• Uncategorized

  How Tales of Symphonia Created a Rabid Fighting Game Fan

  Has one genre ever made you change your opinion of another? Commenter File2ish explains how Namco’s Tales of Symphonia made him a fighting game fan in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku. What game genre did you not like when you first played it, but you now like (after an extended period of time of not…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Lord of the Rings Online’s Riders of Rohan Expansion Coming Later This Year

  Lord of the Rings Online will be debuting a new expansion year that raises the level cap to 85, and rolls out new encounters based on key events in the Tolkien epic’s fiction. Warner Brothers Interactive says that Riders of Rohan will be twice as big as the MMO’s Rise of Isengard add-on. True to…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Don’t let the lurking assassins fool you, it’s perfectly safe to discuss video games in today’s installment of Kotaku‘s official forum, Talk Amongst Yourselves. Thank you, dabeezkneez84, for putting out a contract hit on the cheetah guard in today’s TAYpic. Join in the fun and submit your own TAYpic. Please do your best—or your worst—and…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 25, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  There’s a Lot More to Do in Final Fantasy XIII-2 Than Save the World

  While Final Fantasy XIII was all about getting the job done in a timely fashion, Final Fantasy XIII-2 gives the player plenty of time to relax between tasks. Check out some of the more entertaining diversions tucked away in next week’s sequel. Gambling, trivia contests, side missions, mini-games; these were the things I missed the…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Another Classy Video Game Port Succumbs to Assy Touch-Screen Controls

  There’s this thing about fighting games—you really have to play them. They’re like a musical instrument, like a drum set; there’s this whole physical level of interaction you have with them that goes beyond the input required in the average video game. There’s a reason that games like Street Fighter IV encourage humongous arcade-style joysticks;…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  THQ Sheds the Kid Gloves to Focus on Hardcore Games

  Following the failure of its uDraw tablet for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and December’s shutdown of it’s children’s game division, THQ has officially announced today that it’s focusing on its core franchises. So Spongebob is out, UFC, Darksiders, Company of Heroes, inSANE, Saints Row and Warhammer 40,000 are in.

  By Mike Fahey Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Get Ready to Build Some Gears of War Toys

  You can already play with, erm, collect action figures from Epic Games’ hit sci-fi shooters. But if you’ve wanted to set up any vehicular battles with transports from that universe, you’ve been out of luck. That’s about to change. According to Pocket Lint, toy company Mecanno (better known in the U.S. as by its Erector…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 25, 2012
• Esports

  BlizzCon Skips 2012 as Blizzard Focuses on Kicking eButt and Making Games

  BlizzCon, the annual fan celebration of all things Blizzard-related gets a little less annual this year. The company has decided to hold the next convention in 2013 to focus on finishing Diablo III, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and the 2012 Battle.net World Championship. A great deal…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Sorry, I Keep Seeing “Crap”. Or “Carp”.

  Cap Bar | TOKYO, JAPAN: Sister site Kotaku Japan checked out Capcom’s new bar. More pics here. (Photo: Kotaku Japan) Men and Women Shrink-wrapped as Japanese Art Games and game hardware came packaged. They’re sealed shut, some of them completely shrink-wrapped. and covered in clear plastic. They are sealed off from the outside world. More »…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  It’s a Giant Kinect-Powered Theme Park

  Live Park, South Korea’s interactive theme park, allows visitors to experience the virtual world with interactive games and instillations. It’s video games brought to life or a Minority Report you can experience, minus the pre-crime arrests. The brainchild of start-up d’strict, the US$13 million theme park boasts 65 attractions and was over two-years in the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Goodbye Pervert Woody Face!

  It seemed so innocuous at first. Legendary Japanese figure maker Kaiyodo released a Woody from Toy Story figure. It included an alternate face that would become a party of internet infamy: Pervert Woody The face spawned its own online fandom in Japan—and abroad. Japanese game and anime figures were constantly assaulted and harassed by pervert…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  The PS3’s Next Big Japanese Role-Playing Game Is…

  Revealed today, the unannounced role-playing game Namco Bandai teased in Famitsu is Tokitowa The game combines JRPG elements (big eyes, blue hair) with, wait for it, third-person shooter play (think action rpg). Parts of the game will have a fixed point-of-view, while other parts won’t. The theme here is “time”, but the concept of “marriage”…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Best Uncharted 3 Store Displays in Japan

  Sony launched a website honoring the best in-store Uncharted 3 displays across the country. The number one entry, a Futaba Tosho branch, featured a life-sized Sully breaking through the ceiling and holding a life-sized Nathan Drake. The other entries were good, but nothing as mind-bogglingly wonderful as the first place display. You can see the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Did You Like Yokai Attack!? Here’s a Book for You.

  Game localizers and authors Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda of Yokai Attack! fame are releasing a new book: Yurei Attack! For more details, visit Alt’s blog. [AltJapan]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Selecting an Idol from a Vending Machine

  Earlier this week, Kotaku reported that a noodle cafe was opening in Tokyo’s otaku (geek) mecca. What makes this cafe different from the plethora of cafes dotted throughout Akihabara is that Noodol Cafe features idols pouring hot water into instant ramen. Yep. The cafe opened today in Tokyo’s Akihabara, and Japanese television was on hand…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  A Very Pokémon Marriage Proposal

  The text is a little corny, sure, but the overall presentation was surely super effective. Diamond [California, Here We Come, via Fashionably Geek]

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Men and Women Shrink-wrapped as Japanese Art

  Games and game hardware came packaged. They’re sealed shut, some of them completely shrink-wrapped. and covered in clear plastic. They are sealed off from the outside world. But what about people? What would we look like shrink-wrapped? We’d look like this. Japanese artist Hal’s “Flesh Love” doesn’t simply examine that, but goes one step further…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Threadless Shirts, Now Available for Your Xbox Avatars

  Internet standard-issue clothing dispensary Threadless has struck a deal with Microsoft which will see some of the outlet’s shirts made available for its Xbox avatars. Those wondering how the shirt’s creators are thanked (seeing as Threadless is a user-created content site), they’re credited in each item’s description on Xbox.com. I’ve pinged Threadless to see if…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Miss Finland Must Cosplay as Lara Croft

  Eidos, the company behind Tomb Raider, killed off its real-life Lara Croft spokesgirls. They’ll “never happen again”, said Eidos. In Finland, they live on. According to Finish tabloid Iltalehti, the 2012 Miss Finland candidates were rounded up, dressed in Lara Croft-inspired gear, and taken out to the arctic circle for a few “Lara Croft themed…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Why Farmville Turns Humans Into Lab Rats

  Do you like playing Zynga’s Facebook games? There’s something wrong with you. Not because you enjoy them, what you do in your spare time is your business. Your problem comes in thinking they’re games. They are not games. They are specifically-engineered programs designed to take your money and compel you to advertise the product to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2012