Kotaku

We want to help. Really. Whether it be answering your questions or ignoring them, we're here. Previously, we got an email fro Kojima, but since we'd fired him long ago, we were never able to reply. Reader Oummada sent us the following email not once, but twice. It reads:

To: Bashcraft
From: Oummada H.
RE: Scoop Dragon Ball Z live action movie (casting)

20th Century Fox

My name is Oummada H., I'm writting this letter to let you know, that I went to play in the Dragon Ball Z movies. First of all, because I have what it takes to play the role of Sangoku in your movie. I have never palyed in a movie, but everyone needs to start somewhere. Second of all, you can see on the pictures, that I have joined to this letter, that I have the same haircut as Sangoku and we all know that Sangoku's hair is the power. Third of all, I know everyting on Dragon Ball's Z univers, except the personel view of Akira Toriyama. To conclude, I have a twin brother that looks just like me. I hope your will read this letter and see my pictures and realize that I am the real Sangoku.

Dear, Mr Akira Toriyama.

My name is Oummada H. and I think that I could play the role of Sangoku in Dragon Ball Z for 20th Century Fox, who bought the rights of the movies. As you can see on my pictures, from my personel view, I look just like Sangoku. I'm sure by seeing those pictures, you'll be shocked by the resemblance of Sangoku and I. I also have a twin brother that looks just like me, I think you know where I want to come to thank you, for taking the time to read my letter.

for contact my: (his email address - Ed.)

My Mother Is Going To Get Shivved

To: Ash
From: Fahey
Re: Japanese Post Office? Good Times

My mother has decided to save some money this year on Christmas gifts, and to that end she has started surfing our local Atlanta Craigslist for items on her children and grandchildren's holiday wish lists. Thanks to some of the stories about items sold on Craigslist I've read over the years, I am convinced she is either going to end up mugged, or possibly solicited for sex. This leads to questions about how far my mother would go to get my nephew a Wii for Christmas...questions I am not sure I ever want answered.

Now that I've gotten everyone imagining their parents having sex with strangers, let's jump straight to...

What you missed:
Squenix Brings Odin Sphere To Europe
El Paso Police Nab Fugitives With 360s
Xbox 360 Fall Update, Details Announced, Brings DivX
Tomb Raider Underworld Coming Next?
CNet Comments On Gamespot Controversy
Warhawk Expansion Detailed, Priced

Now to sit back and see if my mother actually reads the site, or if she is a big, lying, meany.

The official Soulcalibur IV website (of the Japanese persuasion) has updated with a half-batch of new and semi-old screen shots. Yes, I said "old", so you don't have to. However, more than a handful are new. Actually, that's not true. I just wanted to write "more than a handful" as it seemed appropriate. For anyone who has forgotten that Namco-Bandai is aggressively targeting the D-cup fans, a gallery is below.

Trying to wrap one's head around the various incarnations of Westone's Wonder Boy series can be a bit confusing. Okay, it's downright mind numbing. Over the course of six games released across various platforms, it has arrived in various regions under the titles Adventure Island (which then spawned its own series of games), The Dynastic Hero, Monster Lair and Dragon's Curse. Fortunately, we have Wired's Chris Kohler to break it all down for us, Virtual Console style. He does his best to clear up the Wonder Boy confusion running wild with Wii Shop Channel surfers in a post at Game|Life.

Thanks to him, I think I finally get it. Wait. Nevermind, I lost it again. Still confused.

Virtual Console's Wonder Boy Games, Explained [Game|Life]

Fable 2 Gets Leafy Release Target

Remember that Eurogamer chat with Fable creator Peter Molyneux I told you about on Monday? You didn't? Great. Sometimes it feels like I'm writing to a wall here. Luckily for all of us, Eurogamer has seen fit to reveal some of Peter's comments to the world at large, with the most interesting being a target release date for Fable 2: This Time There's A Dog.

"Late 2008. Maybe when the leaves have a slight brownish tinge - but are still on the trees, if you see what I mean."

Fable 2 in late 2008 - Molyneux [Eurogamer]

New York Times Doesn't Know From Video Games

It's nice to feel smug and superior when comparing one's knowledge to that of New York Times reporters. Unfortunately, it's only for the geekiest of reasons, as we're feeling quite high and mighty taking comfort in the knowledge that our understanding of video games and console technology far outweighs that of the Times.

The NYT makes mention of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 both being powered by the Cell processor, with the latter listing for as low as $299. Furthermore, the paper refers to Gran Turismo 5 as "a hyper-realistic, high-speed journey, is one of the [PlayStation 3's] best sellers." At least they know that Halo 3 is the third episode in the series, a game that Dan Strack, a trader for a Wall Street bank, is quoted as calling the "latest and greatest game that people are walking on water over."

While this edition of the New York Times may be forgiven, as it may have come from the future, we can't excuse Strack's sloppy metaphor. Halo 3 doesn't make you Jesus.

Some Essential Hardware (Even Away From the Street) [New York Times - thanks, Aaron]

The official PlayStation blog features new details from Warhawk producer and brass ball gifter Dylan Jobe on the recently confirmed expansion Operation: Omega Dawn. As we've mentioned before, the Warhawk add-on will ship with one new vehicle, the the KT-424 Combat Dropship, a new battlefield, the Omega Factory, featuring 6 layouts, and a new setting. That last one would be nighttime! Spooky.

Jobe and crew have posted new pictures of the expansion and put a $7.99 price tag on the thing. The date is still sometime in December and the gameplay descriptions of taking down the dropship sound just nifty.

Operation: Omega Dawn [PlayStation.blog]

OXM's Achievement Reviews

Over at the Official Xbox Magazine they've just launched a brand new feature called The Scoreboard, which takes a different approach to reviewing Xbox 360 games. Instead of reviewing the games themselves, Casey Lynch critiques the games' achievement points. The inaugural installment takes a look at Guitar Hero II, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4, and Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth, listing their best, worst, easiest, and hardest achievements, and then giving a final overall score for each title. Guitar Hero II took the the low mark of this round with a 5/10, mainly because many achievements ask you to do things outside the normal parameters of the game, such as playing through a career using the standard controller. The winner was Avatar with an 11/10, an extraordinary score justified by the fact that you can get 1,000 gamerscore points in two minutes. This is just a completely brilliant idea, and I look forward to future installments of The Scoreboard.

The Scoreboard #1 [OXM Online - Thanks GetsomeYo!]

A commenter on sister site Valleywag, who claims to be a current Gamespot employee, wrote anonymously about the current situation surrounding rumors of former editorial director Jeff Gerstmann's termination. The new user, known as "gamespot", who does a fairly solid impression of a bitter employee of CNet, if nothing else, provides possible insight into the emotional state at Gamespot's editorial staff. In response to a Valleywag post that quoted another supposed CNet employee, one whose "gut" had informed them that Gerstmann was fired for unspecified "larger" reasons, "gamespot" chimed in. Many had questioned the timing of the termination, wondering why, if the Kane & Lynch: Dead Men review had been published over two weeks ago, was Jeff fired just two days ago?

Commenter "gamespot" responded.

The Shacknews crew got word from 2K Games that Xbox 360 and PC gamers will be on the receiving end of some fresh BioShock content next week. The downloadable goods consist of extra plasmids, a harder difficulty that disables Vita-Chambers and more. Those particularly annoyed by BioShock's widescreen display implementation will also find a fix for that. The full when, what, how and why is at Shacknews.

BioShock Patches, Free Plasmid DLC to Hit Next Week [Shacknews]

Dice have been around for more than 5000 years and have been part of the popular roleplaying game, D&D since its inception more than 30 years ago (though current gamers likely use dice made from plastics rather than oxen ankle bones like early forms of dice).

Wii Fit Launches In Japan

This is it, kids. The start of a new era of video gaming has begun as Nintendo has shipped Wii Fit in Japan. The 8800 yen (about $80 US) game with its custom controller, the Wii balance board, was revealed at E3 2007, with some expecting it to act as the Wii's answer to Nintendo DS-selling mega-hit Brain Age. North American and European gamers won't have access to Wii Fit until sometime in 2008, but Japan is burning calories as we speak (or will be within hours).

We'll know next Wednesday how well Wii Fit performed in its debut week as Media Create sales numbers are released. Friendly wagers are certainly welcome in the comments. For those with the means, did you pick it up? Import it? Let us know what you think, if so.

Assassin's Creed PS3 Patch Arrives

The patch that Ubisoft promised to deliver to PlayStation 3 owners of Assassin's Creed is due to be delivered over the course of a few days. Ubisoft's community manager posted on the company's official forums that "a corrective update has been developed and will be released worldwide on the PLAYSTATION® Network over the next few days." As you may have heard, Assassin's Creed PS3 users have reported lock ups and "white screens of death" on the official forums.

Those affected should be able to grab the update from within the game's interface. Let us know if and when you do.

Game update for PlayStation 3 Assassin's Creed is now live [Ubisoft Forums - thanks, Jason!]

Endwar Riflemen Profiled

Dojo Dump: Fine Tooth Comb Edition

This week's Dojo Dump reads more like an instruction manual than anything else, so a pair of NES era remixes adds some nice welcome variety. I have to admit that I remember almost nothing from Zelda II, and hearing the Temple theme mix didn't help dust off any cobwebs. It really is a bit insane how much stuff the gang at Nintendo have packed into Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as the number of options available are approaching staggering. Of personal interest is hilarious detail on my favorite Nintendo character, Wario, and his amazing Final Smash. Don't miss it.

The Dojo Dump is right after this (and by this I mean that ->).

Japanese Chocobo's Dungeon Trailer Delights

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Me? I'm still eyeballs deep in The Orange Box. Actually, I'm in passive playing mode right now, watching my roommate work his way through Half-Life 2: Episode One while I relive the experience and offer sage advice. I've also got some work obligations with Atlus' Draglade and Trauma Center: The New Blood to undertake, but I fully intend to finally break the seal on my copy of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I've had previous weekend intentions to get some time with it, to no avail.

Other than that, I think my Rock Band rock band The Bad Dates will be piling into the virtual van so I can brush up on my fake drumming skills. What about you kids? Got any gaming plans for the weekend?