Quick programming note: Like Christmas weekend, this too will be one of abbreviated coverage as your erstwhile weekend writer finishes his holiday observances two days behind schedule. Don't worry, the next time we have a shortened weekend will be in May. All standing features will run at their regular times, including weekend coupons.

And with that, here is the week - and the end of the year - in original coverage.

Kotaku Talk Radio

Reviews, Previews, Hands-On and Impressions
0 Day: Attack on Earth Micro-Review: Where's Will Smith When You Need Him?
N.O.V.A. Micro-Review: Say "Halo" to iPhone's New Shooter
Avatar: The Game Micro-Review: Palm-size Pandora
Need For Speed: SHIFT Micro-Review: Changing Gears

Features
The 2009 eBay Holiday Video Game Grey Market Report
A Frag Without the Fest: If Chess Was a Shooter
Can the West Cosplay with the Best of Them?

Holidays and 2009
Happy Holidays From Kotaku
Kotaku's Most Popular Posts Of 2009
Paradox Interactive's Holiday Greeting Is Certainly Majestic

Columns
Stick Jockey:The Sports Video Games of the Year
Well Played: Terror at 30,000 Feet: Game-Free Transcontinental Flights?

News
Hori's DSi Play Stand + Stylus: Why?
Something Modern Warfare 2 Got Wrong About Pakistan
New Fist of The North Star Screens/Art Already Dead
CES 2010: A Special Programming Note
Japanese Arcade Themed Like China's Back Streets
South Korea's First Person Shooting In 3D World

Sports
NCAA Football - Where My High School's Name is in the Game

Cosplay
Comiket's Sexy Pikachu Girl And Friends
The Cosplayers of Kotaku

Zelda Wedding
The Legend of Zelda: The Wedding: The Video
It's The Little Touches That Make A Legend Of Zelda Themed Wedding This Great

Contests
Win An Autographed copy of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and More

iPhone
So Now I Have My Own iPhone - What Games Should I Get?
iPhone Chart Toppers: Zombies Versus Marines in Spaaaaaace

I can easily say that my time here has been well spent. Kotaku taught me more than Stanford University's graduate program in journalism ever did and gave me the chance to write about things I really care about. You know, instead of just boobs, Japanese role-playing games and scandals. Not that I mind writing about those things — actually when you combine all three, it can be pretty fun — but the world of video games is a lot larger than that. That's part of why I went to Stanford; to convince them that this is a subject that deserves the attention of journalism, and yes, being a games journalist is compatible with being a "real" journalist.

*After Leigh Alexander and Maggie Greene moved on, that is.

Here are some of the things I'm most proud of:

Knocked Up: A Look At Pregnancy in Video Games — I'd been pitching this feature idea for years to different publications, but Kotaku was the only outfit that let me run with it. I still find the topic fascinating and I still go out of my way to play games that let you get pregnant in some fashion. It's very much my "thing."

Pieces of You: Rebuilding Myself on Consoles — Breakups suck, but my work at Kotaku got me through a really nasty one. I still can't believe Stephen Totilo let me keep the Jewel song title in the headline.

Kotaku's Super Huge Pumpkin Patch (Parts One, Two, Three and Four) — I'm a sucker for crafts projects and I find that there's no other video game blog on the Internet that makes room to post stuff like this as well as shoes, cakes, video game wedding stuff, etc. It took me three hours on Halloween weekend to upload all those images, but it was worth it.

Girls Night With The Most Male Game Of 2009 — Yes, it pissed people off. Yes, I got death threats. But what's most important to me is that this article got people talking. I'm still amazed when I skim through the comments at some of the genuinely thoughtful discourse that goes on in there. Hope to see more of it where I'm going. And I still hope to see women in Modern Warfare 3.

My Master's Project, "Writing About Video Games: Journalism, Criticism and Mainstream Media" — I can't let the full copy of this 7000-word beast see the light of day yet because in my mind, it's still not "done." While working on it, I got the chance to interview Totilo before he jumped ship for Kotaku, N'Gai Croal as he was leaving Newsweek, Seth Schiesel from the New York Times, Jamin Brophy-Warren of the Wall Street Journal and Georgia Tech Associate Professor Ian Bogost — it was an all star cast. Kotaku made that possible by giving me access to these heavy-hitters and its articles make up about a quarter of my source list. Here's a tiny sample of my conclusion:

Time will tell if Schiesel and Brophy-Warren's editors care enough about video games to move their coverage into a more prominent place either in the print edition or in the online arts and entertainment section. If that happens, maybe their stories with replace the "point and giggle" stories in mainstream media. Time will tell if a vocabulary for talking about games emerges that are integrated into pop culture the way words and phrases like "Western" and "tear-jerker" can describe a movie to an audience that hasn't seen it. If that doesn't happen, words and phrases like "gameplay" or "free-look" and "sandbox" used in the reviews that most games journalism produces will remain impenetrable jargon specific to video games hobbyist magazines. Time might also make room for games journalism to grow up a little bit more, to develop into something that can be understood all 228 million American adults instead of just the 114 million who play them.

