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Global (Page 18)

“It’s the Japanese! Run!” – Overseas gamers tired of playing Splatoon with Inklings from Japan

Casey Baseel
Sep 4, 2015
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Online console gaming has been thriving for over a decade now, and ostensibly it should have brought gamers from all over the world into contact with one another as competitors and co-op teammates. In practice, though, regional differences in preferred genres, aesthetics, and overall play styles have meant that Japanese and Western gamers haven’t crossed paths all that terribly often.

At least until Nintendo released Splatoon this year for the Wii U, that is. Combining the team-based shooter Western gamers have so embraced with the colorful quirkiness that their Japanese counterparts have always been fond of, Splatoon’s popularity is bridging the oceans. This is giving overseas Inklings a chance to play with gamers in Japan…or to complain about them online and devise strategies to avoid them.

Global, Internet, Japan
(nintendo • Splatoon • video games)

What do toilets the world over look like? Check out this video to find out 【Video】

Jamie Koide
Sep 4, 2015

Love and music may not have borders, but neither do other universal concepts like the call of nature.

Although Japan is famous for its modern toilet technology (there’s even a museum now), many non-Eastern Asians are often taken aback when they visit the country and have their first encounter with the older, squatting kind. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re a staple in most Japanese schools, parks, and stations.

The fact that there’s such a gap in modern toilet technology got us curious about how toilet models and their degree of upkeep varies worldwide, and fortunately one brave soul has gone through the trouble of filming bathrooms across the globe to answer this very question.
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Global
(bathrooms • Cut.com • gross • interesting • squat toilets • Toilets • travel • video)

P.T. easter egg discovered tucked away in Metal Gear Solid V 【Video】

Cara Clegg
Sep 3, 2015

With Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain now available, gamers are hunkering down to complete Hideo Kojima’s final Metal Gear outing, and the last couple of days have seen a flurry of uploads to YouTube and gaming sites from players wanting to show off their discoveries in the huge open world.

One such discovery has people lamenting the cancellation of Silent Hills, the horror game that was at one time to be Kojima’s next project, all over again. Despite Konami’s attempts to erase its existence by removing it from the Playstation Store, P.T., the playable teaser for the cancelled game, can’t be wiped from gamers’ minds that easily, and apparently not from the company’s latest hit, either.

Global, Japan
(Easter egg • Hideo Kojima • Konami • Metal Gear Solid V • P.T. • Silent Hills • video • video games)

Little Big Planet 3 offers Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain costumes

Anime News Network
Sep 3, 2015

The official U.S. PlayStation blog revealed on Tuesday that Sony‘s Little Big Planet 3 game is offering a Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain-themed costume pack for the game’s characters. Buyers who purchase the costumes as a complete set will also receive a Box Costume for the character Toggle. The costumes can also be purchased separately.

Global
(Anime News Network • costumes • cute • Little Big Planet • Metal Gear Solid V • video games)

Virtual reality Totoro? Project Morpheus team looking for artist with “Studio Ghibli” style

Casey Baseel
Aug 31, 2015

After more than a year since the last film from anime production house Studio Ghibli, the paint is rapidly drying on the writing on the wall. At the very least, it looks like animation fans are in for a long wait before the next Ghibli movie, and it may turn out that When Marnie Was There ends up being the last theatrical feature we ever see from the company co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki.

Still, that doesn’t mean that other artists, perhaps working in other mediums, won’t carry on the beloved anime studio’s spirit. As a matter of fact, if you’ve got the necessary video game production skills, that someone could be you, as a U.K.-based Project Morpheus team is looking for an artist to help add a Ghibli-like aesthetic to its game.

Europe, Global
(anime • playstation • project morpheus • Sony • video games • virtual reality)

We explore the evolution of the toilet at Kitakyushu’s newly opened TOTO Museum

Krista Rogers
Aug 31, 2015

What would modern life be like without the humble toilet? Actually, we’d rather not think about that.

Many of us around the world should direct our thanks to TOTO Ltd., the world’s largest manufacturer of toilets and the very company that invented the washlet. In fact, Friday, August 28 marked the grand opening of the new TOTO Museum in Fukuoka Prefecture, where the company was originally founded in 1917.

Takashi Harada, our Japanese reporter who proclaims that he couldn’t survive a day without a washlet, immediately made a bee line to the new sanctuary to give thanks to the toilet gods and to learn a bit about the historical evolution of the toilet.

Global, Japan
(Fukuoka • history • Kitakyushu • Toilets • TOTO Museum)

Mexico wins World Cosplay Summit 2015 championship 【Videos】

Anime News Network
Aug 5, 2015

The World Cosplay Summit 2015 competition crowned Mexico representatives Twin Cosplay as the Grand Champions at the award ceremony on Saturday. The duo also took home the Minister of Foreign Affairs Award, ANA Prize, and the Tabi Pad Award.

