Kanji Honma created an entire Christmas album using Korg DS-10 Plus. Christmas Dinner is available on iTunes and Amazon, if you want to finally one Mannheim Steamroller album your parents insist on playing for his synthesized music. Check out a surprisingly funky "Jingle Bells" after the break.
#legal
The Xbox 360 criminal hacking trial began in Los Angeles with a bang. "I really don't understand what we're doing here," said U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez. More »
#
Next January, the third installment in the Valkyria Chronicles fights its way on to the PSP. January is so far away, so why don't you watch the game's opening right now? More »
#iphone
Gameloft is a mobile publisher with a reputation for releasing titles whose settings and designs can sometimes be, let's say, unoriginal. The company's latest reveal, however, may be the most unoriginal of them all. More »
"We don't view the App Store as a really big opportunity for dedicated games," Activision boss Bobby Kotick told the Global Media Summit in New York earlier this week. Much of the game industry is extremely interested in the growing mobile and social game markets, but according to Kotick, Activision believes it can reach a wider customer base by focusing on its most popular franchises and platforms. "The place where you have the opportunities for growth," he said, "is within the communities of franchises we control."
But while Activision holds off on the mobile and social markets in favor of pushing traditional franchises, competitor EA is laying all kinds of groundwork there. Opportunity, it seems, doesn't look the same to everyone.
#gt5
This video shows a complete run of the Nürburgring's Nordschleife course, widely rated as the best damn race track in the world. On the bottom screen, a real driver, in real life. On top? Gran Turismo 5. More »
#novel
When you think of Salman Rushdie, you probably think of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses of the fatwa issued on his head. Right now, Rushdie is thinking about video games. More »
New Era Cap, which makes the official Major League Baseball hats, has released its first hat design based on a video game: a fitted cap featuring Epic Mickey imagery. The $37 hat came out on November 30 alongside the Wii game, and is available from the company's website or its Flagship stores.
It's a nice design, but a Disney hat with no plastic ears on either side seems ... wrong, somehow. It disrupts the natural order of the universe. Maybe you could staple some ears onto it yourself if you get one of these -- otherwise, you know, it would be weird.
The company also has a line of sort-of game-inspired hats, based on Tron Legacy.
#design
Freelance artist and game designer Anjin Anhut shares some thoughts (and neat comparison charts) on what size means for video game's creatures great and small . More »
#pressplay
Kotaku has featured the art — if you can call it that — of voice actress Yuu Kobayashi (Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Ar tonelico III) several times before. Her work is nightmarish and unique. More »
#hotflashes
Phylo looks like just another minimalist Flash game that has you moving blocks around, but under the hood, every time you click something, you're helping save lives. More »
EA set up an NBA Jam arcade cabinet out on the street in NYC and had hoopster extraordinaire Dwight Howard hang out and play with folks recently. That's all well and good, but we're a bit concerned at the comfort level of these people in the video.
#japan
The PS3 version of Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition will be released in Japan. According to one report, the Xbox 360 version will not. More »
#iphone
While Activision remains committed to complete and utter domination of home consoles and the personal computer, it seems the mega-publisher couldn't care less about emerging platforms like Facebook or the iPhone. More »
#japan
From Godzilla to Gamera, Japan loves its monsters. Pokémon, or Pocket Monsters, is no exception. But Pokémon's days as Japan's reigning video game monster ruler could be over. More »
First 4 Figures has returned to challenge gamers' budgeting skills with another high-end statue: this time The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess's Midna, riding Wolf Link. The 15-inch figure, shipping in the second quarter of 2011, is available to order in two options: a $330 "regular" edition or a $350 "exclusive" edition, which adds a light-up feature to Midna's hair.
If you pre-order a statue before January 1, you can get it a little cheaper. A F4F newsletter on the topic features pre-order coupon codes good for $25 off the regular version or $30 off the "exclusive" glowy one. If you use a coupon, you can also maybe convince yourself that you're being thrifty when buying a $300-plus toy.
#xbox360
It's easy to assume that most people who connect their Xbox 360 consoles to the internet have an Xbox Live Gold subscription. But nope. Turns out a lot of you don't. More »
#cultureclash
This year marks the fortieth anniversary of masked, motorbike-riding super hero "Kamen Rider" ("Masked Rider"). How will this milestone be marked? Why, with hotpants. More »
- band members Arashi’s Shou Sakurai and Jun Matsumoto return to advertise another Nintendo product
- previously appeared in commercials for New Super Mario Bros.
Video game-themed proposals certainly aren't new, but when a reaction is as genuine as Liz's -- who was just proposed to via an in-game message hacked into Earthbound by Matt -- it must be shared. Best of luck, you two!
#clips
Morons yammering away in your headset can be off-putting to the average gamer toiling through a round of Call of Duty online, but how does it affect the combat capacity of an actual, trained soldier in the field? More »
Level 5's franchise about big, big metal dudes is set to get a lot, lot smaller early next year: Sony has announced that the verbosely-titled PSP RPG (deep breath) White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars (whew!) will be released in Japan on February 3, 2011.
As hinted at when the franchise's first portable iteration was announced, Dogma wars will feature some connectivity with the PS3 title White Knight Chronicles: Awakening of Light and Darkness. Players can import their avatars from the console version of the game into Dogma Wars and unlock some bonus items in Light and Darkness by connecting the PSP game. Also, Dogma Wars will feature a four-player infrastructure mode, similar to the online multiplayer offered by Phantasy Star Portable 2. Sounds interesting -- we've got our giant, armored fingers crossed for the game's localization.
#wow
Of all the things she's done in her life - like starring in sitcoms, animated series and big Hollyood movies - there's nothing actor Mila Kunis would love more than to play a "kick-ass mage". More »
