I got going on this idea because my first night on the job for Kotaku — covering a Godfather II event — I sliced my foot open and spent the next week limping from junket to junket. But whenever I thought I had it bad as a games journalist, I'd always remind myself that journalists in video games usually have it way worse. They wade through zombies, deal with emotionally unstable people and more often than not wind up on the front lines of wars and stuff. They're the ones that deserve a bottle of Cristal and a hug. But instead, they get this photo gallery.

Taylor — Suikoden 5
[Image Cred]

Irene Ellet — Valkyria Chronicles
[Image Cred]

Frank West — Dead Rising
[Image Cred]

Elena Fisher — Uncharted
[Image Cred]

Joseph Schreiber — Silent Hill 4

Keith Helm — Disaster Report
[Image Cred]

Ben Bertolucci — Resident Evil 2
[Image Cred]

Ulala — Space Channel 5

Everyone — Michigan: Report From Hell (never came out in North America)
[Image Cred]

Madison Paige — Heavy Rain
[Image Cred]

Laura Parton - D2

Keats — Folklore
[Image Cred]

Maya Amano - Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Alyssa - Resident Evil: Outbreak
[Image Cred]

I give honorable mentions to the news announcers in King of Fighters 12, the sportscaster characters in any sports game ever and one to Reuben Oluwagembi in Far Cry 2 (couldn't find a good enough picture of him). Other than that, these are all I've got — hit me up in the comments if you think of more. Owen Good nominated Paperboy I assume on grounds that he would have been promoted to copyeditor by now, but I don't know...

P.S. I still have the cork from that bottle of Cristal in my purse. It reminds me of everything that's happened in the last year and how much of it I owe to Kotaku. Here's looking at another year of blogging!

LittleBigPlanet is an innovation award machine, so it stands to reason that it would be on the list. We knew that before we even looked at it. Sure enough, there it was, nestled comfortably among other surefire innovators like Flower and Noby Noby Boy, though I suspect the latter only made it mainly for the confusion factor and the tiny frogs. The only unfamiliar game on the list is MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade, a WiiWare title from Mindware that I don't recall ever seeing in action.

Rounding out the list are two bigger titles, Far Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead. I'm not exactly sure where the innovation is in Far Cry 2, other than perhaps the map editing tools. Left 4 Dead, on the other severed zombie hand, pretty much created its own sub-genre, so I can definitely see where Edge is coming from.

Where are they going? Find out next week when the winner is announced at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival over in England somewhere.

The interior ministers of Germany's 16 states have unanimously asked the German legislature to ban outright the distribution, sale, and development of violent video games. Such games have been a big part of the national conversation since a 17-year-old went on a gun rampage March 11, killing 15. Naturally, the shooter owned a shooter - Crytek's Far Cry 2 - and playing it for two hours before the killings was enough to link games to the tragedy.

The demand is definitely politically timed - the interior heads want it ASAP, before German elections Sept. 27. Again, this is (snicker) a Far Cry from legislation introduced to parliament, but it was enough to fire up German readers who sent it to us, who already point to the country's extremely strict youth protection laws, and are generally disgusted by lawmakers' tendency to blame technologies they don't understand.

Germany's Interior Ministers Ask Bundestag For Total Ban on Violent Games [GamePolitics; also tipped by reader Michael J.]

The four page article "Warning" Far Cry 2 is still a broken game" details the chronology of the game's issues from the first reports of crashes to the promised patches in the Far Cry 2 forums. In addition to the the numerous and apologetic posts from Ubi officials in the forum threads, it also has the latest "update" on the forthcoming patch:

April 1
Community Developer Atmon did respond to a private inquiry of ours, stating
"An update is still on track with several new features and enhancements, as well as fixes like any good big patches."

It may sound like a lot of whining, but the piece does raise some good points. Why wouldn't Ubi correct game-breaking bugs within weeks of the release instead of waiting more than half a year? And why not reach out to customers with more than just a paltry price drop?

Still, I don't know that I'd go so far as to speculate that they'll charge users for the new patch:

Actually, this release leads us to think that Ubisoft may plan on charging for the update.

