The Mishka NYC × Brütal Legend collaboration not only gives metal-heads an opportunity to proudly display their love of all things Tim Schafer on their torsos, it draws upon real thrash and metal credibility.

The above “Headbanger” tee features the gory result of Ironheade’s head-banging foot soldiers in a design crafted by artist James Callahan, known for his work with bands like Municipal Waste. The second, featuring a Brütal Legend Razorgirl riding a Fire Beast, is all ’70s metal fantasy, courtesy of Daniel Mumford, known for his work with Black Dahlia Murder.

Keep watch for opportunities — right here on Kotaku, for example — to get your hands on these tees.

And I had no idea what I was getting myself into at the time.

Looking back, the timing of founding Meat Bun, our video game-themed t-shirt line, makes sense. It started in Tokyo, following an afternoon pounding the pavement in Harajuku, a fashionable slice of Tokyo nestled between Shinjuku and Shibuya. The area attracts the fashion conscious, from outlandish cosplayers to street fashion freaks.

Harajuku is also home to one of our biggest influences, Beams T, a Japanese label that somehow manages to make the stereotypically uncool — including video games, anime and manga — cool. It was after shopping at Beams T, where I purchased an Every Extend Extra t-shirt, lamenting that we’d missed out on the label’s Dragon Quest anniversary line of tees and bemoaning the fact that shirts from The King of Games were hard to get in the US that the idea of making our own clothes, video game-themed ones, started to gel.

It was just days before the Tokyo Game Show. Wedged between the t-shirt shopping and the promise of playing dozens of unreleased video games, the whole thing seemed like a good idea.

Our goal? To tap into the hard to define culture of video games, a medium which we had been passionate about for decades, and create something that was better than what we were being offered. And we weren’t the only ones with that idea. Similarly passionate video game fans, those raised on 8-bit and 16-bit games were doing the same thing, like the people behind Panic, J!NX, Attract Mode, Starmen.net and its spin-off Fangamer, and many others.

So after foolishly deciding on the name Meat Bun — inspired by a life-giving pick up from Capcom’s unpopular side-scrolling arcade beat ‘em up Warriors of Fate — we set off to clothe gamers.

My partner in clothing is Scott Spatola, a lifelong gamer who originally introduced himself to me after learning that I’d brought a SNES and a copy of Street Fighter II to university, against my parents wishes. The aforementioned arm-twister Scott has always been the motivator, a rabid fan of Spy Hunter, Ninja Warriors and Darkstalkers, and the other half of this full-time-feeling side-project dubbed Meat Bun.

It always helps to have a friend like Scott, one who’s organised enough to undertake the business side of the business — setting up the bank accounts, doing all the tax stuff, legally incorporating the company. There are just shy of a million little things that crop up in the process of starting one’s own business.

“I always said that if anyone ever asked, I’d tell them that starting your own business is f—king hard, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” says Sean “Jinx” Gailey, the creative overlord at clothier and accessory maker J!NX. “Real blood, sweat and tears (also real) have gone into this business.”

But J!NX has turned those hard-lost fluids into a successful brand and, perhaps more importantly, a full-time gig for its founders.

“Frankly, the biggest challenge was getting over the ‘hump’, making that transition from working your day job to solely working on your own business,” Gailey says. “Anyone who’s working on their own business can relate to that. We didn’t take a pay cheque from J!NX for five years of business, during the ‘this is our side business’ days. That was rough.”

J!NX has been in business since 1999, when Gailey started the company “as a three-page website with six designs” running the label from his bedroom. We met Gailey at last year’s Spike TV Video Game Awards bending his ear about the J!NX empire, which, while different from what we had set out to do with Meat Bun, reflected a similar passion for video games and general nerdiness, coated with a cooler shell.

“I wanted to make clothing inspired by our lifestyle, one of video games, pen and paper gaming, geek culture, giant robots, comics and dragons,” Gailey says of the origins of J!NX. The clothing company has grown from a bedroom doubling as headquarters to an operation employing 21 people, occupying 1672sqm of office and warehouse space, and making merchandise for hugely popular games like World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons, StarCraft, Aion and EVE Online.

