I didn't know what to say. I thought the mild-mannered Japanese man in glasses, perhaps, wanted to talk to me about a game he had made. But no, it was about an article I wrote about him.

His name was Makoto Goto. And at last year's Game Developer Conference, Fez creator Phil Fish (above) trashed Japanese games to his face. What Goto said to me this weekend left me speechless.

"Are you Brian Ashcraft?" a mild-mannered Japanese man asked as I was making small talk with a dev from Tango Gameworks.

"Yes," I replied.

"You wrote an article about me," he replied, pulling a binder from his bag. We were at this weekend's BitSummit indie game event in Kyoto, which was in the process of wrapping up. People were filing out of the room.

In a plastic sleeve was a Kotaku article. At the top, there was a photo of Phil Fish, sideburns, glasses, and all. The title read, "Japanese Games 'Just Suck' Target Speaks Out."

"That's me," he said. "I'm Makoto Goto."

I write a lot of posts—usually over eight a day. I've been doing this for years now, so that adds up to thousands of posts. However, I immediately remembered that story. I remembered his name. I remembered what happened. How could you forget?

"I wanted to thank you for writing this," Goto said. "It really gave me courage." He told me that when his wife read the story, she was so moved that she had cried.

Goto didn't go into great depth as to why. He didn't have to. It was the feeling that, perhaps, in the wake of having a bad experience in a foreign country, a foreigner could understand how he felt. And I was hardly unique—or alone—in that.

"That was rude, sure, but I really want to thank Phil Fish, too, for what he said," Goto added. What he said, if you don't remember, during a Game Developer Conference Q&A last year, was that Japanese games "suck." "I think his remark really motivated Japanese game creators to work harder," Goto, who is a programmer and a designer, said. "I know it has motivated me."

Phil Fish has apologized on numerous occasions for his remark, including to Goto. He's made amends. He doesn't hate Japan or Japanese games. He stuck his foot in his mouth. Happens to the best of us. But out of that inelegant statement, Goto didn't become bitter or spiteful.

There are many different kinds of strength. There is a variety of courage. Sometimes you need that ironclad will to do something dangerous. Sometimes, it's necessary to do things others would call mundane.

Goto asked me if I was going to this year's Game Developer Conference. He said he would be. I didn't know what else to say. The words couldn't quite form in my mouth, so I offered up the best that I could: Thank you, Makoto Goto.

My apartment is a mess, my many online game accounts are in terrible disarray and need attention, but with two jobs and a dog, I really don't have time to do everything I should. However, according to a post on Sina Weibo, a Chinese IT company is offering a service that can change all that; a house-call maid service.

There are loads of things you can do with maids: play Wii Fit with them, beat them at Ridge Racer, or ride in a taxi with them. However, you can only do these things in Japan. In a post on the Chinese Twitter clone Sina Weibo, the popular "Alibuybuy" posted threaded images of a girl making house calls in China, cosplaying as a maid.

The post explains that the maid, dressed in what some netizens are calling a French maid attire, goes to customers' houses and spends the day. According to Alibuybuy, the maid works for a Chinese IT company, but many netizens, including reporters at NetEase and Sina, speculate that the so-called IT company is actually just an advertising company.

Images accompanying the post showed the maid doing various household chores:

She made the bed, did some dishes and cooked dinner. She also video chatted with the customer's parents. However, the thing that really drove netizens insane is the fact that she'll play Defense of the Ancients.

It's unknown whether this is all a publicity stunt or not, and not much is known about the IT company itself. The post says it might be located in Lanzhou, Gansu province. Our friends at Sina and NetEase, as well as some of the 1000 plus commenters, say that it's just another terribly sexist advertising scheme to promote a product. Sadly, the only thing I can see this promoting (apart from sexism) is DOTA, and I don't really see how this helps the game. Personally, I wouldn't mind having a pretty cleaning lady come to my apartment and clean.

[Weibo]

My apartment is a mess, my many online game accounts are in terrible disarray and need attention, but with two jobs and a dog, I really don't have time to do everything I should. However, according to a post on Sina Weibo, a Chinese IT company is offering a service that can change all that; a house-call maid service.

