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video games (Page 132)

Elsa comes to the world of Minecraft in Japanese fan’s shot-for-shot Frozen video

Casey Baseel
May 16, 2014
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Years after its first version was released, Minecraft is still captivating gamers around the world. By giving players access to a plethora of Lego-like building blocks, plus a consistent set of rules for how materials interact with one another, the title simultaneously challenges and inspires its fans, who’ve gone on to recreate both real and fictional locations within the game.

Now, one Minecraft enthusiast in Japan has combined his skills in the game with his love of Disney by recreating an entire scene from the animated hit Frozen.

Japan
(cool • Disney • frozen • Minecraft • video games)

Upcoming Vita game Murasaki Baby is delightfully dark and cute in equal parts 【GIFs】

Philip Kendall
May 15, 2014

There’s a word in Japanese that people use to describe things that are at once cute and grotesque: kimokawaii. Upcoming side-scrolling adventure game Murasaki Baby is just that. Featuring an adorable protagonist with an upside-down face and a world populated with enemies like giant, hairy-nostrilled noses and razor-toothed bunnies, the game is a blend of the kimochi warui, or gross, and kawaii cuteness, and is due for release sometime this year.

Ahead of the E3 trade fair, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has revealed a series of animated GIFs showing off the game’s otherworldly visuals, which we can only describe as a mix between The Nightmare Before Christmas and merciless indie platformer Limbo.

Global
(cute • GIF • Murasaki Baby • Ovosonico • Playstation Vita • video games)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to star in upcoming run ‘n’ gun video game based on his life

Master Blaster
May 15, 2014

We are all of course familiar with the story of how North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, single-handedly defeated the entire US military with the aid of his magical flaming unicorn and 12-foot vertical leaping skills. I don’t know about you all, but every time I hear about it, I can’t help wishing I could be as bad-ass as he is and experience the same such heroics.

Now the wishing is over, however, thanks to Glorious Leader!, an upcoming game for PC and smartphone by indie developer Moneyhorse. In it, players pilot the plump despot through seven levels of hard running, hard jumping, hard shooting, and hard unicorn riding action.

Internet, North Korea
(Glorious Leader • Kim Jong-un • video games)

Left 4 Dead arcade edition to be trialled at four sites in Japan between May 23-25

Philip Kendall
May 15, 2014

Gore-splattered heads up, zombie fans! Left 4 Dead Seizonshatachi, or “survivors”, arcade magnate Taito’s riff on Valve and Turtle Rock Studios’ hugely popular first-person zombie shooter, is not only ready to tear through the population of Japan but is about to be trialled at four selected arcades beginning May 23.

Details and videos after the jump.

Japan
(arcade • Left 4 Dead • Seizonsha • Turtle Rock • Valve • video games • zombies)

Report says Chinese authorities are banning bikinis in video games

Casey Baseel
May 13, 2014

As a sign of China’s continuing integration into the global community, the country’s long-standing ban on video game consoles was lifted last year. This doesn’t mean Chinese gamers are free to enjoy all that modern gaming has to offer, as censorship regulations mean certain types of content aren’t allowed.

Some of the problem areas are nebulously defined, such as restrictions on games that “besmirch the image of China” or “intentionally blacken the image of the Chinese army.” A possible upcoming addition to the list of punishable offenses is a little easier to understand: no more video game characters wearing bikinis.

China
(law • video games • weird)

You don’t know Pokémon: 14 little-known facts about your favorite monster collecting series

Mike
May 13, 2014

Your Pokémon has taken you from the elusive Mewtew to the equally elusive and game-breaking Missing No. You think you know all there is to know about the Pokémon series, but unless you’re one of the elite few who have literally spent the last two decades learning all there is to know about the monster collecting series, we’re willing to bet there are at least a few facts about the beloved anime and video game behemoth you’re not familiar with.

Here, in no particular order, are the top 14 little-known facts about the Pokémon universe:

Internet
(anime • anime & manga • Pokemon • video games)

Newsflash: Attack on Titan 3DS game to get North American release?

Philip Kendall
May 6, 2014

A few months ago, we brought you news that Japanese developer Spike Chunsoft was bringing manga and anime smash Attack on Titan to Nintendo’s popular portable, 3DS. Up until now, the game seemed destined to remain a Japan-only affair, but rumour has it that its makers are searching for a publisher to bring the game to Western audiences. Get hype, kids!