Well, that about does it for me. Take care of yourselves and take care of each other. Have a happy, safe, New Year!

Image Cred

Sony Hong Kong held the FFXIII launch event in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, next to the Sogo department store. There were playable FFXIII demos and folks dressed as characters from the game — including HK popstar Adason Lo, who hosted the event and dressed as Snow. He sang a song, too!

PS3 FINAL FANTASY XIII 幻想の壘 [fotop via Siliconera]

Now that I'm in possession of what people are calling the next big portable gaming platform, I need to load it up with games. I've got a few in mind so far — and I did let Randy Nelson from Joystiq talk me into a Scrabble-type app so we could see who's the better wordsmith — but it'd be great to get your recommendations.

Here's what I'm thinking:

First I need Wurdle and Fieldrunners. Back in March I met the creators of both games at a Game Developers Conference panel and heard a lot of good things about both games. Also, I want to support indie gaming.

Second I should get Puzzle Quest. I know it caused me a lot of grief when an early bug deprived me of my Bard character while playing on my ex's iPhone. But the kinks seem to be out now; and really, portable gaming doesn't get much better than Bejeweled wrapped in a role-playing game.

Or maybe it does? Peggle is definitely third on my list both because of quality and because I feel like PopCap Games manufactures my own personal brand of crack and I owe it to them to support my addiction.

On that note and as my fourth choice, I'm keeping my eye out for Plants vs. Zombies on the App Store in January 2010.

Anybody got any other suggestions? Drop me a line in the comments.

From now until January 4th, you can get Bookworm, Peggle and Chuzzle for $1.99 each. Bejeweled 2, sadly, is excluded from this deal so you still have to pay $2.99 for it. Check PopCap's Facebook page for updates on the deal.

What would be completely awesome is if Plants vs. Zombies hits the App Store as part of the sale before the fourth. That's unlikely, though, considering that release dates are largely controlled by Apple's submissions process and PopCap is leaning toward a late January release.

Ah well. Still a good time to own an iPhone anyway what with The Simpsons Arcade out.

Want to know about Gamertag issues, top DLC or Arcade titles? Pester about the future of Xbox Live or possible CES news? Now's the time to call in with your good questions!

To listen, head over to our BlogTalkRadio page. Unfortunately, you can only listen live on the BlogTalkRadio website.

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Listen to the show here.

The Zelda Reorchestrated project (a.k.a. ZREO) first got started six years ago when a 14-year-old had the brilliant idea to redo all the music in the game with an orchestra. Now, 82 tracks later, the idea is real and you can listen to it yourself.

As of a month ago, we were only short a handful of songs to complete the album, however, many of the songs from Ocarina of Time were not nearly up to par with others, so we decided to go through the album, song by song, and figure out which songs needed to be remade. It started out as five, then ten, twelve. The list grew and grew till we reached a whopping 22 tracks. Today, we release those additional 22 remakes.

Frushtick rightly points out that this work is in no way protected from a take-down notice from Nintendo (though I'm sure the more clever legal minds out there could make a case for fair use). So get it while it's hot in download form or pop over to Zelda Reorchestrated just to sample their work. Really, it's pretty neat.

Zelda Reorchestrated [Zreomusic.com via MTV Multiplayer]

These gameplay trailers give you a good look at just how glossy the plastic soldiers are on the battlefield. It definitely helps remind you that these are supposedly toys instead of real people you're blowing up. You know, in case you missed the giant toy box in the hazy background.

The thing I like is where you can sometimes see a child's bedroom in the background. I wonder why it's not like that all the time — like in levels where there's an actual sky instead. No chance in hell my parents would ever let me take a bunch of toy soldiers outsides; I'd lose 'em faster than you could blink.

I've been playing both quite a bit and can see the draw for either game. Here's the full list.

Which do you think should be the top game?

Check out all of our iPhone game reviews.