But what do I know? I'm the kind of sucker that would have bought the game based on the shiny reviews that don't mention the bugs.

Warning: Far Cry 2 is still a broken game [GamesRadar]

Merkel did not give specifics in this Reuters story (via International Herald Tribune) so perhaps it's just a politic response to vox populi blaming games. It was part of a broader statement that Germans "must be attentive to all young people — that's true for parents and educators," Merkel said. "We must do all to prevent children from having access to weapons and from them having to face too much violence."

Sounds reasonable. The shooter's father had 15 guns at home. Fourteen were locked up, and the kid used the one that wasn't. Oopsie.

What's just silly is trying to link Far Cry 2 to this. Der Spiegel mentioned yesterday the killer played the game prior to the shootings (it even got timestamps!) So The Times of London devotes a tortured two paragraphs explaining all the coincidences of the game and the shooting, leaving out that both took place on planet Earth.

Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old's rampage. In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer hijacked a car, held a pistol to the driver's head and asked: "Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?" Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9m copies, wear black camouflage uniforms – the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday.

Most sinister of all, Far Cry 2's killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun, the weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer. The game, which carries an 18 certificate in Britain, includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It also rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by Kretschmer.

And 12 contains the numbers one and two, just like the toilet yesterday where somebody went number two instead of number one.

If blaming Far Cry 2 makes people feel better, fine. I'll blame the facts he was a disturbed teenager who had a bondage porn kink way too early in life and was snubbed by a girl he had a crush on, who was among the first of his victims.

Mass Killer 'Rejected' by Girl at Party [Times of London]
Merkel Urges Greater Focus on Youth after Shootings [Reuters on International Herald Tribune]

Ubi community manager Atmon spread the word on Friday. Hardcore mode delivers a new damage model (meaning, increased damage) and rebalanced weapons. Also:

• Enemy names will disappear after the spawning invincibility period is over.

• A new option lets you tweak spawning time, but not spawning rate.

• A search option will be added to multiplayer that allows you to find games on hardcore mode.

• These features will be available on all platforms.

"The hardcore mode has been designed as an answer to a community request. When designing the multiplayer game our team wanted to provide a balanced experience for most gamers. However some players were seeking and expecting a more realistic experience," Atmon writes. "We hope that you will like the changes our team has implemented to let you enjoy the game, and play it the way you want."

Hardcore Mode [Ubisoft Forums: Far Cry 2 General Discussion]

All three versions of Far Cry 2 contain a robust set of level design tools, but there is a big difference between tossing down a few boulders onto a blank map and crafting a sublime multiplayer experience. Ubisoft now turns to the Far Cry 2 players themselves, accepting submissions on various topics for inclusion in "Designing Wargames: The Official Far Cry 2 Map Editing Guide", to be published this spring.

"This is the next milestone in gamer-generated content," says David Hutchison, Associate Professor at Brock University. "Far Cry 2 makes it easy for both PC and console gamers to create cool new multiplayer maps that they can then share with other gamers. We want to honour this effort by inviting the Far Cry 2 map-making community to contribute to this first-of-its-kind game design book."

While the backbone of the book will be authored and edited by Professor Hutchinson, the author of “Playing to Learn: Video Games in the Classroom," the meat will come directly from articles submitted at www.farcrybook.com. If you're interested in becoming a part of the project, just follow the link for the submission guidelines, but act fast - submissions close tomorrow.

It sounds to me like a collection of user-written FAQS and strategies you'd find online, only without having to worry about burning your thighs with your laptop while reading it in the restroom. I approve.

Ubisoft® Announces "The Official Far Cry® 2 Map Editing Guide"

A Book Written by Gamers for Gamers

LONDON, UK - January 27, 2008 - Today, Ubisoft announced a unique partnership with Charles River Media, one of North America's leading publishers of video game development books. Both companies are working together to create one of the first game design books written by gamers for gamers.

"Designing Wargames: The Official Far Cry® 2 Map Editing Guide" will be published in the spring of 2009. Written and edited by David Hutchison, author of “Playing to Learn: Video Games in the Classroom,” the book will comprise of map making techniques and advice contributed by Far Cry 2 map makers around the world.

