Valentine’s Day is a week away. If you’re someone with a significant other who loves gaming just as much as you, then hold onto them. This is one of those times where you’re given an opportunity to express just how much they mean to you. Don’t screw it up.

I won’t pretend to know what your girlfriend or boyfriend likes. However, if they’re a fan of Skyrim, I do know what V-day cards you should get them. DeviantArt user Jemma Salume  (aka eatfun) has created a set of six Skyrim-themed cards that are nothing short of awesome.

I’ve put my three favorites above, but definitely stop by her DA page for the full resolutions, as well as the other three. Then print them out, and give them to your loved one, and maybe a few to your other Dragonborn friends.

A racial slur was found in a snapshot build of Minecraft recently, and it will not be fixed until the next update, as Minecraft’s head developer Jens Bergensten explains. The offending line in question is only accessible if you use the Afrikaans language option. It reads “You are a N*****”.

Bergensten blames the inclusion of the slur on the fact that Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, use crowd-sourced translations for many of the different languages. While normally this is a very safe and accurate way of doing such translations, occasionally pranksters will come in and make “contributions” such as this.

Because this is not a game-breaking issue, and because it’s part of a weekly build, the translation won’t be fixed until the next weekly build is released, which will be on Thursday. As Bergensten told Kotaku, “I usually only do panic updates when there are severe bugs, such as bugs that corrupt save files, or make the game unable to connect to servers, and such.”

It seems that almost everyone you know has a Netflix account nowadays. We use it to watch all our favorite anime, dramas, movies, and much more. It almost became the end all service when there was talk of Qwikster, which is a branch of Netflix, that would offer video games.

That string dangled in our faces for only a short while before it was yanked away. However, it seems as though they big wigs are still considering it. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had this to say:

“We have yet to decide whether or not to offer video game discs, the decision will have little financial impact either way.”

He speaks of financial impact because Netflix’s stock fell 37% the other day. Seeing as they are down 75% from their high, this is not welcome news. Maybe offering video games would be more beneficial than they think, but they had better make a decision soon, or stockholders are going to get antsy.

The new Mortal Kombat movie is currently being developed by Kevin Tancharoen, the director of the popular short film below.  Warning: There are some nasty images in the video. I still get goosebumps every time I watch it and hear “GET OVER HERE” at the end.

Personally, I cannot wait until this movie comes out.  It’s scheduled to be released sometime in 2013.  This time around, the movie version of Mortal Kombat won’t be such a bust because Tancharoen is supposedly getting help from Warner Bros and New Line Cinema as stated by LA Times and Deadline.  Tancharoen is also giving this film a much more polished and serious overview from the looks of the short film.

How did Tancharoen get all of this help?  Because he’s awesome.  Also because he created a web series following this short film.  It was called Mortal Kombat: Legacy and was released on YouTube earlier this year.  Warner Bros and New Line Cinema loved the short film and the mini series so much that they decided Tancharoen was cut out for this movie business.

The movie is scheduled to release at the same time interval as the new game.  If that doesn’t work out, it’s rumored that the Blu-ray and DVD release will coincide with the game and they may all come in a package!

If someone asked you what one of the most popular games is right now, you might be inclined to say Angry Birds. This hilarious little bird-flinging game has seen so much popularity that is has been put into parks, figurines, comics, and so much more that you can barely fathom it.

The creators of this game are obviously thrilled beyond belief about the success of their game. Even though Angry Birds has been free to play on Google Chrome for months now, it seems that this video was only posted a few days ago.

Nothing is more hilarious than watching the creators of a game be made into characters from their game, and awkwardly talk about how great something is. These angry bird versions of Peter Vesterbacka (CMO of Rovio), Jaakko lisalo (Senior Game Designer of Angry Birds) and Serdar Soganci (Web Games Manager) are very inexpressive and monotone, which makes them even funnier.

Well, there’s nothing quite like a burlesque to top off the weekend (quite literally), and what better than a Star Wars themed one at that? Gorilla Tango Theater has provided us sexy, nerdy, gaming shows since about a year ago. Their first show we witnessed; Boobs and Goombas: A Mario Bros. Burlesque, was so full of win that it is still running a full year later with tickets that are selling like hotcakes.

Needless to say, I was rather excited at the prospect of seeing another one of their productions, as I know what they are capable of. Again, the costumes were not top notch, but honestly they didn’t matter as each piece added something to the show in an amazing way. When outfits are made to be taken off, each piece matters that much more, and it especially helps when the person in them is immersed in their character.

