• 

  Uncategorized

  Watch This Lady Transform Final Fantasy VIII‘s Rinoa Before Your Eyes

  Internet person Michelle Phan is a make-up wizard—a magician! In this video, she shows the power of make-up as she gives a walkthrough on how to transform yourself into FFVIII‘s Riona Heartilly Besides make-up, Phan completes the look with contacts and a Riona costume, proving that there’s more to cosplay than costumes. If you are…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Steam Forums Apparently Hacked

  Last night, the forums for Valve’s Steam service were apparently hacked. Redirects for a hacking website, Fkn0wned.com, appeared on the Steam Users’ Forums, offering “hacking tutorials and tools, porn, free giveaways and much more.” It’s not clear who hacked the forums, but Fkn0wned.com is denying responsibility, writing this on its own site: “Fkn0wned Forum is…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Deus Ex’s Adam Jensen Faces the Toughest Choice of All

  Anyone who has played Deus Ex: Human Revolution and looked in the kitchen of star Adam Jensen would know that the man has a…taste for breakfast cereal. So it stands to reason that, with the events of the game all neatly tied up – a game built on making the tough call – Jensen’s toughest…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  The Best Gundam Models in Japan. Made by Fans

  The world cup of Gundam plastic model making has been streamrolling Japan, impressing all “Gunpla”, or “Gundam model”, fans with impressive diorama and stand-alones. Because, really, who doesn’t love models of giant mechs? There are two divisions: One for over fifteen years-old, and the other for under-fourteen. The final round with the best of each…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  It’s Ladies Night Here on Kotaku’s Cosplay Roundup

  Every week, I try to feature as many male video game cosplayers in this roundup as I can. It’s good to balance things out! But this week, there’s an imbalance in the force. Well, a greater one than normal, given the fact top-shelf cosplay (at least when it comes to video games) is usually dominated…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  There’s Nothing Like a PSP Game to Help Get Over a Brain Tumor

  Chris Sands “starred” in a 2010 BBC documentary called The Man Who Can’t Stop Hiccupping. Turns out there was a reason Sands couldn’t stop hiccupping: he had a rare brain tumour. Although complex brain surgery helped set Sands on the road to recovery, it also had some nasty side-effects, like leaving large swathes of his…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Gears of War 2 Ripped-Off, Crying Marcus Fenix and All

  YouTube’s Ashens takes a delightful look at a Marcus Fenix “Bionicle of War 2” figure for ages 3 and up! The packaging features official art, a tweaked Gears logo, and a list of the other collectible figures that include “Damon Baird”, “C Santiago”, “Boomer”, and “Locust Drone”. The totally unofficial figures are made by Telitoy,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Over 13 Minutes of Mass Effect 3 Gameplay Footage

  Someone was bright enough over the weekend to not only download the accidentally-leaked Mass Effect 3 beta, but film themselves playing it. What we’ve got here, then, is over 13 minutes of gameplay footage from the singleplayer portion of the game. The first half deals with the Reaper invasion of Earth, the second a mission…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  How to Get Crazy Battlefield 3 Points (Shit’s Broke?)

  Hey EA, you might want to patch Battlefield 3, because there’s apparently a game-breaking exploit. According to YouTube user DarkSydeGeoff, this is it. Using the exploit, detailed in the above video, players can get over 100,000 XP per game. Here’s how the exploit works: Join a “Hardcore” game with a buddy on the same squad.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Take a Look at Some of the Coolest Toys On Earth

  There are plenty of great toy companies in the world. Kotobukiya, Kaiyodo, Hot Toys. But for my money, none are a shade on Ashley Wood and Kim Fung Wong’s threeA Combining original figures with toys based on properties like Woods’ World War Robot book/comic line, threeA’s work is as slick and stylish as you’ll find…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  The Secret World of Japanese Character Costumes

  They pop up seemingly everywhere in Japan. They’re called “yuru kyara” in Japanese and refer to the local mascots dreamt up to promote cities, towns, and rural villages across the country. Inside those mascots, there are people. And more and more, they’re women. Japanese morning show Toku Dane! took a look at the world of…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  When the Street Isn’t Safe for Work

  I’ve said it before: Japanese adult game and anime makers are masters of the in-store promotion. It’s a mastery that would do 1970s grindhouse cinema owners proud. Many in-store promotions are NSFW. What happens when those hit the streets? Curvy martial arts yarn Maken-Ki! has a huge display at Akihabara retailer Tora no Ana, giving…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Dear EA, Star Wars Fans Have Very Serious Questions

  This fan took to a Star Wars: The Old Republic questionnaire with a mission: rant about publisher EA’s digital rights management policy. One look at the company’s friendly customer service droid, though, and rants give way to…questions. Star Wars: The Old Republic will be out on PC next month. Many are excited for Star Wars:…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Korean Pop Is Better with Chun-Li Cosplay

  Chun-Li makes everything better—whether that be Jackie Chan movies or South Korean pop. The latest single from South Korean pop outfit Orange Caramel, no strangers to dressing up, is “Shanghai Romance”. Previously, the group cosplayed as Bruce Lee while singing “Shanghai Romance”. While dressed as Chun-Li, the girls didn’t pull off any Spinning Bird kicks,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Report: Masked Bandits Steal 6000 Copies of Modern Warfare 3

  As if we needed reminding of how big a commercial event the release of a new Call of Duty game is, word comes from France that a truck full of copies of the game has been hijacked by professional thieves. On Saturday the truck, driving through Créteil in southern Paris, was rammed by another vehicle.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Ni No Kuni’s Cutscenes are a Gorgeous Way to Start your Monday

  I’m quite taken by Level-5’s upcoming RPG Ni No Kuni. A big reason for that is the helping hand the developers have had from animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli. So watching three of the game’s cutscenes is definitely something I can recommend. Seeing as the clips were released by Level-5 over the weekend and are entirely…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  This is When Activision Used to be Awesome

  It’s fashionable these days to hate Activision. But those over the age of, say, 30-35 may be old enough to remember the time the company went above and beyond the call of duty to keep its fans happy with all kinds of touching gestures. The coolest of which, by far, was the company’s practice of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Wham, Bam, Thanks M.O.D.A.M.

  Wham, Bam, Thanks M.O.D.A.M. That’s not M.O.D.O.K. in drag. That’s M.O.D.A.M., and she’s an alternate costume in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. You can see many more alternates through Marvel’s and Capcom’s blogs. The Sports Video Games of the Year Rarely considered for overall video-game-of-the-year honors, the uncommon diversity of sports video games support a…

  By Owen Good Published November 6, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Pirates Unwelcome at Swedish Games Expo

  Sweden’s Pirate Party had a booth all paid for at this weekend’s Gamex, the nation’s largest video games expo, until someone from Gamex came to their senses, phoned the pirates and said GTFO. The real head-scratcher is why, as Piratpartiet says, they were invited in the first place. Indeed, there’s the party name on the…

  By Owen Good Published November 6, 2011
• Culture

  Warfare Recipients

  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releases on PC and all three consoles on Tuesday, (with a separate version for the DS). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim arrives Friday for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is also out Friday. Tuesday also sees the special editions Metal Gear Solid HD Collection…

  By Owen Good Published November 6, 2011