There are loads of things you can do with maids: play Wii Fit with them, beat them at Ridge Racer, or ride in a taxi with them. However, you can only do these things in Japan. In a post on the Chinese Twitter clone Sina Weibo, the popular "Alibuybuy" posted threaded images of a girl making house calls in China, cosplaying as a maid.

The post explains that the maid, dressed in what some netizens are calling a French maid attire, goes to customers' houses and spends the day. According to Alibuybuy, the maid works for a Chinese IT company, but many netizens, including reporters at NetEase and Sina, speculate that the so-called IT company is actually just an advertising company.

Images accompanying the post showed the maid doing various household chores:

She made the bed, did some dishes and cooked dinner. She also video chatted with the customer's parents. However, the thing that really drove netizens insane is the fact that she'll play Defense of the Ancients.

It's unknown whether this is all a publicity stunt or not, and not much is known about the IT company itself. The post says it might be located in Lanzhou, Gansu province. Our friends at Sina and NetEase, as well as some of the 1000 plus commenters, say that it's just another terribly sexist advertising scheme to promote a product. Sadly, the only thing I can see this promoting (apart from sexism) is DOTA, and I don't really see how this helps the game. Personally, I wouldn't mind having a pretty cleaning lady come to my apartment and clean.

[Weibo]

As people may have realized from my previous few reviews of figures from Hong Kong collectible toy company Hot Toys, I have been slowly gathering the Avengers team (among other cool figures). I suppose I'll get to my reasons as to why eventually. Anyhow, I received an email shortly after my Joker 2.0 review informing me that the Avengers Thor figure I had preordered last year was in the mail, so here it is for all to see.

So, standard Hot Toys praise: The face has an amazing likeness to the original actor, Chris Hemsworth, and the attention to detail is superb. That aside, yeah, it's a really nice figure. The Avengers version of the God of Thunder is greatly improved compared to the original Thor version. Firstly, since the figure does not have a helmet, you don't have to worry about the plastic helmet hair. Also, even though the basic design is the same, Thor's costume looks overall more realistic and believable as something you might see in real life.

In terms of accessories, Thor comes with very little. Which isn't to take away from what the figure does come with. Mjolnir, in all its miniature glory, is actually made out of metal, giving it a hefty and almost impressive weight despite its size.

Thor also comes with the Tesseract-powered transport device that is used at the end of the movie as a little bonus (or to make up for lack of accessories). The device looks cool, but sadly does not actually fit in Thor's hands all that well. I thought they might be going for visual and scale accuracy, but upon watching the movie again and comparing, that turned out not to be the case, so I guess it really is just a bonus item. It'll probably still look cool together with Loki, though (when that figure is released).

Thor suffers from some of the general flaws inherent with scaled-down figures, like the lack of mobility in his arms and head due to the material of his clothing and hard plastic hair. The cape can't be removed either, which is somewhat disappointing, but a minor complaint.

Overall, The Avengers Thor is a pretty damn cool figure and a proud addition to my slowly growing collection of Avengers characters. I just got an email telling me that the Black Widow figure has been released and is in the mail, so I guess I know what I'll be talking about next...

The Avengers Thor figure is on pre-order in the West through Sideshow Collectibles.

Remember the dude who ordered a Burger King burger with a thousand slices of bacon? Well, he's back! This time he's ordered a hamburger with a hundred slices of grilled onion. Because a thousand slices would be insane.

After unwrapping the tower of sliced onion burger, it promptly toppled over, leaving Mr. Sato from Japanese site Rocket News doing his best to hold it together. And eat it like this:

And then eat it like this:

And when he tired of eating fistfuls of onions, he slathered some barbeque sauce on them.

Which eventually lead to this:

And this.

The remaining onions were put in a pot and cooked with beef for a delicious "beef bowl" (牛丼 or "gyuudon") that looks yummier than any burger.

Talk about havin' it your way!

