Looking forward to heading back to Japan — really enjoy the New Year's holidays there, much more than in America where New Year's simply feels like a denouement to the December holidays.

What you missed last night
Something Modern Warfare 2 Got Wrong About Pakistan
Call Him "Xbox 360 Kid"
South Korean Criticism of Super Street Fighter IV Korean Stage
Sony Trimming More Costs
New Fist of The North Star Screens/Art Already Dead

Mine is a family raised on bad puns and inscrutable inside jokes. We deliberately corrupt words and then use them in conversation without batting an eye. For example, dinner might be "country-style snake." Or, salmon is "slalom," (and a big portion is "giant slalom.") Chapstik, or any lip balm, is "lip blam." The child in a Nativity scene is "LBJ," short for "Lil'baby Jesus."

Sure, plenty of people call the housewares big box "Bloodbath and Beyond." But to my brother and me, we buy hardware at "Home Despot." And speaking of despots, who better to pretreat your laundry than the "Stalin Stick"?

The best example: Back in 1992, Dad got a Ford Explorer for his company car (this was later my vehicle in Colorado. Covering a wildfire once, Crecente remarked that despite all the smoke around us it still smelled of "french fries and ass.") Well, like Letterman from the Electric Company, all you have to do is change one letter and the name becomes even more hilarious. Thus, "Explorer," quickly became "Exploder."

Well, this week I had to head down to the Autozone to replace my Mustang's battery. It had been pampered by California weather for four years and then brutalized by the cold snap earlier this month. Out in the parking lot I'm hooking it up when when this very nice-looking white F-350 pulls up and unloads a young family. The dad's about my age, the mom, too, and then their two tow-headed rugrats come piling out.

"Nice Ford," I say, "my mother has one like that, drags a horse trailer with it."

"Thanks," says the dad. "It was a real bargain, only about $7,000." And then standing on the far side of the continent, 2,800 miles from from my home in North Carolina, he adds without provocation: "After we got rid of The Exploder."

Some highlights from the holiday weekend:

Wait - New Game Plus Is in Mass Effect 2?
How Will New Rules Affect In-Flight Gaming?
Playboy Teases Us With the Ultimate Coulda-Been Game
3D Realms CEO Vows Duke Nukem 'Resurgence' in 'Next Few Years'
In Tight Times, Gamers Dig Deep for the Needy
The Sports Video Games of the Year

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

Kotaku already asked the gaming folks what they want, so now I'll ask you: What do you want from Santa?

What you missed last night
Robin Williams On The Wii
The Twenty Best-Rated Games Of The Decade
More Final Fantasy XIV Screens Than You Can Shake A Chocobo At
2009 In Review: Motion-Control Gaming Grabs The Spotlight
More Games Released In 2009 Than In 2008

My month or so of Day Notes comes to an end. I'm starting vacation really soon. Tonight, in theory, though some posts of mine will magically appear for a couple more days. Thanks, Ash and friends for writing back to me after each and every Day Note!

As I embark on my holiday vacation, I am preparing to spend time with friends and family, getting ready to go shopping for blinds, plus other stuff. But, lo, during this vacation, games will be played.

My 2009 backlog is kinda small: Dragon Age, Demon's Souls, Brutal Legend, Assassin's Creed Bloodlines, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Eufloria, Ben There Dan That (2009, right?), some Fallout DLC, the Spore expansion I was curious about... not much else. Wait! That's kind of a lot. That's spilling into 2010. Good thing Lost Planet 2 was delayed.

My 2008 backlog still lingers, though: Gotta finish World of Goo!

Oh, and call me crazy, but there are a couple of games I finished but want to go back to: Assassin's Creed II (to do all the side stuff except the feathers. The newest Ratchet & Clank (to play the real ending).

So that's what I'll be doing. I hope you'll be doing things that are useful to society as well. Enjoy the rest of 2009!

Stories you may have missed today
What The Video Game Industry Wants For Christmas
Kotaku Contest Reminder: Are You The Americas' Top Zelda Fan?
The Batman-Maker Who Didn't Know The Meaning Of GOTY
This Week In Video Game Comics
Style Savvy Review: Dressing Miss Michael
BioShock 2 Multiplayer Lobby Preview: Yes, The Lobby
Scribblenauts Creator Talks About Controls, Console Ports & More On Kotaku Podcast

My mom is from Florida, so it was nice to get away for a weekend for a short (and much needed!) vacation. Bonus points to those who can figure out which Florida beach area this is — there are visual clues in the photos. Not soooooooo difficult. But maybe it is. Who knows.

