My Mii doesn't look much like, well, me. Good thing customise Mii designer Bobby Bobby is here to make Miis for me. Or you. Or whomever. According to Bobby Bobby, he's ranked #1 on the American Mii Artisan Rankings on the Check Mii Out channel, and he's "one of the few authentic Mii Artists around the world to achieve this honour". Above is a sample of his work, which runs $US 7.99. Not bad! Bobby Bobby says:

What, just the promise of WW2, Nazis, vampires and werewolves all in one game wasn't enough for you? Fine. Here's a couple of character-specific trailers. The one above's for Vlado, who is - what else - a Nazi vampire. After the jump's one for Camilla. A Nazi in need of a good and proper reminding of what is and what is not appropriate battlefield attire.

Hollywood producer Michael De Luca has produced lots of good movies. Take Boogie Nights or Wag the Dog, for example. He's also produced lots of bad movies, like Little Nicky or Ghost Rider. He latest project? Bringing Metal Gear Solid to the screen. No easy task! No doubt fans of the cinematic game franchise have high expectations. And with the way Hollywood bungles game adaptations, the pressure is on. So, how does De Luca feel about this whole Metal Gear Solid movie dealio?

Britain's individual format charts have this week has been cleft in twain. On the one side, the new Nintendo crowd. Mario & Sonic, Brain Training, Carnival, blah blah blah, you know them, you ("you" being the people who will not stop buying them) love them. On the other, the men with guns crowd, as both versions of the bug-riddled Rainbow Six Vegas 2 chart at the top while Army of Two hangs on by the skin of its testosterone-charged fingertips.

We don't like posting auctions here. Because some other asshole makes money, and not us assholes. But for this we'll make an exception. Over at Yahoo! Auctions, one individual is auctions off 151 Game Boy Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition and Japan only Pokémon Green. These are the first generation Pokeé+mon. And 151 cartridges, that's a whole Pokeédex worth! The seller points out that the non-mint cartridges don't have instruction booklets or boxes, are grimy and scribbled on and make good dominos.
Pokémon Auction [Yahoo! Auctions]

Comparisons between the DS and PSP were played out years ago. Especially when you consider the DS doesn't give a hoot about what's under its hood. But you know what, fuck it, let's dredge the subject up again, because RoughlyDrafted have compared the tech specs of both handhelds and put em up against the iPhone. Their point? Showcasing the potential Apple's phone has in the gaming arena. Click through for the full, grisly details.

Nintendo Hate [Games Radar Thanks, Roxeraz!]

Who said we wanted more PS2 SingStar games? Europe, was it you? Thought so. Thanks a lot. You could at least have asked for one with a specific theme or genre (the world still needs SingStar Gregorian Chants), but no. You had to go asking for some crummy "SingStar Summer Party" compilation, which feels a lot less like summertime and a lot more like "pop music hell".

Now typically, if we post nerdy figurines, that means one thing. No, it means two things: jubblies. This too! SEGA Toys is releasing a topless Kiryu Kazuma from Ryu ga Gotoku/Yakuza figure. Kiryu stands on a lit pedestal, holding a bat and sports yakuza-style back tattoos. No plans to release this outside Japan, but it's available for pre-order for $US 68.90. Kiryu and his male nipples are slated to ship this July.
Ryu ga Gotoku 2 [NCSX via Japanator]

Speaking with Capcom's Christian Svensson, MTV decided to ask how the company decides when a game's time is up. When we won't care and retailers won't care, and it's time to pull the plug and stop making the thing. The answer they got is mighty interesting:

The sales life cycle of a product is shrinking", said Svensson. If a game undersells its first month at retail, it's finished at retail. Often, though, it's quicker: if a game underperforms its first week, it is more than likely "dead on arrival".

Hope you like the PSP! If not, you better, buster. Because you are stuck with it. Well, at least for the next ten years. That's right, count 'em, ten years. Says Sony PSP marketing manager John Koller:

After weeks of getting their knickers in a twist over it, British pundits and interested consumers can now read up on what the long-awaited Byron Review has to say. Commissioned by the British government in response to growing concerns over children's exposure to unsuitable content in games, it's findings are already being blown out of proportion by many British press outlets, but in reality are really quite sensible. Dr. Tanya Bryon's report recommends the adoption of a more recognisable film-style ratings system - including a "12" rating - clearer, more prominent displays of a game's ratings on the cover and more effort on the part of parents in monitoring and controlling their children's gaming and online habits. Like I said, all quite fair and reasonable, really, so if you're British and are waking up to a falling sky, things aren't as bad as certain "excitable" elements of the press will have you believe.
Byron Review backs movie-style ratings [MCV]

This morning, PSP title Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G went on sale in Japan. Around Tokyo, folks lined up early to purchase the eagerly awaited sequel. (Japan certainly loves lining up!) At the Bic Camera in Ikebukuro, there was already over 200 people in line by 9:30am. In Yurakucho, 200 people also lined up in front of the Bic Camera. Something like 400 people waited at the Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, while at the Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku, a whopping 600 folks waited patiently to snag MHP 2ndG. Keep in mind that a Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G PSP bundle also went on sale, meaning that it wasn't only Capcom who had a big sales day.
Monster Hunter on Sale [Famitsu]

My loot? Pretty good. Definitely a solid contest's worth of rare and just flat out cool stuff. Now, we have something to sweeten the deal. Bethesda will also be giving the winner of our Paint-An-Egg-Contest a Vault Boy Fallout 3 shirt. There's more! The back of this shirt is signed by Fallout 3 team. So big kudos for Bethesda for pitching this in and for the devs for writing their names!

