With all this talk about pirates and ninjas, vikings often get overlooked. Too bad, because vikings have a lot to offer. Amazing beards, for example. A shame high-brow British men's lifestyle magazine FRONT focused more on boots and boobs instead of beards. (Missed opportunity, folks!) Model Kitty Lea hacks her way though Viking: Battle For Asgard in a bikini. She must be cold. We are worried.

You buy Mario Kart Wii, you get one plastic wheel. That should be enough. If you've got friends over who break into a rash when clutching a GameCube controller, though, I guess you could get another. How much is that going to cost you, though? If GameStop are on the money (see flyer above), you'll be looking at $US 15, which for a hollow piece of plastic is not merely taking the piss, it's buying the piss wholesale and reselling it for a profit. This is unconfirmed by Nintendo, and has since been taken down from GameStop's site, but the full flyer's after the jump regardless.

Gaming-related violence and crime have been big subjects in Britain over the past year or so, but never so big as now, in the immediate wake of the Byron Review. So if you're currently in the business of selling papers in Britain, what better way to sell papers than to get someone to completely fabricate a story about games turning them to a life of crime! A listing on British industry site StarNow - a job posting site for actors, musicians, etc - turned up late last week saying "a national newspaper wants your story and will pay hundreds of pounds to the right person". What does this "story" involve?

Okay! Before we start, this data is from a poll. Meaning? It's the opinion of some people, and not everyone. So, don't read anymore into this than necessary. In late February and early March, research group DIMSDRIVE polled over 7,000 Japanese folks via a private internet-based questionnaire about what stocks one would buy if one had cash to invest. The top most popular five?

That, after the jump.

Don't get me wrong. Pokemon bento's cute. Cute as hell. But also too small! I'm no kid, I've got a grown-up sized hunger, so I can't have just one serving, I need nine. And nothing Pokemon-related, thanks, I prefer my bento to come Mushroom Kingdom-flavoured. Yes, that also means ham-wrapped asparagus.
ゆきんこママの幼稚園弁当[via technabob]

When not hosting Pokémon cartoons, otaku queen Shoko Nakagawa enjoys the simple things like playing Final Fantasy VII, putting catheads in her mouth and cosplay. Some of her previously cosplays, like Super Robot Taisen, have been quite amazing. Spectacular, even. Her recent bean (yes, bean as in, you know, a bean) cosplay has left us speechless. It might sound innocuous, but it is totally MAXIMUM RISKY. Might be not safe for work, even! Pic after the jump. You've been warned. Enjoy.

Capcom announced over the weekend that they've bought K2 Studios, best known for their work on the more recent, more rubbish Tenchu games, as well as Valhalla Knights . That's probably not the reason for the purchase, though: K2 also did some outsource work for Capcom on Lost Planet, and are also helping SNK with the latest Samurai Shodown. The move's aimed at making Capcom's "game development activities more efficient and speedy", while "Capcom also believes that pursuing a business strategy based on closer ties with K2 will help increase the value of the entire Capcom Group". And hey, who are we to argue.
K2 To Become Wholly Owned Subsidiary Through Simple Exchange of Stock [Capcom]

Remember the Vii? Surely, it's burned somewhere into the back of your brain. The Chinese Wii rip-off has gotten a Japanese localisation called V-Sports. We're pretty sure the Vii isn't text heavy, so localising it was a cake walk. This release does mean more Japanese people can point and laugh at it, too! The console is retailing for ¥7,980 ($US 79). That's not very funny at all. Then again, never is the current dollar-yen exchange rate.

Hit the jump for Vii-chan.

The 2007 Anime Expo at Long Beach was held last year. Why, then, has it taken until now for this amazing Midna cosplay photo to end up on my desk? You know what, forget it, I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses. Do not fail me again, internet. Click through for a full-size version.

Further proof that Sega Sammy is going through rough financial times? As of last Friday, SEGA subsidiary, Sega Korea Ltd. is no more. According to SEGA, "The said dissolution will have not significant impact on the Company's consolidated operating results." What about Sega Korea employees? They're shit outta luck. This comes hot on the heels of Sammy Europe Limited closing late last month and abandoning plans for a Sega Sammy amusement park in Yokohama. Last year, the company lost approximately $US 250 million, laid off 400 employees and shuttered over 100 arcades. Not a very good year.
Bye Bye Sega Korea [Sega Nerds]

