We’ve seen a lot of indie bundles over the last year or two. Usually this means a group of semi-popular indie games packaged together at a price that you determine. If you pay more than the average person, that generally means you get a few more games kicked in as a token of gratitude. Well now it seems that the idea has caught on in the music world.

Now I’m not one to push music on people, and certainly not from this outlet. However, the contents of the Indie All-Stars Bundle have more ties to the gaming world than just their business model. For instance, you’ll find PPPPPP, otherwise known as the soundtrack for VVVVVV. You’ll also get Yours as Fast as Mine, from The Main Drag. The drummer for this band, John Drake works for Harmonix, which you know as the team behind Rock Band. A majority of the other albums contain music that can also be found in the Rock Band store.

If you want to support independent music, and help these guys keep making tunes for games, then I suggest downloading the Indie All-Stars Bundle. You get 10 albums for whatever you’re willing to pay, and if you pay more than the average (currently around $7.50), you’ll get 5 more albums for free.

In what is possibly one of the greatest coups ever recorded, North Korea seems to have snagged the hottest game of the year and it’s only available inside the country. That’s right, I’m talking about North Korea Tractor Simulator!

All joking aside, I find it interesting to see what a country like North Korea, who controls everything about the media in any way, shape, or form, does with this power. The answer it to apparently develop a monstrosity designed to teach students how to drive a tractor in North Korea, while apparently not wasting any of their precious fuel. The image was taken Samijyon Schoolchildren’s Palace in Samijyon, North Korea. The facility itself was built for kids to take part in after school programs designed to teach them skills for the North Korean real world.

I do have this to say, though. That CRT monitor that the kid is staring into is probably extremely rare and valuable for the average North Korean, and that’s kind of sad, really. In any other industrialized nation, such a monitor would likely be thrown into the streets if people weren’t concerned about the environmental impact.

Source

The Star Wars universe has found itself recreated in LEGO bricks for a number of years now, both in real, and virtual forms. The video game franchise has covered not only the original movies and prequels, but also the animated Clone Wars series. Now it would seem that even The Old Republic is getting the LEGO treatment.

No game has been announced, however, we will soon start seeing vehicles and characters from The Old Republic era showing up on store shelves.  Expect to see Darth Malgus, Satele Shan and Jace Malcom, along with Fury Class Interceptors and Republic Strikers. These two sets will set you back $90 and $45, respectively.

I have to say that it’s pretty interesting to see a set of LEGOs that’s based on a video game that was inspired by a movie franchise. Now if only we could take that one step further and make a video game based on a LEGO set, from a different video game, inspired by a movie franchise. L E G O C E P T I O N

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.