Totally forgot how much fun the beach is — you know, because I usually sit in my office and stare at the internet all day long. The beach is a good time!

Flowers are pretty, too. Sorry for sharing too much! Some game news below for your reading enjoyment.

What you missed last night
2009 In Review: The Disappointments
Mass Effect 2's Cinematic Trailer In Full
Steam's Big Holiday Sale Will Stuff Your Digital Stocking
The Giant 1/1 Scale Gundam Statue RETURNS!
Cameron Diaz Was (Almost) In Mortal Kombat

What you need to figure out is whether there is an international food, a food that is the product of no one nation, is associated with no single flag, and feed only that food to all the little Bashes. Then you will be able to bring them to any country and feed them without fielding complaints. Deny all other cuisines! (Man, I would make such a good parent, right?)

So.. moral quandary time. Microsoft sent five envelopes to the office here in New York. One to me, one to Luke, one to AJ, one to Owen, and one to Fahey. I haven't even opened mine, but I am sure they contain holiday cards. And I am sure they are identical.

So...

1) Send them on to everyone, missing the holidays but ensuring the corporate well-wishes are well-wished?
2) Open them all up and pretend they're all for me?
3) Chuck them?

I need to know, but I also need to know how my decision will affect my moral alignment and my ability to maintain the characters currently in my party.

What you missed today
Assassin's Creed II Spoiler Talk With Patrice Desilets
The Man Who Never Wanted To Make 'The Citizen Kane of Games'
Machinarium Review: Beautiful Robots

Borderlands Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot Preview: Eyond Underdome

A week, it seems! Before we arrived in Texas, all Mini-Bash talked about was being able to eat pizza and hamburgers and drink Coke. And after maybe two days of that, he started saying he wanted to drink green tea and eat Japanese food. He said he likes American food, but just NOT ALL THE TIME.

Last night he was finally able to drink green tea and eat Japanese food.

If anyone asks you if authentic Japanese food is expensive in Texas, tell them yes, yes, it is. Crazy prices for sake, too! Like 13 bucks a cup. Insanity!

Oh, what is this, some sort of food family blog?

What you missed last night
Tetsuya Nomura Working On Two Unannounced Titles
Mistwalker Delay New Game Announcement
First Look At Japanese Poster For Tekken Movie
The Fall And Fall Of Duke Nukem Forever
Dragon Quest IX Breaks Dragon Quest Sales Records

Poor Luke, sweating through his attempts to act out a real life version of Harvest Moon (minus the dating.... there's dating in Harvest Moon, right? Married Mr. Plunkett doesn't need that). What's the most video-game-like activity you've ever done? I think mine is riding a zipline in Belize on my honeymoon. You see, I'm defining "most video-game-like" as something that is uncommon in my day-to-day life but common in games. It's a ratio thing. There isn't much ziplining in my day-to-day activities, except when I need to get to the office printer quickly.

We reviewed the Avatar movie this morning. Specifically, I reviewed it. Lots of good feedback there, though some did question why a movie review was posted on Ye Olde Gaming Blogge. (Quick aside: I don't think I'll ever get used to the Old English spelling of "blog.") So here's a reader asking me why we reviewed the movie.

I replied:

Fair question. We define ourselves as covering the news and culture of video games. Avatar is so closely associated with gaming culture and concepts, that we felt it was a movie that was appropriate for us to review. As you can see above, I wrote it with an eye on how it is relevant to gaming.

Rest assured there is plenty of other content planned for the day that is explicitly about video games. But would argue that this review is easily within our mandate to cover gaming culture.

That seems reasonable, no? If people who know so little about video games are going to accuse this movie or that as being "just like a video game," then we the people who have a clue about games might as well contribute to cinematic society and weigh in. I presented a gaming slant on Avatar, and, hey it was fun.

I'm up for doing more. But not less gaming coverage of course.

So yeah, tell me what that most-game-like thing you've ever done in real life is. Driving a forklift does not count, because Shenmue wasn't much of a game.

What you missed today
Avatar Movie Review: The Blue Future Of Video Games
iPhone Chart Toppers: N.O.V.A. Takes Down Waldo
BioShock 2 Preview: Maybe It Was Needed After All
Pretty Pictures From BioShock 2
The 2009 Video Game Year In Review Starts Here... Now
A 2009 View From The Top: One Man's Year Making Assassin's Creed II
5th Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka Draws Your Questions During This Week's Podcast
2009 In Review: The Controversies

So, you guys live in an apartment, yes? This past weekend, I wish I lived in an apartment.

Having recently moved into a brand new house, I've been spending the last few weekends building a garden. I thought it would be easy! Just dig some holes, throw some dirt around, and hey presto, green grass and fresh tomatoes.

