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The Winter Olympics would have been far more fun with Mario Kart power-ups 【Video】

Despite having a number of genuinely exciting events, the Winter Olympics is also home to a couple of head-scratchers (I watched the men’s slalom with the Wikipedia entry open trying to work out why some skiers were incurring penalties), and some can get kind of repetitive if watched for more than a few minutes at a time. One event I did enjoy watching, though, was the speed skating; those dudes zip around that track–with blades on their feet–at speeds that would probably make me vomit.

But imagine how much more exciting that event would be if participants had access to the full arsenal of weapon items from Nintendo’s Mario Kart racing games? As this hilarious video shows, with some green shells, a handful of banana skins, and the occasional competitor-shrinking lightning bolt, this event could be so much more interesting.

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Live-action series Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist could well be all kinds of awesome 【Photos】

Based on Capcom’s hugely popular Street Fighter fighting games, upcoming TV series Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist began life back in 2010 as a mere seed of an idea. Three years later, fans of the video games went nuts when the project surfaced on Kickstarter asking for funding, only for it to suddenly disappear again when it was snapped up by a private production company.

Since then there has been so little news about Assassin’s Fist that we were starting to wonder if it would ever see the light of day, but recently released photos and one website’s extremely positive first impressions have our hands tingling with hadouken power more than ever.

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You wouldn’t know it from the current state of the industry, but the biggest grudge match in video games wasn’t always PS4 versus Xbox One or Skyrim versus Dark Souls. For the bulk of console gaming’s most formative years, the bitterest rivalry was Nintendo versus Sega.

Back before Sega threw in the towel on making its own hardware, the two companies hated each other, and their fans did, too. “Nintendo makes games for little kids.” “Sega’s marketing is obnoxious and juvenile.” “The Super NES processor sucks.” “The Genesis sound chip sounds like a muffled fart.” “Mario is fat.” “Sonic only has one eyeball.”

Soon, you’ll be able to relive the epic struggle for 1990s video game supremacy with the feature film adaptation of the book “Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation.”

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Square Enix announces new Romancing Saga project! Don’t fire up your PS4 just yet though

Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest may be video game developer Square Enix’s two biggest series, but the Saga franchise could make a solid case for the company’s third-most important intellectual property. While the initial title in the series was the Game Boy’s Makai Toshi Saga, or Devil World Tower Saga, the more eloquently named Super NES follow-up, Romancing Saga, is where the series really took off, and 10 games are now counted as part of the Saga saga.

2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Saga franchise, and in celebration Square Enix is collaborating with a partner that’s at once completely unexpected and totally obvious: Saga Prefecture.

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Countdown to PlayStation 4 in Japan – Mr. Sato heads to the Sony Building to join the fun

The day thousands of Japanese gamers have been waiting for has almost arrived. It’s now February 21 in Japan, and that can mean only one thing: PlayStation 4 is less than 24 hours away!

Earlier tonight, our reporter extraordinaire Mr. Sato headed over to Sony’s flagship store in Tokyo’s Ginza District to join the gamers who just couldn’t wait any longer to get their hands on the console and to document the special launch event Sony would be laying on in honour of PlayStation 4’s decidedly late arrival.

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Ancient Chinese instrument can mimic Super Mario Bros. music with startling fidelity

Searching “Super Mario Theme” on YouTube will yield many unique renditions on a range of instruments including guitars, pianos, church organs, ukuleles, wine glasses, flutes, and 11-string basses. And while they’re all special and unique in their own way, no non-electric instrument can truly replicate that distinct 8-bit sound of the original game.

…Or can it? The sheng (shou in Japanese) is a Chinese musical instrument whose origins date back to 1,100 BC, and in a YouTube video that has recently taken Japan by storm we can see that this traditional instrument was way, way ahead of its time as it perfectly imitates the background music and sound effects of the original Super Mario Bros.

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Mario welcomes the PlayStation 4 to Japan like a gang leader protecting his turf

Despite electronics giant Sony being a Japanese company, its PlayStation 4 video game console sure has taken its sweet making it to stores in Japan. The next generation system was released in the U.S., Canada, and Europe last November, since racking up over five million units sold, but Japanese gamers still have a few days to go before the PlayStation4 becomes available here on February 22.

The upcoming big day hasn’t escaped the notice of rival video game maker Nintendo, which has decided to welcome Sony’s competing product by cutting prices on its own titles.

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Special edition Metal Gear Solid V PS4 is kind of uninspired, will probably sell by the bucketload

Never shy of releasing a special edition product or two, Japan’s Konami Corporation has announced a limited “Fox Edition” Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes-themed PlayStation 4 console just for Japanese gamers ahead of the game’s release on March 20.

We’re sure the console will appeal to some people’s tastes and fans will no doubt want to add it to their collection of MGS merch, but quite honestly we’re not entirely bowled over by the design Konami went with.

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It’s high time for a knee-high sock smartphone game

Japan’s got a somewhat unusual obsession with knee-high socks, with enthusiasts having come up with no fewer than two days a year to celebrate their love of thin-covering legwear. Of course, the country has the other, less unusual fetish of exposed skin.

But what about smartphone users who can’t pick between the two? Isn’t there a way to satisfy both their cravings at once?

Why yes there is, with a new app that lets users swipe the screen to make a model raise or lower her socks.

