In many Western countries, smoking marijuana is not a big deal. In South Korea, it is. Especially if you get caught. Sports Chosun and Sports Seoul (via Kotaku reader Sang Kwon) report that South Korean police arrested a professional gamer with the last name “Cha” for marijuana. The drug is illegal in South Korea. The…
Almost as much as North Korea loves missiles and marching, the rogue nation apparently loves photo manipulation software. But hey, who doesn’t? Maybe North Korea uses Photoshop. Maybe the country even paid for its copy! Or maybe the military has its own magical software to use with a super computer. It’s probably a state secret…
Here, go ahead and watch the first thirty minutes of Game & Wario for the Wii U. Do it!
The Wii U is a wonderful console. And its Miiverse is a hive of fun! But, according to a photo on Japanese site Game Watch Impress, Nintendo’s Miiverse presentation at the Game Developers Conference looked…sparse. Hey! There are lots of presentations at GDC. Not every one of them will be packed. Game Watch Impress did…
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the town of Namie in Fukushima. The surviving residents still cannot return to their homes. The area has been evacuated due to radiation. Earlier this month, Google sent a Street View car to photograph the town and surrounding area. The resulting images show that two years after the…
Tougeki, one of the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world, is being temporarily suspended due to “extenuating circumstances”. More here
Where is Final Fantasy Versus XIII? It’s right here in video game fandom, that’s where. While Versus XIII was first announced ages ago, the game has yet to see release. During this long wait, the game’s inability to hit shops hasn’t stopped Final Fantasy fans from cosplaying as characters from the game. Guess that’s a…
Ubisoft just submitted something called “Far Cry Classic” to the Korean game rating board. What could it mean?! [GRB Thanks Sang!]
Last weekend, Osaka’s Den-Den Town, the city’s geek district, held a street festival. Previously, Kotaku showcased some of the unusual cosplay on display during the event. There was more. Much more. Here are some of the other wonderful and wonderfully strange outfits on display. Some of them are based on Japanese internet memes. Some, obviously,…
Back in 2009, a museum dedicated to Soviet arcade games opened in Moscow, Russia. Recently, Japanese site Osoroshian.com took a tour of the museum, snapping loads of photos in the process. The museum houses over forty arcade games that were licensed for manufacture in the USSR during the 70s and 80s. Many of the arcade…
As covered on Kotaku yesterday, photos of schoolgirls doing faux manga style martial arts moves have been popping up on forums and threads in Japan. Those photos, however, are just the tip of the iceberg. Numerous Japanese teens, it seems, are uploading photos of themselves doing the Kamehameha attack from popular manga and anime series…
Shigeru Miyamoto tells ABC News that a Nintendo theme park is “not an impossibility”, but that the company’s hands are currently full.
North Korea is one scary place! Kim Jong-un is one scary young man! Recently, the country’s state media released this photo of The Great Successor sitting at a computer. Make that, a super computer. In a large metal box. Just look at those military officers gathered around. And look at how Kim Jong-un is sitting…
Forget Hannibal the Cannibal and eating human liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti. That’s nothing compared to the sheer terror in the above clip. Silence of the… [Everdraed@YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning…
Currently doing the internet rounds in Japan, this video shows a karate bout in Russia that ends with one swift finish. Have a look. Epic karate knockout of the 2013 Shinkyokushinkai karate [klasavec@YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune…
Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises), the latest Studio Ghibli film, will be out July 20 in Japan, it was announced today. [IT Media]
“The RealFace” (yes, the) is a highly realistic mask. Its maker, Japan-based Real-f, says the mask can be a “memorial portrait” for friends and family. What do I say? It’s creepy. It’s creepy because The RealFace is so damn realistic-looking. The mask is made by taking facial impressions and photos. From that, Real-f can reproduce…
Today, it was announced that Square Enix president Yoichi Wada is stepping down. He will no longer be serving as Square Enix’s Representative Director. Yousuke Matsuda, who joined Square in 2001, will take over Wada’s role in running the company. The reason given for Wada’s demotion was “a management reorganization”. According to Japanese website 4Gamer,…
What looks like a Japanese manga come to life is really a bunch of schoolgirls having fun with friends. Or is it? Dun dun dun. These photos recently appeared on 2ch, Japan’s largest bulletin board, under the heading, “Schoolgirls Nowadays lol”. While some 2ch users humorously pointed out that this was the martial art technique…
Songstress Donna Burke, who has an array of game and anime themes on her resume, is holding a concert in Tokyo on April 13. More info here.
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