Look at that JPEG, filled with wondrous prizes. Atlus has bundled up twelve unique prize packages filled with some of those items and is giving them away to certain fans of Atlus titles. Which fans? Only the truest....the bravest...the ones willing to sign up for the Atlus Faithful mailing list. Yes, simply adding your name to a list can score you one of the twelve packages, with one given away every day starting January 4th.

It's a rather lovely assortment too. There's plenty of swag from Demon's Souls, Luminous Arc, and Persona 4, including art books, t-shirts, and soundtrack CDs. Hell, they're giving away the soundtrack to Rule of Rose, as well as copies of upcoming games like Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and Shiren the Wanderer.

Hit the link below to see a list of prizes, rules, and to sign up for the Atlus Faithful. Seeing as Atlus will often send out press releases to the fans before the press, it's almost silly not to be a member.

The Twelve Days of Atlus [Atlus]

I wasn't expecting any packages today, so Paradox Interactive's holiday greeting took me by surprise. In fact, at first I didn't even see the card, it having fallen to the floor while I struggled to unbox thing accompanying dragon statue. Struggling for 20 minutes to unbox a statue that comes with its own jeweled-sword letter opener is somewhat ironic, so not only did Paradox send a giant thing to me for the holidays, they also got an inaccurate Alanis song stuck in my head.

Happy holidays and happy new year to the folks at Paradox. My old D&D friends are sure to appreciate this addition to my apartment's decor.

Well, in addition to the E-Tank energy drink , they also got a sweet t-shirt and commemorative box. Plus they were served buy a guy in a short-order getup, complete with paper hat.

Capcom-Unity says the first fan they served had been waiting in line since 10 a.m. More than 200 boxes were given away. Did any of you get one? What did this stuff taste like? Or did you even drink it?

More pics through the link.

A Little Rain Can't Stop Mega Man! [Capcom-Unity]

The Resident Evil custom chopper is the result of a partnership between Capcom, production company Hollywood Inc, and Frostburg Maryland's own Savage Cycles. Savage will be crafting an extremely limited run of these bikes, which folks like you and me will be able to purchase, possibly after robbing a small bank. The design, which you can see below, includes a number of interesting Resident Evil touches, such as zombie-killing spikes, airsoft weaponry, and cans of healing spray for when things get a bit out of hand with the airsoft guns.

Being a rider himself, Capcom's Chris Kramer is beside himself with glee over the project.

We work on a lot of different, crazy licensed products here at Capcom, but as a rider, this is the one that I am most excited about. Savage will be creating an extremely limited number of these bikes that you'll be able to purchase! This isn't some crazy corporate bike being built for display instead of riding. Instead, this is an awesome piece of Resident Evil merchandise that you can fire up and take out on the open road.

Savage is expecting to finish work on the first bike by early January, though if it continues to feast on the blood of its makers, it could be ready much sooner. Check out the link below for more details on this lovely machine's creation.

Two wheels of awesome: custom Resident Evil Chopper under production! [Capcom Unity]

Inside the swivel-hinged brass cookie were two fortunes along with fun, easy to learn Chinese. One taught me how to say fellatio (chui) (bao), and the other taught me how to say your mother (nei) (lo) (mo). Here's hoping you never hear both in the same sentence.

Watch the extended cut of me playing around with the box sent me by said marketeers as I try to avoid using the hammer they sent me as part of their wrath-themed giveaway.

Let's just hope that the development team is putting as much work into the game as the PR team is putting into the swag. Fingers crossed.

Ps. This video is 16 minutes long!

Namco sent a copy of Dragon Ball: Revenge of Piccolo to Kotaku's NYC branch office this week and bundled this "Instant Anime Character Costume." I might have to put this costume in the charity give-away pile.

What's that mean? Shipping a bloodied box with bits of hair sticking out of it.

The 17-inch sculpture shows Eddie Riggs, ax in hand and another on back, leaping from the bones of his enemies into full battle.

We'll be giving this away, but likely doing so at the annual fund raiser here in Denver next month. If I can secure a location for our Child' Play party that is.

Bloggers, as reported earlier, are specifically mentioned by the recommendation, which has obvious implications for the specialty press covering video games. "The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

The pivot here is what constitutes an in-kind payment. Games do have a value, but is agreeing to review a game an endorsement, regardless of whether the review recommends it or not?

It's also important to note these new guidelines do not themselves have the force of law. They are:

"[...] administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act."

So there are two layers here: One, that it's not even law and two, does it even apply to video game reviews? Either way, the singling out of a blogger's endorsement is significant.

