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

It was all a big mistake, of course, and one that was corrected in around five hours, but during that window it was available, people grabbed it, and people are now watching it on their PS3s and PSPs. For free.

Interesting that, mistake or not, the movie had already been processed and cleared for digital download, indicating its actual, intended release may not have been that far away.

Break into the PlayStation Store, get Armored for free [Joystiq]

Posting a "happy new years" message on Mistwalker's site, Sakaguchi says Mistwalker "are also working on a project for iPhone", and that it "should be released soon". Blue Dragon iPhone, perhaps?

[mistwalker]

Dead Space fans can choose from a variety of t-shirts, along with an Isaac outfit and a little model of the Ishimura, while sports types have a full range of official NBA and NCAA football jerseys.

Before you ask, yes, the sports gear is cheaper than the NFL stuff from a few months back.

[Avatar Marketplace]

[via Boing Boing]

This top-down, dual-stick shooter retains the arcadey appeal of the genre, while supporting its frenzied action with sharp visuals and impressive effects. Solo pilots are in for an alien-annihilating blast, but co-op world-savers may get lost in the chaos before finishing this fight.

Loved
Thumbs At the Ready:0 Day's action is fast, fun, and often frantic. There's always lots happening on-screen, and only razor-sharp reflexes will keep your craft from quickly becoming a plummeting ball of fire. Assisting your fight against Earth's invaders are multiple ships, power-ups, and abilities. An effective nitro boost will shoot you out of harm's way, while screen-stretching explosive blasts-that'd crane the necks of Mercenaries' pyro-loving protagonists-envelope bigger enemies in a tidal wave of flames. Additionally, expected genre power-ups such as three-way spray guns and flame throwers that deliver death from both ends of your ship, round out your alien-whuppin' arsenal. The swift action is also nicely managed by intuitive controls and a simple, clean HUD display.

Aliens Attack!: Evocative of over-the-top extraterrestrial invasion films like Independence Day and Minority Report, 0 Day pays as much attention to its presentation as its gameplay. Taking place over seven days and 20+ missions, the story sees you fighting enormous enemies in real-world cities. Where similar titles offer repetitive starry space backdrops and uninspired enemies, 0 Day pits players against massive metallic menaces erupting from the Hudson River and mechanical limb-flailing monsters that dwarf Manhattan's skyscrapers.

Hated
Chaotic Co-opWhile 0 Day seems tailor made for a kick-ass co-op experience, its up-to-4-player mode suffers from being way too busy. Between the enemies, explosions, allies, and power-ups, there's already a bit much crowding the screen during solo play. But add more trigger-happy players to the mix, and navigating the clutter becomes maddening. Competitive mutli-player modes, while similarly dizzying, do fare a bit better here. If you can manage to tune out some of the peripheral chaos, there's some fun to be had while battling with or against buddies, but more often than not I found myself flying solo.

0 Day doesn't stray too far from what makes the dual-stick shooter genre tick. But addictive action and some interesting abilities, complemented by a presentation ripped right from a Roland Emmerich flick, allow it to rise above the me-too competition. It gets a little crazy when the action ramps up during multi-and occasionally solo-play, but quick-reflexed gamers shouldn't have a problem saving the planet from its latest alien threat.

0 Day: Attack on Earth was developed by GULTI and published by Square Enix for Xbox Live Arcade on December 23th. Retails for 1200 Microsoft Points. A code to download the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Completed the game's campaign on medium difficulty and participated in several online multi-player matches.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

It's that time of year again. Time to take a data dive into the heart of eBay U.S. to gauge how well the video game grey market fared during the holiday season. Rather than charting the sales numbers of a specific console, as I've done for the past three years with the Nintendo Wii, this year I'm presenting a broader overview of the eBay grey market, charting the sales for all major gaming platforms during the 30-day period beginning November 26th and ending on Christmas Day. I've compiled data on console sales, game listings, and some of the top-items passing through the popular auction website. If you want to know which platforms thrived, which handheld completely tanked, and the most successful video game-related item on eBay, then read on.

