That's Valus the Minotaur and Dirge the Sandworm, just with a lot more flesh, the stuff of very bizarre sexual fantasies. But it's also the stuff of Comiket 77, now sadly closed and far out of reach for someone who might want a copy of this "tan" tribute to Shadow of the Colossus.

You can see more of fan artist Shigatake's work at the very, very not-safe-for-work Sankaku Complex, the artist's personal site or his Pixiv account. Any Comiket goers happen to grab a copy of this?

Shadow of the Colossus-tan [Sankaku Complex (NSFW) via Fort90]

That's according to a release from Japanese artist network pixiv—pretty much the overseas equivalent of deviantArt—which has tapped Kojima, Evangelion character designer and manga creator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Twilight manga artist Ryuji Gotsubo to judge a Twilight: New Moon fan art contest.

Kojima, who I'd wager aligns himself with Team Jacob, is reportedly a "huge fan" of Twilight, according to the Anime News Network's translation of the release. He'll contribute his expert opinion as well as a signed copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, apparently, to the list of grand prizes.

If you've got some Edward Cullen fan art lying around—perhaps in the Yoji Shinkawa style—you might want to get a Japanese speaking friend to register with pixiv and submit it on your behalf. Otherwise, expect this contest to be an "only in Japan" kinda thing.

The more cynical of you may see this as an attempt to broaden the exposure of things like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker to a very passionate fan base. But I'm betting you're way, way off. Way off.

Eva, Metal Gear Creators Judge Twilight Art Contest [Anime News Network via GameSetWatch]

Google apparently has an... enthusiastic Legend of Zelda fan on staff, as Google Blogoscoped points out, highlighting eight of who knows how many appearances of the Nintendo trademark in various specialized corporate logos. Commenters on the blog dug up four more. What's the secret?

They just employ a talented Zelda fan. And when I say "fan," I mean cosplaying Link-caliber fan. All signs point to Google web illustrator and web designer Susie Sahim, whose many doodles feature a Triforce signature.

While Sahim has been deferring requests for comment to her Google overlords, we'd think her obvious interests are reflected in her work. And that if anyone found this Google-Triforce crossover mysterious, that mystery should be considered solved.

Or is it?!!

(Yes, it really is.)

The Great Google Doodle Triforce Conspiracy [Google Blogoscoped - thanks, Ulysses!]

The King of Fighters series has always had its own distinct style, and the official website for the latest entry in the series is simply oozing said style from every pixel. Each section could be a page from an art book. They've got biographies of each combatant, the aforementioned history of the series, news, trailers, screens and of course, the fan art contest.

The contest runs through July 31st, with the winning fan art entries eligible to win limited-edition KOF figurines, copies of the game, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, or the grand prize of $1,000 in cash. Simply head over to the website and click on the Fan Art link to get started. Oh, and they prohibit nudity, so you should probably keep all of those Mai pics to yourself for now.

Lefcourt explores the gorier side of traditionally non-violent video game characters, including Pac-Man, Mario and Kirby, giving us a peek at the "offal" reality of the medium's icons.

"The idea behind the project stems from growing up at an arcade, and my eventual love affair with Mortal Kombat," Lefcourt explains on his Flickr photostream. "Before Mortal Kombat, violence in video games was largely unheard of or ignored because of its extreme pixelized simplicity."

"Just because you didn't see Pac-man violently tearing into the ghosts with his jaws, or Mario smashing in the brains of a goomba, that's what I knew was happening," Lefcourt writes, indicating that the differences in violence between a game like Mortal Kombat and, say, Kid Icarus are just reflective of differences in perception.

Check out the full set at Flickr.

8-Bit Fatalities [Flickr via GameSetWatch]

Chinatown War [deviantArt via Tiny Cartridge]

The Night Zero team's project is called Left 5 Dead, an attempt to photorealistically recreate the iconic Survivors from Valve and Turtle Rock's zombie video game. So far, it looks like we have real-life representations of Zoey, Bill, Francis and Louis, as well as the Witch and Hunter. Sadly, no Boomer, but we hope they can pull it off.

