Tattoos
”My Second Gaming Tattoo - Reader's Choice
Well here it is folks. The gaming tattoo those of you who didn't want me to brand Crecente's face onto my body for all time voted for. I think Justin over at Psycho Tattoo II in Sandy Springs did an excellent job this time around, matching the colors rather well and getting the whole thing done quickly and painlessly. He comes highly recommended if you're in the Atlanta area and need someone with a steady hand to get your pixels done right. Now comes two weeks or so of scabbing, itching, and peeling, but Black Mage finally has someone to stab in the head play with. Thanks everyone for helping me make up my mind, and being a part of my body art. Check out the gallery for some bloody good fun, all in the name of community interaction!
And The Winning Tattoo Is...
Earlier this week I asked you, the Kotaku voting public, to pick which character would be gracing my arm come this Sunday's appointment at my local purveyor of fine body art. You have spoken, and the winner by an overwhelming margin was Brian Crecente...who doesn't count. Which it would be a great response to the companies at E3 who ask me where Brian is ("Right here on my arm!*), the odds of me one day getting angry at him and taking a flathead screwdriver to my arm are too great. In his stead I have chosen the runner-up, Fighter. The burly Yin to Black Mage's delicate but deadly Yang, Fighter received 1269 votes to Crecente's 1808, with the next closest being Red Mage with only 918. Come back Monday for a look at the finished product, and thank you for helping me decide what to have drawn on myself!
Oh, and special thanks to Qbix for that nightmare picture up there.
Choose My Next Gaming Tattoo
My First Gaming Tattoo
Since I started writing for Kotaku I've been exposed to sides of gaming culture I was never really aware of. Game cakes, game crochet, papercraft...all ways for the more creative and skilled of us to express their dedication to our great passion, but what about those of us without mad crafting skills? I could probably pull off a game cake of the Adventure hero sans arrow sword, or fold up some origami throwing stars and toss them at my cats, pretending I am Ryu Hayabusa, but it wouldn't be the same. Luckily for the unskilled (and perhaps slightly unbalanced) of us, there is another way. The gaming tattoo. Armed with the knowledge provided me by Flynn's excellent feature back in January of this year, I decided it was time to make long sleeve shirts a requirement for job interviews for the rest of my life and get inked.
What follows is my experience getting my very first tattoo, along with some images the squeamish might want to avoid like the plague. It seems I enjoy photographing blood. Call it residual goth.
oddities
Man Gets PlayStation 3 Tattoo For Some Bizarre Reason
A man who goes by the handle MobileTone, a reader of Sony's semi-official blog ThreeSpeech, has decided that permanently tattooing "PS3" on his right forearm was a good idea. Odd that he didn't go with the official typeface for the "world's first PS3 tattoo", but also quite understandable. I'm sure that PS3 text can be gracefully re-inked into something else, should he grow tired of it. The tattooed man says "I doubt i'll ever regret it" but speaking from the experience of having a 3DO tattoo on your left calf and never knowing the comfort of shorts for fear of ridicule, I'm fairly certain a tinge of regret will hit one day.
He's Only Gone And Done It - World's First PS3 Tattoo [ThreeSpeech]
Ink Meets Flesh: A Gaming Tattoo Primer
Years ago, tattoos were considered quite the taboo for normal folk. They were usually reserved for the likes of bikers, thugs, sailors and circus sideshow performers. In the last ten to fifteen years, tattooing has become de rigueur amongst the alternative set, slowly spreading its inky wings to a larger part of the general populous. Even more recently, a certain subset of the gaming community has gotten on board the tattoo train and begun immortalizing their favorite video game icons on their skin, permanently embedding their love of the medium into their skin.
But not every gaming tattoo is a good gaming tattoo. We've seen some pass through the hallowed halls of Kotaku Tower that would raise your hair. From the goth speed metal Silent Hill logo to the slightly out of shape Zappers, some tattoos just make you say "What the hell were you thinking?" Fortunately, I have a wee bit of experience with tattoos. So if you're ready to take the plunge and allow needle to meet flesh, repeatedly, hit the jump for a couple of important rules.
tattoodles
Another Legendary (?) Halo Tattoo
A few months ago, we posted about a Legendary(?) Halo tattoo. Well, here's another one: same theme, different stretch of skin (and this one appears to be half finished), sent in by Ryan C., who says the lucky tattooee is a 'friend's older brother.' We've actually mentioned this one before while it was still in the linework phase, filed under 'Just say NO to Halo tattoos.' I've flirted with the idea of adding a game related tattoo to my collection, but never been quite comfortable with having something that fleeting permanently inked on my body. Still, this one seems to be shaping up quite nicely if you're into that sort of thing.Leave Luck To Heaven tattoo
Dan sent this to me, sent in to him by the proud, female owner of this amazing back.
Points to you, gamenerds, for being first to yell either the meaning of Leave Luck To Heaven or the full list of games featured. There aren't any prizes. Crecente ate all the cupcakes. Sorry.
Leave Luck To Heaven tattoo [Bits, Bytes, Pixels & Sprites]
Speaking of counting, how many stormtroopers did Plunkett and Bashcraft march with at TGS?
body mods
Colossus Tattoo Trumped
Seems that Jason's friend from Monday wasn't the first person to have a Shadow of the Colossus 'kill me here' symbol tattooed on their body. Brooke here sees his SotC tattoo and raises him an Ico tat.That young whippersnapper isn't the first to get such a mark; I had this done in Edinburgh in the year of our Lord 2005, shortly after finishing the game. As far as I know, I was the first bold dumbass to go ahead and do it. I've also attached a photo of my Ico tattoo as well, because ... well how many other people are there with Ico tattoos, I ask you?Oh it's on now.
tattoos
Three More Msoft Tattoos
Hmmm, I'm starting to think that the whole tattoo thing is getting a little out of hand over at Microsoft. More »
tattoos
The Top 25 Video Game Tattoos
When we post someone's permanently inked dedication to gaming, the tattoos seem to come out of the woodwork, exposing us to reader flesh we'd sometimes rather not see. Now, someone's put together a list of what they consider the best game tattoos "EVER!", so send your colored nakedness in that direction. More »
tattoos
The Temple Of Mario Stars Tattoo
There have been many great (and not so great) video game tattoos that have passed through the hallowed halls of Kotaku Tower. There was the awesome Okami tattoo and the terrifying Castlevania tattoo, even a warm and fuzzy Mario tattoo "just between friends". This one, however, takes the cake for in your face visibility. In fact it has ON your face visibility. More »One Insane Sony Fan's Plea For A PS3 Premiere Ticket!
adonis
The Triforce Adonis
This classic portrait is from the BMEzine blog, ModBlog, which is home to all manner of grotesque and exciting specimens and womens. More »
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