Console Sales

The table below presents a general overview of the sales performance of the major consoles and handheld systems during the month leading up to Christmas. I've listed the total sales in U.S. dollars, the number of items sold, the average selling price, and the sell-through percentage, which indicates the success of auctions posted for each specific product. Check out the table, and then we'll break things out by console.

PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 in all its varied incarnations sold the fewest number of consoles out of the big three this year, but that shouldn't be taken as a measure of the system's success. Indeed, if you look at the sell-through percentage, the PS3 comes out on top. That means there were less people selling, but plenty willing to buy. Since the launch of the PlayStation Slim earlier this year, Sony has maintained a steady supply of the consoles to retail outlets, and the abundance of available consoles equates less people looking for them on eBay.

From a seller's point of view, that high sell-through figure means the PlayStation 3 comes out on top in terms of sales potential.

The highest price PlayStation 3 auctions mainly consisted of limited edition consoles, including the Final Fantasy XIII bundle recently released in Japan.

Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 brought in the most money of any console this holiday season, mainly due to its average price being slightly higher than the Nintendo Wii, which pushed more units overall. The Microsoft console's sell-through numbers were only slightly lower than the PlayStation 3. Between that figure and the larger number of consoles put up for sales, it seems like putting a new 360 up for sales is seen as a relatively safe bet among sellers.

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundle made up a large portion of the Xbox 360 sales during the period, with 322 of the consoles representing $126,924 worth of sales. The Infinity Ward-flavored bundle went for as high as $900.

Wii

eBay sellers continue the love affair with the Wii that started with the console's 2006 holiday debut. The Wii was the top seller of the big three in terms of units sold, but the slightly lower sell-through rate indicates that there might have been a few too many up for sale.

Also note that the average price for the Wii was $190, which is below the suggested retail price. Either sellers were taking advantage of discounts and sales, or they weren't making very much in the way of profits.

DS

The Nintendo DS managed to outsell the newer, more advanced DSi this holiday season, pushing more than 2,000 units beyond what Nintendo's latest North American handheld sold. A failure for the DSi? Not exactly. Take a look at the sell-through percentage and you'll see that the DSi has the largest number of any game console. eBayers wanted to buy them, but the sellers just weren't selling.

PSP

The PSP sold strong on eBay this holiday, with the PSP-1000, 2000, and 3000 generating more money than any other handheld, though the DS trumped them with sheer numbers.

The top selling PSP was a used red God of War limited edition PSP, which went for $1,009.

Unfortunately, the PSPgo didn't fare nearly as well as its older brother. In fact, Sony's UMD-less alternative to the regular PSP performed abysmally, pushing only 250 units. It's not a factor of demand behind too high for supply either - the sell-through rate of 76.47% indicates that people simply weren't buying it.

To help paint a more complete picture, let's compare units sold versus monetary sales. If you look very closely, you'll notice that both graphs do indeed contain the PSPgo. You might need to zoom in.

Games With Legs

Now let's take a look at the games that traded this holiday season. This time around I took the top ten titles sorted by number of auctions, to see which ones were moving the most.

Certainly not a surprising list. Modern Warfare 2 seems to be showing up at the top of any list as far as sales are concerned these days, and Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort are two of the titles meant to showcase what the Wii can do, so those both sold in droves. World at War traded heavily, perhaps due to people swapping out the old for the new, and the Pure / Lego Batman combo disc packed inside select Xbox 360 consoles over the holiday season scores a tidy profit for those who received it for free.

And Uncharted 2 making the list makes sense, but what about the extremely more expensive edition?

Forty-five of the ultra-rare Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition made it onto eBay during the 30 days leading up to Christmas, but it seems some sellers set their hopes too high. Of the 45, only 24 sold, giving the package a 53.33% sell-through rate. The average price for the package was $891.52, with one going for as high as $1,136. Didn't get one? Maybe you should have made it to Kotaku's Child's Play fundraiser this year.

