Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

The next Xbox is called Xbox One. Microsoft announced the news at an event in Seattle today, touting how you'll be able to use gestures and voice control to interact with the new system. "Xbox, on" starts up the machine. "Xbox, watch TV" will open up your television. Microsoft also introduced a feature called Snap Mode, for multitasking while watching television. You can use Skype, for example, to chat with friends while viewing something, or you can say "Xbox, show fantasy" to see your fantasy basketball stats while watching LeBron James score. There's a feature called "Xbox Trending" that shows what shows are popular. "This is the beginning of truly intelligent TV." 8GB RAM, Blu-ray, USB 3.0, WiFi direct, "silent" operation. Here's a pic of the controller: Microsoft's big reveal event is still going on. You can watch it right here, check out our liveblog, or keep your eyes on this post for continual updates as we learn more about the new Xbox.

As was anticipated, the new Xbox One will function as a set-top cable box, allowing users to switch between TV and gaming video by voice command. In today's Xbox One reveal, the console was shown swapping between DVD/streaming video playback, the cable input, a video game, and its Internet functionalities. A voice-activated television guide will support the feature. Xbox Guide, as it is called, allows a user to quickly navigate the guide by voice command, calling out titles of shows and channels. The guide also will keep track of a user's favorite programming, and shows trending elsewhere. To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

Microsoft is about to reveal their next generation Xbox console, and our own Stephen Totilo is at the conference in Washington state to report to you live. Watch him liveblog the festivities right here. The conference officially starts at 1pm EST, but should be seeing Stephen sooner than that while he settles in his seat. Hang tight! Or watch the livestream here. <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/opt...; data-mce-href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/opt... Reveal</a>

Gawker Oklahoma Tornado Survivor Finds Missing Dog During Live Interview | Lifehacker The Air Travel Rights You Aren't Aware Of (and How to Get Them) | Gizmodo Why Are There No Black People On The Jetsons? | io9 Elementary Demonstrates the Right Way to Update a Classic Hero

Today is the big day for Microsoft, folks. It's the next generation. The company behind that big box of X will finally be revealing the next piece of hardware in their line of gaming consoles, and you can watch the entire thing right here. The GameTrailers livestream, hosted by Kotaku friend Geoff Keighley, starts now—noon Eastern—with some special pre-show guests like our own Kotaku boss Stephen Totilo. The actual reveal will be after 1pm, when the conference starts. In the meantime, you can read about everything we currently know leading up to the reveal, and what to expect. Stick around after the show to hear from Microsoft's Don Mattrick.

In T-minus, oh, 45 minutes, Microsoft pops the top on its next console. You may have heard reports of buses, badges and big tents over social media. Our editor-in-chief, Stephen Totilo sends back this look at where the big news is going down today. The big meeting hall tent Microsoft erected for this event. Another view of the tentbuilding, with media waiting to go inside. Satellite trucks on the Microsoft campus The entire Microsoft campus is decked out in Xbox signage and colors. To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Zarynx has a post discussing favorite in-game purchases, where he fondly cites the action figures of enemies in Brave Fencer Musashi. And GiantBoyDetective reveals the nerd-media-sourced names he’d give to his children. And you can always go join the voices talking about video games and life in TAY Classic and in the TAY: Open Forum.

Greetings from Washington State, Kotaku. I've parachuted in to check out the new Xbox, which will be revealed today. (Probably because Microsoft got tired of all the leaks, right?) We'll have lots of coverage, including a livestream of the day's big 1pm ET/10am PT Xbox Reveal conference. You know the drill. A trickle of coverage in the morning and then a waterfall once this thing kicks off, with news, video, analysis and more. The Xbox Reveal event may only be scheduled to last one hour, but Microsoft actually has events scheduled throughout the day that I'll be attending and reporting from. So when the show's over, stick around. We'll have more impressions, more news, more everything. Our livestream post will be on the site by noon ET/ 9am PT and will feature a GameTrailers.com pre-show hosted by friend of the site and GTTV host Geoff Keighley. You'll see some familiar guests, including me. But, for now, a word from Microsoft's Xbox chief. This is what I got when I checked in to my hotel... Thanks, Don. Now go and work on that Blast Corps 2 trailer that you're surely going to open the show with. OK? That's got to be the plan, right? This should be an interesting day. UPDATE: Xbox Breakfast... Surely this is the real name. It's wayyyy better than Xbox Infinity. But what could all this bacon mean? There's got to be a hidden message! To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo

While I happen to think the "console war" is one of the dumbest things ever conceived by humankind, there are few things as entertaining as watching corporations snipe at one another. So this got me giddy. Perhaps a bit jealous of today's big Xbox Reveal, Sony's PlayStation Europe account took a nice little jab at Microsoft this morning. Also - If you haven't seen our #PS4 teaser video, where have you been?! As it's a slow news day... here it is: bit.ly/12oYGG7 — PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) May 21, 2013 Slow news day! Ain't nothing going on today! Check out this blurry teaser of a black box! E3 is going to be so much fun, you guys. It's time to find out what happens when corporations stop being polite... and start getting real.