Twin Cosplay‘s presentation was based on Nintendo‘s Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask video game. Between the two, a total of four costume and set transformations take place in three minutes.

Global
(anime • Anime News Network • cosplay • nintendo • video games • videos)

Disney to release ‘Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki’ Blu-ray set

Anime News Network
Jul 31, 2015

Disney announced on Thursday that it will release “The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki” Blu-ray box set. In addition to Miyazaki’s 11 feature films, the set will include a bonus disc with the 1972 television pilot film Yuki no Taiyō (Yuki’s Sun), three episodes of the 1972-1973 series Akado Suzunosuke (Little Samurai), and a video of Miyazaki’s retirement press conference.

Global, Japan
(Anime News Network • Blu-ray • collection • Disney • Hayao Miyazaki • Studio Ghibli)

How many Mentos can the human body handle with a gulp of cola? We experiment 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Jul 31, 2015

There are some food and beverage pairings pretty much everyone finds complementary. Wine and red meat. Milk and cookies. Draft beer and edamame soybeans.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are certain combinations we’ve learned to stay away from. Soda and Mentos, for example, are well-known to produce a volatile reaction if consumed together. But just where exactly is the human body’s threshold for these two incompatible mouth-mates?

Or, more specifically, where is RocketNews24 reporter P.K.’s body’s threshold?

Global, Japan
(Cola • crazy • experiment • funny • Mentos • P.K. • video)

Square Enix to release Dragon Quest game exclusive to smartphones

Mike
Jul 24, 2015

Game developer Square Enix, renowned for its number of long-running Japanese RPG series, announced yesterday that a new, smartphone-only entry in the fabled Dragon Quest franchise will hit online stores sometime this year.

Global, Japan
(apps • Dragon Quest • RPG • Smartphones • Square Enix • video games)

4 freezer tips for beating the summer stink from everything from sweaty shoes to rotting garbage

Meg Murphy
Jul 23, 2015

Are Japan’s strict trash collection days getting you down this summer? Are you plugging your nose and counting down the days until the next burnables collection because your garbage is rotting away in the summer heat?

If you’re like me, you hate Japanese summers for a slew of reasons, one of which being all the putrid smells that come with the increased heat and humidity of the sticky summer months. You may also often rush out the door on the morning of burnables collection day and forget to take out your bag of raw and rotting garbage, leaving you to deal with the stench until the next trash collection day rolls around.

But there is a really simple solution to this problem, as well as quick tricks for dealing with other stinky situations like funky-shoe smells and unpleasant, grimy sinks. Find out how after the jump!

Global
(freezer tricks • life hacks • summer • surviving summer • tips)

Mr. Sato discovers the band of his dreams: this small box

Master Blaster
Jul 22, 2015

Hardcore readers of RocketNews24 may have caught the very few instances where Mr. Sato has pulled out a guitar and started playing. It’s easy to miss, though, as Mr. Sato is what’s known as a bochi gitarisuto (lonely guitarist) who plays alone at home solely for his own satisfaction.

But now our reporter is all too eager to show of his guitar stylings after discovering the Trio Band Creator by DigiTech. It looks just like a normal effects pedal but actually adds an automatic bass and drum accompaniment based on your own playing.

Global, Japan
(accompaniment • DigiTech • effects pedal • guitar • Mr. Sato • technology • Trio Band Creator)

Is super-salty Tokyo ramen too much umami for foreign tastes? 【Video】

Evie Nyan
Jul 21, 2015

Ramen is the ultimate Japanese hunger-busting food. With its combination of greasy, fatty soup combined with carb-heavy noodles, it’s the perfect meal for when you’re REALLY hungry in Tokyo (or just really hungover.) But that doesn’t mean that this taste is for everyone. In fact, there’re probably a lot of people out there who just can’t handle that heavy hit of garlicky, salty grease.

Our Japan Wish competition winner Ashley mentioned in her winning video entry that she really wanted to get a taste of Tokyo ramen. We accompanied her to Ramen Jiro to watch as her tastebuds tangled with the pungent umami of a bowl of their finest slurping fare. Unfortunately, Ashley soon realised that the reality of the truly salty ramen might be a little hard to swallow – along with the actual ramen itself! Check out our video report!

