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Tokyo’s labyrinthine Shibuya Station becomes a literal RPG dungeon in free smartphone game

Casey Baseel
Sep 17, 2015
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Sometimes when I’m in Tokyo, I find myself wandering through seemingly endless subterranean passages that twist and turn back on themselves in a disorienting serpentine labyrinth. As I trudge forward I can feel my stamina fading, as well as my spirit. Still, though, I press on, delving deeper and deeper into the bowls of the earth, knowing that only at the very bottom level will I find what I seek: the platform for the subway line that takes me home from Shibuya Station.

And apparently I’m not the only one who feels that Shibuya Station feels more like an RPG dungeon than a rail hub, since there’s a new smartphone game that uses the map of the station as the layout for its fantasy adventure.

8 things we learned from Nintendo’s Q&A video with Shigeru Miyamoto 【Video】

Jamie Koide
Sep 17, 2015

Perhaps the best thing to come out of the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. is the all-new Super Mario Maker. Released just last week on September 11, the game aims to bring the original level-making tool used by programmers at Nintendo to all audiences.

Not only has the new release encouraged Shigeru Miyamoto, the mastermind behind Mario, to speak about how the beginning of the original NES game was created, it’s also given fans the opportunity to hear Miyamoto answer questions about the Mario world fans have been dying to know for 30 years.

What does the giraffe say? Video captures baby giraffe’s surprising cry

Preston Phro
Sep 17, 2015

Giraffes are some of the most awesome animals on the planet, if you ask us. With their long necks, not-quite-horse-not-quite-cow-like faces and beautiful long eyelashes, they’re the sort of creature you’d expect to find in the pages of a Walt Disney sketchbook after the artist “accidentally” ingested a few magic mushrooms. And yet there they are, as real as any of us, and have existed for thousands upon thousands of years.

But one thing that some might not believe is real is the cry of a giraffe. Think about it: have you ever heard the sounds a giraffe makes? Well, we suppose you may have, but many have not, in Japan or otherwise. And that’s why this video of a baby giraffe calling out has attracted so much attention online.

If you’ve never heard a giraffe’s voice, you’ll want to check this out!

Clip of Thai woman slapping her attacker inspires the internet to create diverse parodies【Videos】

Krista Rogers
Sep 17, 2015

A video of a female victim slapping the man who assaulted her has blown up over Thai social media, inspiring endlessly creative video parodies in its wake. From Star Wars to Doraemon-themed interpretations, Thai net users are having a field day giving the man a taste of his own medicine!

Japanese man helps lost Taiwanese tourists, thanks them instead, warms the hearts of netizens

Joan Coello
Sep 17, 2015

Many of us may have experienced getting lost in a foreign land and needing assistance from a local person. In most cases, we thank the kind soul who lent us a helping hand, but have you ever received thanks from the person who helped you instead?

A Taiwanese tourist recently shared that during his visit to Osaka, he sought help from a Japanese man, who not only spent over 30 minutes making sure the foreign visitors made it safely to their destination, he even thanked the tourists for their help instead. Find out why after the break!

RocketNews24 is going to Tokyo Game Show 2015!

Cara Clegg
Sep 17, 2015

Despite Japan being the birthplace of some of the world’s best-known and loved video games, most of the big gaming conventions and trade shows, such as E3 and PAX, take place in the US. But this weekend it’s all about Tokyo, baby. RocketNews24 will, as ever, be swinging by Tokyo Game Show 2015 to bring you all the strangest and sexiest gaming news.

But what kind of things can you expect to see? Well, here’s just a quick sample of our coverage from previous years’ events to whet your appetite!

Keep your skin clear with a poop smear! We swear it’s not as crazy as it sounds

Scott Wilson
Sep 17, 2015

We’ve seen a lot about poop in the news recently. From poo curry to toilet museums to pooping on an airplane, you might think you’ve seen it all. But now we bring word of something you probably never expected: turd-infused facial soap.

