Kobito Dukan, those ugly troll characters, got their own 3DS game. And that game had insane box art. And the game itself looked okay, fun even as you attempt to catch those little characters and make your own field guide. But those little characters? They look like a dog's breakfast.

But as fugly as the Kobito Dukan trolls are and as nutso as the 3DS box art looks, this game is a hit—it's shipped around 100,000 copies in Japan in about a month since going on sale in late July. Bravo troll people!

『こびとづかん こびと観察セット』が発売から約1ヵ月で10万本を出荷 [ファミ通]

Um. Okay. Deep breath. The folks behind the Goophone i5, the Android-powered iPhone 5 clone, are threatening to sue Apple if the California-based tech giant releases the iPhone 5 and if it looks like the Goophone i5. Or something.

This is probably a publicity stunt—one with a mind boggling YouTube video. The reason why Goophone says they can sue Apple is that their product was released before the iPhone 5, and if the iPhone 5 looks like the Goophone, then Apple is copying it. Try to follow that logic vapor trail. I dare you.

Goophone i5 Vows To Sue Apple if the Next iPhone Releases in China [MIC]

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Master Chief is one of video gaming's icons. Much like Mario and Sonic, the Halo series protagonist has become a video game company poster child. However, with the upcoming release of Halo 4, many Japanese gamers are not happy with how the helmeted gun-toting warrior is sounding.

On August 24th, Soutaro Tojima, the audio director for Halo 4 announced that there would be a change in the Japanese voice over cast for the main characters, Master Chief and Cortana. While the English version voices would remain as Steve Downes for Master Chief and Jen Taylor for Cortana, the Japanese cast (originally Atsuki Tani and Akiko Koike) would be replaced by voice actors Rikiya Koyama and Ayumi Fujimura.

The change in cast was almost immediately met with a stream of confused, worried and angry twitter posts directed at Tojima and his decision. Tojima replied that the voice cast choice was "strongly influenced by 'my own feelings'" and that when the game is released and people play it, if they are disappointed by the cast, it will be entirely his responsibility. Unsatisfied with Tojima's response, Japanese fans have put up an online petition to have the original voice actors reinstated.

While the Japanese Halo fanbase is a fraction of its Western counterpart, it is still significant enough in the eyes of the developers to warrant a Japanese voice cast version of the game and not just a subtitled version. A character's voice and what they sound like are an incredibly important factor in defining how people perceive them. Changing the voice of such iconic characters could be seen as extremely ballsy, extremely arrogant, or both. As small as the Japanese fanbase may be, alienating them is probably not such a good idea. Let's just hope Tojima's gamble pays off.

Halo 4 is scheduled for release on November 6th.

騒動の発端と経緯 [Halo4 吹き替えキャスト変更問題まとめ@wiki]

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The iconic outfit of fighting game character Mai Shiranui has become the standard, de rigueur threads. It's not the standard for gamers, but for models. In Asia—especially China and Taiwan—models keep popping in non-gaming related events dressed as the SNK fighting game character.

So whether its car shows or book signings, Mai Shiranui continues to appear over and over again—rather, models dressed as Mai Shiranui (here and here).

For a longtime in neighboring Japan, Mai has also been a go-to for models, but the character's outfit isn't quite the default get-up as it's recently been in China.

The appeal of the outfit isn't so much that everyone in China loves The King of Fighters (though, of course, it has a following). Instead, the outfit is skimpy and revealing and has become a uniform of sorts. So if you want to show up in cosplay, its an easy go-to choice—instead of simply representing the fighting game character.

Most recently, model Lan Fenghuang (above) is making waves in both China and Taiwan—and, of course, Japan—with her Mai Shiranui duds.

16岁萌妹扮演最性感游戏女角色走红 [TT.Mop]

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There have been a bunch of those Assassin's Creed spin-off games. But this newly revealed one offers a new spin. It's a strategy sim.

Dubbed Assassin's Creed: Utopia, the game is set during America's colonial era and allows players to build their 17th century colony—and then, watch it flourish over 150 years, right up to the American Revolution.

But this isn't just Sim City for AC. In Utopia, your colony is filled with assassins, who take on their enemies in "limited time epic battles".

Assassin's Creed: Utopia is slated for the a winter iOS release.

Assassin's Creed: Utopia Is a City Building Battler [Eurogamer]

Popular in Japan, parfait is a tasty treat. And you know what's good in parfait? Bananas. Except in the Japanese city of Akita, where banana parfait is very, very bad.

This "banana parfait" photo has gone viral in Japan. The dish was served up in front of Akita Station in Akita Prefecture. Price: ¥180. Memory? Priceless.