Global, Internet, Japan, USA
(culture • food • Japan Wish • ramen • Tokyo)

What are Tokyo trains at rush hour really like? Check out our eyewitness account!【Video】

Evie Nyan
Jul 21, 2015

Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station is the Guinness World Record holder for busiest transport hub in the world, with an average of 3.64 million people passing through the station, which has 36 platforms and over 200 exits, each and every day. And it’s never busier than during the morning rush hour, with commuters from all over Tokyo and its neighbouring prefectures pouring through the station on their way to work. No wonder the trains are so crowded!

Since Ashley, our “Japan Wish” competition winner is currently in town soaking up as much Japanese culture as she can, we thought it would be great if she could experience the rush hour crush for herself and share her thoughts with her fellow RocketNews24 readers.

Check out the video we took of Ashley being squished like a sardine and see for yourselves how she rates the experience!

Global, Internet, Japan, USA
(Japan Wish • rush hour • Subway • Tokyo)

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has died

Mike
Jul 13, 2015

It’s a very sad day for gaming.

This morning, Nintendo released a statement that the company’s much-beloved president and CEO, Satoru Iwata, died in hospital on July 11 due to medical complications arising from a bile duct tumor that had been discovered some time before. Iwata was the first person to assume the role of president at the company who was not immediately related to members of the Yamauchi founding family.

Global, Japan
(nintendo • obituaries • Satoru Iwata • video games)

Our Japanese coworkers remind us that today is No Bra Day with words and photos

Casey Baseel
Jul 9, 2015

After a couple years of living in Japan, I got into the habit of sending out emails to fellow expats and other internationally minded friends on American holidays that aren’t really a big deal here. Nothing fancy, just a quick “Happy Thanksgiving!” or “Have a fun 4th of July!” It’s always nice to have a reason to celebrate, and I know from experience that without a reminder, some of these lower-profile holidays can get lost in the shuffle of our busy daily lives.

Meg, one of my Japanese-language coworkers, seems to have a similar mentality, since she sent out a message to remind us all that today, July 9, is No Bra Day. And just to make doubly sure she had our attention, she sent photos, too.

Global
(fashion • funny • holidays • weird)

Uniqlo introduces special range of “modest clothing” for Muslims in Singapore and Malaysia

Evie Nyan
Jul 8, 2015

We’ve spoken a little before about how Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo has (arguably) kind of a dorky image in Japan. But you can’t fault the brand’s dedication to functional fashion, as well as their market savvy. By bringing out a range of Muslim-appropriate clothing for its stores in Singapore and Malaysia, Uniqlo has demonstrated once again why they should be everyone’s go-to place for stocking up on wardrobe essentials.

Let’s check out the new range!

Global, Japan, SE Asia
(fashion • islam • Malaysia • muslim • Singapore • Uniqlo)

Japanese cosmetic company Shiseido expects to have baldness cure on the market by 2018

Master Blaster
Jul 8, 2015

Three more years…

For much of my life I’ve been waiting for this moment. Even throughout my youth I glanced at the hairlines of relatives and wondered what would become of me. At the same time I figured medical science would have to have developed something by the time my hair would start falling out.

However, as I entered my thirties and began to look more and more like an octopus was attacking me when my hair got wet, there still seemed to be no true cure for baldness on the horizon. They were out there cloning sheep and growing ears on the backs of mice, but they still couldn’t give me a little action up top.

And just as I raised my razor to go the Bruce Willis route, a ray of hope shone on my news feed. It said that the cure to baldness actually lies inside me and my delicious stem cells, and that the key to unlocking it would be available in just three more years…

Global, Japan
(baldness • cure • hair growth • iPS cell • Shiseido • stem cell)

Gackt lashes out at Cool Japan: “Almost no results of Japanese culture exported overseas”

Master Blaster
Jul 3, 2015

While visiting friends who were a part of the recent Naruto stage production, Japanese film and music star Gackt was left with a bad feeling. Having watched one of the overseas Naruto performances, the singer couldn’t help but notice the lack of people in the audience.

Gackt doesn’t rule out possible flaws with the play such as too much material crammed into a short time. However, as he wrote in a recent impassioned blog post, he thinks the real culprit may be the Japanese government and their Cool Japan promotional program, which he feels is anything but.

Global, Japan
(cool japan • culture • Gackt • government • Naruto)

Haunted, abandoned hotel complex on Okinawa is a lesson against messing with Japan’s spirits

Evie Nyan
Jul 3, 2015

A luxury leisure resort on the lush hillside of Okinawa. Panoramic ocean views. A waterpark, a petting zoo, a night club. Now crumbling into ruins, swallowed up by nature reclaiming the land developers tried to take. Perhaps the owners should have known better than to build on the site of ancient tombs. The local priests warned them. But they didn’t listen.

This is the tale of Okinawa’s Nakagusuku Kogen Hotel, one of the most haunted abandoned sites in Japan.