WRONG.

My whole body aches having swung a pick-axe and shovel for 10 hours. And I'm not even halfway there. Funny part? All I could think of all day was: If this is what it was like working a chain gang - where you had to that kind of thing every day - those dudes were tough.

Anyway, here's what you missed!

Blizzard Will "Definitely" Make Another Console Game
Heavy Rain "Not A Video Game Anymore" In Creator's Mind
Castlevania Soundtrack Whips In At 19 Discs
Rumor: Big Layoffs At Heavy Iron Studios
BioWare On The Decline Of The JRPG

This is the time of year for holiday cards and, in our business, for showcasing the ones sent out by major publishers and studios, and bragging about which ones you've received.

They're very flattering, but few could be as flattering as that virtual card we got yesterday from Nic - aka commenter Flagg - whose brother Shawn has done the programming for the the site hosting it, The Card Chest. Nic put a holiday spin on the Metal Gear Solid equip-a-box joke for the card, which he designed in Photoshop before uploading and sending over to us.

We cover some important people and companies, and we're happy to have professional relationships with them. But they are not and never can be our constituency. These gestures from readers mean a great deal, and I'm not sure if a reader understands how much they mean when a writer considers how fortunate he is to do the job he does.

Happy Holidays to you all.

Out Outs the 'Gayest' Video Games
Uncharted 2 Art, Straight from the Artists Themselves
Sony Piques 'Qriocity' by Registering that Trademark
Blank N64 Cartridge Challenges Your Manhood [Updated]
Microsoft Patents the Exercise Guilt Trip
Stick Jockey: The 2010 Video Game Bowl - and Playoff - Spectacular

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

If there's one thing people say to me every day, it's not "Why doesn't Kotaku make games?' But if they did say that, I'd respond that, at least today, we've done this. We've made a game for you to play. Yoo might ask how, and I'd say: We're doing it in this very post,

People might recall, from their youth, picture-based puzzles that asked them to fiugre out how many things are wrong in said picture. Same thing here. But in a Day Note. With words and stuff.

And not onli is this fun, it's a test of counting skills.

What you missed tomorrow:
Splinter Cell: Conviction Multiplayer Preview: Separation Anxiety Times Two
Survey: Sony Considering Premium PlayStation Network Subscriptions
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Preview: Seriously. Come Back Here With My Tank! [UPDATED]
Dementium II Preview: A Metroid With Dread
You're A Gamer In 2010...What Will You Do?
2010: The Year of Better PC Games?
Wii Dominance Continues In Japan, PS3 Dominance Due Shortly
One Developer's Reaction To A Graphic Aliens Vs Predator Screenshot
Saitek Aviator Flight Stick Review: Do A Barrel Roll!
A Surprise Education

I will also go out on a limb here. I think maybe, just maybe, that there will be a Madden game in 2011. Risky to say, but I'm a risky guy.

Had to renew my Texas driver's license while I'm here back home. I drive in Japan — on the left side of the road obviously — and it's always a head trip coming back to the States and trying not to drive on the wrong side of the street. Turning is particularly tricky!

Also, the other big change is parking: In Japan, you back into a parking space. In the States, it's nose first into the parking space. Speaking of driving, I must get in a car. Right now!

What you missed last night
Final Fantasy XIII's First-Day Sales Numbers Are In
Aliens vs Predator "Unbanned" In Australia
TF2's War Ends With New Item, New Maps
Dragon's Lair Micro-Review: Small Scenes from the Mind's Eye

Were you asking me if I like egg nog? You weren't, but yeah, I do. The store-bought kind. My mother-in-law made me some once and it had vodka (I think) in it. Vodka? Something alcoholic. I didn't like that.

Speaking of which, it's the Gawker Media holiday party tonight. You know, Gawker Media, our parent company. I shall raise a glass for everyone on the team. But, man, how am I going to get through all three chapters of the DS game I need to preview tomorrow morning? This is the tough life of a gaming journalist.

So. Ashcraft. Let's talk about something serious. The year two-thousand and eleven. If we're going to speculate and post all week about gaming in 2010, then why don't you and I start getting excited for 2011 too? We don't have to let the rest of the team in on this. Just you and me.

I'll start: Grand Theft Auto V? It'll be out then, no? It's gonna be good. Madden '12? I have high hopes. Diablo 3? Guaranteed. Ah, and Modern Warfare 3. Yes, just put me in the cryo-chamber now!

Oh, but then I couldn't write any more Day Notes while Crecente's out? So, please... thaw me out!