What People Look For In An Online Video Game Auction

Selling on eBay isn't just a matter of having a strong product, but being aware of what your prospective buyers are searching for and using search terms accordingly. Let's see if this list of the top 10 search terms used in both the games and system category can help.

The console search terms are pretty much common sense. Let's face it - if you're selling an Xbox 360 and you forget to include Xbox 360 in the title, there's something wrong with you. As far as game search terms go, folks initially seem to be going for specific games, but then desperation sets in. You have to be pretty desperate in order to type "Wii games" into an eBay search page.

Wii Remotes Are The New Hotcakes

Finally we come to the hottest selling video game item of the holiday season. With 8,359 items sold between November 26th and December 25th, the Nintendo Wii remote is the hottest selling gaming item this holiday season, generating more than $202,000 for sellers over the course of one month. The remote, bundled with a nunchuck, a skin, and a wrist-strap is sold as a "Nintendo Wii Remote+Nunchuck Game Controller+Skin 4 SET," though counting the wrist strap as an actual item is a bit shaky. Still, with The New Super Mario Bros. Wii making four-player gaming fun on the Wii, its no wonder the controllers are flying off the shelves, onto resellers' shelves, and then back off of the shelves again.

Another Year Goes By

And there you have the 2009 holiday season, summed up in 30 days of eBay data. A look into what happens to games and consoles once they pass from retail into the hands of the wheelers and dealers that populate the world's largest online marketplace. Bids were sniped, Buy It Now items were pounced, and in the end, everybody got feedback. A++++! Would research again!

Methodology
Statistics in the 2009 Grey Market Report were gathered using eBay market research tool Terapeak. Data was drawn for a 30 day period starting on November 26th and ending on December 25th. Console statistics were pulled directly from the Video Games / Systems subcategory to allow for mis-filed system listings, while game data was puled directly from the Video Game / Games subcategory. Console searches were limited to items in New condition, with a range of $100 to $1,000 used to ferret out accessories. Certain terms were omitted from the search in order to allow for a more accurate reporting of console pricing, including "games," "extras", "accessories," "lot," and others on a case-by-case basis - for instance, "Wii Fit" was omitted from search terms for the Wii in order to make sure systems bundled with Wii Fit did not influence the pricing data.

Two years ago Mark Wilson suggested that we should try and put together something a little special for our readers: A delightful thank you to all of those gamers out there who spend their busy work days reading Kotaku. The result was a funny little ditty written and, sadly, performed by Kotaku's own. We called it Still Not Banned.

Last year Adam Barenblat helped produce a Live Action Holiday Special featuring many of us talking to a camera in different parts of Kotaku Tower. It also included an impressive line-up of special in-game guests. Ignore my deliberately bad acting (and Princess Leia quoting) and dig the fact I was wearing my wife's robe when we shot A Very Special Kotaku Holiday Podcast.

This year we looked to Barely Digital and the Gregory Brothers for our little digital thanks to readers. They prepared this short, but sweet send off of autotuned video games.

Enjoy and make 2010 your best year ever. I know we intend to.

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

This is the time of the year where most sites are doing their top ten lists about different subjects. Personally, I hate top ten lists. If I'm going to do one, then it's going to be about something I'm passionate about. Therefore, we have two top ten list articles on GamingAngels.com. Here we are looking at the ten women that influenced the gaming industry in a big way over the last ten years. This isn't an all-inclusive list and I'd love for you to join in the conversation by including your nominees in the comments. The game industry is starting to see change and some of it is due to the women on this list paving the path. Here in random order, are ten women that really changed the game industry over the last ten years.

