In that image you can see the four different designs survey takers were asked to consider. All have the 2K Sports 10th Anniversary branding which has graced the boxes of NHL 2K10 and NBA 2K10. This tipster sent us other screenshots – including one of the NDA (which of course the tipster broke by sending this) so I’m inclined to believe this is real.

It is not, however, confirmation of the official cover athlete or the box’s final design. However, asking survey takers how the box cover makes them feel about purchasing the game is a strong indication 2K Sports has settled on its man.

Longoria is a two-time all star in as many seasons in the league and was the 2008 rookie of the year on a Devil Rays team that won the American League pennant. He just picked up his first Gold Glove.

The original “Gaymer” survey was created to “quantify the existence of an invisible minority.” Now that we know that they do indeed exist, it’s time to find out what they like. Paul Nowak, a masters student at DigiPen, has created the new survey in order to make an in-depth study of what “gaymers” want from their games.

Ideally, I want to learn what exactly it is that gaymers want from their games and how that differs from their heterosexual counterparts. I’ll take that information to develop guidelines the industry can use when trying to make gaymer inclusive games that don’t become offensive or insulting to any gamer regardless of sexual orientation. If someone had done the same kind of research when the industry was trying to reach out to female gamers, girls wouldn’t have had to suffer through the wildly unsuccessful attempts of games like “Mary Kate & Ashley’s Winner’s Circle” pony racing. I’m hoping to help the industry avoid the same mistakes as it reaches out to gay gamers.

I’ve gone through the survey myself, seeing as it is open to gamers of all sexual orientations. Aside from the initial question about sexual orientation, it mainly concerns itself with questions about content, genre and game features, before slipping into more specific questions about homosexual content, using games like Enchanted Arms, Bully and The Sims as examples.

As for the survey’s motivation, I find myself a bit conflicted. I’ve just never thought of gaming as a pastime that sexual orientation figures into. Nowak makes a valid point about the industry’s stumbling first attempts at reaching a female audience, but are homosexual gamers that much different from everyone else that they need to be catered to specifically? I’m not saying they shouldn’t be…I suppose I am asking if they really want to be.

New Gaymer Survey [Full Sail via Joystiq - Thanks Alexander]

The email sought help from “loyal player(s) and experienced shooter fan(s)” in designing this next game. “Don’t worry about the original PlanetSide, it isn’t going anywhere,” the mail assures.

The independent site Planetside Universe found the Web site registration, and also reports that it reached John Smedley, the CEO of SOE, who said only, “PlanetSide fans will be happy we have big things planned in the next 12 months. We’re working on something new that’s really cool.”

I have emailed the press contact for SOE to ask if they’d like to shed any more light on this. Should we get a response, I’ll update with it here.

The survey polled 800 Americans on things like video games and anime and manga.

Website Umaguruma.com translated the published article—hat tip for that!

Favorite Game
10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
7. Persona 4
7. Shadow of the Colossus
7. The Legend of Zelda
5. Final Fantasy IX
5. Final Fantasy
4. Chrono Trigger
3. Metal Gear Solid
2. Kingdom Hearts
1. Final Fantasy VII

Comments
“Chrono Trigger is an RPG that stands the test of time; I thoroughly enjoy playing it, even now!”—Nick Colucci, 27
“Disgaea is a weird and wild game that I really enjoyed playing. The replay value is so great with all the multiple endings and insane levels your characters can reach.”—Anonymous
“Xenogears was the first JRPG I ever played. I love it so much I even got a gear tatoo on my shoulder.”—Adam Dunphy, 26

Favorite Game Creator or Company
10. Goichi Suda
9. SEGA
8. Tetsuya Nomura
7. Shigeru Miyamoto
6. KONAMI
5. Hideo Kojima
4. Atlus
3. Capcom
2. Nintendo
1. Square Enix

Comments
“I got ‘SNK’ and ‘Team Ninja’ tatoos on my body.”—B.N., 24
“Tomohiro Nishikado, the man who made Space Invaders.”—Anonymous, 24
“Katamari Damacy, made Keita Takahashi, is always my first choice when I want to play something really fun.”—Zac Bentz, 32

Below are replies to the question “What would you like to see sold in the US?”