Position	Title	Price	Weeks	Last Week
1	Call of Duty: World at War Zombies (Activision)	$9.99	6	3
2	N.O.V.A. - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance (Gameloft)	$6.99	2	1
3	Need for Speed: SHIFT (EA)	$6.99	1	-
4	The Sims 3 (EA)	$6.99	16	8
5	Tetris (EA)	$2.99	16	10
6	Rock Band (Electronic Arts)	$4.99	1	-
7	Bejeweled 2 (PopCap Games)	$2.99	17	6
8	Madden NFL 10 (Electronic Arts)	$5.99	1	-
9	James Cameron's Avatar (Gameloft)	$9.99	2	4
10	Touchgrind (Illusion Labs)	$4.99	1	-

Cosplayers came out in droves, and Kotaku Japan has galleries up: here and here. And reader tsukasa1288 sent along photos that document some of this year's Comic Market cosplay.

Yes, Japan has Ronald McDonald, but in Japan, he's known as Donald McDonald. He doesn't usually hump people!

And those girls in skimpy duds? It's December. They must be cold.

In March 2010, Tecmo Koei is bringing post-apocalyptic martial arts manga Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken) to the PS3 and the Xbox 360 in Japan.
The game has been titled Hokuto Musou, and is part of Koei's popular "Musou" series of games.

The manga Fist of the North Star debuted in 1983 and went on to spin off two animated series and motion pictures.

ZerinaX, WoggyWooWoo, Yummy, startoonhero, Tzion, muburkit, Clarke, SHIMATTA-BAKA-NI, micahmidnight, Zanduar in AfterlifeUSEC, Natalie, Cody_Mau, Minion21g, Steffa,  Anne, Shelly, Chinako, Rhys Berresford and HezaChan.

FPS World is a modern spin on the pop-up shooting gallery with a gaming-themed spin.  

"I gave it a try and for about three bucks you get forty shots of semi auto action," says South Korean-based reader Peter. "You get to slap a second magazine in and the shooting range is done up to look like a typical fps scene."

So, if you've been holding out on even one of the add-ons because 800 Points is too high a price, today you officially don't have any excuses. Tomorrow, you might, though. Reports say this sale is a Today Only deal. However, said report was filed yesterday morning and the sale price still remains on Xbox Live as of today.

UPDATE: Looks like the sale is over, now. Prices are back up to 800.

To date, I think the only add-on I've actually shelled out for (at full price no less) is Knothole Island in Fable II. Because — you guessed it — I chose money over my dog at the end of the game so I could buy Castle Fairfax. Vanity, thy name is sex change side quest!

Check out the sale here.

Holiday Deal Fallout 3 [Burn360]

As a comic book writer with the name Batman in his bibliography, Walker says he has every right to assert this belief. He says he found the game "lacking" because Batman's methods for dealing with the gun-toting henchmen in Arkham was to run up and punch them.
ETA: Mr. Walker has emailed clarifications on his article: it's the violence he found lacking, not the game; and he recognizes that the style of fighting was a choice his play companion made rather than one the game forced on the player. I apologize for misinterpreting his remarks.

There was practically zero sneaking. Almost no subtlety or grace. He would just run up and punch the bad guy, usually taking a few machine gun shots to the face, and then zip away to a magical gargoyle that would render him invisible while his Bat-health recharged. Then he would repeat the process until there was nothing left to punch.

It was effective, I will grant that much. But to me, it kinda missed the point of Batman.

In addition to his complaints about Batman's style of fighting, he also has a beef with violence in video games. Namely, there isn't enough of it — or at least not enough realism in it.

I want a game that recreates that insane rush of endorphins and adrenaline or whatever it is after hearing a simple bullet crack past your ear. That's what games should be. So real that I just have to put down the controller for a minute because some part of my lizard brain is shaking in disbelief over the scenario I somehow managed to survive.

I think Walker's arguments about the violence are more interesting than his assertions about Batman. But feel free to dissect the hell out of both in the comments here or head on over to Elder-Geek and let Walker know what you think yourself.

Video Game Violence: What Do Gamers Really Want? [Elder-Geek via GamePolitics]

Take for example the loss of Altair's ring finger on his hidden-knife-hand. From playing Assassin's Creed, we know he lost it as part of the Assassin's initiation. But try as I might, I can't remember actually seeing that happen in the game — I only remember internalizing Altair's missing finger as fact.

This is where creative video group, TheDuoGroup, steps in to show us what that moment could have looked like.

