You see them on TV on variety shows and in commercials. They look utterly perfect. But are they?

Japanese manga Helter Skelter explores these issues. It follows Japanese superstar Ririko, whose seemingly flawless appearance is the result of extensive plastic surgery that requires constant care and attention.

After the beauty clinic she frequents comes under investigation, Ririko's perfect body starts falling apart—and so does her sanity.

This summer, Manga Helter Skelter is getting a big screen adaptation. Like the manga, the movie looks to be a biting criticism of the Japanese celebrity complex.

The film stars the often troubled Erika Sawajiri, and Helter Skelter marks a comeback of sorts for her. That, or a big eff you to the Japanese entertainment industry. I can't decide which.

『へルタースケルター』 [YouTube]

Project X Zone is an upcoming 3DS collaboration between Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega. The game features characters from all three!

So far, we've seen a whole host of characters from various Sega, Namco, and Capcom games. But wait, there are more.

The latest issue of Japanese game magazine Famitsu reveals new characters going the fray: Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Morrigan from DarkStalkers, Valkyrie from Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu, Gemini and Erika from Sakura Wars, Haken Browning and Kaguya Nanbu from Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier, and Bruno from Die Hard Arcade (Dynamite Deka). See, crowded!

Project X Zone will be out sometime this year in Japan.

『プロジェクトクロスゾーン』ワルキューレ、モリガン、春麗など新たな参戦キャラクターが判明 [ゲーム情報！ゲームのはなし]

It's a popularity contest. A global one. The BBC had a total of 24,090 citizens from 22 countries polled about which countries they thought were "mostly positive" or "mostly negative".

Here's the top five:

5. China
4. UK
3. Canada
2. Germany
1. Japan

The United States was number eight, being edged out by France and the EU (which, uh, isn't a country, but whatever). Could be worse, I guess!

Rounding out the top ten were Brazil (at nine) and India (at ten). Read the full report in the link below, which has a country-by-country breakdown. Fascinating stuff.

Don't worry, America. I like ya. <3

Views of Europe Slide Sharply in Global Poll, While Views of China Improve [GlobeScan]

Newly announced action shooter E.X. Troopers might not be familiar yet, but its setting should be. The Capcom game shares the same world as sci-fi game Lost Planet. However, Ex Troopers looks very different.

The game has an anime look (see above) and is set against a military academy. While it looks vastly different from the main series, Lost Planet foes, Akrid, do appear in the game. I guess they'll get an anime makeover, too?

カプコン、ロスプラと世界観を共有するアクションSTG『エクストルーパーズ』をPS3と3DSで発売 [ゲーム情報！ゲームのはなし]

You will get online. It will happen. All these launch Diablo III troubles will vanish. But when they do, there could still be a group of players who are screwed.

Diablo III, you see, does not speak their language. Meet Error 84.

Blizzard decided not to allow players the ability to change their language and instead released the game with language locks. That means that players who live in Asia must currently play the game in their region's lingo.

When players attempt to download, say, an English client, Diablo III gives this message: "The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error_84)"

Blizzard players living outside English speaking countries will be familiar with this. Blizzard separates its games on various servers across the globe, grouping them by region and language.

As Sunberry on the Battle.net forums pointed out, Diablo III is apparently locked to Traditional Chinese, even for some players who live in Mainland China and who use Simplified Chinese. Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese are not the same.

What's more, there are many players who live in Asia and might not be proficient enough in the local language. Or maybe they'd just rather play in their native tongue. For those, they should pick up the international version of the game so they don't end up with a language they don't want to play in. That doesn't help those who purchased the digital version before launch.

Blizzard obviously blocked English on local editions, which are priced less due to the exchange rate. Shame players in those regions feel like they're being pushed for language proficiency—or lack thereof.

LANGUAGE SETTINGS HELP! LANGUAGE UNCHANGEABLE, A LETTER TO BLIZZARD, ERROR 84 & ERROR 12, 看不懂， 需要英文般 － NEED ENGLISH VERSION,
ABOUT GAME PURCHASE IN TW.BATTLE.NET [Battle.net Thanks, Sunberry!]

Always be prepared. Always. In Japan, this Western Waldo cosplayer certainly was, and he can prove it.

While this photo series isn't brand new, it still is very much a meme in Japan, doing the internet rounds.

名無しにかわりましてVIPがお送りします [キニ速]

People line up to buy video games for various reasons. Maybe they actually want the game. Maybe they want to sell the game. And maybe they're just being nice to the ones they love.

The boxed limited edition of Diablo III was reportedly hard to come by in South Korea, but website ThisIsGame went out and hit the lines to see who was purchasing it. Sure, there were those buying it for themselves—and those buying it for re-sale. But there were also a dedicated few, lining up all night for those they loved.

One young woman waited over night so she could buy the game for her boyfriend. ThisIsGame pointed out that once her boyfriend starts playing the game, the couple might spend less time together.

"But he wants it," the young woman said. "I gotta get him one." Those waiting in line nearby heard the young woman and actually got somewhat upset, saying, "What kind of man sleeps at home while his girlfriend is playing homeless for him?!" The young woman, however, apparently still looked happy that she'd be getting an unforgettable present for her boyfriend. And she wasn't alone.

One middle-aged woman didn't line up to buy the game for her son, but her son-in-law, who was away on a business trip and could not line up. Over night, the woman's daughter waited, and then her mom took over.

"It's for my son in law, so I can never sell it!" she told ThisIsGame. "I think this is going to be a memory I'll never forget."

Hopefully, the lucky recepiants didn't blow right through the game like some of their countrymen.

‘남자친구·아들·사위를 위해 밤을 새우다' [ThisIsGame]

Cave, the studio behind several classic shoot'em up games, just apparently stopped development on two games: one was social game Shirotsuku and the other was an untitled shooter. [ゲーム情報！ゲームのはなし]

Be careful who you meet online. On May 8 in China's Henan province, Gao Xin (not his real name) found out the hard way after going out with a woman he met on the internet.

Later, the woman's pissed off boyfriend approached Gao. The boyfriend, along with several friends, attacked him and inserted a 1.2-meter computer wire into, ahem, the 27 year-old's urethra.

According to news site Want China Times, Gao was afraid to tell his parents about the incident and too embarrassed to seek medical help. He unsuccessfully tried to remove the wire himself before finally visiting the hospital. Doctors were able to remove the wire via surgery. Thankfully, the injury will not cause permanent damage to Gao's reproduction organ.

Jealous boyfriend forces wire into Henan man's urethra

Nintendo released a mandatory patch for Mario Kart 7 that cut three shortcuts from the online version of the game. These shortcuts, however, will remain in offline play. [Wired]