“Why… why won’t Nintendo release Mother 3 in America?!”—Ivan Yang, 16
“I want to play Ryu Ga Gotoku 3.”—Joshua Miller, 30
“Release Siren 2 in America!”—Zac Bentz, 32
“Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon for the Wii has great atmosphere and music.”—Clay Leatherwood, 24

Manga and anime data in the link below.

The Great American Otaku Survey [馬車]

No doubt many of these responses will break down along our earlier platform preference results. Remember, the point of answering a survey isn’t to declare a winner, but to know an answer. In this case, an answer in the minority might still get a sizable enough percentage to be intriguing or revealing.

Again, you will not see the results of these polls after you vote. They will close tomorrow at 7.30pm US Mountain Time (11.30am AEST). We will publish the results and an analysis the following Thursday evening.

Out of the 3339 polled, only 161 of them were male students and the rest were female. Fifty-two of them were under the age of 11 years old; 2387 of them were between the ages of 12 and 19; 682 of them were between the ages of 20 and 25: 218 of them were above the age of 26. The largest group represented in this poll is Japanese schoolgirls.

When asked what game machine those polled had, the breakdown looks this: 2748 individuals have a Nintendo DS; 2587 have the PS2; 1661 have the PSP; 1300 have the Wii; 458 have the PS3.

Sure, those PS3 numbers are low, but check this out: When asked which console they wanted, the majority replied that they wanted the PS3 (1605 said they wanted the PS3). Following close behind were the PSP at 1355 votes and the Wii at 1115 votes.

A window into the minds of Japan’s youth. Fascinating. Oh, and how’s my book on Japanese schoolgirls going? GREAT. Thanks for asking.

女子中高生は「PS3」に興味シンシン！中高生へのアンケート結果は？ | インサイド [Inside Games] [Pic]

1. Do you want to play Fallout 3? (any platform)

Yes: 72 percent (12,052 total responses)
No: 20 percent (3,393)
Not sure: 7 percent (1,207)
16,652 total responses.

2. Do you want to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? (any platform)

Yes: 55 percent (8,756 total responses)
No: 36 percent (5,822)
Not sure: 9 percent (1,456)
16,034 total responses.

3. Do you want to play Fable II? (Xbox 360)

Yes: 51 percent (8,218 total responses)
No: 39 percent (6,243)
Not sure: 10 percent (1,565)
16,026 total responses.

Right out of the box we can see Kotaku readers are not hostile to role-playing games. All three here earned majorities with low not-sures, meaning respondents have heard of, considered and reacted to these games, and most like them. It helps, granted, that these are three of the biggest RPG names in console gaming, and that they were western produced. But had any of these come back with a No we’d know there’s a serious disposition against this genre.

4. When it is released, do you want to play Final Fantasy XIII? (any platform)

Yes: 64 percent (10,584 total responses)
No: 23 percent (3,772)
Not sure: 13 percent (2,105)
16,461 total responses.

5. Do you want to play Dissidia: Final Fantasy? [PSP]

Yes: 35 percent (5,656 total responses)
No: 51 percent (8,208)
Not sure: 14 percent (2,276)
16,140 total responses.

6. Do you want to play Persona 4? (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, for PS2)

Yes: 37 percent (5,986 total responses)
No: 47 percent (7,498)
Not sure: 16 percent (2,585)
16,069 total responses.