FTC: Freebies Must Be Disclosed [Game Politics]

We've learned how big a focus ArenaNet was putting on the art for Guild Wars 2 during our annual pilgrimage to the Penny Arcade Expo, which really puts the The Art of Guild Wars 2 into perspective. This isn't just concept art. As far as ArenaNet is concerned, this is the game itself. Consider the book a way of getting your hands on the MMO a little early.

North American fans can snag the book from the Penny Arcade Store for $30, while our friends in Europia can order directly from NCsoft for £20.00 or €25.00.

The Art of Guild Wars 2 [Guild Wars 2 Website - Thanks Connor!]

Okay, $949.99, but I very much doubt that $50 under is going to sway anyone to the dark side of video game collectibles. TriForce's Lancer has been crafted by some of the biggest names in the business. Names like Erick Sosa, William Valenzuela, Jorge Martinez, Toi Ogunyoku and painter, Paul Komoda. Names you probably don't know, but again, don't think they'll matter that much in this purchasing decision. What matters is that this is a 40-inch long, 15-pound 1::1 model of an iconic video game weapon, and if that's your kind of thing, then it's your kind of thing.

The Lancer is limited to 500 pieces worldwide, so if you are feeling at all compelled, I'd suggest heading to the product page and preordering. Or buying us all pizza for a week.

Actually, not all of the PAX swag this year was completely "free." To net the majority of the T-shirts, PAX-goers were asked to wait in lines to sit through demos. Only then were they able to walk away with a shirt. This is the reason why I don't have as big a haul as in years past (hey, those lines got long!), and sadly I missed out on the Star Wars shirts because of a mismanaged time schedule.

The Good
I like the All Points Bulletin shirts, the C.O.P. The Recruit magnet that I mistook for a bumper sticker and the inflatable Dragon Age: Origins swords. The NOS energy drink contains scary ingredients, but it was useful during the 3 PM hour when lunch had worn off and there was still a ways to go before the 5 PM panels started. And all the comic books and magazine really came in handy for those long waits in line when I wasn't willing to bust out my DS. Pro Tip: Mouse pads and assorted video game buttons make excellent stocking-stuffers.

The Bad
I'm not as fond of the orange shirt that came standard with the default PAX swag bag because I find it insulting. The Intel shirt also gets poor marks because of the process I had to endure to get it: An Intel rep handed out big blue buttons to people in line. She told us to walk around PAX with them on and "someone" would find us and give us a little card with a barcode on it. Then we had to take the card to a booth and a teller would trade it for a prize. I imagine I would have been less annoyed at being a free billboard for Intel if I'd won a laptop — but since all I got was a shirt crammed into a plastic mold in the shape of a shirt, I say bah.

The WTF
The funny thing about that Brink shirt is that the game was probably one of the most interesting on the show floor, but it's easily the least interesting design for a video game shirt. Not as funny, but twice as clever was the Assassin's Creed II advertisement where you sever a guy's head by opening up a booklet. Too bad you only get one use out of that one, though.

Ten points to those who can spot the hidden cat toys in the picture below:

Though technically more of an open beta launch party, NCsoft's soirée held atop Seattle's landmark Space Needle was full of good food, a bit of excitement, and a bit of science. The excitement came when someone who works for Kotaku but wasn't attending the show on official business walked away with a Razer gaming keyboard during the raffle. I won't say who it was, but I completely envy her.

The science came by way of the two drink tickets I received at the door. It takes a heavy application of scientific principles generally formant following high school in order to figure out how best to get drunk using only two drinks. Thanks to my extremely low alcohol tolerance and the doctorate in beverage science that I do not possess, I succeeded readily.

On the way out of the party I was handed a lovely nylon gift bag, which would have been cool enough on its own, but this one had stuff in it! Glorious stuff.

Behold the bag.

Oh look, another Aion preorder disc. One can never have too many.

The best of the bunch right here. This is an iron-finished version of the Aiva figure that is being included in the collector's edition of Aion when it's released later this month. It's covered in a plastic bag, but it's still lovely.

Aion gives the Space Needle wings! Hooray for t-shirts!

PB&J Gamer Grub. It's actually not that bad, though my taste buds can hardly be trusted at this point. Perhaps they should rebrand it as 'You'll Eat Anything When You're Slightly Drunk".
<img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/09/010.jpg" width="563" height="1000"
Remember the limited WildStorm Aion comic book we mentioned earlier this week? Here it is.

And a Mana Potion energy shot. This is exactly what you do not need before returning to your hotel to go to sleep.