バーガーキングにタマネギ100枚挟んで食べてみた [rocketnews24@YouTube via ロケットニュース]

Last week, a post broke out on the Chinese Twitter clone Sina Weibo about a young a man who hasn't left his home in 6 years. The post, an impassioned plea for help, was written by the man's father in hopes that someone could help his son return to his normal life.

The post on Weibo, picked up by Xinhua, explained 27 year-old "Xiao Jiang's" sudden change of lifestyle. According to his father, Ye Yuming, he suddenly quit his job and purchased a computer in 2007. Xiao Jiang supposedly then went on to play online games night and day, occasionally taking a break for food.

After a while Xiao Jiang's "descent" into hermithood started to concern his father. Ye says that his son started to sleep all day and game all night, often forgoing meals. Xiao Jiang's hygiene also took a sharp downturn; he would often wear the same clothes days on end and refuse to shower. On top of the weird hours and hygiene issues, Ye says that Xiao Jiang started to cut off communications with the family.

When the news broke out that Xiao Jiang had been holed up in his home for the last 6 years, reporters visited the Ye household in Hangzhou. Xiao Jiang seemed to be very much against talking to the reporters or his father, and when they attempted to go into his room, he grabbed a knife.

According to Xinhua's psychological expert, Xiao Jiang may be suffering from certain psychological obstacles, obstacles that aren't normally associated with online game "addiction." Xinhua's psych expert also said that Xiao Jiang's unwillingness to talk to outsiders could be a form of extreme paranoia.

Whatever the case may be, let's hope the guy gets some help.

27岁青年沉溺游戏6年足不出户 父亲微博求助 [Xinhua via Tencent]

The entire room was packed. This has to be a fire hazard, someone said. It probably was, but no one cared. They were too busy looking at cool games they had never seen before and meeting game creators they had heard of and never heard of before.

"I had no idea there were so many indie game creators in Japan," said Ryo Agarie, a former Rare dev, as he showed me the stunning iOS game, Tengami. You know what, Ryo? You weren't the first person to say that.

This weekend, game creators flocked to Kyoto this weekend for the first BitSummit, an event spearheaded by a handful of Westerners who live in Japan and work in the country's game industry. Joining them were industry titans like Valve, Epic Games' Japan branch, and Unity.

The point of the BitSummit was simple: Get a bunch of Japan-based indie game creators in the same room with industry types and press and see what happens. The point was also long overdue.

"There are a bet set of barriers for indie game creators in Japan," James Mielke, BitSummit's lead organizer and a producer at Q-Games, told Kotaku. "They don't know who to talk to or who to contact about getting their games out there." Other organizers included Tokyo-based game localizers 8-4 and Ben Judd, a former Capcom producer and current agent at Digital Development Management.

Like most developer events, BitSummit had panels with game developers. Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro of Deadly Premonition fame gave a talk, telling the crowd not to look back on old games and make something people haven't seen before. "You're independent, so why not be a little more creative?" asked Swery. Yohei Kataoka, Tokyo Jungle's director, talked about the Japanese aesthetic and encouraged Japanese creators to make their own games.

There were also panels that provided useful industry info. Valve, for example, gave a walkthrough of what Steam was and how to get your games on it. Unity and Epic also provided overviews for their tools. For Western game devs, this might seem rather basic—too basic. But this is exactly the kind of presentations Japan-based indie game creators wanted. They wanted to be brought up to speed. They wanted to know what tools were out there and how to get their games to the widest audience possible.

Japan doesn't only have a long history of video games; it also has a long history of indie games. In Japanese, they're called "doujin games" (同人ゲーム). "Doujin" literally means "member" or "comrade", but the word is used to refer to independently created and self-published works, whether that's games or comics. These games have been around in Japan since the 1970s.

"I've been making my own games since I was in school," said doujin game creator who goes by the moniker "HAta" and is perhaps best known for his role-playing games that can offer up to 300 hours of play. "When I was in high school, I spent more time making games than studying." According to the 36 year-old game creator, when he was a kid, there weren't that many PC games available, so he had to learn to make his own games if he wanted to play something. So far, it's worked out for him, and he's turned his bedroom programming into a full time job.