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This Mario golf bag might not lower your score, but it will definitely give you 1-up

Golf is one of the hardest sports and if you’re thinking, “NO IT’S NOT!!!” then clearly you’ve never picked up a golf club. Very few people, if anyone, have a “Happy Gilmore moment” where everything instantly comes together and you can get a hole in one on a par four with only a few weeks of practice. So with all those difficulties golfers face out on the course, maybe this Mario bag can help calm them. Miss a putt? No problem, just look into those maniacal blue eyes. Everything’s going to be okay.

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In recent years, itasha, cars emblazoned with admirably detailed yet painfully nerdy vinyl graphics inspired by anime and manga, have been getting more and more mainstream attention. But what if you’re not old enough to drive, or you just want to express your admiration for your favorite 2-D character without spending hundreds of dollars creating a car that your friends or date will be too embarrassed to ride in?

In that case, why not turn to the world of itachoko, chocolates decorated with anime character likenesses?

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Despite being some of the most iconic anime villains ever, we’re still not sure how to feel about the monsters of Attack on Titan. On the one hand, they’re giants hell-bent on eating the tasty humans hiding behind the walls of their cities. On the other hand, there’s something unmistakably, well, goofy about them. Many of them have baby-like proportions and dorky haircuts. Quite often, they shuffle around listlessly, almost as if they can’t be bothered to chase after their terrified snacks. They have no concept of pants.

Somehow, the Titans have ended up with a sort of twisted charm that makes us unsure whether we’d rather fight them or keep them as pets. Luckily, with the new Attack on Titan smartphone game, you can do both!

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Man arrested after forcing his 9-year-old stepson to play violent video games

Police in Kyoto have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of coercion after it was claimed that he had repeatedly forced his nine-year-old stepson to play violent and age-inappropriate video games such as Grand Theft Auto IV and fighting game Tekken Tag Tournament 2 over the course of six months whenever his mother was absent.

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You can look at this life-size Super Sonico anime figure, but you can’t touch

Last Sunday, while the Tokyo area was still blanketed in white from the previous day’s snowstorm, we braved the cold and made the trip out to Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture for the winter installment of Wonder Festival. The bi-annual model expo is packed with the latest anime and video game-inspired figurines, including a fully-operational robot suit and hyper-realistic sculpture of one of Attack on Titan’s monsters from the torso up.

But the Attack on Titan figure wasn’t the only giant bust on display, as there was also a life-size statue of voluptuous anime character Super Sonico. In keeping with her exotic dancer-quality figure, though, her display area had some strip club-style rules, such as no groping allowed.

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“Diet with Your Girlfriend” app lets you do the exact opposite of that

So Japanese dudes dating digital anime girls has been a big thing in the western media lately because “OMG weird Japan!!,” but if there’s one thing the news stories get right it’s that there are a whole lot of “digital girlfriend” apps available for a very specific type of person.

One such app hopes to encourage users to slim down by dieting with their digital girlfriend – the idea being that the more you diet, the more she diets, and the slimmer and more attractive she gets. Never mind that some people don’t actually adhere to those cliched classical standards of beauty and might actually prefer a girlfriend that isn’t horrifically skinny (and may, themselves, not actually want to be horrifically skinny); the developers made a far more glaring error in coding the game to allow players to do the exact opposite of what the game’s title suggests.

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Final Fantasy Chocolates: The gift your gaming Valentine actually wants

Last weekend I was at a department store in Tokyo, and since Valentine’s Day is coming up, the confectionary section was packed with candy makers hawking limited-edition chocolates for the romantic holiday. As I looked at all the sweetness on display, though, something struck me.

In Japan, women give chocolate to the special guy in their life, but the aesthetics are still entirely feminine. I saw dozens of candies shaped like hearts, ribbons, and even teddy bears and other cute woodland animals.

While the craftsmanship was impressive, none of the designs were the sort of things men actually want for themselves, especially when they could have these awesome Final Fantasy chocolates instead.

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Ultra-cute “chibi” Final Fantasy VII figures now available for pre-order

It may be hard to believe, but it has been almost 17 years since Final Fantasy VII, arguably the most revered entry in Square Enix’s iconic RPG series, was first unleashed on the world. And in honour of the game’s impeding birthday, its creators have commissioned a series of ridiculously cute “chibi” figures for hardcore gamers and fans of all things cute alike to enjoy, with pre-orders already being taken months ahead of their release.

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One thing about Super Mario that you probably had totally wrong

It doesn’t get much more iconic than Mario. The rotund plumber with a turtle-murdering blood lust is more well-known worldwide than a lot of his compatriots from supposedly less nerdy mediums than video games.

Unsurprisingly, then, most people think they have a pretty good idea of what Mario looks like, and could even describe him to you, right down to his particular sartorial choices. Obviously, he’s a squat, mustachioed man with a blue shirt and red overalls. …Or was it a red shirt and blue overalls!?

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The Evil Within survival horror game’s new trailer posted

The PlayStation Japan channel began streaming a new trailer for Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami‘s The Evil Within (PsychoBreak) survival horror game on Thursday. The video reveals the game’s characters and monsters.

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There seems to be a bit of a debate these days centered around whether or not being an otaku, the term used in Japan to describe people who obsess over a variety of hobbies, is a socially healthy one. In extreme cases, the otaku lifestyle can limit romantic opportunities, and even renowned anime director Hayao Miyazaki has grumbled about their effects on the industry he earned his fame in.

With all the negativity and marginalizing, you’d think the number of people the label could be applied to would be small, and the number of individuals who’d choose it for themselves to be smaller still. Surprisingly enough, though, in a recent survey of college students, nearly four in ten identified themselves as an otaku.

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