Wait! We promise this isn’t as crazy as it sounds. In fact, the poop soap is based on a centuries-old beauty technique used in Japan. What’s exactly in it and why would anyone in their right mind want to use it? We’ll give you the straight poop after the jump!

Turn over a new gold leaf with these stylish Gundam dishes from the Gundam Cafe

KK Miller
Sep 16, 2015

The age of the geek with expendable cash is truly upon us, as many people who grew up on comic books and cartoons are turning into adults with well-paying jobs. There is also a growing population of people in Japan who are forgoing a traditional relationship and instead spending more money on themselves. These burgeoning consumers might be the reason why you will find geek-centric yet sophisticated household items. That way, responsible adults can still revel in their fandoms but still be refined home decorators.

It’s time to get our wallets ready again, since now you can buy Mobile Suit Gudam plates covered in Kanazawa gold leaf.

Japan’s ideas for easy meals that rely on one wonder ingredient: cheese!

KK Miller
Sep 16, 2015

At RocketNews24, we understand the struggle of having to prepare meals that are both delicious and easy to make. It’s so difficult to find the time in the day to cook something yummy, especially when Chefs 7-Eleven and Lawson are always close by and ready to provide a variety of ready-to-eat meals. Unfortunately, time and time again it has been shown that home cooking is usually better for your health and also better for your wallet, so it’s time to roll up our sleeves and find our way into the kitchen.

However, just because it’s home cooking doesn’t mean it has to be complicated. There is a wonder ingredient that is fairly good for your health and pretty much compliments everything it is served with. So without further ado, we’d like to introduce Cheesy Meals with Cheese: A Japanese guide to home cooking with cheese that requires very little effort!

We check out another all-you-can-eat yakiniku deal in Shinjuku, just 1,080 yen!

Mike
Sep 16, 2015

In short order, it seems we at RocketNews24 have found ourselves not only unwitting experts in fast foodology – what, with our near-constant coverage of McDonald’s new pie flavors and Lotteria’s most recent forays into madness – but we’ve also added quite a few notches into our cheap, all-you-can-eat yakiniku deals belt (which doesn’t even fit us anymore, if we’re being honest).

But, recently, our resident yakiniku fiend, Mr. Sato, reported he may just have found the cheap all-you-can-eat yakiniku restaurant to rule them all.

Japanese team combines technology with centuries-old game to reinvent chess for a cyberpunk era

Preston Phro
Sep 16, 2015

With all its complexities and long history, chess is unquestionably a regal game, but it hasn’t really changed that much over time. The basic rules have remained steadfast, which is actually kind of great if you’re looking to compare games past and present. But what if someone took modern technology and applied it to this hallowed game? What would it be like?

Well, it would probably be like the upcoming game Speed Chess, set to debut this week at Tokyo Game Show 2015! The game is in for a major revamp, complete with a lack of turns and a multi-touch display that glows brilliant neon colors!

Pro-wrestling female Pikachu is ready to go off the top rope and straight into our hearts 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Sep 16, 2015

Even though it came out in July, I still haven’t played Pokkén Tournament, the coin-op video game that sticks Pokémon into a fighting game developed by Tekken publisher Bandai Namco. Don’t get me wrong, like anybody with a soul, I’ve got a soft spot for Pikachu. It’s just that I’m happier to see the beloved Pokémon mascot dancing, not fighting.

But I think I may have to swing by the arcade now that the game has a masked wrestler Pikachu that’s a perfect mix of equal parts adorable and awesome.

Pico Cassette looks to keep cartridge games alive in a smartphone world

Master Blaster
Sep 16, 2015

Music has all but gone entirely digital. Video rental stores are a critically endangered species. Even video games are steadily moving towards more online distribution. At this rate we’ll soon be welcoming the first generation to think sticking a piece of plastic into a machine for entertainment is as attractive an idea as rubbing two sticks together for fire.

Then again, isn’t there something intrinsic in humans to want to put a cartridge or disc into something for entertainment?

