Nintendo sold 19.86 million Switch 2 units in about ten months, the fastest start of any hardware it has made. On the same day, it announced a 10,000 yen price hike for Japan effective May 25, plus $50 increases in the US and Canada from September 1. Japan's 20% jump beats the 11% in the US and lands nearly four months sooner. Why Japan went first and hardest: AI-driven memory prices, a weak yen, and an arbitrage gap that made the domestic model a reseller target.
SEGA and RGG Studio just dropped the theme song for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, and the lineup is wild: Snoop Dogg, Ado, Official Hige Dandism's Satoshi Fujihara, and Tori Kelly on a single track. We break down Ado's record-breaking Hibana world tour (500,000 fans across 33 cities), Higedan's anime-fueled global rise via Spy x Family and Tokyo Revengers, Snoop Dogg's long history of collaborating with Japanese artists, and how international gaming and music communities are reacting to this Pacific-spanning collision.
MAGES. has set August 20, 2026 as the release date for STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT, launching simultaneously on PS4/PS5/Xbox Series X|S/Switch/Switch 2/PC. The remake adds new worldlines, new endings, fully redrawn CG, and re-recorded voices, and Western VN fans are already debating how it stacks up against ELITE.
Nintendo's surprise May 7 Star Fox Direct validated months of insider leaks. The next big rumored title, a Zelda: Ocarina of Time major remake, had three competing scenarios in international gaming communities: a 2026 launch, a sync with the May 2027 live-action movie, or no remake at all. Nintendo confirmed the remake for Switch 2 at its June 9 Direct with a 2026 window and no date attached. Here is the full record of the debate and how it resolved.
SEGA and RGG Studio have set STRANGER THAN HEAVEN for January 15, 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass day one. The 50-year saga follows half-Japanese, half-American Makoto Daito across five cities and five eras from 1915 to 1965, with Snoop Dogg, Ado, Yu Shirota, and Dean Fujioka in the cast. Here's the full breakdown of the new dual-side combat system, the Tojo Clan tease, and how the international Like a Dragon community is reacting.
Inside the Nippon TV interview AKIRA creator Katsuhiro Otomo gave after unveiling Tokyo's Ginza Station mural Procession Spin. The original design got scrapped, the Kaneda bike was a doodle, and he wants to retire to sumi-e: context English-language press hasn't carried.
Japan's wolf-masked rock band MAN WITH A MISSION, known worldwide for anime theme songs from Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, and Seven Deadly Sins, has announced three consecutive monthly digital single releases starting August 2026. Frontman Jean-Ken Johnny made the surprise reveal on stage at VIVA LA ROCK 2026 on May 5, nine days before the band's Americas and Europe world tour. We break down what this means, the band's history of 3-month release campaigns, and what international fans should expect next.
A Crank-in! interview with Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri reveals the inside story of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: how Miyamoto lobbied Nintendo's internal teams to break the company's long-standing rule against mixing IPs so Fox McCloud could appear, Glen Powell's cold call asking to voice Fox, similar approaches from Brie Larson and Donald Glover, and why the Japanese script was rewritten from scratch rather than localized.
WIT Studio's Netflix anime remake of the East Blue Saga, separate from Toei's long-running 1999 series, has locked in a February 2027 worldwide release. The seven-episode Season 1 adapts 50 manga chapters as a single 300-minute binge, and at Annecy in June 2026 Netflix released the teaser worldwide and confirmed Mayumi Tanaka is returning as Luffy.
In the afterword of Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo Volume 3, Gege Akutami revealed that the story of the Simurians' canal was deeply inspired by Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese doctor who built a 25.5km irrigation canal in Afghanistan. Known in Afghanistan as 'Kaka Murad' (Uncle Murad), here is who he was, both from Japan's perspective and from how Afghans remember him.
Kenichi Sugino, who designed the Game Boy Color, Advance, DS and 3DS over 37 years at Nintendo, and Goro Abe, who directed all 12 WarioWare titles, have joined Osaka Electro-Communication University as professors. We explore Japan's distinctive game education model, how it compares to DigiPen and USC, and the wave of generational change at Nintendo.
