It's like best of both worlds made better—way better. Japanese model builder mashed Gundam Wing with Pokémon to create this Pikachu Wing. Brilliant!
Have a look at more pics in the above gallery.
Pikachu Wing Version [Modelers Gallery]
And China, well, China now has its own virtual idol, which recently apparently on television.
Online, people are calling this Chinese virtual idol a Hatsune Miku rip-off, complete with a Vocaloid sounding voice. I'll just stick with annoying.
【Vocaloid？】This Hatsune Miku? Is fake [YouTube]
Hearing complaints lavished on the use of chopsticks. People praising your Japanese after you utter an "arigatou". The endless and repetitive questions. In Japan, some find these remarks and questions irritating—a form of "soft racism" called "microaggression". But are they?
As Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D. and David Rivera, M.S. pointed out in a 2010 Psychology Today article, "racial microaggressions are the brief and everyday slights, insults, indignities and denigrating messages sent to people of color by well-intentioned White people who are unaware of the hidden messages being communicated." Psychiatrist Chester Pierce, MD, coined the term back in the 1970s.
American-born Japanese Debito Arudou tackled the issue of microaggression recently in The Japan Times in relation to how he perceives it playing out between Japanese and Non-Japanese. According to Arudou, "Nobody 'means' to make you feel alienated, different, out of place, or stereotyped. But microaggressions are also subtle societal self-enforcement mechanisms to put people 'in their place.'"
Examples Arudou, who is a Japanese citizen, gives are how Non-Japanese are complimented on things like their ability to use chopsticks or speak a few words of Japanese or their ability to eat nattou—as well as questions regarding when Non-Japanese are returning to their home country or personal questions about what they fight about with their spouses or how they raise their children.
"Microaggressions have such power because they are invisible, the result of hegemonic social shorthand that sees people only at face value," wrote Arudou. "But your being unable to protest them without coming off as paranoid means that the aggressor will never see that what they say might be taken as prejudiced or discriminatory."
But these repetitive questions—as marginalizing as they seem—are in no way unique to Japan. They are, for better or worse, part of human nature. If you meet someone from a different country, your first ice-breaking questions might be asking them about when they left it or displaying what knowledge you do have about their homeland in hopes of making small talk. Japanese people are no different.
As website Mutantfrog Travelogue explained, "It just so happens that when Japanese people see a Western face, it calls up memories of learning English in school, the images on TV, and the experiences they or their friends have had with foreigners in the past. It's all completely natural and utterly mundane."
Much of these questions—even if they are irksome—are innocent enough. And I'm always bemused when people ask me things like if America has Mother's Day. Dopey questions are universal; I've seen my wife gracefully handle silly inquiries in America about Japan, such as whether or not Japan has cookies. (Yes, yes it does.)
But for long-term residents in Japan, I can see how these repetitive questions and remarks would be irksome. Though, when I first visited to Japan many moons ago, I remember thinking people were really nice and keen to learn about where I was from. After you spend a third of your life in Japan, it's easy for those same questions and comments to become dull, but for the Japanese person, they may not know how long you've been in Japan or that you've been using chopsticks since grade school. Not everyone, however, can use chopsticks—my dad cannot, and he always has a tricky time when visiting. If someone complimented him on his chopstick use, I'm sure he'd be tickled.
The issue becomes a matter of when are microaggressions actually microaggressive. That isn't to say soft racism doesn't manifest itself in microaggression—or doesn't exist in Japan. If anyone is going to get up in arms about microaggressions, then things like strangers (or children!) referring to adult non-Japanese by their first names or without a marker (san, kun, chan) is probably a better example of "othering", than asking foreigners if they can eat nattou. Not all Japanese can—heck, not all Japanese like sushi and public baths, so there.
I've also found that the repetitive questions often lead to interesting conversations. I never hesitate to ask people where they are from, about food they eat, or about their jobs. I've found that to be some of the best ways to learn about this country.
Mutantfrog Travelogue smartly pointed out that repetitive questions aren't only limited to nationality or race, but also profession. I'm sure doctors get asked the same questions over and over and over again. I always try to take the questions and remarks in good stride—sometimes there are jerks, because, well, there are jerks everywhere.
Even though some Japanese people love talking to non-Japanese, some really do not care and are busy with their own lives to start firing off a bunch of questions at foreigners. Some people just do not care. And it's somewhat arrogant to think they do or should! Moreover, many people are more than happy to talk with non-Japanese and not ask them any of these repetitive questions.
It's not so much the microaggressions that bother me. Honestly, at this point, they don't. And going around getting upset at each one of them will definitely lead to a very, very stressful life in Japan. Rather, it's other things, like most notably how property is rented to non-Japanese. I was once told I could not rent an apartment in my name, because I might skip out on rent and flee the country. My wife, who was not working and without an income, was asked to sign the lease agreement. Then again, I didn't run into situations like that when it was time to buy a place—or even buy a car—both of which I did in my name.
I remember once when my eldest son started pre-school, the teacher wrote his last name in katakana (the writing system for foreign words) instead of phonetic hiragana like the other kids. Little kids don't know katakana (or kanji), so after explaining that writing his name in katakana would be akin to writing another kid's name in kanji, she quickly apologized and made a correction. The teacher wasn't trying to other the kid, but probably, just wrote "Ashcraft" in katakana as an automatic reflex.