Japan, USA
(3DS • Attack on Titan • nintendo • video games • Western release)

Oculus Rift will finally go on sale to consumers next year

BUSINESS INSIDER
May 5, 2014

An Oculus Rift virtual reality headset for consumers could go on sale next year, a company representative told Business Insider at Facebook’s F8 developer conference today.

Management at Oculus VR, the Irvine, Calif.-company that Facebook bought for $2 billion earlier this year, will be “disappointed” if it doesn’t have a headset available at retail for ordinary people by 2016, according to an Oculus spokesperson.

Global
(Oculus Rift • Pull Partners • release date • tech • video games)

Kirby’s angry American version re-imported to Japan for the first time

Mike
May 4, 2014

Even as an American, it never occurred to me that the in-game cuteness of the iconic Kirby character doesn’t really carry over to the box art – where he’s typically portrayed as a Pokemon ripoff in need of anger management courses.

Don’t believe us? Take a look at this decade-old print ad for a new Kirby game in the U.S.:

Somewhere down the line, Nintendo America producers decided that Kirby should be portrayed as tough and menacing on American shores in order to appeal to U.S. audiences, who at the time were still in love with macho heroes from the ’80s action movie heydays. Even if the hero in question was a puffy pink ball of cute, Americans apparently craved sheer anger in their main characters – a far cry from the Japanese, who were raised on Kirby as an adorable, smiling murderer that ate his victims whole and gained their power like some fantasy world maniac.

Japan, USA
(cool • cute • nintendo • video games)

Authentic video game ceramics from Square Enix look beautiful but don’t come cheap

Casey Baseel
May 2, 2014

Almost all of the nice tableware in my apartment are pieces that my wife brought with her when we moved in together. As a bachelor, most of what was in my cupboards came from the 100-yen shop, with the exception of one pricy whiskey glass I bought when I decided that even if there was no one around to see me do it, I really shouldn’t be drinking straight from the bottle.

Of course, this scrimping on cutlery and dishes meant more money to throw into buying video games. I may have considered upping my eager budgets for such things if I’d seen these awesome plates and cups from fabled game publisher Square Enix.

That is, until I saw their astronomical price tags.

Japan
(art • Romancing Saga • Square Enix • toys • video games)

Gotta draw ‘em all! New 3DS game teaches players how to draw over 100 different Pokémon

Casey Baseel
May 1, 2014

As a student, I always picked foreign language over art when choosing electives, and when it was time to select an extracurricular activity, I opted for the football team over the painting club. I don’t regret those choices. The language skills have come in handy living and working overseas, and while it’s been a long time since I had the opportunity to use any football techniques, it’s nice to have the knowledge, since you never know when you might suddenly need to tackle a tailback.

However, this means I can’t draw to save my life. Sure, I suppose I could start at the beginning by putting a basket of fruit on my kitchen table and trying to sketch it, but honestly, I could use a little more direction, not to mention a more exciting subject matter that I wouldn’t be tempted to eat before finishing my drawing.

Thankfully, Nintendo is here to help with a new 3DS game that teaches players how to draw pokémon.

Japan
(3DS • art • nintendo • Pokemon • video games)

Meiji-Era Ace Attorney game’s 1st teaser streamed

Anime News Network
Apr 24, 2014

CAPCOM began streaming the first teaser trailer on Thursday for the newest game in the Ace Attorney franchise, Dai Gyakuten Saiban –Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken– (Great Turnabout Trial: The Adventures of Ryūnosuke Naruhodō).

Japan
(Ace Attorney • Anime News Network • Capcom • video games)

Shut up and take my money: Awesome handmade Lego video game art on sale now

Philip Kendall
Apr 23, 2014

If you like old-school video games and loving fiddling around with bits of Lego, then this is something that you absolutely need to see.

These scenes from Super Mario Bros 3, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and even action platformer Mega Man are all made out of Lego, placed carefully, brick by brick, onto a backboard to create startlingly accurate 8-bit graphic art. Needless to say we’re sold already, and haven’t even asked their maker how much he wants for them yet.

Global
(art • cool • LEGO • Mega Man • Super Mario Bros. • video games)

Kinoko Girly: the weirdest time-waster you’ll play all day

Philip Kendall
Apr 22, 2014

If you’re struggling with the fact that it’s still only Tuesday and the weekend is but a dot on the horizon, Kinoko Girly (‘Mushroom Girly’), a free mobile game currently generating a lot of buzz here in Japan, might be just the thing to keep you going at least until Hump Day is over.