The Hellbat would win in a one-on-one battle against a single Marine in Starcraft II, but in an epic rap battle it's anybody's game. Video creator Temp0 is well-known for his hip-hop songs about Starcraft. Hopefully he'll do more rap battles in the future. Something featuring the widow mine (those can't talk though) would make sense, since it causes so much trouble for Zerg and Protoss players. Unit Rap Battles Of Starcraft #1: Marine Vs Hellbat [YouTube] To contact the author of this post, write to gergovas@kotaku.com

During the 1980s, a cat photo fad swept Japan. Dubbed "Nameneko" (なめ猫), the pictures featured feline friends dressed as high school thugs. The trend went global, spreading to the U.S. for a brief time. But this month, the trend's creator is in hot water for tax evasion. In 1979, the story goes that then young Japanese photographer named Satoru Tsuda found a stray cat near his home. He took the animal home and was later inspired to create his now famous photos after seeing the kitty play with his girlfriend's doll clothes. Tsuda came up with the idea for a series of photos of juvenile delinquent cats called "Namennayo Neko" or "Nameneko" for short. In Japanese, "neko" means "cat", while "namennayo" can either mean "Don't lick me" or "Don't mess with me". Here, it is used as a pun, with thuggish looking cats to complete the effect. The photos spawned picture books, photos, a video game, stationary, watches, phony driver's licenses with Nameneko pictures, a movie, and even a line of Topps trading cards in the U.S., featuring the cats in more American style outfits. In total, the "don't lick me cats" were licensed out for over 500 different items. Between 1981 and 1982, millions and millions of posters and fake Nameneko driver's licenses were sold in Japan. Tsuda became a rich man. As neat as the trend was, this story will end on a sad note: Recently, the now 62 year-old Tsuda has been charged with tax evasion to the tune of 100 million yen (nearly US$1 million). With the hidden earnings he made from other businesses, Sankei News reports that Tsuda bought brand name goods, watches, and had a Tokyo apartment. Through his attorney, Tsuda said he was sorry for any trouble this caused those connected to him. No word, if that included feline friends or not. １９８０年代にブーム「なめ猫」生みの親を告発　東京国税局、１億円脱税容疑 [産経ニュース] Photos: photoライン！！, Niji, ナマケモノ, あるまじろ日記, にゃんだふるＬＩＦＥ, 42 LIFE ブログ, 蒼息吐息な日記, 1000 Things About Japan, FFFFound! To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Patrick and Ryan put their thinking caps on to destroy angels using the power of angles.