In the almost-10-minute animated feature, titled "Initiation," Altair undergoes the part of his training where he loses that finger and takes the final step toward badassery. TheDuoGroup blurbs that, "Like all young men, Altair aspired to leave his mark on the world. After years of grueling training, fear and anticipation course through his veins. Anticipation, because he understands that this is the last right of passage towards brotherhood. Fear, because he knows that though hundreds of apprentices have reached this point, few come back alive."

Thanks for sharing your work with us, Graham!

Note: This is not an official Ubisoft video. It's just a pretty, spiffy fan video.

According to insider info (along with some speculation!), Japanese website PC Watch is reporting that Sony is looking to alternatives to the PS3's Cell architecture, which some developers have found to be challenging. One early alternative include Cell and Intel's Larrabee. Wanting a bit more horsepower, Sony has apparently abandoned this plan. Sony was also apparently considering a modified version of the Synergistic Processor Unit, but is now supposedly working on designs that include a mulit-core CPU.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all believed to be exploring new system architecture. And with the exception of a possible Wii HD, PC Watch Impress states that it takes 24 months to produce new consoles, making 2011 difficult for new hardware and 2012 or even as late as 2013 more possible.

However, PC Watch Impress notes that new handhelds will pre-date new home console hardware — so by that assumption, the PSP2 will be released before the PS4.

【後藤弘茂のWeekly海外ニュース】 揺れるSCEの次世代ゲーム機「PlayStation 4」プラン　[PC Watch Impress]

While games have long been my time-waster of choice for the frequent international flights I take, it's usually video games I stock up on. Not so for my Sydney to San Francisco flight. This time around I was hunting for pocket chess, little wooden brain teasers and magnetic backgammon.

With the attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound Christmas Day flight and the heightened security that surrounded it, rumor quickly spread that one of the new rules for international flights bound for the United States might ban the use of all electronics.

The very thought of not being able to access the library of books and video games stored on my iPhone, my DSi, my PSPgo put me in a near panic.

So on the eve of my flight, my wife, son and I headed to an oddity in the Blue Mountains' town of Hazlebrook west of Sydney. Selwood Science & Puzzles is housed in the Selwood House, an 1865 cottage wrapped in a garden of ferns and eucalyptus. The many rooms inside the old home are packed with the sorts of diversions and toys most familiar to children born before the rising popularity of video games and electronics.

One room is dedicated to puzzles of metal and wood, board games big and small and a cornucopia of games featuring bits of plastic, dice, and magnets. There were pocket versions of chess, checkers and backgammon; bent nails nested in devious designs; decks upon decks of cards for games I had grown up playing and some I had never heard of. And not one of the hundreds, thousands of these games required a battery or electrical outlet to play.

Other rooms were packed with science kits and experiments, books of brain teasers, IQ tests and short mysteries.

If electronics, long the opiate for the masses of nervous fliers, find themselves device non grata for the near future, could these non-digital diversions be their replacements? Will flights start to resemble coffee shops with passengers hunkered around chess boards, games of Hearts and Dominoes raging in the back rows?

Probably not, but it's a reminder of how dependent some of us have become on the products of the digital age.

Arriving at Sydney International Airport on Sunday I discovered little had changed in the wake of the latest attempted attack. I was assured, repeatedly, that electronics could be used during the upcoming flight.

Not quite believing the reassurances I ducked into a bookstore to load up on the printed word, in case the digital one wasn't available to me. The lines in the bookstore, the crowds milling through rows of paperbacks, made me think I wasn't the only one fearing a last-minute, in-air electronics ban.

For now I'll keep the paperback and pocket chess at hand, just in case.

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Voice actresses have dedicated fan bases in Japan — and some are so well known among players that their voice acting is used to promote and sell the game, much like name scenario writers or illustrators are used to sell titles in Japan.

Some of the actress appeared in the previous collection Kotaku featured. Many did not!

2ch

According to South Korean newspaper The Dong-a IIbo, South Korean gamers who have seen Super Street Fighter IV's South Korea stage feel disappointed and don't really feel that it looks Korean, but rather, Chinese or a mix-mash of both, making it difficult to discern where the heck the stage is.

It's not just the outfits that the background characters are wearing, but also the banners which predominately feature Chinese writing — a few banners appear to feature Korean writing. Of course, Chinese writing has traditionally been used in Korea and can be found scrawled on landmark temples and shrines.

Other criticism is that there are few skyscrapers (which dominate today's South Korean urban sprawl) and the depiction of street vendors is highly outdated.

Stereotypes in Street Fighter?

Hey look, India!

スーパースト4「韓国ステージがひどすぎる」と韓国人が不満爆発 [まにあっくすZ]