What You May Have Missed Today
2010: The Year of Better Xbox 360 Games?
Need for Speed Shift iPhone Preview: Need For Cornering
Rogue Warrior Review: Wasted Warrior
You're A Game Developer in 2010...What Will You Do?
Aliens Vs. Predator Multiplayer Preview: Switching Bodies, Hunting
No Need To Import Heavy Rain In America

Like, I just get an incredible amount of spam via Facebook. Is this just me? Are others experiencing this as well? Do you really like egg nog?

Oh and yes, I was that parent on the plane over here — making it difficult for me to play a game I was supposed to play for reviewing fun fun. Not sure why people get upset when babies cry. Especially because everyone was at one time a crying baby.

I kinda feel sorry for babies: They can't talk, they're dressed in ridiculous clothes and they must wear diapers. I'd be pretty pissed off, too!

What you missed last night
Japan Comes Out For Final Fantasy XIII In Droves
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Review: Daddy Issues
Final Fantasy XIV Is Going To Take On WoW
Square Enix Ship Nearly Two Million Copies Of FFXIII
Modern Warfare 2 Fixes "In Test" For These Problems

Can't take a one-year-old to the movies, huh? Yeah, I hear you. I mean, I HEAR you. And your kid!

Have you ever been "that parent," the one with the noisy kid in the plane or in the movie theater? I always feel so bad for those parent(s), because I realize the people around them must be angry. You hear folks muttering and grumbling. In the movies, I get that. But in the plane? People need to have some sympathy. Then again, I don't understand why people always have to make a comment when you fart. I mean, some things are just a part of life. Why make a big deal out of them?

People say they like my Day Notes. But not this one, I bet. It stinks!

Why? Because I need to get out of here and go play some Aliens Vs. Predator in the next 60 minutes. I was invited to bring my "game face."

What You Missed Today
Interviews With Ex-Hardcore Gamers ... And New Casual Ones
They Worked On The Game You Played, But Didn't Get Credit
Ace Attorney Investigations Preview: More Of A Game
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Preview: Fear And Loathing At Ubisoft
You're A Video Game Retailer In 2010...What Will You Do?
Randy Pitchford Teased Borderlands Vehicle Ideas, Noted PC Concerns And Handled Your Calls
PixelJunk Shooter Micro-Review: Just Add Water... Or Lava
2010: The Year Of Better PlayStation 3 Games?
Final Fantasy XIII Launch Day With Our Man In Tokyo

It actually takes me a day or two to get used to hearing English all the time. Like, I have to ask people to repeat things and whatnot. And then, by the time I'm about to leave, I'm all used to being in the States and speaking/hearing English all the time. Then I go back to Japan, and there's a readjustment period as well.

So, love going to the movie theater, but it's super difficult to do that when you have a one-year-old kid. The other kid, Mini-Bash, likes going to the movies as well, so hopefully, we'll be able to do that while we're in Texas.

Whenever I come back from Japan, I feel totally out of step with what's showing at the cineplex — obviously because of the delay in getting American movies in Japan. Any good? Worth seeing.

Hope to catch Avatar, but beyond that, it's a mystery!

What you missed last night
What Won't Be Coming To Video Gaming In 2010
Mega Man 10 Isn't A Nintendo Exclusive
TF2: Soldier Update, Free Weekend
Dead Or Alive: Paradise Brings DOA Girls To PSP
2010: The Year Of Better Wii Games?

Welcome back to the U.S. of A.

May I tell you a story about people traveling in the U.S.?

The scene is downtown New York City. The day is two Saturdays ago. New York, as you know, is in the U.S. Lots people here speak English. So this "thing" we have in America is that if a person is a lost, all they have to do is go up to someone and, usually in English, say the following: "Hey do you know where such-and-such is?" Though you fill in "such-and-such" with the place you're going.

This usually works.

But two Saturdays ago, I was downtown in New York and I overheard some American-sounding tourists pleading to someone — anyone! — nearby: "Does anyone speak English?" I was sure they were lost. And I am sure they needed directions. But, really, when you're in America, you can assume that most people do speak English. At least in downtown New York City. So just ask your question and get your directons. These people didn't know that. I guess someone told them that the native language of New York is swahili. But: It's not!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about this nearly magical experience I had. I am a judge for the Independent Games Festival. Crecente is too. And usually that involves downloading a bunch of un-finished PC games, praying that my laptop will run them, playing them and giving them scores. At least that's for the first round.

This year I said I'd be willing to also judge XNA games. What I didn't realize is that the IGF folks would hook me up with an XNA Creators Club membership and that that would allow me to download a person's game on my PC and then zap it to my Xbox. I got this application on my PC and one on my 360 and the two sniffed the machines out and connected them. No wires. Just engineering magic. Then I was able to transmit some of these games to my 360 and play them on the console.

