Why the hell is Cole Phelps, LA Noire's detective protagonist, lying frozen on these stairs? Well, cosplayer Lady of Rohan took the familiar glitchy GIF to the next level, mimicking it perfectly.

VideoGamer.com has come into possession of what they say is gameplay footage from Whore of the Orient, the new game from the creators of L.A. Noire. You can take a look at the footage below.

I love a game with a cool, interesting main character. But you know what I think I might love even more? A game with multiple cool, interesting main characters. Why not, right? Modern video games are huge! They've got room to spare. I love a hero as much as the next red-blooded American, but it's time to keep expanding.

The past few years produced a huge amount of great games and a surprisingly decent amount of them have well-developed characters that are hard to forget. And, of course, some of them look really attractive.

Is this reel real? Depth Analysis, which created the face scanning technology used in 2011's L.A. Noire, for some reason released an outtakes reel on Thursday and it shows just how sophisticated the technology really is. We're not just hearing voice actors flub lines, snicker and look off-camera, we're seeing their game characters do it to, 1:1, real-time. Holy Toledo, this is video gaming's first motion-captured blooper reel.

Hollywood director and writer Frank Darabont was working on a TV show called LA Noir, which, aside from having a similar name to Rockstar's 2011 adventure, was also set in Los Angeles circa 1947, the same year the game begins. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he says he's had to change the name after Rockstar "threatened to sue the shit out of me". Update: Take-Two denies in a statement.

While the cover art appears to be predictably awful, there's little disputing the quality of the contents of this compilation of Rockstar games that's turned up on retail sites.

Following the rules and doing what I'm 'supposed' to do in life are troublesome ideas to me. I'm supposed to acquire a comfortable career path that lands me a nice house with a white picket fence, a husband and a couple of kids?

Part of the appeal of Rockstar's LA Noire was the fact it was set in a time period that video games normally avoid like the plague. The hats, the music, the black & white, it should be poison to a generation of gamers accustomed to wars, aliens, sports and fast cars.

But apparently it does. Poor Cole. His suit looks a little worse for wear. At least he's kept his hat in tip-top shape!

With its original developers shut down and with a story that ends rather conclusively, you wouldn't think Rockstar's LA Noire would be in line for a sequel. But it might be. Maybe.

Welcome to Kotaku's "Best Game Music of 2011," a multi-part series in which we'll be discussing the best video game soundtracks of the year. Today, we'll take a look at the smooth tones and bustling swing of Rockstar's L.A. Noire.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended GDC Online in Austin. I was covering the event, but I was also there as a speaker, giving a microtalk as part of a six-critic panel on great game storytelling. Joining me were N'Gai Croal (Hit Detection), Leigh Alexander (Gamasutra), John Davidson (CBS Interactive/Gamespot), and Ben Fritz (the L.A. Times). The talk was organised and led by Chris Dahlen, who is editor-in-chief at Kill Screen Magazine.

Let's find out, since publishers Rockstar have today released some screens of the late-to-the-party PC edition of the face-reading hat simulator.

Evidence of Rockstar Games reissuing crime thriller L.A. Noire later this year in the form of a "Complete Edition" has reportedly been spotted by Eurogamer Czech. That apparent re-release and the PC version of Team Bondi's game are supposedly slated for November.

Japan's hottest game right now is not made in Japan, which doesn't happen often. Maybe more surprising is that four of the top 10 games on the country's bestseller list weren't made in Japan either.

Rockstar's latest L.A. Noire DLC case Reefer Madness is available today on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The heady DLC is priced at 320 MS Points or free for Rockstar Pass holders. The new case arrives on PlayStation Network tomorrow.

Andrew McMillen, who published the original report on IGN claiming poor work conditions at LA Noire developer Team Bondi, has now published on GI.biz what's claimed to be a series of leaked internal emails that don't exactly paint Bondi's boss, Brendan McNamara, in a good light.

It took seven years. It spanned two console generations. It was the biggest undertaking in Australian games development. And the seven years it took to bring L.A. Noire to store shelves was consistently an unhappy time for many who worked on the game, reports IGN.