This show encased the movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope pretty efficiently. There is even a playful jab at the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek. It was utterly amazing, and if you are in the Chicago area, grab your ticket quick, because they sell out really quickly.

Second Opinion:

I thought I’d chime in with my own thoughts on the show. I was unable to attend the Boobs and Goombas performance that we covered last year, so this is my first experience at Gorilla Tango. I was particularly excited for this show, as I’m a huge Star Wars nerd. That, and I also happen to like boobs.

During the entire trip to the theater, I was wondering how on earth they were going to turn Star Wars into some sort of burlesque. After all, there are far more male characters than females. Let me tell you, from one Star Wars nerd to another, they did an excellent job. The characters have been altered slightly to fit the show, and the plot takes a few detours here and there, but it is done spectacularly. You can tell that this was written by fans, and not just a bunch of dancers with lightsabers and stormtrooper helmets. It is a full-blown production of Star Wars.

What I found interesting is that despite the fact that it wasn’t a high-budget show, it was amazing. In fact, the silly costumes that they came up with added to the enjoyment of the performance. I spent more time laughing at the costumes and acting than at any movie I’ve gone to in the past few years. If you are a Star Wars lover in the Chicagoland area, this is a must-see. Just be warned that you’ll never look at Obi-Wan the same way again.

-Chris Scott Barr

One of my favorite things about Batman: Arkham Asylum was the costume. Something about this particular iteration of the Dark Knight just screamed “badass” in a way that previous costumes had not. The design was simple, yet gritty, in a way that let you know he meant business. This is the costume that I want to see in a future movie.

A group of three artists had a similar feeling about the costume, and set out to design a real-life version for themselves. Over a period of three months, the group methodically crafted what is easily the best-looking bat suit I have ever seen. What’s more is that they went the extra mile and made it functional (or as functional as you’re going to get without Bruce Wayne’s vast fortune). While it’s hard to tell from the pictures, the cowl is actually flexible enough to turn your head in, without being cut like a helmet. This was accomplished by making the material thinner in some spots, while thicker in others for support.

We’ve included just a few of the pictures of the suit, but there are plenty more to be found. Hit the link below to check them all out, along with a detailed description of the breakdown by one of the creators. They are also planning to shoot a short film with the costume, to show off the costume’s full capabilities. I for one, can’t wait to see it.

Are your feet cold? Well are you wearing socks? I know, it’s hard to wear socks when you just can’t seem to find that perfect pair. After all, they have to be the perfect size, be comfortable, and express your love for your favorite video game that’s still in beta.

Fear not, my Minecraft loving friend! Thanks to Happy Socks, you can turn your feet into pigs, creepers, or just a simple landscape. You might want to think twice about wearing the creeper socks though. One look at the face, and people are going to go with their instincts and run away. Then again, that could be a good thing, depending on the person.

You’re going to have to be a huge Minecraft fan to actually buy these. Three pair (one of each style) is going to set you back a whopping $45. I barely spend that much on three shirts, let alone three pair of socks. Then again, I’ve never paid money to play a game that was in beta before, so I suppose there’s a first time for everything.

You would think that just about everything had been thought of for the old arcade games. It turns out that there are always new surprises on the horizon with this Arcade game meets go-kart combo.

If you remember playing those racing games such as Out Run in all of their archaic glory, you thought that it must be like driving a real car, as it was the closest to the real thing you’d ever come. Now that you drive real cars and know that most of the same joy is not there, you wish that things could at least be more entertaining visually. The OutRun project takes real-time roads and turns them into 8bit video game visuals.

It does seem a bit silly to go from real life to fake back to real life, but this brings up a lot of new opportunities and avenues for gaming. Not to mention that it can branch out into other fields as well as the following video describes.

When I think back to the first games that I ever played, three come to mind. Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt were most certainly the first two. Tetris would be the third. I can still remember the day that we picked it up out of a bargain bin in Toys R’ Us. So naturally, I feel some sort of strong connection to the game.

It’s hard to show your love for a game that consists of nothing more than a few oddly-shaped blocks. They don’t make the most interesting characters to depict. However, the thing that makes them seem boring is also the very thing that makes them easy to imitate. Take, for instance, these simply sticky notes.

This one block of sticky notes is broken up into 8 different, smaller pads. Almost anyone can pick out the fact that these are the very same shape as the blocks in Tetris. You’ll have to have small handwriting to make good use of these pieces of paper. Though you could always leave long notes and force the person to arrange the different blocks together to decode the message. Something tells me this is going to be the best $10 I ever spent.