180円のバナナパフェ [‏@chi_chan0915]

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Since 1955, Miffy has delighted children. The character has also delighted graphic designers and illustrators who seem to have been influenced by Dick Bruna's work. Take Hello Kitty (and her friends)—they look like Miffy, no?

While his work is popular in Asia, Bruna has continuously voiced his dislike for Hello Kitty—the Japanese cat's rabbit friend was even taken to court. But Miffy's legal eagles didn't stop there. More recently, they filed an injunction against a South Korean "shy rabbit" character named Booto (see above).

This past Friday, the Seoul Central District Court rejected that injunction against Booto, stating, "Miffy and Booto have slight differences when looking at the details but these create a significant difference in the overall look." Continuing the presiding judge added, "The two characters must be regarded as separate creative images."

What's more, the judge did note that there were similarities, but that some of those similarities were unavoidable because they were rabbits. Funny, though, Booto looks noting like Bugs Bunny, Peter Rabbit, Roger Rabbit, or even Thumper. That being said, the Korean character sure looks less like Miffy than Hello Kitty's bunny buddy (below).

Local firm wins rabbit character suit [The Korea Times]

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Phoenix Wright is coming back to the courtroom (what ever happened to Apollo?) in the upcoming Ace Attorney 5 for the 3DS, but his trusty companion, Maya, may not be with him.

Screenshots released from Capcom show the defense lawyer back from his time off as a poker player and pianist to "fulfill a promise." After the bombing of a courthouse (While it certainly looks like everyone's favorite courtroom, there has been no confirmation that it is indeed the same place) Phoenix returns to defend the suspect, a shy high school girl against the younger brother of Winston Payne.

Protagonists of the Ace Attorney series never work alone. However, Phoenix Wright's usual companion, the eccentric medium, Maya Fey, is nowhere to be seen in the released images.

Considering that she has been a staple for the series since the beginning and has had a relationship with Phoenix that has developed over the past games, this comes as a bit of a shock. In her place, a young redheaded girl is being introduced to the series, although all information about her, including her name, has yet to be revealed. Capcom's official Ace Attorney 5 site was kind enough to introduce her only as a "mystery girl..."

According to developers, the new game will also have a new system that focuses on the psychological side of cases, not just evidence and facts. some of the released in-game images show 4 emotion icons in the corners of the screen, but how they will be utilized has not yet been revealed. Hopefully, we'll be able to find out more and see the new "mystery girl" and Phoenix in action soon, as Capcom has announced that they will have a playable demo available at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show in two weeks. Stay tuned for more coverage!

Ace Attorney 5 does not yet have a release date.

逆転裁判5 公式サイト [CAPCOM]

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When players enter the world of Sleeping Dogs, one of the first characters they meet is Wei Shen's childhood friend, Jackie Ma. The voice actor who plays Ma was one of Hong Kong's biggest stars—that is, until his private sex photos were leaked online.

In 2008, superstar Edison Chen sent his laptop in for repairs. Over 1,300 private photos were copied by the shop, with photos of Chen having sex with several well-known Chinese celebrities—like Bobo Chan, Cecilia Cheun and Gillian Chung—leaking online. It became a huge scandal in Hong Kong, and even garnered international press. It was such a huge deal that his name was the most searched in China that year.

Still, nobody seemed to want anything to do with Chen. Big name sponsors like Samsung and Levis dropped him. The whole thing was awful for actor-singer and everyone involved, with people's privacy violated. Chen said he was leaving the Hong Kong entertainment industry "indefinitely". (He later returned in 2010.)

Since then, it's been a slog to return to where he once was. Some fans still have a bad taste in their mouths over the photo leak, while others might actually like him more for his bad boy image.

In late 2010, Chen started making public appearances again—though, it wasn't for big corporate sponsors. One of his first gigs after he returned was for the 2010 Asia Game Show in Hong Kong. He appeared on stage and performed songs, covering Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".

His appearance in Sleeping Dogs is one of his highest profile acting gigs since the whole scandal. He also will reprise his role in the sequel of Initial D film, which was a manga and popular arcade game. While probably not intentional, part of his slow comeback seems based in gaming.

In years past, doing video game work was seen as a step down for acting. Some still might think that. They shouldn't, because there are interesting, well written parts out there that can open up your work to an entirely new audience. Just ask Edison Chen.

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Trials Evolution is heading to the PC nearly next year. It's optimized for the PC—and some other stuff. I wasn't really paying attention, but focused more on trying to imitate this raspy voice. Triaals Evoluution. Nope, still can't do it!