"I don't think there's a difference between doujin and independent games," Seon King from Japanese indie game distributor Nyu Media told Kotaku. The sticking point is that many foreigners don't know what "doujin" means. What's more, as King pointed out, doujin games have never had a strong distribution network in Japan, and many traditional game publishers have either ignored them or tried to squash them. Plus, it's hard to get press in Japan (and the West) to acknowledge many of these games.

Some indie game creators, however, have been incredibly pro-active. Nigoro has pushed hard to get its name out there, reaching out to foreign press, and hustling to get its action game La Mulana on WiiWare and, as of next month, Steam. Nigoro is one of Japan's most interesting indie developers and is responsible for the greatest video game about slapping ever made, Rose & Camellia.

A handful of doujin game creators have crossed over to the mainstream in Japan by going pro. And every year, there are huge doujin events where these bedroom programmers can sell their latest creations, but many of them have never hit the wide audiences that their Western, indie counterparts have, because those games are largely sold as packaged items. Thus, to the outside world, Japan doesn't seem to have an indie scene.

Yet, this weekend, an event hall was swarming with game creators, eager to learn how to get their games out there—or just eager to show people their games. And it's not just Japanese game creators. There was a noticeable number of non-Japanese creators, some of them known creators, such as Tokyo-based Voxatron designer Joseph White. Others, I had never heard of before, such as Eric Koziol, who was showing off his new (and very interesting) iOS puzzle game, Subaku, on his phone. It was a game I stumbled upon, and one my son, whom I brought along, couldn't stop playing.

There were other discoveries, like Gero Blaster for iOS. Gero Blaster, which is a run-and-gun game that stars a frog, features some of the best, and smartest, iPhone controls I've ever used was created by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya, who toiled away for five years on Cave Story, a freeware, independent PC game released in 2004. There was Yatagarasu 4, a truly enjoyable fighter gaming that game's programmer, who doesn't even work in the game industry, knocked out in his free time after his day job.

This was what a game show should be, I thought. There was zero pretension whatsoever. There weren't even hard sells and PR bullshit that you become accustomed to—and sick of—the longer you cover gaming. Instead, it was a room full of people who made games, who only wanted the chance to meet other game creators and have people check out their games. I didn't feel grand delusions of fame or fortune. There was a purity that often feels lost in video games.

At he front of the room, two guys from Valve sat at a table. To be honest, they didn't have to be there. Plenty of game creators in the West are dying to get their games on Valve's Steam platform. But, yet, here was Valve, meeting with whoever approached their table. As I said, they didn't have to be there, but there were there for a reason: Japan has tons of independent games that never leave the country. "I think there's a bunch of good stuff in the room that deserves a wider audience," Valve's Dan Berger told Kotaku.

Moments earlier, two Japanese indie game creators—one male and one female—both had made their way to Valve's table. It was only after a developer at 8-4 had heard them worrying about whether they should even approach Valve. The attitude felt very humble, slightly shy, and incredibly Japanese. For many of the country's independent game creators, it feels like they are making video games because they want to—not as some sort of get rich quick scheme. So things like self promotion and putting oneself out there might seem more difficult for many creators, thus, making it harder to discover new and interesting game experiences.

There is an interest in getting these games out there. There is a world of Japanese games we don't know about yet. And there are indie game creators in Japan who are keen to bring their work to a larger audience. "It's amazing that we were able to get all these people out to Kyoto," said Q-Games boss Dylan Cuthbert. Amazing, sure. Wonderful, yes. About time, definitely.

This weekend, sand storms blew through Japan. Cities like Tokyo were covered in an unreal yellow haze.

Every year, yellow sand from the deserts of Mongolia and northern China blow over North and South Korea as well as Japan. The sand is called "kousa" (黄砂) in Japanese and "Asian Dust" in English. The winds also bring pollution, pesticides, and even viruses and bacteria.

Many Japanese snapped up air purifiers and donned masks to protect themselves. Artistic minded individuals did what they do best: drew anime characters of the storm.