Back in 2003, Saya no Uta — The Song of Saya was released in Japan. It became known as one of the most messed-up games ever released. Earlier this month—nearly a decade after the Japanese release—it got its first official Western release. But that's not the first time that the franchise has reached Western shores. Back in 2011 American comic company IDW produced an original three-issue comic book adaptation of the game called Song of Saya. Simply put, it's not very good. And this is largely due to five major changes that take it from an original, heart-pounding descent into madness and change it to little more than standard horror schlock. [Note: This article contains spoilers for both the game Saya no Uta — The Song of Saya and the comic adaptation Song of Saya.] 1) His Insanity Comes and Goes The key aspect of Saya no Uta — The Song of Saya is that Fuminori's life is a constant, unending, living hell. When he looks at another person, he sees a disgusting eldritch abomination. When he touches his bed sheets, they feel like flesh and gore. When he eats, the food tastes like unappetizing goo. Even people's voices seem so distorted that they are painful to his ears. Joshua (Fuminori’s comic counterpart) on the other hand, has brief psychotic episodes where he sees strange—and often horrific—things. But when the episode is over, he is left seeing the world normally. For Joshua, Saya makes the world normal. For Fuminori, Saya is the only thing in the world that is ever normal. That is a critical difference between the psyches of each character and how they are able to interact with the world. Fuminori is completely socially isolated (aside from his time spent with Saya), but Joshua is still able to manage his friendships since his periods of isolation are episodic. 2) Joshua is seeing into another dimension Rather than simply seeing the world as an eldritch abomination-filled hallucination (as Fuminori does in the game), it is revealed in the comic that Joshua is actually seeing into another dimension. This is the dimension, as it turns out, where Saya exists and thus he is able to see her—though she appears as a normal-looking girl to him. This connects directly to point number three. 3) It's All a Big Conspiracy One of the things that made the game so utterly disturbing was that all the people involved were completely ordinary. The cast was four medical students, a doctor, and the normal family next door. Fuminori discovered Saya by accident and the story progressed solely because of his condition and his deepening relationship with her. The comic, on the other hand is all about brain surgeons doing unnecessary surgeries for inadequately explained reasons to let people see into the dimension where Saya exists. The doctors are the reason Joshua can see Saya—it’s all part of a plan to find her and trap her. 4) Saya and Joshua are the Good Guys The most thought-provoking, disturbing aspect of the original game is how you start the game empathizing with Fuminori's condition and continue to side with Saya and him even as they become the clear villains of the story. Over the course of the game they do everything from killing and eating people to turning a former friend into a sex slave. And yet they somehow still remain sympathetic characters because you know where they are coming from. The comic version might as well be E.T. as Saya is little more than a lost creature in an alien world while Joshua is the kind human trying to save her. The worst thing he does in the story is kill members of the organization who are trying to capture Saya. The worst thing Saya does is monster-fy one of the people sent to capture her. 5) The Money Shot Believe it or not, I'm not going to complain about the art in this series. In fact, I like the art style and think the use of colors was well suited to the story. However, I am going to complain about what was drawn: namely Saya. As anyone who has ever seen a monster movie can tell you, the monster is only scary until the moment you get a full, clear shot of it. And of course, the last page of the first issue ends with a full-page spread showing Saya in all her monstrous glory. And as you would expect, while she doesn't look human, she doesn't look any scarier than your average insect. Final Thoughts Believe it or not, the problem with Song of Saya isn't that it is an Americanized adaptation. Just because something is an adaptation doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be bad. Both the American versions of The Ring and The Grudge were well received films, after all. But where the Song of Saya comic fails is that in its changes, the core of the story and its emotional base are changed so radically, the story becomes cliché and far less powerful. In other words, the comic's greatest sin is that it takes something fascinating and special and turns it into something normal and average. Saya no Uta — The Song of Saya was released in English on May 7, 2013. It is available for purchase on the JAST USA homepage [NSFW]. To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

This March, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda took a week off due to a "sudden illness". Today, it was announced that Oda has been admitted to the hospital. Moreover, the One Piece manga will be on hiatus for two issues. According to an official Shonen Jump release, Oda has a peritonsillar abscess, which is an infection of the tonsils. WebMD says it's "relatively common in adults." It can be serious if left untreated. Since Oda is in the hospital, One Piece will not appear in Shonen Jump's May 27 or June 3 issues. The magazine apologized to those One Piece fans looking forward to the upcoming manga. It's expected that Oda will have recovered in time to release the newest One Piece in the June 10 issue of Shonen Jump. That's good news. In a previous interview, Oda once described his usual workday: "I get up at 5am, and I work until 2am. It's normal for me to sleep from 2am to 5am." He added, "I have no days off. If I had them, I'd want to go on vacation with my family. I just want to go outside, it doesn't matter where. See, I don't get out much." One Piece is important and all, but Oda needs to slow down a bit. We wish him a speedy recovery. WJ26号（5/27発売）WJ27号（6/3発売）のONE PIECE休載について [Shonen Jump] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Late last year, Kotaku first brought word of coffee artist Kazuki Yamamoto. He makes stunning cappuccino art. In the last few months, Yamamoto has been perfecting his three dimensional creations. He's gotten even better. From Hello Kitty to Vault Boy from the Fallout games (friggin' Vault Boy!), Yamamoto whips up pop culture in steamed milk. Incredible. Yamamoto works as as a barista in Osaka and helps make the internet a better place. In case you are interested, you can see more of his work (here and here). Or you can check out the color coffee art of another java artist who goes by the moniker "Sugi". Photos: キリン, にゃっちーず, ハローキティ, リトルグリーンメン, Good!!, アゲるテレビ To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

