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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #45 ... Written by John Jackson Miller. Drawn by Brian Ching

Summary Via Publisher Dark Horse Comics:
Despite a disastrous first encounter with the Crucible, Zayne Carrick is still determined to end the brutality they promote in their business. But this time, he plans to break them from the inside out!

Having set himself up to be captured by the slavers, when this former Padawan arrives at the Crucible's training facility, it will be all he can do to survive, let alone focus on learning about their organization. His connection to the Force will give him an unexpected insight — one that he doesn't necessarily want. And when a past nemesis of his friend Jarael appears, Zayne begins to worry that entering the Crucible may be the biggest mistake of his life!

Starcraft #4... Written by Simon Furman. Drawn by Federico Dallocchio and Brian Denham

Summary Via Publisher Wildstorm Entertainment:
The War Pigs are getting closer and closer to hunting down renegade marshal Jim Raynor, but obstacles and internal conflict continue to muddy the mission waters. Far-from-gentle giant Turfa Dei confronts the ghosts of his past while the team faces off against present day ghosts – the Dominion's elite and deadly.

World of Warcraft #23... Written by Walter and Louise Simonson. Drawn by Mike Bowden

Summary Via Publisher Wildstorm Entertainment:
Following an attempt on Med'an's life, Garona and Meryl team up to take out the ogre Cho'gall. Meanwhile Med'an, Valeera and Maraad travel to Kharazhan to speak with the shade of Med'an's father. Further explore the world of the best-selling MMORPG in this hit comic series!

Prototype #6... Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. Drawn by Darick Robertson
Summary Via Publisher Wildstorm Entertainment:
The hit comic based on the game concludes! Biological weapons, unhinged commandos, violent creatures and more round out this final issue! New York City stands as a symbol of our nation, but if New York homicide detectives can't rise to the occasion and stop events that are in play, NYC will become a wasteland.

The "Metal Gear Solid 4 Costume Pack" - as first spotted the other day - will be available to Japanese PlayStation 3 owners with working internet connections and the patience to have actually set up a PlayStation Network account on next Thursday, December 25th, 2008.

The four costumes in the pack are Old Snake, Raiden (aka "The Original Sack Boy"), Meryl, and Screaming Mantis.

The costumes can be purchased in a pack for 600 yen, or individually for 200 yen each. Hey, this calculator must be broken, because it's telling me that a Japanese company is giving me a bargain.

That's not all — for just 800 yen more, you can get a "Metal Gear Solid 4 Stage Pack", containing "more than 60" stickers, "more than 10" objects, "more than 10" create materials, and "3" (no "more than") BGM tracks.

Hey, that's not bad! Now you can make a Metal Gear Solid 4-themed LittleBigPlanet level, turn your Imagination Hat on, and pretend that you're playing Metal Gear Solid 4 instead of LittleBigPlanet! Just make sure to not include any of the award-winning Metal Gear Solid 4 dialogue in your text boxes, because that could get you moderated into oblivion.

Cynical as I may be re: all this, man, I kinda want that Old Snake. I mean, not as "DLC" — I kinda want him for real. I'd sit him on my lap and ride the bus all the way around town.

[Dengeki Online]

The New York Times has a piece up on James Cameron's $200 million sci-fi epic Avatar. The film, as Cameron explains, is a mix of CG characters and CG environments with live-action and live environments. And how does he plan to capture this? He (and his computer experts) have designed a special camera that allows him to view actors proformances in the film's virtual environment in real time. Cameron says:

It's like a big, powerful game engine. If I want to fly through space, or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a living miniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale. It's pretty exciting.

Sounds like it! Side note: Damn, James Cameron looks old. Brian Ashcraft

Avatar Film [NY Times via 3pointD]

Here's another reason to kill off the old: They're playing the Wii today and you're not. Nintendo decided to set up a booth at the annual AARP convention in Anaheim.

The company is taking their goal of finding new gamers very seriously, it seems. I hope to get a run down of how over-50 gamers reacted to the console next week from Nintendo. If you're in the area and want to wade through the old to get your game on, you can pay $5 for entry into the exhibit hall. Sounds like a deal.

Unfortunately, there is only one playable Wii (with four controllers) available for gaming on. So it might not be worth it.

Plan Your Funeral or Play Nintendo [LA Times]

More glad tidings from the land of PSP! Electronic Arts has confirmed its EA Replay collection, which will be a nice budget series of adventures for the nostalgic.

EA noted that the collection will include a total of 14 games from a number of the company's fondly remembered franchises, such as the Strike series, Road Rash, and Wing Commander. Specifically, EA Replay will include Syndicate, Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Road Rash I-III, Wing Commander, and Wing Commander: The Secret Missions.

Other titles confirmed include B.O.B., Budokan, Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Haunting Starring Polterguy, Virtual Pinball, and Mutant League Football. In addition, some titles in compilation will include a number of newly introduced features, such as head-to-head multiplayer, unlockable original game art, and the ability to save the game at any point.

Not mentioned: graphical upgrades. I'm wondering how good Wing Commander is really going to look on a PSP. Probably pretty crappy. But I'm hoping for Privateer! Eliza "Maniac" Gauger

More Here [Gamasutra]

I was just talking to a friend the other day about the gamer generation gap that's opening like some saliva-strung maw. In a culture where the elitism is as pungent as the body odor, it was bound to happen.

"Oldschool" gamers in their twenties and thirties are looking down their noses at the prepubescent upstarts who are reaping the benefits of our long slog up through the bit depths and Super this and 64 that and Mega Jesus other thing Gold. The little freeloading bastards.

We are appalled that they've only played our sequels, and sickened by their harsh judgments of our old, crunchy beloveds. What do you mean "DOOM has shitty graphics"?! Get out! Out! Oh god!

When gamers rule the retirement homes there will be no war stories, only war games. Sure we may have never served in a real war, but gal darn it we have killed a lot of Nazis. We will not break our hips by falling in the shower. We will break them by trying to do the cabbage patch after getting a triple kill. No longer will you see seniors drinking prune juice. They will be downing Red Bulls like crazy to stay awake while looting in WOW 2056.

Aeropause speculates wistfully on their golden years, and includes several adorable photographs by way of illustration (see right). One benefit that went unmentioned is the gender gap being closed by the earlier mortality rate of men. Hang on 'til 80 or so, and you'll be swimming in hot girl gamers with no teeth and looooots of XP. Eh? Eh? Yeah, you know what I'm talkin' about. Eliza Gauger

When I'm 64 [Aeropause]