Lucy Bradshaw has to start the list with her work on the Sims beginning in the year 2000. Lucy and the Maxis team created a game that would be named the best selling PC game to date. The Sims is also credited for bringing more women into playing games. Lucy Bradshaw now leads the efforts of the Maxis team on the various Spore titles. She is an amazing speaker and is always pushing the industry forward.

Kim Swift took the game industry by storm with the much praised hit, Portal. Swift was hired by Valve after graduation and won many awards with a title that appealed to casual and the hardcore. Swift has now joined Airtight Games to assist with games aimed at a more diverse audience.
Jade Raymond was the producer on Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. While she had been a producer on previous titles including The Sims Online, Jade definitely had to put up with controversy from men that couldn't get over her looks. Yes guys, it is possible to be gorgeous and talented.
Corrinne Yu is an amazing woman. She's the principal programmer at Microsoft's Halo team. I met her at a GDC Women in Games luncheon where she was rewarded for her work on the Halo series. She dresses like a rock star and talks about programming theory unlike anyone I know. Corrinne is an inspiration as we look at the problem of not enough women going into programming as a discipline.
Megan Gaiser is the President and CEO of Her Interactive. Through her work at Her Interactive, she has helped make intelligent games for the younger female audience. Her Interactive games create the Nancy Drew series of games that are very popular. Megan works hard in both talks and through her work at Her Interactive to get more girls interested in gaming both as a hobby and as a career.
Kellee Santiago is an amazing young woman from the Interactive Media program at USC. She is the president and co-founder of ThatGameCompany, a company that strives to create games that create an emotion in the player. Their first two games, flOw and Flower on the Playstation 3 are not only beautiful but also appeal to a more diverse audience. During our interview with her at the Spike VGAs, it was great to see her passionate and excited about the future of ThatGameCompany. We look forward to Kellee pushing the boundaries of what we think about games.
Amy Hennig works as Naughty Dog as the Creative Director on Uncharted and Uncharted 2. Uncharted 2 is second in the top 20 ranked Playstation 3 games on Metacritic. Amy concentrates on story and actors and it shows. Uncharted 2 has some of the best voice acting of any game out there. It will be interesting to see how close to films that Amy and the Naughty Dog team can take video games.
Deborah Mars is the Managing Producer at SCEA Santa Monica Studio who worked on PSN title, Fat Princess. The title had early uproar from various websites because the game was built around the mechanic of feeding your princess cake so she would weigh more and be harder to kidnap. In the end, Deborah and her team proved that Fat Princess is an incredibly fun title.
Cammie Dunaway is the executive vice president of sales & marketing at Nintendo. As one of the most powerful people at Nintendo, she led the way to reach out to women gamers with the Nintendo DS and Wii. She has had a rough road being criticized for being too nice or even fake. I interviewed Cammie at the 2007 Women's Conference and she was sweet but also very knowledgeable about the products available. She genuinely wants to see a more diverse audience enjoy gaming.
We end our list with a female that has taken community on the Xbox 360 to another level. Christa Phillips Charter, better known as Trixie360, was responsible for many community initiatives for the 360 that is what makes us feel at home on the 360. She organized Game with Fame nights, Community Spotlights, Gamer Spotlights, and created/founded GamerChix a place where female Xbox gamers can gather to talk about gaming. Christa has always made herself available to gamers. Her new title is Social Media Lead of Xbox LIVE and we can't see where she takes Community and Games next!

I hope you enjoyed our list and I'd love to hear who you think should be on the list. We didn't include the wonderful women that run amazing communities or clans, but they definitely could be here as well. I'd like to thank Robin Yang for working with me on ideas for this list. Here's to another 10 years of greatness from women in games!

Reprinted with permission from GamingAngels.com.

If you ask Trina, she was born a geek girl at heart. Starting with the Atari 2600, Trina was quickly hooked. By eight she was programming games in Basic and starting her collection of comic books. Trina created a female-based guild for Phantasy Star Online. This started the idea of what a place on the web for women gamers would look like. GamingAngels.com was born in 2003 as a video game cosplay site and transformed in 2006 to an online gaming community. Today GamingAngels.com is more than just gaming. With the help of her team, Trina has created a community where women that love all things geek can speak freely about their hobby.

