Miku | TOKYO, JAPAN: This desk belongs to the Dengeki PlayStation editor in chief. So much aqua! (Photo: @dengekips)

PlayStation Man Kaz Hirai Will Officially be Sony's Next Boss

As has been expected for a while now, Sir Howard Stringer's replacement as President and CEO of Sony Corporation when he steps down in June will be Kaz Hirai, a long-time champion of the company's PlayStation brand.
Sony officially announced the move tonight, with Hirai's promotion to come in April... More »

How the Great One Piece Manga Heist Went Wrong

There are 64 volumes of popular Japanese manga One Piece. Each copy is about half an inch thick and weighs 5.30 ounces. All 64 volumes stacked are over three feet high and weigh nearly 22 pounds. More »

Welcome to a Korean Cosplay Inferno (Burn Baby, Burn)

If you are talking Korean cosplay (and that's exactly what we are doing), you can't finish a sentence without mentioning cosplay collective Spiral Cats. More »

The Half-Eaten Valve Art of Peter König

Peter König is a concept art legend. Over the past quarter of a century his creature designs, sculptures and animation work have been featured in blockbuster hits like Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers and Cloverfield.
Which is all well and good, but he's also spent the last four years working as a... More »

30,000 People are Going to Play Half-Life 2 as a Protest Against Half-Life 3

Or is it a protest for Half-Life 3? Whatever.
The point being, This weekend over 30,000 members of a Steam group will sit down and play Half-Life 2. Calling themselves "A Call for Communication", the group says "we have decided to gain Valve's attention by delivering a basic message: More »

Just Why, Exactly, Did Final Fantasy XIII Suck so Badly?

Boring. Bland. Linear. Those are three of the kinder things that can be said of Final Fantasy XIII, a game so poor it needed a direct sequel just to salvage some brand integrity. More »

How Mass Effect is Becoming More Like Transformers

Not the toys. And not the Michael Bay horror films. I mean the 1986 animated feature.
At the time, Transformers: The Movie was notable for two things. More »

New Tease for Black Mesa, the Greatest Half-Life Remake That Never Was

Black Mesa is an independent remake of the original Half-Life that's been in development since the end of the First World War. It hasn't been seen for years. More »

Report: THQ REALLY in Trouble, Sacking 170+ People

Looks like things are going from bad to really bad to awful for publisher THQ, with an industry man reporting - not speculating, but straight-out reporting - that the company is about to sack over 170 employees.
The word comes from independent industry exec Kevin Dent, who took to Twitter to write... More »

It Will Be Cheaper to Download Vita Games Than to Buy Their Boxed Counterparts

Sony has confirmed games for its upcoming Vita handheld will be a bit cheaper to purchase as downloadable digital games than it would cost to buy a physical disc.
A Sony representative confirmed this to Shacknews, stating that "there will be a discount on the downloadable PS Vita titles from PSN"... More »

Gravity Rush is one of the PS Vita's most compelling titles. Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill series, served as the game's Creative Director. But he didn't make the game alone.

This lady helped—and now this young female developer is dressed up as Gravity Rush for a Twitter photo session.

In the second photo, the staffer poses with Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida, who unfortunately is not wearing a skimpy costume.

Gravity Rush goes on sale in Japan next month.

若手女子プランナーは「キトゥン」のコスプレを [Kotaku Japan]

Gravity Rush is one of the PS Vita's most compelling titles. Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill series, served as the game's Creative Director. But he didn't make the game alone.

This lady helped—and now this young female developer is dressed up as Gravity Rush for a Twitter photo session.

In the second photo, the staffer poses with Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida, who unfortunately is not wearing a skimpy costume.

Gravity Rush goes on sale in Japan next month.

若手女子プランナーは「キトゥン」のコスプレを [Kotaku Japan]

Everybody who is really, really into Hello Kitty knows her name is Kitty White. Ditto for this: according to her official Sanrio biography, she was born in London, making her British by default, no? So what's the big deal?

Yet, pretty much everyone in Japan thinks Kitty-chan is Japanese—with only diehard Hello Kitty nerds all the wiser.

According to an Atlantic Wire piece by Tokyo Vice writer Jake Adelstein, Tatsuya Nakajima, a leader of the right-wing group Junshinkai, was ticked off by the assumption that Hello Kitty was not Japanese, saying, "That's the kind of stuff the Chinese say when they pirate our national treasures and goods. It's outrageous. And unforgivable."

Of course, designer Yuko Shimizu created Hello Kitty in Japan in the early 1970s—though, there's been dispute that it rips off Miffy.

In 2008, the cat was even named Japan's "Official Tourism Ambassador". However, Hello Kitty's official profile contended that the character lived in London with her family. So...shouldn't she be a tourism ambassador for the U.K.?

