Dan Howard is an artist who has worked with both role-playing game companies and, a little closer to home, Udon Entertainment, they who turn Capcom artworks into coffee table books.

While he does all kinds of work on all kinds of subjects, today I'm only interested in one thing: Dan's amazing paintings of video game characters.

As you'll quickly see, most are of the ladies of the Street Fighter universe, but you'll also find a few Nintendo fan favourites, male and female, sprinkled throughout.

You'll also, please note, find a couple of rather NSFW pictures, one of King of Fighter's Mai, the other of Guilty Gear's I-no. So if your boss or the kids are around, you might want to save this for later.

You can check out Dan's blog here, while his DeviantArt page can be found here.

One of the ways Activision is trying to convince people to become paying subscribers of its new Call of Duty: Elite is with a fancy web series based on the blockbuster shooter franchise.

Activision Publishing chief executive Eric Hirshberg has told The Guardian, "We have engaged some top Hollywood talent to create linear video content that will be exclusive to Elite members. That content is inspired by Call of Duty."

Pressed on what exactly that content would entail, Hirshberg would only say "We're not going to give much more detail until we have something to show. That'll be later in the year."

So just who this talent would be (whether behind the camera or in front of it) and how the show will work (or when/where it's set) is, at the moment, anyone's guess!

Call of Duty web TV series to be part of Elite subscription [The Guardian]

A pretty crappy car, maybe, but the point remains: you could still buy a working, actual automobile for the cost of this steering wheel set minted for racing game Dirt 3.

On sale in British stores for £840 (USD$1380), Playseat's DiRT 3 + Logitech G27 deal combines a comfy driving seat, a sturdy frame and a wheel/pedal set into a controller setup that, were your TV big enough, would be as close to the real thing as you could get without a man sitting next to you muttering "easy left".

If $1380 is too rich for your blood, if you order online you get a discount that takes it to...USD$1170 (£709).

Why so much? It's practically a real racing car seat, and is flexible enough to work with most company's steering wheels. Aside from that, it's probably more a case of "a fool and his money".

Playseat DiRT 3 + Logitech G27 [Playseat, thanks jamie!]

One of the first proper uses for Kinect outside ass-shaking and party tricks will be in upcoming racer Forza 4, when drivers get to use the camera to look around their car.

Sounds trivial, but as demonstrated in this video, it actually looks pretty damn cool.

[via VG247]

We've got some tips lately that a build of the new Deus Ex game had been leaked onto torrents. Sad business, but it at least explains where this video comes from. That and its awesome intro.

Needless to say this will probably spoil some stuff if you're genuinely invested in the game, so be warned.

Picking up dudes for sex with...Gauntlet references.

WIZARD NEEDS DUDE BADLY - m4m [Craigslist via Obvious Winner via TDW Geeks]

Vintage car combat series Carmageddon is making a comeback, with original developers Stainless Games having quietly re-acquired the rights to its old property.

The new game is called Carmageddon: Reincarnation, and will be a downloadable title due sometime next year. No platforms or any more tangible information are available than that.

There's been a trend in recent shooters to make things more immediate. Bob the camera around a little, show your character's arms and legs more often. That kind of business wasn't around in 1998, when Half-Life was released.

But what if it was? Or what if the game was re-released now with all the extra wobble and scientist limbs you could ever want?

It may look like this. And I like it. So long as you never see his face or hear him say anything, you're still getting the whole "silent protagonist" deal with Gordon Freeman you've always got, only now you wouldn't get that "floating gun platform" feeling that you only notice when you go back and play older shooters.

Fun fact: this was made by James Benson, the same guy who did that awesome Team Fortress 2 dance video from last year.

Okay, it is a mobile phone game, but these days, that's not really an excuse! Resident Evil: Zombie Buster has RE characters Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield busting zombies. Check out Famitsu.com for more screens. [ファミ通]

Hyping an upcoming feature in EGM, this picture certainly looks like a Soul Calibur V screenshot. [EGMi]