"This is the next milestone in gamer-generated content," says David Hutchison, Associate Professor at Brock University. "Far Cry 2 makes it easy for both PC and console gamers to create cool new multiplayer maps that they can then share with other gamers. We want to honour this effort by inviting the Far Cry 2 map-making community to contribute to this first-of-its-kind game design book."

As underlined by Jessy-Gosselin Gant of the Far Cry2 development team:“Level design is a defining factor in how the player will experience a video game. It constitutes a key role in production by having the responsibility of presenting all the different game components such as art, animation, AI and gameplay mechanics at their best, so the player can enjoy them in a convincing and attractive environment.”

Far Cry 2 map-makers who are interested in contributing to the book can learn more at the book's website - www.farcrybook.com - where they can submit Far Cry 2 map reviews, map editing quick tips, tactical analyses, and feature articles.

While Steam users are regularly warned by messages from Valve not to provide their login details to anyone — "Steam Support will never need your password for any reason" — this particular tactic capitalizes on the service's ability to "gift" a copy of a game to another user.

The authentic-looking e-mail uses a spoofed, support@steampowered.com address, forwarding recipients to a dummy version of the Steam Community web site. That page simply harvests login and password information, potentially giving the phishing schemers access to personal account information.

The most obvious indicator that you're not at the official Steam Community web site is the cloned page's URL, which should be the secured https://steamcommunity.com/.

If you weren't affected by the phishing attempt, we'd still recommend brushing up on Valve's account security recommendations. And if you think your account might have been compromised, we'll forward you to official documentation on reclaiming a hijacked Steam account.

We've contacted Valve to get comment on the matter, but in the meantime, don't be lured in by this nonsense.

Shaun White enjoyed a surprisingly strong debut, selling 2.3 million copies worldwide and becoming the second-highest-selling sports title in the US behind Madden.

Raving Rabbids TV party also did better than you or I would have predicted, moving 1.5 million units despite Ubisoft's best attempts at driving the once-lovable little white psychopaths into the ground.

Now for the interesting stuff. Far Cry 2 proved that, as many people believed, it's a slow-burner, selling 2.9 million copies worldwide since release. Ubisoft were happy with that (and Raving Rabbids), so happy that they reckon it "offset the impact of a slower take-off for Prince of Persia".

Slower take-off? It's sold 2.2 million copies since December, an impressive tally for a game that's only just been released and was caught in the wake of bigger holiday releases like Gears 2, Fallout 3 and Fable II. Just how many copies were Ubisoft expecting to sell?

We'd think that a drop that fast and of that much doesn't bode well for Prince of Persia's sales, but we just work here. And Prince of Persia's not the only game being slashed right before the holidays. Ubisoft's EndWar and Far Cry 2 — the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions — have also been reduced to just $39.99.

Yikes. If this does reflect tepid sales — and not GameStop just throwing away twenty bucks per sale for kicks — we'd hope Ubisoft is one of the publishers reevaluating the timing of some of its 2009 releases.

Farcry 2/Prince of Persia Ps3 (maybe 360?) Price Drop @ GS - $39.99 [CAG]

A patch for the game - which brings it to v1.02 - gives us proper widescreen support, instead of the shifty ol' cropped 4:3 manoeuvre Ubisoft pulled first time around. So the next time you pop in to say hi to your heartless mercenary friends, you'll be seeing a lot more of Africa than you have before.

Download: Far Cry 2 v1.02 Patch [Big Download]

The Moroccan takes you to an abandoned Foreign Legion fort in Leboa-Sako territory, where you may find an old man with information on The Jackal (presumably not crucial information, or he would be in the main game... but, hey) while The American sees you tracking your predecessor to a Dogon village in the hope of finding an informant.

Both missions can be unlocked by downloading a patch from the Game On site, although The American is only available once you have completed The Moroccan.

Far Cry 2 Receives Free Bonus Missions [IGN]

At the ripe age of 65, he bought his first shooter: DOOM II. It took him months to complete the game, and he had problems avoiding the fireballs. It was, after all, only his first FPS! Known online as aki_tan, he's gotten quite adept.