In Japan, there are different types of bows. Some of them are fairly casual. Others are more formal. But one type of bowing still brings a feeling of shame. And it's sometimes used when people totally screw up. This style of bowing is called "dogeza" (土下座) and it's often translated as "kneeling down on the ground". In the past, it was used for bowing in front of powerful and important people as well as apologizing for huge muck-ups. It's "I'm sorry" when "I'm sorry" won't cut it. In Japan, putting yourself on the ground like this makes one as low as one can possibly go. It is a way to degrade oneself to express how truly apologetic one is or to show extreme deference—or even ask for a huge favor. What's more, it leaves the individual's neck exposed. Today, in a Japan where people don't carry swords, that doesn't mean as much. In the past, however, it did. (Please be aware that nowadays when Japanese people see the Emperor in public, they don't start throwing themselves like this on the ground.) Earlier this week on Twitter, photos of a young man doing dogeza in Shinjuku went viral on Twitter in Japan; it was retweeted thousands of times. With the inevitable hipster filter. In the past, people would usually forgive those who bowed down like this. No clue if this woman was as forgiving. Likewise, no clue what this guy is apologizing for. Since doing dogeza is seen as humiliating, especially in public, Japanese people don't like to do it! Loads of people probably never have and never will. And since people don't like to do this, most folks never get the experience of someone bowing down before them. But good news! At a recent University of Tokyo spring festival, a young man offered to bow down before anyone for a mere 100 yen (US$1) a pop. This is a college festival gag! Often during school fairs like this, students will come up with funny booths. One year at a Waseda University festival, you could play drumming game Taiko no Tatsujin with dude's butts. This kind of stuff is supposed to be fun. Dogeza isn't always embarrassing—nor is it always used to apologize. As The Spirit of Japan points out, when couples ask for their parents' permission to get married, they might bow down. A similar style bow is also performed in tea ceremony. Likewise, here it's not done to apologize, but rather, as a sign of respect. What's more, in this situation, dogeza is done on tatami mats, so it's feels quite different from, say, a dude groveling in the street—whether you're paying him a hundred yen or not! Previously, Kotaku discussed how sometimes saying "sorry" is not enough in Japan. Photos: MASA_ILL991, kenken01sk, MASA_ILL991, 2ch To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Hong Kong based collectible maker ThreeA previously released a jumbo-sized Metal Gear REX figure. And now? Now, it looks like they're working on a jumbo-sized RAY mecha. In these photos from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, you can see a prototype of the upcoming RAY figure. That's resident artist Yoji Shinkawa in the pics. As the Metal Gear Wiki points out, the amphibious Metal Gear RAY was originally created in response to the Metal Gear REX. So, it kind of makes sense that this new figure would follow the previously released REX! In case you missed it, here are photos of the finished REX. 巨大RAY, 3Aの巨大RAY [Kojima_Hideo via Mecha Damashii] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

This short claymation clip by Lee Hardcastle is a Resident Evil prequel/alternate history. Of sorts. Leon Kennedy, a rookie cop, gets a little too eager on a drug bust, and it costs him. Well. At first. For a one-man job, this is mighty impressive. DRUG BUST DOODY [YouTube]

Hello Kitty's face has been on seemingly everything—whether that's stationary, toilet paper, toasters or even that infamous vibrator. Don't forget pricey produce! Above is a Hello Kitty Furano melon from Hokkaido, Japan. Melons in Japan can get very expensive, especially the gourmet ones. But, generally speaking, the ones you find at local supermarkets are fairly reasonable by Japanese standards. And no, Hello Kitty doesn't usually appear on them. But this isn't the first time that Hello Kitty has gotten a melon. As Hello Kitty Hell pointed out previously, the first Kitty melon appeared in 2010. This week, NicoNico News reports that the character is, once again, getting a gourmet melon. How did they get the iconic cat in the melon? Kitty-chan's face was carved into the fruit when it was still green and before the melon became covered in its net-like outer skin. The Hello Kitty Furano fruits are limited to only three hundred melons and are priced at 4,980 yen (US$49). That's way cheaper than Japan's Yubari melons. Cuter, too. なんだこれかわいいぞ！ [NicoNico] 大東くんにメロン！ [Yuko Yamaguchi] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Video Game Sans Video is a project that satisfies just about all the criteria you need to call something a video game. Except, well, for the actual video. Michael Newman's game instead plays like a live-action version of LittleBigPlanet, using a giant scrolling sheet of paper as the background while players control a motorised spaceship on top of it. Exhibited at the recent Maker Faire, it's made out of recycled components from gear like scanners and printers. Video Game Without Video Blasts Off [Discovery]

Godus, the Kickstarted god game from Peter Molyneux's 22Cans, will be published on mobile devices by DeNA in western territories, Japan and Korea. Godus raised £526,563 ($852,000) with Kickstarter in December, exceeding its goal of $£450,000 ($730,000). It will launch on PC and Mac, alongside mobile devices Android, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Godus will use DeNA's Mobage platform for mobile and social games, joining previous handheld iterations within the No More Heroes, Final Fantasy and Professor Layton franchises, to name a few.

We wanted to know how things work with dual streams...and I wanted to play some Magicka.