And while not quite understated, for the most part, what J!NX does is offer something to the fan of, say, World of Warcraft that’s designed with more of a wink and a nod.

From the barely referential designs from Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy t-shirt maker Panic to the Earthbound obsessed crew at Fangamer — borne of Starmen.net — the subtle approach appears to be a common tactic. For our own part, ultra vague references to The House of the Dead, Ikaruga and Spy Hunter seemed sometimes lost on the Meat Bun customer.

Reid Young of Fangamer says the company draws much of its inspiration from the Super Nintendo’s role-playing game heyday for its similarly obscure designs.

“EarthBound and other SNES RPGs have definitely been our main inspiration,” Young says, a fact reflected in the clothing label’s EarthBound-heavy catalogue. “1996 was pretty much the best summer ever — Chrono Trigger, EarthBound and Super Mario RPG from morning to midnight. It’s fun to relive those days and hopefully inspire new and old fans to do the same.”

While the Fangamer store — “Something we hoped would bring in enough money to keep the lights on” over at Fangamer’s community-driven side — is now the “main business focus”, according to Young, employing three full-time Starmen.net veterans, running a clothing and merchandise label exceeded the EarthBound fans’ expectations.

“I never anticipated the amount of work which goes into a single piece of merchandise,” says Young. “It sounds easy to slap a design on a shirt, but the amount of time, money and care that goes into the process is staggering.”

Fan response, Young says, makes the grind of shipping thousands of Mother 3-inspired handbooks and t-shirts all worth it.

“Releasing a product, going to sleep, and waking up to find that everybody is as pumped about it as I am. It brings a little tear to my eye,” he says.

The J!NX Aion line follows the company’s recent journeys into the universe of EVE Online, and while those shirts are certainly attractive enough, they make me think of mining ore and falling asleep at my desk. The Aion shirts, on the other hand, make me want to give up my habit of wearing a button-up shirt over a t-shirt in order to show off my plumage. I have always wanted plumage.

Check out the full J!NX Aion line at the company’s website, and be sure to check out the Dungeons & Dragons page as well, because there is nothing as beautiful as a t-shirt that says “Rock Me Asmodeus”.

There are Halloween costumes and then there are HALLOWEEN COSTUMES.

With animatronic eyes and a face, this Halo Covenant Elite head will most surely form the latter. That’s right, moving mandibles means you can use all caps when you describe what you’re going as for Halloween.

Not a lot is known about YouTube user petemander1, the guy who is making this thing, but his attention to detail and ability to create scary moving eyes is pretty amazing.

Halo Elite Costume [YouTube, via Joystiq]

We can’t quite believe we’re typing this.

Nintendo Australia contacted us to advise they’ve “partnered” with renowned hair salon Toni & Guy. What this “partnership” means is, from today until November 30, you’ll be able to play with a Nintendo DSi while you’re getting your hair “pampered” at the hairdresser’s Paddington, Sydney, salon.

As Nintendo helpfully point out: “While having your hair done, you can take a photo with the Nintendo DSi Camera and upload it directly to Facebook to share your new look with friends and family.”

The best thing about this? I’ve got a sweet new lifestyle photo to use next time I post about the DSi. Cheers, Nintendo!

We are proud to launch this new era of virtual fashion scrutiny with a check of what the beautiful virtual people of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves are wearing during their new and critically-acclaimed PlayStation 3 adventure.

Assisting Kotaku this time are:

-Amy Hennig, Creative Director of Uncharted 2 development studio Naughty Dog. Her studio also provided the many reference photos included here.

-Heather and Jessica from fashion blog Go Fug Yourself, who asked us to refer to them as “The Fug Girls”. Their blog is best at cracking jokes on poorly dressed celebrities. They were a shade kinder here. They have not played Uncharted 2 yet.

-Latoya Peterson, editrix of Racialicious, and a contributor to Jezebel. She has not played Uncharted 2 yet.

