throne, You Either Win Or Go Broke

Take a look at the image above from retailer Thinkgeek, and consider the company’s love of joking around, and you’d think it’s a hoax. Especially when you look at its $30,000 price tag. But no, the production images (and $1800 postage) suggest this replace Game of Thrones…throne is an actual thing, which takes 6-8 weeks…

Next Time You Have Sex In Front of a Webcam, Make Sure It’s Turned Off

It’s been, what, only a few weeks since Slooshi was caught jerking off on camera after a League of Legends livestream event? Well, looks like somebody – and by somebody, I mean World of Warcraft player murdaralph – didn’t learn their lesson. Having finished a Mists of Pandaria livestreaming session over on Twitch, murdaralph shut…

Ten Minutes That Remind You Why Skating Video Games Are Awesome

This ten-minute clip, by Helix Snake, is in order, with #50 at the beginning. So you can imagine how good things are getting by the time we get to the top spot. While laughs and stupid crap are the order of the day, you should watch the whole thing, because in between all the slapstick…

Welcome Back, Fancy Pants!

Our week-long downtime meant no Fancy Pants last week. Bummer. Thankfully, just as we’re back at our own digs this week, we’re also back with a look at some of the week’s best cosplay. A word of warning: if you’re the type who doesn’t like the way Photoshop is slowly blurring the lines between “cosplay”…

Mass Effect Toy Turns Commander Shepard Into Sparkly Burns Victim

Aaarrgghhhh my eyes These Play Arts Mass Effect figures looked so good when we first saw them! And while all the production copies of other Play Arts figures I’ve looked at here on Kotaku previously have been just fine, something’s gone very wrong with Commander Shepard, who between initial prototyping and being boxed for sale…

Gamers, Relax, Windows 8 is Fine (For Now)

Windows 8 has its problems. Some of these are immediate, others hypothetical (and potentially graver in nature). But I’m finding, as I write this using the operating system, having been playing games using the operating system, the negativity over Microsoft’s latest Windows seems a little extreme Sure, the Start screen is annoying, and the way…

See How Much Work Actually Goes Into an Amazing Cosplay Outfit

The superficial appeal of cosplay is the quality of the still image. How good a costume looks, or how much like a character the particular cosplayer seems to appear. The real craft, though, comes behind the scenes. Anybody can put some lycra on a model and call it cosplay, but the true artists make their…

The Week in Games: Wake Up, John …

Halo 4 isn’t the only one coming out of hibernation this week. It’s the biggest video game doing so, as you can see by the fact the only other first-run console release is NASCAR The Game: Inside Line Also of note: anthologies for Saints Row: The Third (comprising all DLC) and Mass Effect (all three…