Trying to steal a little of Microsoft's thunder ahead of the next Xbox's reveal -and to remind us the PS4 is more than just a control pad - Sony teased the design of the PlayStation 4 with a number of small abstract images. They're meant to suggest, not give away the machine's entire design, but Redditor Albino-Zebra figures there's enough there to go on anyway, doing their best to put the pieces together and take a swing at the machine's appearance. Is it accurate? Who knows! Nobody outside Sony does, at least not now. But hey, points for trying. And maybe, just maybe, they actually got it right. If you want to see the images Sony released this morning, you can check them out here. I had a go at creating what the PS4 could look like [Reddit]

From the time the Wii U was first unveiled right through to today, the eve of the new Xbox's unveiling, I've found myself feeling something very strange. In years (and decades) past, the arrival of new hardware was exciting. Exciting because new consoles were the biggest and best, sure, but also because they were the latest step on a bigger journey, one blazing the way towards a brighter video gaming future. OK, yeah, this new console is amazing, but man, I wonder what comes next? I don't feel that this time. I don't feel any excitement at all. Instead, I've got an overbearing sense of melancholy. Maybe even ennui. Not at the machines themselves; the PS4 seems supremely capable, and I've no doubt the next Xbox will be similar. No, I'm sad about the fact that this feels like the last gasp. A final hurrah. The end of console gaming as we know it. Maybe I can't see gaming's forest for the trees. Maybe I'm just bleak. But I can't see another round of console launches after this. OK, perhaps Nintendo can squeeze one more in, if only out of necessity, but the prospect of Sony and/or Microsoft having the will - or the money - to make a PS5 or Xbox 1080 in 5-8 years seems remote. Why? There's so much talk of diminishing returns in the console market. Studios have been closing and consolidating faster than new ones can spring up. The costs of developing and marketing console games is out of control. With the financial cost of failure too steep, too many series are diluted, pitched at everyone and truly resonating with nobody. We used to get a new console every 4-5 years. This time around, it's taken eight. Seriously. The Xbox 360 was released in 2005. If you need reminding on how long ago that was, watch this. That "delay" hasn't been for fun. It's been because that's how long it's taken to draw a line under the current generation. Many people who once would have purchased a PlayStation for idle gaming can now scratch that same itch on their phone. Or their tablet. Hell, they can even buy games for their browser. Steam, the explosion of independent development and the focused clout of Kickstarter have transformed the PC from a sleeping giant into the most exciting platform on the planet. The buzz around stuff like the Oculus Rift only amplifies this. Even Nintendo, a company once synonymous with the very idea of console gaming, is suffering through the most disastrous home console launch since the Dreamcast. Sure, some could argue that consoles can recover, that there's room for both skittles and steak. And in many ways, I hope they're right. I really do, especially in Nintendo's case. But, um, steak doesn't cost $500. And in that metaphor's real world, people already own skittles, and they're always in their pocket wherever they go. What should be a time for parties, then - for excitement - instead for me feels like the band playing as the Titanic goes down. The home console business is just beset by so many problems, from without and within, that unless there are significant and drastic changes to its business model I can't see it sticking around in its current form for another generation. Which is why these launches seem so sad to me. They may well be the last ones I ever get to enjoy. Sure, as gaming changes other pleasures and experiences will no doubt arise to take their place, but they won't be the same. People won't be lining up in the cold at midnight launches this holiday season for a piece of gaming's future. They'll be lining up to secure the final chapter of a piece of gaming's past.

Tomorrow morning we'll know all kinds of stuff about that next Xbox. In the meantime, Jeff's in Seattle, taking questions from everyone in a special jarless presentation.

After tomorrow, the next new console announced will be the... 1) Apple Something, 2) The Wii 3, 3) The PlayStation 4 1/2, 4) ____________. Any guesses?

Krieg the psycho is Borderland 2's new vault hunter. We know what he's capable of, but here's Anthony Burch—lead writer on Borderlands 2—on constructing Krieg's personality. Krieg is a surprisingly complex person!

The OLED flexible screen will make its debut this week.

Man At Arms' Tony Swatton has forged all sorts of nerdy swords. It was only a matter of time before he turned to Final Fantasy—specifically, Cloud's iconic sword. And boy howdy, is the Buster sword huge and unwieldy. He says it's one of the most ridiculous sword blades he's ever made—which, after seeing him make that Minecraft diamond sword and that Kingdom Hearts keyblade...well, dang. Crazy. Building Cloud's Buster Sword (Final Fantasy VI) - MAN AT ARMS [AweMeChannel]

The god game will be utilizing DeNA and its mobile social games platform.