This Week’s Facebook Losers and Winners: Zynga Only Dominates One of These Charts

For the past couple of months I’ve been taking time every Monday morning to report on the top ten Facebook games by daily active users. That list has barely budged in four week. Here’s a better pair of lists — the top fan gainers and losers of the week, featuring a chart that’s almost entirely…

RAGE May Have Underwhelmed, But Its Characters Were Gorgeous

id’s RAGE may have its fans—and I’m one of them—but even they’d admit it never really hit the heights it could, or given the developer’s pedigree perhaps should have hit. Two two things I liked best about the game were its sky (seriously, it’s one of the best in video game history) and its characters,…

These New Grand Theft Auto V Screens Are On Fire

Grand Theft Auto V won’t feature one protagonist, but rather, it will feature three. Here is a look at them, courtesy of Gamer.nl and GTAV.net, as well as a round up of recent details about the game. Preview [Gamer.nl] New Screenshots [GTAV.net] Click here to visit our Grand Theft Auto V timeline!

Portrayed as a Loser, Gamer Steps Out To Confront Bad Reporter

Defense of the Ancients, aka DOTA, champion Wei Shanchuan (卫山川) doesn’t have many regrets regarding his professional gaming career. Why should he? He’s fairly young and he’s won many national tournaments in China. So when he was approached by a reporter for a profile piece on his life as a gamer he was eager to…

Want to Intern for Kotaku East?

It’s that time again. It’s time to look for Kotaku East interns. Do you live in Asia? Would you like to intern with Kotaku? Have I got something for you! In particular, Kotaku East is looking for interns in Asia that are located outside of Japan. Here are the particulars: • You must be over…

This Totoro Costume Is So Incredibly Adorable

For Halloween, college student Melanie wanted to be Totoro. So she and her mom decided to make a Totoro costume. Hours and hours of hard work later, the costume was finished, totally cute, and screams “sleep on my belly!”. Totoro Halloween Costume [Melanie Mescher via Geekologie via Fashionably Geek]

There’s a New Paid Dating Service Just for Japanese Nerds

For some, it’s not enough to have virtual girlfriends. Maybe they want the companionship of a real one, but aren’t good at meeting people. Open your wallets, Japanese geeks! There’s a new service called “Moé Date”. And for a price, you can have a girlfriend for a few hours. “Moé” (萌え) literally means “budding”, but…

Out of 1,161 Japanese gamers polled, 40.4% want a Wii U, 33.4% a Vita, 21.2% a 3DS, 19.7% a PS3, and 9.6% an Xbox 360.

China’s Board Game Magazines Are Totally Not Just About Board Games

China’s one of the few places in the world where print media is still being consumed by the masses. Part of the reason for that is the State running most (if not all) media. Because China still consumes print, I am able to show off one of China’s more interesting geek-chic publications, China’s Board Games…

Domino’s Pizza Is Giving Out Truly Bizarre Discounts in Japan

Japanese people love pizza. The three most popular delivery restaurants that duke it out for the country’s pizza pie preferences are Napoli Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Domino’s. But as of today, Domino’s might get more business thanks to an amazingly odd discount campaign. You can get 25 percent off your delivery if you have one…

South Korea’s “Too Sexy” MMO Is Heading Westward

Queen’s Blade is a South Korean developed MMO. The motif is science fiction—and skimpy outfits. No wonder Japanese bulletin board 2ch is already calling it “too sexy” for the game’s unabashed fan service. This Queen’s Blade is not to be confused with the Japanese Queen’s Blade franchise. It’s from Liveplex, the Korean studio behind Dragona…

14 Year-old Swallows Pencil Lead To Escape Internet Addiction Clinic

Sent to an internet addiction rehabilitation center for, well, being addicted to the internet, 14 year-old Chen Wei (a pseudonym) couldn’t take the treatment at the center. So much so that he tried to kill himself to escape. Chen Wei from Wuhan, Hubei province, was “addicted” to online multiplayer games. Not sure what to do…

Japan’s Most Talented Pro-Gamer Is Now Appearing in a Japanese Manga

As far as Street Fighter players go, they don’t get much bigger than Daigo Umehara. He has an endorsement with peripheral maker Mad Catz, and he even authored a book. But it doesn’t stop there. He recently popped up in a Japanese manga. But not just any manga! According to this Japanese blog, Umehara is…

The Japanese version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf appears to have an infinite item duplicating glitch.

Now This Is How You Do Chun-Li Cosplay

Back when Kotaku asked who pulled off the best Chun-Li cosplay, there seems to have been one glaring omission: this. *applause* The gentleman who donned this Chun-Li should have been front and center in our round-up. Did I say gentleman? Sorry, I meant hero Chun-Li Cosplay [Cheezburger via Pony Effect] Kotaku East is your slice…

In Japan, Little Plastic Figures Make Lovely Portraits

Screw traditional portraits! Who wants that when you can get a miniature figure of yourself, right? That’s exactly what people in Japan can soon get. But don’t expect them to overtake traditional photos anytime soon. What’s being dubbed the “world’s first”, the Omote 3D Shashin Kan is a portrait studio that scans your likeness and…

Pinch Me, I’m Excited About Halo 4’s DLC

Excited? About DLC? I’d normally rather throw myself under a bus, seeing as 90% of the stuff is usually over-priced fluff, but 343 look to be putting a ton of effort into Halo 4’s fancy Spartan Ops game mode. An episodic series of co-op and multiplayer experiences, I knew they’d have some sort of narrative…

Bad Things Happen When Team Fortress 2’s Medic Loses His Bird

Zachariah Scott, a cinematic designer at BioWare, may have an unfair advantage when it comes to Source Filmmaker clips, seeing as he’s not exactly an amatuer, but whatever. If professional videos are what we get when professionals use the tool, then we’re all winners. In this clip, TF2’s Medic has an…episode after the loss of…

Zombie Iron Man Thirsts For Brains, Booze

I’d like to think that a zombie Iron Man, retaining at least some small part of Tony Stark, would shamble around searching liquour cabinets and bars. Any brains or human flesh he’d find there would be just a bonus. These images are the work of cosplay photographer Adam Jay, while the man—or what remains of…

It’s Like a Reference Book. Only, For Halo’s Spartans.

I have a long-standing love of old-fashioned reference books. Like, the ones where the whole thing, cover-to-cover, is devoted entirely to illustrations of, say, Napoleonic cavalry uniforms. One day I’ll sort out just what that fetish means, but in the meantime, I’m going to indulge it with these pieces of Halo 4 concept art by…