Trina has appeared on panels and been interviewed about her strong opinions about women in gaming and technology fields. If she's not working on GamingAngels.com, she might be cheering on the Vikings, playing videogames or reading Twitter.

Find her on Xbox Live with Gamertag, GamingAngel or on Twitter as GamingAngel.

Of the top ten most voraciously "read" posts, two feature Zoey from Left 4 Dead in various states of undress. The word "porn" appears in two headlines, the word "stripper" in another. Another features the highest concentration of unicorns we've ever seen on Kotaku. In other words, you guys are pervs who come for the steady stream video game coverage, but pounce on an opportunity to see a boob.

While many of our original reviews—Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands—and features—Owen's on the Gamerscore obsessed and Fahey's on the Everquest obsessed—garnered heaps of attention, it's these posts, for better or worse, that outperformed everything else.

Seriously. This Should Be Illegal.
Best Buy's bullshit pricing on Geek Squad services isn't anything new, but the screengrab tag was in 2009. These lightning quick hit posts are often light on editorial, but always generate interesting discussion.

L4D is NS4W With Nude Zoey Mod
Everybody loves Left 4 Dead survivor Zoey. And some lust for her, expending enough effort to get the poor girl's pants off in the game by way of the nude Zoey mod, a hit with the readership. We've not yet heard of Left 4 Dead 2's Rochelle getting the same treatment.

Tales Of Horror From The Circuit City Liquidation
Danny. What a dick.

Games, Not Porn, is Adult Actress' Secret Pleasure
Porn stars, they're just like us! Minus the constant, overacted sex, of course. Unsurprisingly, Ms. Raven's two other Kotaku posts, drew similar horny crowds and our fair share of detractors.

Leaked Star Wars Battlefront 3 Gameplay Footage
Portions of the remains of Free Radical were on display for Star Wars Battlefront fans to mourn the developer's passing. It was this video, the most viewed video of the year on Kotaku, that gave us a peek at Battlefront 3, showing just what some of that artwork would have looked like in motion.

Strippers or Counter-Strike - Which Gets a Gamer's Attention?
It was a rhetorical question.

Left 4 Dead Reaches Ultimate Milestone: Parody Porn
Pretty disgusting, considering the fantasy rape nature of these Left 4 Dead parody videos that feature full penetration, but Zoey fantasies really go far with the fellas. I'm glad my mom doesn't read this site!

PS3 Slim Vs. Xbox 360 Elite: Tale of the Tape
Not much more than a feature spec for feature spec comparison of the then relatively new PlayStation 3 slim redesign and the Xbox 360. And readers flocked to it.

The Year, NSFW
Owen's end of year wrap up of the year's stories that required shutting one's office door, which really wasn't that bad to begin with, considering the nightly pantsu stories that Ashcraft posts.

The Konami Code Makes ESPN.com Magical!
For a few, glorious moments, ESPN.com was "cornified." Type in the classic Konami code and visitors were soaking in rainbows, ponies and unicorns. It's the post that launched a thousand tips of the "Hey! Did you know that the Konami code works on Facebook?! LOL!" nature. Yeah, we heard. Thanks!

Well, thanks for sticking with us another year, Kotaku kids! We appreciate your business and promise to never post anything not safe for work in 2010. Pinky swear!

Today the year ends. I will spend the last moments with my wife and son watching a movie probably, eating great mounds of popcorn and drinking champagne.

The eating and drinking are things I practiced daily while on vacation, but in the month I was in Australia I watched about two hours total of television. The rest of the time I spent hiking, site-seeing, hanging with family and reading. I ended up reading through seven books over those four weeks. Loved it.