Luckily, Capcom's supplied me with a list of what they're planning on giving away or offering at their store on the weekend of PAX. That should make my attack strategy planning a bit easier.

The first 250 people to hit up their booth on Friday and Saturday score passes to a Resident Evil 5 PC launch party. At said party, Capcom will be giving away:

—Customized TriCell ID badges (meh)
—RE5 snow globes of dubious snowiness (I thought the game took place in quasi-Saharan Africa?)
—Majini makeovers (I'm not sure if that means they make you look like one or they let one go to work on your face.)

The booth, meanwhile, will have tons of stuff from the Capcom Store that you can pay real money for – like the Street Fighter Femme Fatale sticks Fahey blogged. I might seriously consider forking money over to them, having seen the giant-sized Poogie plush from Monster Hunter. Hopefully, though, some of what's at the store might be part of the giveaways Capcom plans to do throughout the day, so I'll just keep checking back. If my swag bag doesn't fill up, that is.

Oh – and they'll have games, too:

RE5 PC, Spyborgs, Fate/Unlimited Codes, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Lost Planet 2, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and more!

See you on the floor, Kotakuites. Like last year, I'm pulling a Plebian act, so you'll probably have an easier time spotting me than Fahey or Totilo.

Capcom @ PAX: SWAG, RE 5 Party, Demos, and Exclusive Merchandise [Capcom Blog]

It wasn't too bad this year, truth be told. Initially I came out relatively light, only picking up the Murloc nOObz figure for $30 plus a t-shirt and Murloc plushie for a close personal friend of mine whom I hope to ply with presents. Then Stephen Totilo's former co-worker Tracey John showed up. Tracey and I like to pal around during shows, and while I was taking photos of cosplayers and the show floor, she suggested we stop by the store, to which I said, "Sure. I'll just...go with you and buy more stuff." I cave so easily that people don't even have to make an argument.

The second trip resulted in the $30 nOObz Ragnaros, a $30 special BlizzCon edition of the World of Warcraft comic book hardcover, and another Murloc plushie, so the first would have a friend. That's exactly how I ended up with two cats, and I suspect it's how Noah came up with the whole ark idea. Tracey John was probably involved somehow.

Day one of BlizzCon actually started with day 0, when we got a peek inside this year's swag bag, revealing its full Space Marine, hand sanitizer glory. Between that and our look at the special merchandise Blizzard is selling at the convention, we were pretty much swagged out in time for the opening ceremonies.

The opening ceremonies were chuck full of news, from the new Monk class for Diablo III to the biggest news of the convention - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - the new expansion for the popular massively-multiplayer game that introduces two new races, a revamp of the existing world, and tons of new features that are sure to keep the game exciting for at least a couple of months after the expansion's release sometime next year.

We took a closer look at the Monk, the Street Fighter character of Diablo III, with low survivability but quick and devastating attacks leaving enemies reeling from the feeling. We also looks at the integration planned for Battle.Net and StarCraft 2 in words and pictures, discovering that Blizzard plans to allow map creators to sell premium content in the StarCraft marketplace.

And let's not forget our massive gallery of custom-painted nOObz Space Marine toys!

The day soon came to an end, but there's still plenty more to tell you folks about, so stay tuned throughout today and well into Monday for more from BlizzCon 2009!

I see several things here I want desperately, like the vinyl nOObs StarCraft firgures, and the plush murlocs, and the Diablo Fresh Meat t-shirt. Unfortunately I don't have enough room in my suitcase for the swag I already got, so it's either spend nothing, or ship it all home ahead of me. Hmmmmmm.

Paul S. in England writes that "40ish bottles" washed ashore on Brighton Beach sometime before 5:37 a.m. Netherlands reader Soulofaqua described the discovery at The Hague as "sort of disappointing" The posters found in the bottles didn't give up much about the new game.

Reader Saddler B. in Vancouver, Andrew B. at Jones Beach, New York, and Shane K. at Santa Monica also sent in snaps. Check em out in our gallery.

While a few lucky members of the gaming public made it out of yesterday's Capcom Fighting Game panel with a copy of the hip-hop mixtape, the majority of the 200 vinyl records the company commissioned have slightly more stringent requirements for purchase. You can only get your hands on one if you spend big at the Capcom booth's merchandise area. How big?

Yes, the album is free, but only if you purchase $500 worth of merchandise. While it seems like a great deal of cash, two $179.99 Mad Catz arcade sticks and you're just $140 away! That's only seven t-shirts! Surely you know seven people with torsos, right?

Yeah, probably best just to wait for the downloadable version.