This year, the storms were particularly bad. Oddly, the Japan Meteorological Agency denies that this was Asian Dust sweeping through Tokyo. Instead, it says this was simply "haze" (煙霧 or "enmu"). Some in Japan are assuming that the Japanese government is trying not to point fingers at China, especially in light of recent tensions between the two countries.

And as The Japan Times noted, there's increased concern that even more of China's rising pollution would be scattered across Japan.

Here are collected photos via 2ch and Twitter of the sands as they make their way through Tokyo and the rest of Japan.

Looks rather yellow for just haze! The storms have passed through much of Tokyo, taking the yellow dust with them, leaving clear skies and probably a whole bunch of other stuff.

Here are some personifications of the dust.

One Twitter user even noted that if you wield a pellet gun in the yellow haze, it kind of looks like a first-person shooter. It kind of does, because FPS games are always so brown.

Not sure if they're so polluted, though.

東京の空の色ヤバすぎクソワロタｗｗ　　｡･ﾟﾟ･(>_<)･ﾟﾟ･｡ [暇つぶしニュース]
今まで撮ってきたスカイツリーの中で確実に一番スゲエ景色 [@HiedanoAQN]
黄砂+エアガン=FPSっぽい写真になる！ [@J_CORE_Sisters]
黄砂擬人化 [ニコ]
黄色すぎる空の報告まとめ【擬人化あり [まとめ]
話題の黄砂と杉花粉、土埃、PM2.5の擬人化に萌える [まとめ]
東京の空がやばいと話題に [痛いニュース]

I have a confession to make: I am dating a cosplayer. You'll never know exactly which one, because I am a secret boyfriend. And because I am a secret boyfriend, I can't tell you my name or hers.

This is probably an issue that most of you know nothing about because—like me—it's a secret. Yet it's an unavoidable fact that there are cosplayers out there who say and act like they are single, but in reality have boyfriends.

There are a lot of reasons why this might be. Just because a cosplayer likes to share her costume work and photographs online doesn't mean that she wants absolute strangers to know her relationship status. It could be that the boyfriend doesn't want to be included in his cosplay girlfriend's tweets and blog posts to protect his own privacy. Or it might be because some cosplayers think that being perceived as single—and therefore available—will help them gain notoriety and 'fame.'

Now before you chop my head off and exclaim that cosplayers don't in fact view being single as a way to get ahead, before dating a cosplayer I knew nothing about the world within. Many different types of people cosplay and they all have different opinions and goals. There are cosplayers who are openly dating someone or married. There are coplayers who are single. But there are also cosplayers who are in secret relationships.

I am a secret boyfriend and I'm ok with that. One, I don't really want to be included in all of her tweets and blog posts, so I like it that she doesn't talk about our private life online. Two, in our real lives I am not secret. Her family and friends know about me, and mine know about her. But, when it comes to her online cosplay presence...I might as well not exist.

After following my girlfriend from con-to-con and getting to know a lot of her cosplay friends, I noticed that even your favorite cosplaying heroine (I don't want to ‘out' anyone so I will omit names) had secret boyfriends and husbands. Often, I was surprised to find out which ones!

I was also surprised to see how each relationship between cosplayer and boyfriend differed. There were the cosplayers who were obviously there to have fun and hang out with their boyfriends/girlfriends and were even doing couples cosplay. There were the boyfriends tagging along on purse duty. Sometimes a cosplayer would introduce the guy as her boyfriend…and sometimes the cosplayer would introduce her boyfriend as just ‘her friend.'

Now, before you think this is a rant, I must make it clear that this is just an opinion piece, not an angry character assassination. My significant other was a cosplayer well before I met her, talked to her, dated her, and hooked up with her (not necessarily in that order). So I knew the rules of the game before I entered them. As with all relationships, ours involves compromise. It is 50/50; give and take. I may not exactly always agree with being her hush-hush boyfriend, but at the same time I understand, accept it, and support her decisions out of love, the way she puts up with my snoring or excessive video game playing.

