Maybe The Earthbound Delay Wasn’t Really For Music Licensing Issues

For quite a few years now, people have theorized that Nintendo would never re-release Earthbound in the United States because of licensing issues: the quirky RPG takes music from Chuck Berry and The Beatles, among other artists. But! Earlier this week, Nintendo announced plans to finally bring their Super Nintendo classic to the Wii U’s…

Gears of War: Judgment Gets New Maps and Multiplayer Mode Next Week

New competitive environments will be coming to Epic Games’ latest Gears game when the Call to Arms map pack drops on April 23rd, It’ll include three new areas—Terminal, Blood Drive and Boneyard—and a new multiplayer mode called Master at Arms. The new mode tasks players with getting one kill with 20 weapons. The Call to…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: contributor The UnfathomableTruth kicks off an otaku alphabet thread full of pretty things. And a post penned by contributor Sloshy talks about doing new reviews for old games. And you can always go join the voices talking about video games and life in TAY Classic…

How Pokémon Eat Their Food

It didn’t take too long to have a Pokémon parody of the painful, yet hilarious video that showed adults mimicing animal food consumption habits. I’d rather call this version, made by DominicTV, how Pokémon destroy the dining table, starring Snorlax and Pidgey as the most effective ones and leaving poor Charizard behind. How Animals Eat…

Game Developers Do Their Best Fake Gamer Impressions, Part 2

In this latest batch of game developers doing remarkable fake gamer poses, we show intensity, more Suda 51, and what happens when things bovine go corporate. For a brief minute, Nintendo’s Bill Trinen (above) was corrupt with power. It’s the risk you take when you have wearable appliances (and a photographer) at a media event.…

Resident Evil Creator Returns to Horror With One Seriously Messed-Up Trailer

What the hell, Shinji Mikami? Did you have to put every single scary thing into the debut trailer for The Evil Within? Barbed wire, embedded glass, squid head explosions — save something for the game, you maniac. This IGN-exclusive trailer is the culmination of Bethesda’s teases earlier this week. It’s the project Mikami’s Tango Gameworks…

Rent Go-Karts in Tokyo’s Geekiest Neighborhood

Ah yes, Akihabara. When you think of Tokyo’s “Electric Town”, you probably think of retro game shops, arcades, and a sea of anime, manga, and collectible figurines. Add go-karts to that list. Dubbed “Akiba Cart”, this service allows you to rent go-karts and drive them in the nerd paradise that is Tokyo’s Akihabara. Each kart…

The newest trailer for Vanillaware’s side scroller Dragon’s Crown shelves the questionably-designed Sorceress, showcasing the ridiculously muscular Dwarf instead—although, he looks more like a viking on steroids than a dwarf. Dragon’s Crown is coming to PS3/Vita on July 25.

Steins;Gate Might Be the Best Anime I Have Ever Seen

This coming weekend, Japan will see the release of the new Steins;Gate movie, Steins;Gate: The Burden of Déjà Vu So in preparation for this film—and because of the numerous recommendations I received when reviewing the pseudo-sequel Robotics;Notes—I sat down and watched the visual novel-based 2011 anime this last week. And not only was it one…

Among the Sleep, as you might recall, is a horror game where you play as a toddler. Developer Krillbite Studio has launched a Kickstarter which, if successful, will ensure a Q4 2013 release for the game. Something to consider if you feel your life lacks fear and dread.

This Is One Monster Phallus

Surely, the people who designed this Monster Hunter USB fan must know. They must! Look at it. This official Monster Hunter product goes on sale this June in Japan, is priced at around US$40, and resembles a cock. A cock that lights up and spins. モンスターハンター ハンターUSB卓上ファン [Hobby Search] Kotaku East is your slice of…

The Jak & Daxter Trilogy Is Getting a HD Vita Release This June

Sony has announced that last year’s Jak and Daxter Collection for the PS3, a compilation featuring HD remakes of the three PS2 Jak and Daxter games, is getting a Vita release Like its predecessor, this release will feature the worlds of the original games faithfully recreated in high definition, along with plenty of trophies to…

Fantasy Life Mixes Animal Crossing with Final Fantasy

JRPGs are often a dime a dozen in Japan but late last December, Level 5 released Fantasy Life for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan (which experienced shortages in its first week on sale). And what is it about Fantasy Life that sets it apart from the crowd? It’s that the game mixes the adventure of…

Eurogamer Poland reports that Polish retailer Ultima has put up a listing for TES V Skyrim: Legendary Edition, a compilation for PC/PS3/Xbox 360 said to include the main game and all three DLCs. A June 7 release date is also listed. We’re contacting Bethesda for comments, and will update this post should they respond.

The North American version of Ragnarok Online 2, the sequel to Gravity’s massively popular 2003 MMORPG, is now in open beta. Registration happens here and the client can be found here. Above is the official trailer from a month back.

What “Nerd Fashion” Will Make You Look Unpopular in Japan

Earlier this week, Yahoo Japan (via Otaku.com) posted a poll that revealed how Japanese females thought they could pick out unpopular guys. The take away? Apparently, if you are wearing pretty much anything, you’re so not cool. Over three hundred females participated in the poll, which was on fashion that screams lame-o. Fifty-five percent admitted…

Razer Accidentally Offers 90% Discount Coupon, Will Honor Most Purchases

Earlier this week, a coupon “generated by a third party to test our shopping cart” was made available on peripheral company Razer’s UK store. That coupon offered 90% off products at the store. As you can guess, people swooped on it. Because the coupon was – according to Razer USA boss Min-Liang Tan – “NOT…

After two years, Canadian PSN users affected by the Grand PSN Outage of 2011 can now receive compensation, provided they file a claim (and the case gets the Ontario court’s final approval). Depending on account status, this compensation ranges from discounts to Station Cash and free games. [Thanks, tipster StrayCat.]

People in China Are Being Buried…to “Gangnam Style”

“Gangnam Style” seems so 2012. It is! But what does that matter when you’re dead and want to oppan funeral style? The song continues to get airplay in China, among the living and the dead, it seems. First noted by a Weibo user (via ShanghaiIst), “Gangnam Style” is being used as dirges at funerals in…

You Don’t Need Combat to Have a Good RPG

When it comes to gaming, RPGs represent the pinnacle of storytelling with games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect, Skyrim, and Earthbound. While many games from many different genres do indeed have compelling stories, storytelling, more than any other facet, is what RPGs are known for. But despite this, RPGs always seem to…