Depending on your opinion of the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace, tomorrow brings either a wondrous new addition or another ridiculous thing to waste your money on - pets! Microsoft has most of the bases covered in its pet lineup, with three types of dogs (including Dog in Bag), three cats, birds, snakes, fish, guinea pigs, and of course, monkeys. They'll even have a pony up for sale, making countless childhood dreams come true with the push of a button.

The downside? Each pet will run you 240 Microsoft points. The upside? They don't pee on your girlfriend's robe, who then tries to cuddle you while wearing it because she has a cold and can't smell it, leaving you with the moral dilemma of whether or not you should tell her she smells. That's just an example, mind you, and certainly didn't happen in my apartment last night.

Yes, you can haz Pony [Major Nelson]

It cuddles the guitar, at least. Which is what it's supposed to do. These are gadgets for cats, after all. The Wii Remote, NES pad and 360 controller look a lot less relaxing, though. More antagonistic. Like a 21st century ball of string.

GEEKitty Gear [Etsy, via Gizmodo]

Just when I thought the music genre couldn't get any stranger, this news hits. The group is looking to turn Lloyd-Webber's body of work into a series of video games, spread across multiple platforms over the years to come, including consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. The first titles are expected to allow players to sing-along to music from musicals such as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Jesus Christ Superstar, possibly in the format of an audition.

So why now? Why are they going to make us sing showtunes with our loved ones now? Really Useful Group's Douglas Glen explains:

“With the video gaming audience having moved from its male-dominated roots towards a more family-oriented demographic, now is the perfect time for us to take some of the best-known names in musical entertainment in a more interactive direction.”

Is there ever a perfect time for this? I mean, I love singing along to showtunes as much as the guy, but in a video game setting?

Lloyd-Webber Tries Gaming; Singalong With Evita, Phantom [paidcontent.org]

As you can see, the cat is a remorseless dickhead.

Anyway, the demo came with a nice little personalized letter, the demo in handy cardboard sleeve, a 'Collector's Item' cell phone dangly of the Kratos Symbol, which ancient Greek policemen would shine into the skies to call our hero to fight crime, and a coupon for $15 off of a PSP at Best Buy - exactly one month after I bought a PSP at Best Buy. Most importantly, the demo comes with an outer envelope that doesn't allow cat pee to soak through.

While I honestly believe that dressing up your dog in a costume is just two steps away from tying them up in a burlap sack and tossing them in a river on the dog cruelty scale, I have to admit that this gathering of pugs dressed up as Pac-Man characters is kind of entertaining. If I had a dog and wished to dress him up in a costume for Halloween, these would be the designs they found on my drawing table next to my dead body, my brain having exploded to save me from the embarrassment of actually dressing up my pet. Everyone knows I am a cat person anyway, and cats are just begging to be fitted with samurai armor. Thanks, Long Le, for the vid!

Shoko Nakagawa's TV spot for Super Robo Taisen W has *finally* hit YouTube. (I've been waiting!) It's pedestrian, not jaw dropping or anything. The music video for her song CAT Life is. That amazement, dear readers, is after the jump. Brian Ashcraft

This started me thinking. What if the appeal of the Wii went so far beyond the standard video gaming demographic that it effected non-humans? An interesting theory, but I would need a guinea pig to test it out.

As you can see, Sheba here seems unaffected by the introduction of the wiimote into her natural habitat. In many other animals this would be a negative result, but guinea pigs are convinced that most everything is either delicious hay, and therefore tolerable, or a Peruvian, therefore life-threatening. The wiimote definitely falls into the 'hay' category.

KOTAKU FUN FACT! - Peruvians eat upwards of 22 million guinea pigs a year!

Mmmmm.

Anyway, I took the hay verdict as conclusive proof and rushed into the living room to watch for that whacky old guy's free government grant money infomercial and have Rufus sign release papers, when I noticed this:

Well there goes that theory. I suppose I could have just lost the PS3 evidence and published my findings to suit my beliefs, but then I'd be no better than every two-bit scientist that ever published a skewed violent games turn your children into demons report. My cat isn't a Nintendo fancat. He's just a lazy all-round gamer like me only fuzzier, who dreams of having opposable thumbs like the big mammals. Judging by the lack of a 360 controller, he's also most likely Japanese. You learn something new every day. Michael Fahey

From now, it begins to sneak.

Came across this bizarre post on a gaming Japanese cat lover's page that paid homage to Metal Gear. No, I'm not kidding. Not much of a surprise considering how the same site did a post on a kitty with the Final Fantasy potion. Deep breaths, there's more after the jump.

Snake's sneaking was successful here

Concealing...

It is unwittingly aprehended.

Well you know what they say, there are dog people, cat people and freakin' wackos.

Snake Cat Here [Neko no Asobi]