At the same time, I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't bother me when a guy hits on my girlfriend at a convention right in front of me. It can be enraging to read some of the comments her pictures receive online. I don't always like it that she wears skimpy bikini costumes to conventions and lets guys pose for photos with her. Dude, that's my girlfriend!

Perhaps the one things that makes it all bearable for me is when she isn't dressed up as your favorite anime girl, she is dressed in normal clothes, and we go out to eat at normal restaurants holding hands, holding normal conversation (barely!), kissing, and letting the public know we are indeed together. She is smart enough to separate the two and know that the person I entered into a relationship with isn't the girl dressed up as a videogame character, but the REAL her. That is the person I want to grow old with, etc. etc., NOT the cosplayer.

Another thing that makes it bearable is that I trust my girlfriend. She also doesn't flirt with other guys...in real life, at conventions, or online. Keeping a relationship on the DL doesn't give her license to flirt or lead on other guys...which is something that I have unfortunately witnessed some cosplay girls doing.

But...is it really necessary for cosplayers to keep their boyfriends secret? I'm not sure. When Justin Beiber announced he had a girlfriend, there probably weren't too many girls so distraught they stopped being a fan. Hugh Jackman is married and possibly gay, but that doesn't stop girls from having a crush on him. So, if a cosplayer says she has a boyfriend, would it REALLY make a bit of difference? Why the secret? Why make a big deal about it at all?

At the same time, I admit that there were times over the years that I lost interest in following a cosplay girl online because she had a boyfriend or a husband.

Do we, as guys, have a habit of viewing cosplayers in a way similar to strippers? [And I'm really not comparing cosplayers to strippers here!! Cosplayers aren't strippers!] Let me explain the metaphor: If you are a man and you get a lap dance from a stripper, the possibility that she might actually start liking you can attract you to spend more money and pay more attention to her. If that stripper revealed she has a boyfriend or a husband and five kids, would she still be attractive? Do cosplayers need the attention and pandering of fanboys in order to feed into their fame? Is it necessary for cosplayers to hide their personal relationships in hopes it won't shatter the hearts and minds of her dorky minionship?

Let's be honest folks, celebrities don't date fans. Cosplayers don't date fanboys. I could go into some deep rant 'Barney Stinson style' about the rules of the universe, but that is just the way it is. A guy going to a cosplayer's Facebook page and commenting about how sexy she is and oogling at her boobs is the same as going to a strip club and throwing money on the stage. It is just an illusion. I support my girlfriend's hobby because it is something she is passionate about and it is something I enjoy seeing her excel in. If I am a member of the secret boyfriend club, well...so be it. I can either be in a department store like Macy's or Neiman Marcus holding her purse, or I can be at a convention watching her dressed up in a skintight Catwoman suit holding her purse. The choice is fairly obvious. Besides, I'm the one who gets to take her home in that suit.

This story originally appeared on cosplay site Takopop.

Between now and 11pm ET on Tuesday, March 12, you can download some 700 first issues from Marvel Comics for free.

And... it's legal!

The ComiXology Comics app for iOS and Android is offering 700 Marvel comics as part of a Marvel promotion announced at this weekend's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. You could probably see the full list of 700 comics on the ComiXology website (which lets you buy them and even read them through a browser), but that site is getting hammered right now.

Alternately, download the free Comics app to your phone or tablet and you'll see the promo for the 700 Marvel #1s front and center. ComiXology is an account-based service, so any comics you purchase and download will be readable on any device you have that supports their app. Here's the link to the iOS version of the app. And here's the Android one.

The roster of free comics includes 22 first issues from the new Marvel Now line, 46 first issues of various Avengers comics, 11 Fantastic Four first issues, 17 Hulks, 56 Spider-Mans, and even 118 X-Men comics. Where to start? It's a bit overwhelming, to be honest.

How about... Daredevil Vol. 3 #1 and Hawkeye #1. Both are in the "Marvel Heroes" part of the promotion. Trust me.

Have fun!

Please help your fellow readers out and recommend your favorite #1s from the 700 being offered.