The team's Flickr indicates that a "live-action Left 4 Dead movie" is in the works, one featuring a fifth Survivor. Given that fifth Survivor's choice of outfit—bandanna and puffy shirt?!—we don't think we'll mind seeing him stomped to death by a gang of Infected.

Head over to the Night Zero team's Flickr to see more of their in-progress work, if that high-dynamic range lighting thing appeals to you.

Thanks to Ryan for the heads up!

Left 5 Dead [Journal Zero via Telegraph]
Left 5 Dead [Flickr]

Why so expensive? This Ryu ink sketch was created by renowned UK artist Dave White, celebrating the release of Street Fighter IV. The pop culture artist, who gained famed via collaborations with brands like Nike and Coca-Cola, is one of those rare artists whose work is extremely valuable without him having to die first. He's also a rather large fan of Street Fighter.

"For the past 18 years I have been playing Street Fighter in all its guises and versions," says Dave White. "For me and millions of others it's more than just a video game, it's a total obsession and way of life. Something more akin to the complex structure of chess, every match is different and every second offers chances and possibilities, risks and drama. That's why I play."

That's exactly the kind of deep thought one would expect from a man who can create the five foot by four foot equivalent of a napkin scribble and have it valued at $10,000 to $14,000.

Better than the previous effort? We're not here to judge. Okay, we are. I happen to like this classic TF2 line-up, via Digg, a little better than the "Gravel Pit" movie poster, but also recognize that these things can be thrown together in Garry's Mod without Herculean amounts of work.

One question: Why does Louis always have to be Demo Man?

It's just one of many fantastic LEGO recreations of StarCraft II units that very few have played with, but are currently obsessing over. Matt "Pepa Quin" de Lanoy has gone to expert, perhaps obsessive, lengths to build nigh-perfect bricked versions of the Terran's Marines, Banshee and Hellion, all of which we want to recreate, then play with on the carpet at Kotaku Towers West.

We'd be all "Pyew! Pyew! You're dead!" with the Immortal, then the Marines would be all "Tssss!" with their Stim Packs and like "No, you're dead! Kabooosh!" Or something.

Starcraft II [Flickr via The Brothers Brick - thanks, Jake!]

Alexandria "Beavotron" Neonakis' romantic contributions for this year bring out the romantic, fun-loving side of Left 4 Dead's survivors and its undead, with adorably gory messages of adoration pun-worthy of proper Valentines.

Beavotron's previous Valentine's Day cards, including these excellent Team Fortress 2-inspired creations as well as ones based on Shadow of the Colossus and Katamari Damacy, are still available at her web site. Old, but not old to your new significant other. But we say show Beavotron how much you care about her bandwidth by grabbing 'em at the link below.

L4D Valentines: Survivors [Penny-Arcade Forums via Aeropause]

Anyone with the Orange Box is familiar with McLain's voice, as she has roles in Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal (not only GLaDOS but also as the singer in "Still Alive.") So that's not news. But of all her roles, the Announcer is the one that most begs for a depiction (and I means besides the Bondage GLaDOS, too). And the idea of a stern, smoky, boozy, Selma-Bouvier-esque take-no-shit presence, appropriately garbed in red and blue, is as good a take as can be had.

There are some other takes on the TF2 classes within the link, plus a hilarious semi-shoop of Obama as the Spy and Joe the Plumber as the Engineer.

TF2 Fan Art [Buttface Makani, thanks Bill M.]

Pac-Samurai [Pop Monkey - thanks, Drew!]

Select A Class... by ghostfire [deviantArt - thanks, Marc!]

If you're more of a World of Warcraft, Shadow of the Colossus or Katamari Damacy romantic type, those Valentines are still available.

Art [Nuts N' Beavers - thanks, Tobias!]

Lwelyk's Legos

Pac-Man Wallpaper [PokedStudio]
[Thanks, John]