• Culture

  This Summer, Drink Up Salty Watermelon Pepsi in Japan

  It’s quickly becoming an annual summer tradition: Pepsi Japan releases truly interesting flavors to help the country cool down. This summer, the flavor is “Salty Watermelon”. Above, you can see what the drink’s packaging and color will look like. Watermelon is very much a summer food in Japan, where people are known to sprinkle some…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Car’s Trunk Is Open for Illegal Chinese Business

  Street vendors in China are a common sight—even those peddling their wares from the back of their car. These vendors sell everything from small animals to counterfeit handbags any thing that can fit in an automobile trunk. This photo, taken by Darnell Gardner Jr. is of a street vendor in Gulou Beijing selling goods from…

  By Eric Jou Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Chinese Anti-gaming Expert Turns Out To Be (Surprise!) a Hypocrite

  A famous Chinese anti-gaming expert has his foot in his mouth after appearing at a “game tasting” event in Shenzhen last week. Tao Hongkai, a professor studying addiction at Central China Normal University, has been around in China for ages giving seminars and talks about the evils of online gaming. But last week, it seems…

  By Eric Jou Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Old Gamer Beaten by His Wife and Begs Judge for a Divorce

  Last week, a 50-something Chinese man got on his knees in Baishan City in Jilin Province, China. He begged a judge to grant him a divorce from his wife, even though the two recently retook their vows. The man, Li Gang, makes about US$473 a month working, while his wife Wang Li is a home…

  By Eric Jou Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  A List of Places To Visit in Japan

  Via blogger Danny Choo, here’s a list of places you should visit in Japan. [DannyChoo]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  White Dude Spits on Chinese Man and Rides Away on Bicycle

  Recently, relations between Chinese and non-Chinese have become, to put it mildly, tense. Footage of foreigners apparently doing illicit and unpleasant things has only strained the relationship. This latest one won’t help. The clip features foreigner getting in an argument, spitting on a Chinese man, and then riding away on his bicycle. I do not…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Formula One Champ is a Big Japanese Role-Playing Game Geek

  A favorite otaku (geek) hobby in Japan is taking photos of toys. The pictures can make oh-so-cute miniature figurines look lifelike. But this trend isn’t only a Japanese thing. It’s also a Formula One racer thing—at least for one man. Via social media, Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso provides a look at Formula One that…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R Will Kick Your Teeth In

  Check out the latest trailer for Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R. The game is getting location texts in Tokyo early next month.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  These Things Japanese People Don’t Want To Do Alone

  Some things are fun in a group. Some things are fun alone. And something things are just unpleasant without the company of others. An online research site polled nearly one thousand of its users about things people find painful when flying solo. Here’s a look (those polled could list multiple answers): 9. Eating at a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Mark Zuckerberg’s Unintentional Cameo in a Chinese Cop Documentary

  Facebook honcho and newly married dude Mark Zuckerberg might be dealing with Facebook stock headaches, but he can take solace in one thing: If his social media business goes south, he can always get unpaid work as an extra in Chinese documentaries. Unpaid? Oh, right, never mind! While visiting Shanghai this past March, Zuckerberg and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Kotaku East Starts Now

  Kotaku East runs from 4am to 8am Eastern. For more info about Kotaku East click here

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Yeah, This is Basically The Road: The Game (With Zombies)

  Just in case you hadn’t yet picked up on the heavy – and welcome – inspiration The Road has had on upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title Deadlight, check out this new trailer. So, yeah, it’s the dead world/broken society of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic tale with zombies thrown in. Which is as good an elevator pitch…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Get Started Learning Japanese With This Little Video Game

  Given the nature of this job, and the fact I make an almost annual pilgrimage to Japan, I’ve been meaning for a while now to get off my butt and learn more of the local language than simply what I need to order a beer. Hiragana Pixel Party is just what I needed to knuckle…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Excuse me, I’m Going to go Lie Down on This Beautiful Video Game Grass

  Time to check in again with the Outerra project, an engine that’s currently being developed that threatens to make video games more awesome. How dare it. The last time we checked in, things were on a planetary scale. This time, let’s close in, look at some grass. Which may sound boring, but when it’s done…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The Essence of DayZ, Captured in a 3-Minute Video

  So much of what makes zombie survival mod DayZ so enjoyable to play is in the intangibles. You can’t sum it up in bullet-points, or just say “it’s fun”, you need to experience a night in the dark with no food or water, on the run from both the living and the dead, to really…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Nothing Says Cosplay Like Cheerleaders, Dragon Age, Catwoman and…Jak and Daxter?

  Jak & Daxter cosplay. I don’t know why there’s a lady in Jak & Daxter cosplay this week, but I don’t care. I applaud her for it. I also applaud the Team Fortress 2 squad you’ll see in the gallery, because they realise it’s not the guns or the outfits that are the most important…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The BBC Might Have Confused Halo With the United Nations

  If this video is real – and given its shoddy quality, that’s no guarantee – It would appear the BBC have some issues using Google Image Search. For a piece on Amnesty and the United Nations Security Council’s response to events in Syria last week, it seems the BBC’s production crew needed a graphic for…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2012
• Uncategorized

  These Little Halo Toys Are Disturbingly Desirable

  First shown off at this year’s Toy Fair, there’ll soon be a line of action figures based not just on Halo, but on the Halo gear your little Xbox 360 avatars can wear. Which should make these all kinds of awkward, but the end result is surprisingly endearing. The ones that are clearly avatars, I…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2012
• Culture

  Memorial DLC

  Slow action in North America as the United States takes a break for cookouts on Monday. Mass Effect, Prototype and Arkham City all have notable content drops. Resistance: Burning Skies arrives on PS Vita. Monday • The Binding of Isaac: The Wrath of the Lamb (PC) Tuesday • Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (XBLA, PC)…

  By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012
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  8-Bit Kabuki Theater Visits the Second Day of Blip Fest 2012

  Saturday evenings, either by design or accident, is when the biggest “holy shit?!” moments go down at Blip Festival. Last night, day two of Blip Fest 2012, continued the traditional and then some. That video above is Omodaka. The multimedia powerhouse is one of two acts that festival organizers said were absolutely do-not-miss. Omodaka graced…

  Matt Hawkins Published May 27, 2012