Featuring illustrations by popular fashion designer Hajime Yoshio, Kinoko Girly is one of the simplest smartphone games you’ll ever play. Asking you, the person in charge of feeding a bevy of frighteningly shaped mushrooms to a woman with a penchant for fungi, to choose which of the two ‘shrooms offered up at any one time is delicious and which is poisonous, it’s simply a case of guesswork for the sake of it, but it’s surprisingly addictive. And altogether weird.

Japan
(Kinoko Girly • mobile • mushrooms • smartphone • video games • weird • wtf)

The baffling reason three men spent 30 minutes in an Akihabara restroom together

Casey Baseel
Apr 22, 2014

As the world’s biggest video game and anime merchandise district, it’s easy for enthusiasts to lose track of time in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood. For hard-core fans, an initial plan to pop into the ground floor of one of its multi-level shopping complexes, just for a second in order to check out the newest releases, can easily metamorphose into a two-hour survey of all the goodies the store has in stock.

Still, there are some things that shouldn’t take very long, even for the biggest anime nut or gaming enthusiast. So when one man heard the call of nature then spent 30 fruitless minutes waiting for even one person to come out of the three stalls in the public restroom he’d entered, he became suspicious, and with good cause, since it turns out the three individuals holed up in there were doing more than clearing out their digestive tracks.

Japan
(video games • weird)

Professor Mega Man! Legendary game producer Keiji Inafune to lecture at Osaka college

Casey Baseel
Apr 18, 2014

Despite working for video game publisher Capcom for over 20 years, Keiji Inafune didn’t really achieve international name-recognition until the tumultuous tail end of his time with the company. Even if they didn’t know his name, though, gamers everywhere were familiar with his work, as Inafune was involved with some of Capcom’s biggest hits, including Mega Man, Resident Evil, Onimusha, Street Fighter, and Dead Rising.

Inafune got his start as a character designer before moving up to a position as a producer. Now, he’s set to add one more title to his resume: college professor.

Japan
(cool • education • Mega Man • video games)

Aerith from Final Fantasy VII’s home valued at nearly $2 million, “Nicest house in sector 5”

Philip Kendall
Apr 18, 2014

Movoto, one of America’s biggest real estate agents, doesn’t just list property, it also has a blog and, more importantly, a very good sense of humour. A few months ago, the site treated manga and anime fans to a tour of Naruto Uzumaki’s house (on the market for just $100,000), but this week they have something special for gamers – the house that used to belong to Aerith from Final Fantasy VII.

If you’re interested in buying the property, though, we hope you’re feeling flush. With 1,176 square feet of floor space and the honour of being “the nicest house in Sector 5”, Aerith’s house is listed for nearly US$2 million, or 37,726,080 Gil to be exact.

Global
(Aerith • Final Fantasy VII • house • property • real estate • video games)

Final Fantasy VII concert to be held in Tokyo this summer (yes, they’ll play One-Winged Angel)

Casey Baseel
Apr 17, 2014

When Final Fantasy VII was first released in 1997, gamers around the world emotionally connected with it in a way that had never been seen before. Years later, the game still occupies a special place in many people’s hearts, with many clamoring for developer Square Enix to release a version with graphics updated to today’s standards.

But even as so may ask for a new edition of the game that looks better, you won’t find anyone asking for one that sounds better, as the role-playing classic’s soundtrack is one of the most universally-loved musical collections to ever come out of the medium. As testament to its lasting appeal, a Final Fantasy VII symphony concert will be held in Tokyo this summer.

Japan
(events • Final Fantasy • music • video games)

Princess Peach-themed Nintendo Wii remote available later this month

Philip Kendall
Apr 16, 2014

If you can’t help feeling that your controller lacks a little regality or that you’d rather squish Goombas in a lighter shade of murder, we’ve got good news for you. From the end of this month, you’ll be able to pick up a special edition Princess Peach-themed Wii remote, Nintendo has announced.

USA
(hardware • nintendo • Princess Peach • remote • video games • Wii)

Sega’s video game consoles to live again as cute anime characters in Sega Hard Girls

Casey Baseel
Apr 12, 2014

Perhaps it says something about the fundamental goodness of the human heart that once someone is no longer with us, we tend to remember the good things about him or her. Even though the memories of petty differences and irritants tend to fade with time, the happy moments often remain with us, sometimes picking up an even warmer aura as nostalgia colors them.

The phenomena doesn’t just happen with people, though, but video game hardware too. This partially explains why Sega, which discontinued its most recent console well over a decade ago, is seeing a new anime being produced in which the main characters are cute, anthropomorphized versions of the company’s defunct video game systems.