Crackdown devs Realtime Worlds - founded by GTA series creator David Jones - have secured for themselves a spot of funding for their promising-looking MMO shooter APB (and potentially other projects). Like, $US 50 million in funding. Nice. It's rare that console games receive venture capital, even multiplayer ones, so it looks like somebody over at Realtime's doing a good job of selling the game.
Montgomery & Co. Raises $US 50 Million For Realtime Worlds [TechCrunch, via VentureBeat]

According to early sales figures, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G did monster business, selling over 670,000 copies in Japan at launch. That means the sequel out sold the original Monster Hunter Portable, which moved 512,000 copies at launch (497,000 individual copies, plus 15,000 bundles). The breakdown this time around is apparently 652,000 copies of the game and 17,000 PSP game bundles. We'll get official sales data later in the week, but with MHP 2nd G sold out at pretty much every store I've been to, willing to bet these early numbers are pretty accurate.
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G [Sinobi Kore Enmachou] [Pic]

Announcement time! That's right, Hyper Multi-Tap is changing its format. Up until, say, last Friday, the only reward those commenters nominated for Multi-Tap got was a happy feeling. Ditto for those kind enough to nominate them! But, we'd like to do more. You know, repay you for making brilliant comments and nominating them as well. So! Here's what we are going to do: Award a Kotaku Star (see above) to those commenters who make Multi-Tap, plus one to those who nominate. Keep in mind, that we are only doing seven comments for Galactic Multi-Tap. (Hopefully, the best ones!) What happens to those who repeatedly nominate or make it into Multi-Tap? They won't get extra Kotaku Stars, but rather, a warm place in our cold, bitter hearts.

Galactic Multi-Tap launches this Friday.

Australian RPG fans would be hard pressed not to check out EUO, an online and free-to-play hack'n'slash developed by Sydneysider Max Breedon. If you've heard of EUO before, no big shock, it's been out since April 2003.

Max however has let us know that EUO will be celebrating its 5th birthday by gifting players with goodies. As part of the festivities, experience gains will be quintupled, new bosses add and loads more. He also mentioned that work on the game has been firing on all pistons since its release, and EUO is much, much improved from the version that came out all those years ago.

With 2D graphics, player versus player combat, quests and dungeon crawling, EUO doesn't get more old-school - except for the online bits. There's even a 3D version in development, a picture of which is available after the jump.

EUO [Official site]

Microsoft have just signed a deal with the Safran Company, whereby the Hollywood production team will put together a series of 10-minute original, scripted (ie not reality TV) programs for the 360's video marketplace. Sure, Peter Safran himself has produced some shitty, shitty movies (Meet the Spartans, My Baby's Daddy), but he's got his own company now, so hopefully he won't be the one personally involved. And hey, even if they do suck, Microsoft's Scott Nocas has said it's only "the first of many" such deals. So, what can we expect? The New York Times reports:

March was a huge month for game releases. Huge. Crisis Core, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Condemned 2, God of War: Chains of Olympus—it looked more like October than March, as far as game releases go. April? It starts with but a whimper. This week sees practically nothing new in the way of marquee titles. A few Dreamcatcher Interactive numbers, a dusting of super-hardcore RPGs, but not much else.

It's unbelievable, I know, but the Attorneys-General have decided to give us a chance to voice our opinions on the need for an R18+ rating for games in Australia. The agreement was made at last week's SCAG meeting.

If you think this is odd (seriously, it's right up there with pineapple on pizza) you'll be even more wigged out by the duo that's against the move.

Bored at lunch and have five minutes to spare? Then you might get some enjoyment out of this Flash game on the UBD Surf website. UBD is sponsoring this year's Australian Surf Life Saving Championships in Perth, and part of the promotion includes this game. Apparently it's based on an actual event at the Championships, but I doubt that has anything to do with hitting sunbathers or knocking down kids' sand castles with beach balls. Cause that's just mean.

There's also a competition to win a surf board, if you've seen the ocean or sun before and love their company. All you have to do is complete a survey.

Hit the Beach [UBD Surf, thanks Sugar Hush]

To: Ash & Luke
From: Maggie
Subject: Cooking without a sink is hard to do.

So yesterday afternoon, I broke out the Cuisinart, the KitchenAid, and supplies for making gratin dauphinois and kolach. We had a potluck lunch for our research seminar today and I'd promised to bring two food items. The gratin went swimmingly, and I was all prepped to commence with making bread when I noticed that my sink was backed up. Really, really backed up. And the garbage disposal sounded distinctly unhappy. When my landlord's handyman showed up this morning, I was lectured for five minutes on why I shouldn't put anything down the garbage disposal. 'But it's a garbage disposal! I just put potato peelings down it, not wood chips!' I said. I was then lectured for a few more minutes on how the garbage disposals don't work and I shouldn't be using it for its intended purpose. Wouldn't it be smart to tell people this when they move in instead of chastising them months down the line? It's just one of a multitude of problems I've had in this apartment. Here's hoping the next place we rent is a little better on the maintenance side of things.