Let’s dive in…

Nathan Drake

Amy Hennig : Drake is not a man concerned with fashion. He wears what’s comfortable and practical, regardless how stained and well-worn those items of clothing may be. His only indulgences are his belt buckles, and the ring he wears on a cord around his neck — a ring supposedly passed down from his ancestor, Sir Francis Drake.

The Fug Girls: Drake’s basic outfit has all the qualities a guy could need: It’s comfortable, relaxed, breathable, suggests he might be super ripped, and prevents holster-chafing. Our quibble is with the accessory hanging from his belt — surely any adventurer worth his stubble knows that if you might need to break into a run, you shouldn’t dangle a dagger anywhere within stabbing distance of your thigh.

Latoya Peterson: Excellent outfit for the circumstances. Casual but sturdy, easily adaptable for a variety of situations.

Naughty Dog Reference: Converse Jack Purcell shoes

Naughty Dog Reference: Henley shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Diesel Jeans

Naughty Dog Reference: Belt Buckle

Naughty Dog Reference: Watch

Drake In The Cold

The Fug Girls: If it’s cold enough for Drake’s enormous fur-trimmed sleeves—he looks like a Mongol hunter about to gnaw on an enormous leg of mutton—then why isn’t Drake’s bare neck totally freezing? Are scarves insufficiently manly? And would it kill an adventurer to wash his pants every once in a while?

Latoya Peterson: The shearling coat for winter weather is a nice touch.

Chloe Frazer

Amy Hennig: We wanted Chloe’s outfits to be practical but sexy, and to display a sense of style. Rather than put her in shapeless cargo pants and standard-issue boots, she wears form-fitting cargos that accentuate her figure, and high boots that have a retro-designer flair. Chloe doesn’t want to look too “put-together”, but she’s got a good body, and she knows it.

The Fug Girls: What else would you wear to scramble around the Himalayas looking for treasure than a belly shirt and a bunch of grungy accessories that might get caught on a tree and accidentally garrote you? That being said, we have to congratulate Chloe for wearing appropriately practical cargo pants. They’re still tight enough to be sexy, but she also has all those pockets — so convenient for the adventurer on the go.

Latoya Peterson: Overall, the look works. It’s utilitarian, and it’s clear this character is out to handle her business. The shrunken tees are a bit much though — not much protection against weather or assault. They are perfect layering pieces though, so this could be easily rectified with a long sleeve kevlar undershirt.

Chloe In Red

The Fug Girls: Correct us if we’re wrong, but isn’t this the same shirt Chloe was wearing earlier, just in a different colour? Is she like the Albert Einstein of treasure hunters, with a closet full of multiple examples of the exact same outfit? Regardless: Better a T-shirt than a bra top.

Naughty Dog Reference: Cargo Pants

Naughty Dog Reference: Boots

Naughty Dog Reference: Holster

Elena Fisher

Amy Hennig : Like Drake, Elena tends to wear what’s practical in her line of work as an investigative journalist — jeans, sturdy boots and a blouse that will look all right on camera. In a field dominated by men, she still tries to maintain some femininity in her look, but it’s hard when you’re spattered with mud half the time. Her belt-mounted sidearm reflects the danger inherent in her job.

The Fug Girls: Presumably, it’s no surprise to Elena that she enjoys the occasional gritty quest, so while this shirt is cute, perhaps she should shop for something more practical and less tailored — you know, so she looks like a thrill-seeker rather than a helpless disaster-movie damsel who is running away from the lava that just wiped out her law office. (Note from Kotaku: Blame us for not notifying our fashion experts that Elena is a reporter as well as an adventurer/videographer.)

Latoya Peterson: This outfit is not working for me. An anthropologist doing light field work would wear this outfit. But an adventurer? Not so sure, plus the nude colours are washing her out. Military style is back in fashion, so I would swap out the easily destroyed button up with a sturdier blazer/jacket that can be matched with her existing camisole or a scoopneck top.