In Japan, there are notions of political correctness—and not only directed at foreigners. The country has changed the word for "nurse" to include male nurses and, like in other countries, renamed crayons that were previously "flesh colored". Being sensitive to others is not a bad thing and neither is being interested in people from other countries and other cultures. How else will they learn that non-Japanese can use chopsticks and like nattou?
Complaints about certain parts of Mass Effect 3 may be more contemporary, but let's not forget the first game had a more serious problem: the Mako tank drove like shit on wheels.
Which presented me with a problem, because I loved to look at it, but hated to drive it. Yet I had to do both!
It's a problem LEGO Mako tanks easily get past, as aside from building it in the first place, I've then just got to look at it. Then, when nobody is around, I get to drive it how I think it should drive, not how BioWare thinks it should drive.
Mass Effect Mako and mini SSV Normandy SR-2 [LEGO Cusoo]
Sure, you could smash one open, but these are pieces of consumer electronics, not Easter eggs. Why do you always have to go for the violent option first?
In a post over on Behance, industrial designer George Schnakenberg explains the design process behind the last Guitar Hero peripheral, that used for Warriors of Rock, and how shifting all of the important stuff into the fret board let them save time, save money, speed up production time and create a "template" core that could be changed each year with a minimum of fuss.
Not that Guitar Hero ever got the chance to do that, but, well, it was a good idea.
Guitar Hero 6 [Behance]
Can you believe it's Famicase time already? That time of the year when indie Japanese store Meteor holds an exhibition showcasing a bunch of incredible, one-of-a-kind fake video game cartridges.
The goal of the exhibition is simple: artists submit a cartridge for a fake Famicom game. It can be whatever they want, basically, meaning some can be funny, and others can be super stylish. Submissions are taken from all over the planet, not just Japan.
To see previous year's cartridges, head here then follow the links backwards.
MY FAMICASE EXHIBITION [Meteor]
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear franchise, Square Enix and Konami have teamed up to release a bunch of figures based on the venerable stealth series. Today, we're taking a look at two of them.
I've got two figures on my kitchen bench with a camera in their face: Solid Snake and Cyborg Ninja.
Solid Snake: 2x spare hands, rifle, silenced pistol.
Cyborg Ninja: Spare hand, sword, rifle (replaces right arm).
Eye for Detail: The detail on these are a cut above the last few Square Enix figures I've seen. Whether that's due to improvements in their processes or just that these are more detailed character models, the result are figures that upon close inspection look more in line with their premium price.
Click-Clack: A big problem many Play Arts figures suffer from is the fact they can topple over. With heavy figures set on loose, small feet, physics are constantly working against them staying upright. These two featured something new: rather than "smooth" joints in the ankles, these have sturdy "click" joints, meaning they're easier to lock in place.
Cyborg Ninja: The metallic paint, tiny print and fake lighting effects are pretty damn special.
T-Rex: Snake has tiny little T-Rex arms, and tiny little T-Rex hands. It's not noticeable if you have him hold the rifle, but any other pose and he looks real strange.
Light on Accessories: The last few Play Arts figures have come with more stuff. More hands, more weapons, even extra faces and special effects. What you get with these guys is a little disappointing, especially since Snake in particular could have come with at least a packet of cigarettes, porno mag or a cardboard box.
Whether because of the character design or just because they're getting better at what they do, Play Arts has done a great job with these figures. A few of the regular complaints remain, like stupid knee joints, but on the whole there aren't many better ways a Metal Gear fan can show their love for the series than this.
Well, maybe one way, but that's another story for another day.
For the record, these babies will set you back around USD$60 each. They should be available now from your favourite comic book store or online retailer.
Currently in development (sort of) at New York-based indie outfit Attack Mountain, Legend of the Time Star is a love letter to old 16-bit, side-scrolling RPGs, particularly those coming out of Japan. Thanks to the input of Jake "virt" Kaufman it's already sounding like its inspiration, but it's thanks to Brazilan artist Dudu Torres that it's looking so great.
We've featured Dudu's work on Kotaku before, and with good reason: the guy's talented. But he's certainly outdone himself here, with character art that, while bearing touches of modernity to it, also looks like it could have fallen straight out of 1993.
You can see more of Dudu's work here, while to learn/see/hear more of Legend of the Time Star, head to the link below.
Legend of the Time Star: A Retro Action RPG [Kickstarter]
Kotaku reader "Michael" was taking a look through the pre-owned section of his local EB Games (read: GameStop) in Australia when he started noticing things weren't quite right.
Lara Croft had a marble dong. Old Snake had become a vet. Hulk Hogan had started attending Hogwarts. So he started looking through the section and found a ton of games with similar chop-jobs applied to their box art.
Now, this could be the work of a serial trader, or even a sneaky member of the public, but this many cases, chopped and shopped so lovingly, with real pictures, glue and everything? It's got to be the store itself. Maybe even "Michael", since some of these photos were taken behind the register.
UPDATE - Looks like "Michael" and some friends were indeed former employees, with the pictures taken around 2009 from their store in the state of South Australia. Which lessens the mystery, perhaps, but not the comedy.
There's some highlights above, but for the full gallery head below.
The Mystery Of EB's Hilarious Hijacked Video Game Covers [Kotaku AU]