That’s not a rhetorical question. I really have no idea, but the makers of Pico Cassette are hoping so. This device will load video games both new and old into your smartphone by plugging into its headphone jack.

Hollywood’s live-action Akira adaptation rumored to be a trilogy

Casey Baseel
Sep 16, 2015

In case you’ve never read any of the Akira manga or seen the landmark 1988 anime movie based on it, here’s a basic rundown of the plot. A powerful organization comes up with what it thinks it a great idea, but before its plan come to fruition, the whole thing blows up in their faces. Years later, though, it tries again, unleashing the danger of potentially even more disastrous results.

In the anime, the “powerful organization” is the military, and the “great idea” is cultivating weaponized psionic children. Some would say this parallels the real-world situation of another powerful organization, Hollywood movie studio Warner Brothers, and its own ambitions to turn Akira into a live-action film, which have faced nothing but roadblocks and angry backlashes from fans of the source material for more than 10 years now.

But just like Akira’s military, Warner Brothers seems convinced that it can still get all the variables just right, and new rumors suggest that the studio might be planning to make not one, but three Akira films, and that it’s courting one of Hollywood’s hottest filmmakers to help.

The awesome Nintendo and anime-inspired stairway art of Japanese high schools 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Sep 16, 2015

Growing up in suburban southern California, my elementary, junior high, and high schools were all single-story structures. As such, my classmates and I went through our K-12 education without knowing the excitement of the romantic rendezvous and bare-knuckle showdowns that so often occur in the stairways of schools in TV shows, movies, and other works of fiction.

Still, we made do, as the student body just had to find alternate locations in which to swap spit or punches. One thing we definitely missed out on, though, was the opportunity to create awesome stairway art, like these students in Japan who decorated their school steps with the cast of Super Mario Bros., Love Live!, and Attack on Titan.

Does the new Space Tea from Japan’s Village Vanguard actually taste like space?【Taste Test】

Preston Phro
Sep 16, 2015

Village Vanguard is one of Japan’s more unique stores, selling everything from inappropriate T-shirts to Attack on Titan curry to more inappropriate T-shirts to whatever this is. Some of the food products they stock sit squarely on the border between delicious and “gag gift,” but perhaps the most intriguing of those items is the new Space Tea.

But does it really taste like space? Naturally, we were skeptical…but also curious enough to run out and buy a can. So, come along with us on a journey into the depths of spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!

Japanese student protesters announce “WE WILL STOP!!!!” in English on Twitter, get clowned for it

Casey Baseel
Sep 16, 2015

Over the past few weeks, the Japanese organization SEALDs, which stands for Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy, has been staging large-scale protests in opposition of those politicians who’ve proposed expanding the role of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The gatherings have become regular features on news programs, with footage showing large groups of impassioned youths chanting for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to step down.

So after such a show of conviction, it must have been surprising for followers of SEALDs’ English Twitter account to see a tweet that suddenly announced the group is calling it quits.

“So wrong!” Elders react to hairy schoolgirl-fronted Ladybaby with shock and amusement 【Video】

Evie Nyan
Sep 16, 2015

Here at RocketNews24 we love Ladybeard, everyone’s favourite heavily-bearded, muscular, precious flower. And as a natural side-effect of our Lady-lovin’, we’re also nuts about his newest venture, performing as part of pop trio Ladybaby. Something about the combination of cute Japanese idol teen vocals combined with Ladybeard’s growls just gets our toes tapping, and not to mention those funky dance moves!

So we couldn’t stop laughing at this new video titled “Elders react to Ladybaby”. Just what do America’s seniors think of this new mashup of cultures, genders, and musical stylings?!

Fisherman catches unreal-looking fish off the coast of Japan, turns out to be quite harmless

Krista Rogers
Sep 16, 2015

Yikes! What must have been going through the minds of a group of Japanese fishermen when they caught the shocking fish pictured above off the coast of Hokkaido? It’s a face that could keep anyone up at night with that gargantuan, gaping mouth.

Actually, on second thought, the big guy’s kind of growing on us…