"I don’t do multi, nor co-op. I want to enjoy the game I’m into when I want, that’s how I feel," he says. "Aside from playing, I like to write walkthroughs, so you could say the way I enjoy them is a little different to most." His website has walkthroughs for shooters that range from Crysis to Quake. (It's even got a section on cheats!) His friends and family are happy he's found something too keep him from going senile, Kitajima reckons.

While he's head over heels for FPS titles, Kitajima doesn't expect the genre to catch on with the country's silver set — or the country, for that matter. "In Japan, I think there’s something of an emotional distance kept from shooting games," he adds. "I get the impression the market isn’t set to grow very large. I also worry that with the increasingly high spec machines required, the playing population will further decrease."

Meanwhile, Kitajima keeps gaming and updating his website regularly with walkthroughs. Anything he's looking forward to? "I’m wondering if a Japanese version of Far Cry 2 is ever coming out..."

78歳、現役FPSプレイヤー「北島さん」にお話を伺ってみました。 [DHARMA POINT via Sankaku Complex]

Remember how I said money is no object as far as a crossbow is concerned? Perhaps I spoke a bit too soon. I would have gone as high as $5 in real money or its virtual equivalent, but $10? Probably not. I'll just continue making my own maps and pretending I have a crossbow.

Far Cry 2 DLC to cost 800 MS Points News [Eurogamer]

The media release mentions nothing of a price, but also does not contain the word free, and people who write these things up generally love to include that particular word when applicable, so I guess we'll see how that goes. All I know is money is no object as far as a crossbow is concerned. Screens of the new content and a run down of what's included, after the jump.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES NEW DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT AVAILABLE BEFORE THE END OF NOVEMBER FOR FAR CRY® 2 – THE FORTUNE'S PACK BRINGS YOU EVEN MORE TOOLS OF MAYHEM

London, UK – 21 November 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced it will release exciting new downloadable content (DLC) for Far Cry® 2. The Fortune’s Pack DLC will bring new vehicles and new weapons to both the single-player game and the multiplayer game, giving gamers even more diverse means of destruction. Be the silent stalker armed with your silent shotgun or jump on your new quad and blast through the dunes of Africa. The Fortune’s Pack DLC for Far Cry 2 will be available for download from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and from PlayStation®Network.

The Fortune’s Pack DLC for Far Cry 2 includes:

Single-Player Mode
Three brand-new weapons
- Silenced shotgun
- Sawed-off shotgun
- Crossbow

Two new vehicles
- Unimog
- Quad

Multiplayer Mode
- Four new exciting maps
1. Cheap Labor
2. Last Resort
3. Lake Smear
4. Fort Fury
- New single-player weapons and vehicles also available in multiplayer

The Africa-set first-person shooter for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC has been getting pretty good marks here and elsewhere. Seems like most Far Cry 2 players like it for its fire effects, not so much its extended driving sequences.

Interview: How Far Cry 2's Fire Fuels, Spreads [Gamasutra]

Which, when you see it put like that, is a whole load of changes. Were they for the better?

Loved
I hear The Drums Echoing Tonight – Far Cry 2’s biggest and best achievement is the game world itself. A little slice of Africa, it encompasses a savannah or two, arid deserts and thick jungles, the three combining to form one of the most beautiful, realistic settings for a game I’ve ever seen. Lazy afternoon sunlight leaks through gently drifting trees. You’ll catch a herd of zebra in your headlights as you bounce across the desert in the middle of the night. You’ll find yourself stopping in the middle of nowhere and, just for a second, really feeling like you’re a bad man stuck in a bad place that’s in the middle of nowhere.

I Know That I Must Do What's Right – While Resident Evil 5 probably wishes it had done things a little differently, Far Cry 2 does a surprisingly good job of tackling the continent responsibly, without ever resorting to heavy-handed clichés of social responsibility and morality. There are bad men, there are good men, there are lots of men (and women) in between. Same goes for your missions. You’re free to make your own morality in Far Cry 2, the game never forces it down your throat.