Naughty Dog Reference: Shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Shoes

Harry Flynn

Amy Hennig: Flynn’s fashion is meant to betray a little more vanity than Drake’s more down-to-earth clothing. Flynn’s outfit, while basic, is all designer clothing — expensive jeans, designer boots, and a trendy t-shirt and necklace. Even his choice of a gunslinger-style holster is a conscious fashion choice. The differences in their clothing is meant to set up a subtle distinction between Flynn and Drake from the outset.

The Fug Girls: Nothing says, “roguish” like black clothes, leather gloves, man-jewellery, multiple weapons and a pompadour so aggressively retro that we wouldn’t be surprised to hear it was inspired by the many violent downward spirals of Dylan McKay. Flynn might as well just wear a tee shirt that reads, “I’m troubled and hot. Love me.”

Latoya Peterson: Sorry, this look is completely over. The bad boy stereotype is screaming off the page. “Look at me! I’m the one in black! The unpredictable one! Do my one-liners make me look cool?” Lighten up on the black, lose the accessories and use a piece like Tom Ford’s Herringbone Trench to add some drama and mystery. Plus, it’s the perfect place to keep both those guns, and keep the chill off.

Naughty Dog Reference: Shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Necklace

Victor Sullivan

Amy Hennig, Creative Director, Naughty Dog: Sully is a throwback to early action-adventure heroes like Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, with a healthy dose of Ernest Hemingway thrown in. We wanted his outfit to reflect this heritage — thus the embroidered guayabera shirt, khakis, old-school boots and ever-present cigar. His preference for a long-barrelled Colt Python revolver completes the picture.

(Note From Kotaku: Victor Sullivan was spared the scrutiny of our fashion experts. You’re a lucky man, Sully! )

Naughty Dog Reference: Shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Dockers Pants

Every year there are two shows at the Tokyo Game Show: the games that are played and the clothes that are worn. While cosplayers have the market cornered on outrageous spectacle, it’s the booth companions that often provide the most revealing look into a company’s corporate culture.

“The traditional booth companion uniform — you know, the short skirts, the high heels, the vinyl — are designed to appeal to men,” says Xbox Japan’s Yuichiro Aoki. “Our uniforms are designed to appeal to women.” That in turn, Aoki believes, will make the booth companions feel more comfortable. “We didn’t want to force the girls to look sexy. We wanted their appeal to come out naturally. Maybe this is just my opinion, but I think that’s when women look their most beautiful.”

Booth uniforms tend to run on cycles for some companies, while others change it every year. Last year, Japanese newspapers reported that Microsoft would be revealing a new booth companion uniform. While the company has had varying degrees of success, Microsoft has been picked for best booth companion uniform by game magazine Famitsu year after year after year at TGS. Famitsu quoted one attendee as saying, “Microsoft’s outfits didn’t seem to reveal much at first, but look again, and…”

In uniform-crazy Japan, there was considerable buzz about what the new Microsoft 2008 uniform would look like. Xbox Japan marketing exec Jyoji Sakaguchi said, “Every year, our booth companion outfits get an extremely favourable reception, and they are very popular among women. This year, we’re going to finally introduce a new design for the outfits. During the booth companion fitting, things like ‘Wow, I want to wear this outside work!’ were overheard about the cool costume.”

The design process began in early fall, and a hand-made prototype was created before the show. After it was approved, Japanese craftspeople produced the finished product. This year, Microsoft once again rolled out last year’s model.

Uniforms dominate the Japanese landscape. It’s not only cops, firefighters and train station employees who wear standardized outfits, but elevator operators, office ladies and taxi drivers. While researching the book I am writing on Japanese schoolgirls, it’s been surprising to see how the design of uniforms often dictate to young women where they want to go to junior high or high school — often as much or more than academic reputation!

“Often when booth companions from other companies are on their break, they say that they think the Xbox booth companion outfits are so cute,” explains Aoki. A lot of the girls who apply to be booth companions say they did so because they like the uniform.” Microsoft isn;t trying to lure other companies’ booth companions. It’s not like that at all.