What you missed:
Uncharted 2's Sloppy Fiction
Blizzard Helps Cops Track Down WoW Fan, Suspected Drug Dealer
What Are You Playing This Holiday Weekend?
Win An Autographed copy of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and More
Iraqi Kidnap Victim Subjected To PlayStation
New Year's Marathoning: Video Games or TV?

I know of no other institution of learning, NCAA FBS, FCS, Division II, III or high school, that goes by "the Buckin' Elks" for its athletic nickname. So today, when I used NCAA 10's Teambuilder to create my high school on a lark, my jaw hit the floor after play-by-play man Brad Nessler introduced us by that very name. Watch the video. I'm not making it up.

Elkin is a five-time state champion - four this decade - but we are definitely not among the nation's top-of-mind high school programs. Our 2002 title, the first since the fabled 1967 champions, came with 18 players on the roster.

I have a few theories as to why we made it in. EA Sports Tiburon probably realized, with the new Teambuilder interface, that some of their installation base would create their own high schools and be thrilled to hear their nicknames. Of the zillions of high schools in the United States, a bunch are already covered by existing mascots. So why not go pick out the more unique ones, especially recent champions, and give someone a thrill?

I made an offhand, highly anecdotal test of unique school names. Nessler doesn't say the name of Mount Airy's "Granite Bears" (2008 NCHSAA 1-A champs, '09 runners-up). Nor does he announce the Washington (N.C.) High "Pam Pack." Both come through as "the home team," which is what the CPU offers up when it can't recognize a nickname.

However, "Nimrods," the hilarious nickname of Watersmeet, Mich. High, is also said by Nessler. But that school was featured in an ESPN advertisement, and also the subject of a USA Today profile five years ago, far more notoriety than we Elks have ever seen. So who knows what's going on here.

Somewhere, for some reason, someone asked Brad Nessler to announce my high school for battle in a college football video game, but not because every single school in the United States, or even my state, was included in his script. Like Michael Moore finding the Russian missile pointed at Flint, Mich., I will not stop until I track down who was behind this. And why.

Oh, and, Starmount, East Wilkes, Forbush, Surry Central - if it's in the game, it's in the game. That means we are and y'all aren't. So suck on that.

Update: On my brother's request, I tested out whether his North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Unicorns ("Hook 'em 'Corns!") made the game. They did.

The special "Kotaku Cut" of Kyle and Ashley's day at the altar gives a closer look at many of the Zelda-inspired aspects previously unpublished—including the Triforce-esque engagement ring, the invitations and the Link tunic color scheme chosen for the bridesmaids' dresses. Because I know that if there's one thing the Kotaku readership loves to chat about, it's bridal wear.

Things get a little awkward when Ganon shows up, drunk, but Kyle handles it with grace. Thanks again, Kyle!

This year will be no different. I've got a sizable backlog of games to play including Demon's Souls, Total War: Empire and early builds of Dark Void and Dante's Inferno. But there's also plenty of television to watch.

I'll be definitely catching as much of New Year Day's Doctor Who marathon as possible and I've spent a chunk of today flipping between The Twilight Zone and the Three Stooges. What about you? Games or TV?

If TV is your televised poison of choice here's a rundown of the marathons I spotted while channel surfing:

New Year's Eve
Discovery Channel: Ghost Lab
USA: Burn Notice
History Channel: Strange Rituals
TNT: Las Vegas
A&E: The First 48
Syfy: The Twilight Zone
WGN: In the Heat of the Night
AMC: The Three Stoogies
TCM: The Thin Man
The Travel Channel: Bizarre Food

New Year's Day
BBC America: Doctor Who
Discovery Channel: MythBusters
Cartoon Network: Loony Tunes
The History Channel: Ice Road Truckers
A&E: Criminal Minds
Syfy: The Twilight Zone
WGN: Barney Miller

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

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]

Peter Moore and his four bodyguards were kidnapped in May of 2007 by what is understood to be an obscure militia known as the Islamic Shia Resistance. Over the course of the following months three of his bodyguards were killed, with the fourth presumed dead. After two years of rough treatment, his captors changed their tune in June of 2009. According to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, from then on, Moore was given access to some more luxurious amenities.