It's Gonna Take A Lot To Drag Me Away From You – Far Cry 2 has an outstanding “continue?” system. Death is often not far away in the game, but if you have a “buddy” – the game’s NPC allies that are befriended in exchange for help – you get a continue. So instead of just dying (let’s say in combat), you’ll instead find yourself blacking out, only to come to to see your “buddy” dragging you to a safer spot so you can heal yourself, killing bad guys the whole time. It’s a neat, seamless solution.

Gonna Take Some Time To Do The Things We Never Had – Far Cry 2 isn’t an FPS. Not in the traditional sense. Sure, it’s played in the first person, but in terms of structure, the game has a lot more in common with Grand Theft Auto than Far Cry 1. The game world is comprised of two massive areas, and within each are dozens of location-specific missions. Drive five minutes to a house, get a mission, complete the mission, get money. Just like GTA. Combine this with the perspective, as well as the beauty and design of the world itself, and you get something that feels more free than either GTA or any other FPS is able to match.

I Bless The Rains Down In Africa – One of this game’s unsung heroes (and real innovations) is in its use of fire. You can start fires, the fires spread, and it works. Molotivs can be used to torch entire villages, flushing out the bad guys, while an exploding vehicle on a dry grassland can quickly turn a battlefield into a 50 foot-wide inferno.

Hated
There's Nothing That A Hundred Men Or More Could Ever Do – The AI is awful. Just awful. Mostly because it’s so inconsistent. Bad guys will be unable to find you standing in the middle of a room when they’re standing at the door, and yet at the same time they can see you crouched in a bush from a kilometre away in the middle of the night. The latter can remove (I say can, because it seems random) any sense of planning and stealth from a lot of the missions, the former reduces close-quarters battles to an African-skinned Doom deathmatch.

I Seek To Cure What's Deep Inside, Frightened Of This Thing That I've Become – You start the game having already contracted a nasty bout of malaria. Sounds bad, and it is; at random moments your play will be interrupted by a malaria fit, forcing you to take medication. Don’t take your pills, and you die. So you need pills. And forcing you to get them is a pain in the ass, distracting you from more important missions and serving no purpose other than to interrupt firefights and forcibly prolong the game.

As They Grow Restless Longing For Some Solitary Company - Far Cry 2 is long. Too long. There are too many missions, the story takes too long to really get going, and Ubisoft risk losing a lot of players from boredom before the game's surprisingly involving finale. Combine a surplus of missions with sometimes-tediously long drives towards objectives and you're looking at a game that'll take you 20-25 hours to complete, but should really have only taken you 10-15.

Here’s a warning: you may well hate Far Cry 2 when you first start. It’ll seem bewildering, it’ll seem broken. You're given little direction on how the world works or how you'll work within it. But this is a game – again, like GTA – where that bewilderment is part of the package. Far Cry 2 isn't about clearing levels or amassing body counts. It’s about the sum of the experience, the feeling you get surveying the total package. You won’t love this game when emptying a clip into a bad guy. You’ll love it when you hear a rustling in the bushes, draw your gun, spin around and find it’s just a water buffalo. Or when you realise that this game is nothing but those brief, best bits of the original Far Cry — the open-world combat, the ability to attack a base however you want.

And that total package is one of the most ambitious games in recent memory. Sure, you’ll curse at the omnipotent AI and the rusty guns and the malaria sickness, but they only serve to remind you that the game’s not perfect. Which is lucky, because when you drive up a hill, sunlight oozing through your windscreen as you pass a flock of gazelle and survey a rebel camp you’re about to destroy in whatever way you feel like, perfect is a word you come dangerously close to using.

Far Cry 2 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, published by Ubisoft. Released on Oct. 21 in North America, Oct. 24 in Europe for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & PC. Reviewed on PC. Retails for $59.99 . Completed 100% of single player campaign.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Treyarch: 'We've got the best shooter this Christmas' [MCVUK]

Hit the link below to check out the whole project from start to finish, and then enter Bit-tech's contest for a chance to win the piece for yourself. Just in case you haven't been paying attention, the answer is Africa.

Far Cry 2 PS3 by Butterkneter [bit-tech]