Final Fantasy XII’s strong positive is likewise a no-brainer. And while most do not want to play Dissidia or Persona 4, I think their numbers are actually pretty damn strong considering what they have to overcome. Dissidia’s a quasi fighter/RPG, and it’s on the PSP, which a minority own and barely nobody claimed as their favourite platform. Persona 4 is on a previous-gen console only, and the franchise is fairly representative of the esoteric qualities of a JRPG. And a good third of the readership still wants to play both.

7. Do you want to play EVE Online? (PC)

Yes: 13 percent (2,109 total responses)
No: 73 percent (11,776)
Not sure: 14 percent (2,242)
16,127 total responses.

8. Do you want to play a console MMO?

Yes: 35 percent (5,717 total responses).
No: 46 percent (7,406)
Not sure: 19 percent (3,414)
16,257 total responses.

9. Do you want to play World of Warcraft? (PC)

Yes: 28 percent (4,550 total responses)
No: 65 percent (10,517)
Not sure: 8 percent (1,233)
16,300 total responses.

10. Do you want to play City of Heroes/City of Villains? (PC)

Yes: 15 percent (2,410 total responses)
No: 71 percent (11,400)
Not sure: 14 percent (2,245)
16,055 total responses.

Here’s where it gets ugly (and where Mike Fahey silently weeps). Warcraft is a big no, 2-to-1. City of Heroes fares worse, and maybe I should have asked about Champions Online. But with a plurality not diggin’ the console MMO concept, I doubt its numbers would have been much different. Finally, for whatever reasons – maybe it’s griefing, maybe it’s bank runs, maybe it’s bank heists, maybe it’s the fact the thing is such a huge time suck it has an IRL governing council – practically nobody is interested in EVE Online.

11. What is the biggest barrier to your enjoyment of an RPG?

Boredom associated with mundane tasks: 40 percent (6,369 total responses)
Time commitment: 25 percent (3,907)
Some other reason: 19 percent (3,000)
Unfamiliarity with the game’s continuity: 7 percent (1,043)
Singleplayer-only: 5 percent (811)
Lack of action: 5 percent (725)
15,855 total responses.

12. What is the greatest quality of an RPG?

The game’s storytelling and plot: 51 percent (9,173 total responses)
Development of your character: 27 percent (4,856)
Focus on choices, rather than reflexes or action: 12 percent (2,201)
Deep replay value: 6 percent (1,138)
Some other reason: 4 percent (674)
18,042 total responses.

Put simply, RPGs are a meaty game experience but the size can be a little intimidating. Mundane tasks and time commitment are your biggest turnoffs, but it can be argued that they’re fundamental to a genre that is more about choices and inhabiting a character’s life than it is nonstop action. In the strengths, everyone seems to agree the RPG delivers on its storyline promises, and the customization/creation/progression of a character is usually a satisfying experience.

Look for more questions this Saturday, as we continue to flesh out the habits, preferences and trends among the Kotaku Gamer.

Questions asked include things like if they thought of themselves as a herbivore male (almost 64 per cent said yes!) or whether they enjoyed in-game romance (42 per cent said affirmative).

The grass eater term was coined by a Japanese columnist to describe effeminate young Japanese men who are less interested in, say, dating the opposite sex.

Konami’s poll—if you are one to believe Konami polls—seems to indicate a significant interest in video game characters: One in five Japanese males polled stated that they have felt like falling in love with an in-game character.

Ten in ten Japanese females said this was creepy. Kidding!

20代男性の5人に1人、「ゲームの人物と恋愛したい」 [エキサイトニュース]

Released periodically over Valve’s online marketplace and gaming service, the immense popularity of Steam means these figures (the results of which are gathered from millions of users across the world) give us the best idea possible of just what makes up the “average” setup for the “average” PC gamer out there.

Here are the July 2009 results. To see them in more detail, hit the link below.

[Steam Hardware]

Again, you will not see the results of these polls after you vote. They will close tomorrow at 7.30pm U.S. Mountain Time (11am AEST). We will publish the results and an analysis the following Thursday evening.

Thanks again, and here are this week’s questions: