My recent forays into Japan-only anime tie-in games have been a little less than fruitful. Regardless of the quality of the source material, they have either been interesting in concept (but failed in the execution) or have just been mediocre at what they were trying to do.

But despite my recent frustration at finding good ones in recent releases, this generation has had more than a few great Japan-only anime tie-in games, spread across several genres. Click through the gallery above to see some of the best examples.

(And before you ask why there's no Tales of Xillia or other similar game cited, that's because this list is only mentioning games that were anime first. It's for this reason also that there are no visual novels listed.)

Jump Ultimate Stars

Nintendo DS
Jump Ultimate Stars is pretty infamous for its amazing cast of 305 characters from across 41 different manga. While only 56 of the characters are playable in battle (the others are support characters), all your favorites are there—including Goku, Kenshin, Ichigo, Yugi Moto, Monkey D. Luffy, and, of course, Naruto.

The game itself plays most like Super Smash Bros., only with customizable teams and support character attacks. It does a great job at mixing a fun combat system with a giant fan service crossover. And as the DS is region-free, this is easily importable.

Gundam Extreme VS

PS3, Arcade
I have previously called Gundam Extreme VS the best anime-based game ever made, and I stand by it. It's an amazing 3D fighter that is fast, complex, and downright fun. Its two versus two battles promote strong teamwork and its thriving internet fanbase insure you will always have someone to play with.

Add to that a robust single player mode and a few mobile suits from nearly every Gundam property in existence, and you have a game that not only Gundam and fighting game fans but also the average gamer will enjoy.

2nd Super Robot Wars Z

PSP
Super Robot Wars is a series that revolves around crossing a massive group of unrelated robot and super robot anime into one strategy RPG. It's been around since the days of the Game Boy and NES. In gameplay, it's your typical—though very well done—turn-based strategy game. However, it takes fanservice to the nth degree by including attacks specific to every robot from their home series. The ultimate attacks for each robot are so over-the-top and spot-on for their respective series, they can take up to a minute to watch.

The 2nd Super Robot Wars Z duology of games sports characters and robots from 35 different series including Macross Frontier, Gundam 00, Big-O, and even the king of super robot anime, Gurren Lagann. What's amazing about 2nd Super Robot Wars Z—and all Super Robot Wars games really—is how it is able to link all the stories together and make all these drastically different anime exist in the same world.

Initial D Extreme Stage

PS3
Long before drifting entered the mainstream consciousness, there was Initial D. And as an anime about car racing, it is no surprise that its game would be a racer.

If you ever wanted to play a game based solely around drifting, then this is your series. And while you won't be able to try the arcade version anytime soon (unless you live in Asia), this PS3 title is easy enough to import and play.

(Granted this is not quite a Japan-only title as games in the series have come to the West in years past—and are still released in several countries throughout southeast Asia—but its current arcade and PS3 iterations have not come west.)

Apple's new maps suck. Everyone knows that. They especially stink in South Korea. For example, the Blue House, the country's executive office, is mixed up with a Chinese restaurant in a Seoul train station. This is among other misses, including overlooking the names of important mountains that everyone knows.

According to Livedoor, The Korean government is asking Apple to make the necessary corrections—and is going one step further by offering what exactly needs to be fixed.

The country's mountainous terrain is no doubt difficult to map, and there are bound to be blunders. Most likely, this isn't trolling! But given the recent legal spat between the two companies, I'm not entirely convinced this Samsung mistake was not...

Above is how Samsung's headquarters apparently appear in Apple Maps. Or how it doesn't appear, rather.

韓国政府、米アップルに「サムスン本社を空き地」と表示した地図アプリを修正するよう要請 [Livedoor]

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With Visualive Persona 4 the Evolution, popular title Persona 4 returns to the stage. Once again, it's a theatrical extravaganza that mixes multimedia effects to bring Persona to life.

Japanese game site Famitsu was on hand to check out the recent performance, which runs until October 9 at The Galaxy Theatre in Tokyo.

舞台"VISUALIVE『ペルソナ4』the EVOLUTION"上演開始！ [ファミ通]

Music has always been one of the pillars of Macross—along with love triangles and space wars. But only now, 30 years after the airing of the original Macross, is it getting its first stage musical: Macross: the Musiculture. While such performances are somewhat common (like Persona 4's own stage adaptation), this musical is actually an entirely new story in the continuity of the Macross universe.

The musical is set three years after Macross Frontier on Macross 29 (Two-Nine), a pacifist fleet on the verge of economic collapse. As part of an economic recovery program, the government is holding a Miss Macross talent competition. At the same time, a new political movement advocating the return to a strong military has been capitalizing on the economic crisis and gaining popularity—especially among young Zentradi.

The situation begins to come to a head when two teens, Ash and Sakura, meet Vigo, one of the young leaders of the political dissidents.

To get a brief look at what the musical is like, check out the video above.

Macross: the Musiculture opened in Tokyo this past Wednesday and will run through October 10.

Taiwan's Next Media, famous for its Sims like news recreations, totally pissed off Cathay Pacific when it ran a video showing male passengers pleasuring themselves in business class. The above clip might be NSFW.

"Cathay Pacific, of course, did not like the video," Next Media wrote on YouTube. "It asked NMA to remove the video but we refused. Never in the course of Cathay's correspondence with NMA did Cathay address the issue that males passengers have been seen masturbating aboard Cathay flights."

According to Next Media, the airline apparently had YouTube take down the original video. The Taiwanese news outlet responded by reposting the video, affirming that the content was protected under U.S. copyright law, which makes exceptions for satire, parody, and criticism.

"We don't like censorship," wrote Next Media. "We don't like bullies." And supposedly business class passengers on Cathay Pacific like masturbation.

Cathay Pacific doesn't want you to see this video [YouTube via MIC Gadget]

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Like the Tales of Xillia 2 bus, here's a pair of cars (Auris and Aqua) that were turned into Tales itasha.

They were spotted by CNET Japan at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo's Ikebukuro as part of what looks like a viral campaign to promote Tales of Xillia 2.

Does this mean most Tales players are Toyota owners? Or prospective Toyota owners?

PS3「テイルズ オブ エクシリア2」のデコカーがアムラックスで展示 [CNET Japan]

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I was told to arrive early—that Nintendo would be announcing something big. Nintendo's Satoru Iwata stood before the 2005 Tokyo Game Show podium and did just that: he showed off the new controller for the very first time. The console was then codenamed "Revolution". It was later released as the Nintendo Wii and was a pretty big deal.

A teaser trailer rolled, promising a room full of assorted press and industry folks the ability to use the Wii Remote as a tool to drill teeth, a knife to chop vegetables, and a sword to slice enemies with. Yet, there was something else that caught my eye—a green controller.

By god, I've always wanted a green controller—no, a green console. One day, I promised, that green Nintendo magic would be mine. Oh yes. Mine.

Of course, I know there have already been green consoles, such as a green Xbox and a green Nintendo 64. But there was something about that green, that Wii green. In some publicity shots, it looked like a lime green. Maybe it was Luigi green. Whatever, I was intrigued!

It was the promise those early colors had—that there would be multiple Wii colors. At launch we only got white, which was followed by black. There was red, so we can check that off the list. The unexpected color was blue. The silver/gray one never seems to have been released—let's face it, those are boring colors. But, definitely there's been no green one for consumers from Nintendo.

I know Nintendo had mock-up green controllers. I saw them in that TGS trailer! And it's a damn shame they were never released.

Game companies always do stuff like this—promise stuff that's possible. Sometimes it's an array of colors, which is what Sony did last year at TGS with the PS Vita. Sometimes, it's tech or games.

As the Wii's time draws to a close and as Nintendo readies the Wii U, I can't help but feel slightly sad. I was holding my breath for a last minute green Wii, not because I would buy one, but just to see the realization of those early trailer and product shots. We were promised so much. A lot was realized, but not everything. Unfortunately, everything rarely is.

They're called thugs. The Japanese media labels them "bouryokudan" (暴力団), or literally "violence" (暴力) "group" (団). They call themselves humanitarian outfits. The world knows them as the yakuza. Here is a glimpse inside.

Photographer Anton Kusters and his brother, Malik, documented two years in the life of the Shinseikai family, which operates in Tokyo's Shinjuku. The result is Odo Yakuza Tokyo, which was first published a few years back.

Kusters recently talked to New York Daily News about the experience, calling it a "rollercoaster ride."

"I try to share not only their complex relationship to Japanese society, but also to show the personal struggle of being forced to live in two different worlds at the same time; worlds that often have conflicting morals and values," explains Kusters on his official site. "It turns out not to be a simple 'black' versus 'white' relationship, but most definitely one with many, many, many shades of grey."

Kusters' remarks echo what Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice, told Kotaku back in 2011. "The yakuza don't think of themselves as criminals, because they argue that they are ninkyou dantai, aka 'humanitarian groups'," said Adelstein at the time. This is why the concept of chivalry, or "ninkyou" (任侠), is synonymous with the yakuza.

For those who haven't picked up Kusters' book or followed his work, you can check out his photos below. There's also more info on Kusters' official site as well as a link for Odo Yakuza Tokyo.

Yakuza [Anton Kusters]
Odo Yakuza Tokyo: 2nd Edition [Anton Kusters]
Photographer Anton Kusters captures intimate portraits of Yakuza [NY Daily News]

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There are controllers, there are controllers, and then there's a very special place in the world—alongside inflatable rafts—for peripherals like the Delta Six.

Shooting (SORRY) straight for the mildly crazy Call of Duty fan, it's essentially replicating the actions of a standard video game controller, only in the most convoluted and theatrical way possible. A ton of sensors detect where you're pointing the gun at or how high you're holding it, and there's even the ability to reload in the game by reloading the gun in real life.

Due out next year, it's priced at $89, and is actually brought to you by the same guys behind the Avenger controller clip-on. Cost to your reputation as a normal human being with friends and family TBA.

Over the Top Rifle Controller Makes Modern Warfare More Real Than Ever [Gizmodo]

Perhaps because old-timey paintings can be naught but artistic lies, it's tough knowing exactly what a notable person from history actually looks like.

Oh, unless you've got a record of their actual face. And a piece of modern technology that lets you scan and reproduce it.

A collaboration between Microsoft, the Royal Society of London and a "science journalism project" called Periodic Videos has seen Kinect put to work scanning an intricate 3D model of Newton's "death mask", which is normally not exactly sitting around for the public to see (though you could have caught a glimpse earlier this year).

Now that it's been scanned, though, researchers, students and the generally interested can check it out, while in theory anyone with a 3D printer could even reproduce it.

Then wear it for Halloween.

Microsoft Made A 3D Scan Of Isaac Newton's Deathmask [TPM]