It's a safe assumption: many of you will have been jerked around by Microsoft's bum digital rights management setup for the 360. You've bought content, lost a console, and now can't play arcade games or use DLC unless you're online. Chin up, eh? Courtesy of Consumerist reader James, there's a way around it! James called up Microsoft support and hassled them about transferring the license from his old console to his new, replacement one. Voilà! The content was tagged to his new 360 instead of the old one, and James can play with the stuff he paid for whenever and wherever he likes. As should always have been the case. Only downside? There's two: it took 32 days for Microsoft to transfer the license, and there's no way of confirming whether this was due to some new Microsoft policy or the fact James is an expert at complaining.
Microsoft May Slowly Be Fixing Their Broken XBOX DRM [Consumerist] [Pic]

Thanks, Riyu!

Gran Turismo creator Kazanori Yamauchi? Total liar. Or at least a total fibber. Speaking about Gran Turismo's continued lack of damage-modelling, he says:

Look at Jake's egg contest entry!! We're doing an egg contest? Yes we are! Here's how it's going down: Decorate an egg (yes, an actual egg), take a pic of it with a Kotaku sign and send it to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Commentland will vote for its favourite finalist. We'll kick this baby off right now, wrap it up on April 4th. Here's the loot. Hop to it!

You thirst for blood. Don't be coy. You see Ninja Gaiden II screens, and you struggle to control yourself. I know you. Well, hopefully May will bring some kind of relief, as the game's website says that's when a demo will be turning up on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Should be more than enough time for you to keep it all together before the game's release in June.

Better lock the door, close the blinds. That's right moppets, Kotaku After Dark starts now. Last time we visited Super Smash Bros. Brawl's riskier elements, it was in the form of underoos. Pedestrian! This time, we've got Solid Snake engaging in some snaking of his own with SSBB's female cast members. The clip's after the jump, and might be someone NSFW depending on how your boss thinks of simulated sexual encounters between fictional video game characters. Know: The clip isn't just a collection of scandalous shots, but there's a story of a woman scorned in there. No, really.

As you might have read earlier, I attended last night's launch of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII at Sony's Metreon Centre in SF. While the lucky first hundred people got T-shirts, and some even won some great raffle prizes, anyone was allowed to go up and get their complimentary Shin-Ra Electric Power Company ID card. Being firmly in the "anyone" crowd, I stepped up to claim what will sure to be a valuable money maker on eBay some day. They snapped a quick photo and then we got to wait about twenty minutes while the thing processed and Voila... we were presented with our nifty prize in a little labelled envelope. As you can tell from my photo, I am an employee not to be trifled with.

We've got a little more info on today's darling of the internets, the unexpected sequel to 50 Cent's first game outing, Bulletproof. This time relating to the game's story. A story of blood, sand, promises, treachery, revenge and...a crystal skull. Which we're guessing somebody was paid to write. I...you...look, just read this, will you?

Bargains are sexy. Which by proxy, makes Anthony over at EcoGamer darn hot also. He's put together another list of gaming deals especially for us. Thanks again!

If you feel like saving some cash while you spend big on your next lot of gaming purchases, just hit the jump!

The extremely popular SOCOM franchise will finally bow on the PlayStation 3 this fall when SOCOM Confrontation hits the PlayStation Store (at least in North America) on September 16, according to 1UP. The latest issue of EGM features a SOCOM blowout, with details on the new SOCOM.com, a revamped community web site with a heavy feature load out and additional details on Slant Six's multiplayer shooter.

Sony Computer Entertainment notified some of its customers today, warning them that there may be the "possibility of unauthorised access to personal information" via the PlayStation Store for PCs. According to the consumer alert on PlayStation.com, "passwords of a small percentage of PLAYSTATION Network users may have been changed through unauthorised access, making it possible to view users' personal information and/or use the Wallet for the PLAYSTATION Store."

Yesterday we learned that Weezer and The Mars Volta would be among the artist featured in the soundtrack for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and now with have proof in motion. I tend not to get into a Gran Turismo game until the whole music plus driving experience hits me. With Gran Turismo 4 I was completely neutral until the opening movie, when Van Halen's Panama kicked in. This time around it's Weezer's Automatic. I am now officially looking forward to the game. Hit the jump for another clip featuring a remix of The Mars Volta's Goliath. Good stuff.

Scores of Final Fantasy fans queued up for the official Square Enix launch party for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, but we're a bit disappointed in the lack of ill-fitting costumes and obscenely sized swords present at the event. Flynn's report on GayGamer of the launch festivities may be lacking in comically enormous weapons and crowd-pleasing spiky hair, but it is full of tales of dedication. The first two fans in line braved a eight hour drive and a nine hour wait in line to be the first to score some Crisis Core. Hopefully, these two were rewarded beyond a simple limited edition T-shirt.

More photos of regular Joes sporting gargantuan swords await you at GayGamer. Just don't go expecting to see droves of fandom friendly outfits. Bummer.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Launch Party [GayGamer]

If the Game On exhibition wasn't enough, the ACMI now has its sights set on educating parents on both the fun and serious aspects of gaming.

Each day, from March 25 to March 28 and March 31 to April 4, the ACMI will be running its "Navigating games for parents" sessions. By the looks of things, the sessions will focus on a variety of topics, from game classification to cheating (the good kind).

Not only are the sessions free, there's also mention of Easter eggs.

Note that the ACMI is located in Melbourne, so it's a locals-only event, unless you're willing to make the interstate trip.

Navigating games for parents [ACMI, via Sumea]

Blizzard is obviously not content with a paltry 10 million World of Warcraft subscribers. The WoW pusherman is expanding its operations to Latin America, giving Spanish-speaking North and South American gamers a fully tailored localisation, including new voice overs and a dedicated customer service crew this year. In preparation, Blizzard is staffing up, with customer service, quality assurance, community relations, and web team positions open to those who speak the Español.