Things you might have missed this weekend:

Blizzard vs. Glider is really heating up;
The Video Game Name Generator Competition entries are silly and kinda fun;
In unsubstantiated reports, the GTA IV achievements may have been leaked;
Puma has created some really hideous Tetris sneakers.

Since my sink's back in commission, I'm off to make some bread, smush in some Crisis Core, and get some work done. It's back to school tomorrow (boo). Hope y'all have a good week.

Wondering what the heck is going on in this blurry shot of what looks like a receipt? I can confidently say that it is, indeed, a receipt, one that reader Lawrence received when he purchased a few bits and pieces at Dick Smith Electronics. One of those pieces included an Xbox 360 HD DVD, which Gavan got for just $25.

Sure, it's mostly a glorified paperweight at this point, but if you feel like putting together the world's cheapest collection of high-definition movies, here's a good place to start.

Update: Lawrence is our Dick Smith shopper, not Gavan.

Danc of Lost Garden has a lengthy post up on the localisation process, most importantly the 'translation game,' and how to use game design and techniques to more easily export games to foreign places: read more »

It's hard to fault people for being really ambitious, and Joe Ybarra (producer of games ranging from The Bard's Tale to the Matrix Online, and now of Stargate Worlds) certainly sounds ambitious. Ybarra talked to Gamasutra about the problems of licensing IP, the MMO industry today, where Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is headed. First, though, there's the Stargate MMO to worry about: read more »

Prototype's Multiplayer Gets Cut
Okay, so now it really just is Crackdown with added Assassin's Creed bits.

Sega Confirms Sonic Unleashed Leaks
Sega plays the legal card on Kotaku. Tasty letter with meaty chunks of law insides.

Kotaku Originals: Video Games in the City
It's those originals again, all original and not-not original. Have a read and see what you might have missed last week.

With Hillary Clinton's admission that she 'misspoke' about her experiences in Bosnia with snipers, you knew the game parody version wouldn't be far behind. And it wasn't — Bill Maher presents Hillary Clinton's 3 A.M. Call of Duty: Mission Bosnia. It's slightly funnier than the plethora of terrible flash games that have sprung up during these campaigns. [via GamePolitics]

On the heels of Leigh Alexander musing about the potential for 'a Wii for grownups', Jack Patrick Rodgers takes on the Wii's online functionality (or lack thereof, in his estimation). It's clunky, he says, and while he wouldn't expect Xbox Live-esque service from a service that is trying to keep itself 'easy and free,' it really showed its unsophistication while playing SSBB online:

All of us have our stories about game-related interactions with non-gamers, some of them undoubtedly on the negative side of things ('I hate video games,' someone rather snottily told me at a party a few weeks ago, and that's certainly on the mild end of the negative spectrum). But is it something non-gamers even give much thought to unless they're pressed on the issue? Can people even explain why they dismiss games and gaming out of hand? Brenda Brathwaite muses on why this may be in an article over at the Escapist and talked to lots of people in the industry (our own Ashcraft even makes an appearance). Shall the gamer and non-gamer ever meet on equal ground?:

We mentioned potential action to be taken by a European trade group against Canada for unfair trade practices, and now the UK Ministry of Canadian Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport has launched a formal investigation. The British government is afraid that Canadian "state aid offered to computer games companies ... may not be compatible with World Trade Organisation principles." With a bevy of tax benefits (with some allowing companies to write off as much as 45% of labour costs), Canada has been luring big development studios away from Europe:

On Friday Roxy Hunter's Aria Wallace and Zoey 101's Victoria Justice spent the day playing Guitar Hero III on the Xbox 360 with fans during a Game with Fame event. The two were in Los Angeles to celebrate the upcoming Nickelodeon Kids' Choice awards. I wonder if they realise the game's a lot easier if you face the screen?

I spend far too much of my reasonably-hard-earned money on two things. One of them is games. The other, sneakers. Combinations of the two should be a sure thing for me, then, but in this case, no, no it is not. Puma are re-releasing two versions of their old Disc Blaze sneaks in the Spring, only this time, with a Tetris theme. Not, as you'd be forgiven for thinking, an "opening credits of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme.
Puma Disc Blaze 1990s Tetris Pack [Kicksonfire]