This is sooo pedestrian to experienced XNA developers. But for me it was brand new and really cool to know that I was playing some amateur developer's game on my regular retail 360 through this system. This was even more raw than playing Indie/Community Games. I was on the frontier on my 360! Added bonus: Some of the XNA games are very good. I'd pay for them. But I'm not sure I can mention them yet. I need to find that out.

See anything magical in your world lately?

What You Missed Today

Heavy Rain To Introduce Delayed Trophies, Solve Common Achievement Problem
Kotaku's Look At 2010 Starts Now*
Army of Two: The 40th Day Preview: They're Better, We're Best
You Run A Big Game Publisher In 2010...What Will You Do?
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Review: Battling Clashing Colors
Red Dead Redemption Impressions: Adventure In A Hard Place
This Is What Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Vampires Look Like
Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Round 2 Arcade FightStick: Tournament Edition Review: My $150 Fireball

And horribly jet lagged. Very very jet lagged. Long flight, cranky baby.

But glad to be back in Texas! So far, we went to the supermarket and looked at all the different kinds of cereal. It's nice to be in a place that considers cereal a meal — no, a food group. In Japan, it's largely viewed as a snack.

Cereal is great. You gotta love cereal. You gotta.

What you missed last night
Modern Warfare 2 On 360 Busted, Ammo In Plentiful Supply? [Update]
Spoiling Modern Warfare 2 for Michelle Rodriguez
The Biggest Selling Games on Amazon Japan In 2009
Team Fortress 2 Propaganda Invokes The Spirit Of '42
Dante's Inferno Executive Producer Sees Problems With Possible Sequel

There's been a lot of mean talk about elevators lately. People saying they're happy they won't be represented in Mass Effect 2. People saying the game is better off without them.

It makes me mad. Or at least it made me mad, until I realized that I too have been shunning elevators. I used to ride them every day at my old job. I'd go up and down, up and down. Sometimes I'd even step out of them and get some work done. These days, I don't even see elevators. Not at the office. Not in my neighborhood.

Nowhere.

But today, I was in an elevator again. I was visiting my old job (MTV offices; Times Square). I had to pick up some stuff I'd left behind, which didn't include the hour-long video tape of me just sitting at my desk working .... I left that there. Seriously, it exists. For reasons lost in the fog of fading memory.

Anyway, so I'm on the MTV elevator with some other people. Some guy starts talking about PlayStation Home. He mocks it. Then he tells this story of Home trauma: He walked his avatar up to another Home avatar that looked .... just like his. Another white guy with a mohawk. Crazy! He says the two avatars just stood there, like, What were they going to do? "I needed to get a new skin!" my elevator companion said.

Seconds later, these fellow elevator riders were talking about Second Life. Someone else in the elevator (Interruption: It takes a while to get to the 29th floor, ok?) said that they didn't know what Second Life was.

Response from some other guy: "Second Life is this retarded thing. [pauses] Actually, it's a good idea really badly executed."

Then they got off the elevator, and I'll be damned if I didn't just learn something about gaming culture. Thanks to elevators.

Though I'm not sure what it is I learned. But I am sure it was, as just mentioned, thanks to elevators.

So let us love elevators.

By the way: The Door-Close button in elevators... actually works? Or psychological trick meant to calm impatient elevator riders?

What You Missed Today
Nintendo Lists Names And Dates For Wii, DS Winter 2010 Games Line-Up
iPhone Chart Toppers: Waldo? Where?
Heavy Rain Impressions: An Ambitious Sorrow
Borderlands' Randy Pitchford Takes Your Calls During This Week's Podcast
Girls Night With The Most Male Game Of 2009
Fingers-On Impressions Of R.U.S.E., A Real-Time Strategy Game Playable By Touch
Rock Band Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster Review: No Turning Back

Thanks to everyone who came out to our little get-together on Friday night. I had a blast. Sorry if I was a little loud, but when I drink all afternoon then talk about video games, I tend to get a little excited.

So! Last week, I not only took a trip up to Sydney , but I bought a new car. Well, almost new. A 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer. Considering the "newest" car I'd ever owned previously had been ten years old at time of purchasing, I'm quite pleased with myself.

Here's what was missed while we were trapped in different timezones.

Weekend Brings New Star Wars, Batman, Rock Band, True Crime Game Reveals
The PS3 Finally Goes Portable
Sony Swag Contains Nintendo Horror
PS3 Slim Could Have Been Smaller, Used Network Storage