In Adelstein's tongue-in-cheek piece, he and co-writer Nathalie-Kyoto Stucky note that a recent book Hello Kitty's Guide to Japan, complicates questions of the cartoon cat's nationality further as it underscores the feline as Japanese—not British. From the piece:

According to their story, Hello Kitty is introducing Japan to her American boyfriend Dear Daniel. When he arrives, he discovers Kitty living in a tatami-mat laden house. Her entire family lives in Japan and they all can read Japanese and speak the language fluently. Kitty is so knowledgeable about Japanese culture and traditions that the reader can only surmise she is either Japanese or an amazingly bilingual Japanese studies scholar.

Maybe the cat is a dual citizen? There, argument settled. Phew!

Kitten-Sized Controversy: Is Hello Kitty from London or Japan? [The Atlantic Wire]

The game will be out May 24 and feature a theme song by Japanese rockers B'z—a group I loathe. Both the PS3 and 360 versions include Resident Evil 6 demo codes with different access dates. [Game Watch Impress]

Fast-pace shooter Vanquish is being immortalized in resin with two upcoming figures. The game's developer, Platinum Games, is showing off the figures. Have a look.

They're unpainted prototypes, and according to Platinum, there are still minor tweaks being made.

Square Enix Play Arts Kai line is creating the figures, which were last shown off last year at Comic-Con. There's lead character Sam. According to Platinum Games designer Kenji Irie, "They have captured every little detail in the ARS Suit. They even brought to life many of the little details on the inner suit as well."

The second figure is Zaitsev in Bogey mode. "This one still needs that final level of fine detail, but the proportions are very close to what is actually represented in the game, and when you pick it up you get this awesome feeling of heft to the toy," said Irie. "It's great."

BEHIND THE SCENES: VANQUISH PLAY ARTS KAI [Platinum Games]

Role-playing game Dark Souls was, for many players, the best game of last year. Yet, like many titles, there were bugs and frame-rate issues. From Software, the game's developer sure sounds unhappy about that.

"Yes, there were technical difficulties," the game's creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki told Edge. "I don't believe that it's okay to have them, but realistically speaking, it was quite a large-scale game—even in terms of budget and expectations. So we're very sorry for the trouble we've caused by our processing errors and bugs from Japan."

There isn't just a bit of Japanese humility in what he's saying—there's a lot. Miyazaki went on to add that there were areas that the development team felt like its technical side could not keep up with the game's scope. While Miyazaki might not forgive the technical issues, players seemed to be far more giving and are eagerly anticipating the next Souls title—something that might not happen.

"We don't even know if we'll have another chance," Miyazaki said. "We have the confidence that we can improve from our mistakes this time and create an even better Dark world, but we don't know if the users will forgive us for the mistakes, so I cannot give an exact answer."

EVERYBODY FORGIVES YOU, DUDE. MAKE ANOTHER GAME.

Dark Matters [Edge via Eurogamer]

According to Famitsu, the Xbox 360 Resident Evil 6 demo hits on July 3 in Japan as the code is included with Dragon's Dogma. The demo hits the PS3 on Sept. 4. That's a big gap! Wonder why... [Famitsu]

If you are talking Korean cosplay (and that's exactly what we are doing), you can't finish a sentence without mentioning cosplay collective Spiral Cats. The team dazzles with its outfits, its photos, and its live cosplay performances.

Spearheaded by cosplayer Tasha, who Kotaku previously featured, and featuring the likes of Tomia, Ren and Miyuko, the team cosplays anime, manga, and game characters. Earlier this year, Miyuko from Spiral Cats caused a stir online with a League of Legends cosplay. Her Ahri the Nine-Tailed Fox photos spread online like wildfire. The group's webpage was pounded hard with traffic; it was even knocked off line.

The above gallery is a best of, showcasing some of the team's standout work. Notice the attention to detail with the costumes as well as the polished photos. This isn't just some of the best cosplay Korea has to offer, it's some of the best cosplay period.

If you want to see more Spiral Cats, check out the link below.

Spiral Cats [Official Site]

Looks like things are going from bad to really bad to awful for publisher THQ, with an industry man reporting - not speculating, but straight-out reporting - that the company is about to sack over 170 employees.

[Update 5:30 p.m.] A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late today said that as many as 240 employees have been dismissed and an executive pay cut implemented.

The word comes from independent industry exec Kevin Dent, who took to Twitter to write "This is probably going to break in the morning, I have sat on it for a week or so. The culling at THQ was 170+ souls including [THQ's vice president of technology] Mark DeLoura."

If this is indeed the case, it caps off a fairly awful week for the publisher, who has faced rumours of studio closures and been threatened with being booted off the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Kotaku is following up with THQ and will update this story should the company comment.

THQ to announce 170 layoffs today - report [Eurogamer]