Frank Gardner said that since June, Mr Moore had been given markedly better treatment by his captors, effectively placed under house arrest, with en suite facilities, access to satellite TV, a laptop - though not online - and a PlayStation.

What a surreal experience that must have been for the man. Two years of hopeless bleak despair, his bodyguards killed, and then all of the sudden he might as well be hanging out at my apartment for six months. Part of me wonders about the psychological effects the rapid shift in treatment would have on a man, and is glad to see that Mr. Moore will be returning home after such a long, terrible ordeal.

The other part of me wonders what games he played.

A third part of me would like to point out that he received access to a PlayStation, and not an Xbox 360 or Wii. I wouldn't call the Islamic Shia Resistance Sony fanboys, mainly because my name is on this post. Those of you hiding behind screen names in the comments section are free to savor the sweet release of anonymity.

Not to make light of a serious situation. I'm just trying to wrap my head around an extremist organization that supplies a video game system to a hostage. The world is a very strange place indeed.

Freed hostage Peter Moore tells of time in captivity [NNC]

Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii returns to software sales chart dominance after a week off, moving another half-million copies in Japan. The Wii game beats out Link's newest adventure, giving The Legend of Zelda: Spirits Tracks a second place debut appearance on the charts with 291,000 copies sold. Nintendo also took third, with the astoundingly popular Tomodachi Collection.

That leaves Final Fantasy XIII in fourth place, moving another 189,000 copies this week, according to Media Create.

The rest of the top ten is all Nintendo—and Namco Bandai—with DS and Wii games outselling everything else in Japan. The numbers, after this.

01. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 506,000 / 2,440,000
02. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) - 291,000 / NEW
03. Tomodachi Collection (DS) - 227,000 / 2,317,000
04. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) - 189,000 / 1,690,000
05. Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver (DS) - 125,000 / 3,465,000
06. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) - 114,000 / 1,315,000
07. Inazuma Eleven 2: Fire / Blizzard (DS) - 99,000 / 908,000
08. Wii Sports Resort (DS) - 72,000 / 1,568,000
09. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Dodoon to 2 Yome! (Wii) - 64,000 / 200,000
10. Layton Kyouju to Majin no Fue (DS) - 64,000 / 559,000

11. PokePark Wii: Pikachu no Daibouken (Wii)
12. Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP)
13. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS)
14. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
15. Pen 1 Grand Prix: Penguin no Mondai Special (DS)
16. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (PSP)
17. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
18. Momotarou Dentetsu 2010 Senkoku Ishin no Hero Daisyuugou ! No Ken (Wii)
19. Sengoku Musou 3 (Wii)
20. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus (PSP)
21. Naruto Shippuuden: Narutimate Accel 3 (PSP)
22. Power Pro Kun Pocket 12 (DS)
23. Tamagotchi no Narikiri Channel (DS)
24. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
25. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii)
26. Dorabase 2: Nettou Urutorasu Tajiamu (DS)
27. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (the Best) (PSP)
28. Dragon Quest IX (DS)
29. Little Busters! Converted Edition (PS2)
30. Metal Fight Beyblade: Bakutan Cyber Pegasus (DS)

How spectacular you ask?

The grand prize is a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, a Spirit Tracks t-shirt, a $1,000 Nintendo World Store gift card, a Zelda's "biggest fan" trophy and a white Nintendo DSi system personally signed by longtime Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma.

You'll have to live in any of the Americas (North or South) to enter. If you're interested and have the day free then go check out the official rules.

Quickly browsing through the entries page I notice that there seem to be 11 entries for the 11 finalists that will be choosing, so your odds are pretty good.

Win A DSi Signed By Zelda Director, $1000 Shopping Spree (And More!)