At 32-years-old, Aoki is Microsoft’s creative director for the Tokyo Game Show. Fashionably dressed in a black sweater, blue button-up and camo pants, he’s got a clip board in his hand, ear piece in his ear. The first days are always the most nerve racking, he says. Besides handling the Xbox 360 TV and print ads in Japan, Aoki overseas the TGS booth lay-out, any graphic design work that needs doing as well as conceptualizing the look of the booth companions. “I was heavily involved in designing the uniforms,” he says. “We wanted it to be modern and something that the girls could actually wear outside.”

And the girls do want to wear it outside. “But Aoki-san won’t give me a uniform to take home!” bubbles 23-year-old booth companion Megumi. “This uniform is so cute, and it’s comfortable — it’s actually wearable.” This isn’t the first time Megumi has worn the Xbox Japan TGS outfit — she was one of 10 or so booth companions involved in the design process, offering opinions on what kind of clothes she would want to wear. While other companies dictate TGS wear to companions from on high, Xbox Japan involved them from the start. A closer look shows how playful the uniform is with visual gags like “Information ?” written on the seat of the uniform’s shorts.

Design-wise, Xbox Japan tried to message the freedom and customisation that the Xbox 360 platform gives players. So while users can swap out hard drives or use different coloured controllers, the booth companions can do likewise: Belts come in green and silver, and there are hats for companions who want to wear them. “I think the hats are so adorable,” gushes Megumi. There are metal star pins that the girls can put where they like. “It’s easier to stand in cowboy boots than in high heels all day,” adds Megumi. The ability to swap out accessories gives the uniforms customised, while keeping a standardized look. Megumi’s favourite thing about the uniform is that, around her neck, she wears an Xbox LIVE-type gamer card with her name and photo on it. “I think it’s really cool,” she says. “It personalizes the experience, for me.”

Out of the approximately 120 girls that auditioned in late summer, only 40 or so made the grade. Those that did attended a lecture on manners to ensure they interact with customers in a polite and respectful fashion. Decorum and manners play a large part in Japanese culture — ditto for the Tokyo Game Show. As part of their training, the companions also took a five hour seminar about the Xbox brand and Xbox LIVE. To help facilitate the experience, the booth companions were broken down into groups lead by core staff. So someone like Megumi who has experience working with Xbox Japan would oversee and help train new girls. At the end of the show each day, all the girls lined up in front of the booth, posed for photos and then bowed in unison.

“We don’t have a predetermined idea of what kind of girls we want,” says Aoki. Uniforms run small, medium and large — but even then, it’s possible for the girls to customise the outfit. Straps on the back of the suit make it possible for quick and easily tailoring: tighten the straps for those girls who want a tighter fit and loosen them for girls who need more room. The shorts can be rolled up and buttoned in place for those who want their legs to appear longer and can be rolled down to minimize unflattering thighs. Because the uniform is open in the chest, revealing a bikini-type top, it’s also possible to accessorize with a stole-type scarf for those companions hesitant to walk around with their shirt open all day long. Xbox Japan and its design team have thought of everything that can make the companions more comfortable as they do their job.

“Because the girls are in shorts and wearing stockings,” says Aoki, “they also don’t have to worrying about the kinds of things girls in mini-skirts have to.” Meaning? “They don’t have to worry about people seeing their underpants and can just relax. Our goal is to make sure the girls feel comfortable with the uniforms and comfortable with the Xbox 360,” Aoki says, “because honestly, that will motivate them during the show.”

I suppose you can cinch up the hood and create a semi-Spartan helmet visor look with it. Still, this garment seems to be more to be a demonstration of Big Brand A + Big Brand B = $$$$, rather than of street cred or gamer bonafides.

Marc Ecko Master Chief Hoodie [Street Level]

Capcom’s Keiji Inafune took to the stage in a leather replica of the biking jacket worn by the game’s protagonist Chuck Greene. He told the awaiting crowd that he designed the tight yellow and black jacket himself and then took it to famed leather works company Kadoya Leather Wear to have it made.

It took some convincing, he said. And there are only two of them in existence: one for Inafune and one for whoever won the night’s multiplayer Dead Rising 2 tournament.

The jackets would be forever two of a kind, he said. Though Inafune added that if there is enough demand he may have some replicas made. Those, though, won’t be the originals.