Okay, that's not fair. Duncan Jones is more than just David Bowie's son. He's also the son of fashion model Angela Bowie.

And, of course, Jones is a terrific filmmaker in his own right, helming the wonderful sci-fi flick Moon.

Jones tells Badass Digest that he's "very cynical" of directors who claim to be gamers. "I think there are less real gamers involved in directing only because you have to spend so much time making films that there's no time to be a hardcore gamer", he says. "I'm just slightly insane and I stay up all night playing games. In the day I'm working and at night I play games."

While conceding that there are obvious game elements that will never make the jump to film, Jones thinks that World of Warcraft could work well as a film. "If you're going to make a film of a game it's got to be about the essence of why you, the audience, care what's going on," says Jones. "There are certain games where that will work, and there are certain games where it doesn't." World of Warcraft, the director points out, is one of those games that he thinks will work.

"I'm hugely jealous of Sam Raimi," Jones told me. "I really believe World of Warcraft could be the launch of computer games as good films. And from the little I've read of interviews with him the way he's approaching it makes so much sense. It's what I was talking about — it's not worrying about how the game plays, it's about creating the world of the game and investing the audience in that world."

The World of Warcraft film is still very much in the very, very early stages, with apparently only a few dozen pages of treatment typed out. Raimi is busying himself with Oz: The Great and Powerful, an origin story about the Wizard of Oz.

MOON's Duncan Jones Thinks WARCRAFT Could Be The Great Video Game Movie [Badass Digest via NME] [Pic]

Spotted (via Siliconera) in PSP title The 3rd Birthday, one of several in-jokes the game has.

Anecdotal evidence at best, but a mountain of Love Plus items apparently didn't exactly move like hotcakes at Comiket.

The Comiket goods Konami is offering cost around US$67 for each set. There are three different sets, one for each Love Plus character.

Developed by Konami, Love Plus is a love simulation game for the Nintendo DS.

Online, there are some people reporting that the Love Plus Christmas event was a bit of a bust, while others blame Konami for going on a merchandising and sequel tear, driving the franchise into the ground. It also might be that fickle fans have simply moved on.

Love Plus is planned for the Nintendo 3DS, and it will feature "boyfriend lock" face recognition software to prevent cheating.

コナミブース「ラブプラス」グッズが売れないので急遽「俺妹」に変更！？ [オレ的ゲーム情報]

This year, famed film critic Roger Ebert said games could never be art — a mistake he later admitted. While Ebert might not be a fan of games, that doesn't mean he didn't used to play them obsessively .

In a "Siskel & Ebert" holiday gift guide from 1989, Ebert and his former co-host Gene Siskel fumble their way through a game of Tecmo Bowl and find it endlessly amusing that you can make the players say "hut, hut, hut, hut".

While arguing about who won and marveling at children gaming for a whole hour a day, Ebert revealed, "I got one of these sets (NES) at home, and I started playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with it. And after a while, after a week of this, I'd find that every time I had a spare moment and every time I came home, I was in front of the set playing with these mutant turtles."

Continuing, Ebert said, "It got to the point where it was making me quite unhappy, because I was so obsessed with it, and I finally unplugged the machine and said, 'That's it for Nintendo.'" Ebert added that his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was so hypnotic and so repetitive that he didn't think it was good for his mental health. While he apparently quit Nintendo cold turkey, Ebert did review a PC game in 1994.

Be sure to stick around to see Ebert take photos of a baby gorilla.

Because I Told You So: Roger Ebert Plays Tecmo Bowl In 1989 [Because I Told You So]

Japan's Comiket, aka Comic Market, grinds on, and folks are buying self-published manga, games and photobooks. But it's really hard to overstate how big the event's cosplay is.

Previously, Kotaku posted the first day of Comiket cosplay. Here's more, including shots of the second day's festivities.

010年最後の晴れ舞台！, 今年最後の笑顔をありがとう！, コミケ79は気合いだ [Ota-Suke]
【速報】コミケ＆となコス コスプレダイジェスト3 【コミケ79レポ】 [Moeyo.com]
[コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその3】, [コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその2】 [Kotaku Japan]

No, it's not Halloween. It's the end of December, and Japan is dressing up at Comiket, or "Comic Market", the country's biggest gathering of fan fiction, toy figures and otaku.

Sure, folks are buying self-published manga, games and photobooks, but it's really hard to overstate how big the event's cosplay ("costume play") is. Hordes of amateur cosplayers mill about the convention center, posing for photos.

Previously, Kotaku posted the first day of Comiket cosplay. Here's more, including shots of the second day's festivities.

010年最後の晴れ舞台！, 今年最後の笑顔をありがとう！, コミケ79は気合いだ [Ota-Suke]

【速報】コミケ＆となコス コスプレダイジェスト3 【コミケ79レポ】 [Moeyo.com]

[コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその3】, [コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその2】 [Kotaku Japan]

In Japan, generally speaking, you cannot rent video games, nor can you rent consoles. It's just not done.

Software and hardware companies successfully pushed for a ban on rentals, which is why used games in Japan are in such good shape. Players buy new games, complete them very quickly and then sell them second hand. Pristine condition means higher resale. (However, it is possible to rent CDs, so sort that one out!)

For a limited time, at least one retailer is offering players the chance to buy an Xbox 360 and then sell it back for only ¥2,000 (US$25) less than the console's original price. The catch is that players only have seven days after purchase to decide whether or not they'd like the hardware.

So essentially, this is renting an Xbox 360 for ¥2,000! But this retailer should be warned. Back in 2003, a Fukuoka-based game shop was caught "renting" video games due to its system of buying back week-old games for 80 percent of their sticker price, which would mean it was essentially renting. The shop was investigated by the police and even brought up on criminal charges by the district prosecutor. A similar fate could await this Xbox 360 seller.

疑似レンタル!? Xbox360の買取保証付き冬季限定キャンペーンを行う店発見 [オレ的ゲーム情報]

It's Friday. Friday, Friday, Friday! Let's talk.

Here's how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn't some marketing survey or whatever. It's an emotional investment in you. Yes, we're interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person.

You probably know oodles about us - more than you even want to, we're sure. But, hey, we'd like to know about you. That way you won't be some faceless blob - and we might feel a tinge of guilt when we ban ya. Or not, because really we're incapable of human emotion.

Question: 2010 is almost over. What did you think of it?

[Pic]

December 31 is the eve of Japan's biggest holiday, New Year's. Why not celebrate it with a beautiful anime girl?

The entire country will descend on temples to (literally) ring in the new year as bells are rung 108 times in what's called joya nokaneto, which aims to purify the souls of the 108 worldly desires. During New Year's, people also visit Shinto shrines to pray for the coming year.

Hatsumode is the customary first shrine visit of the year. As website Otaku2.com points out, the hatsumode of rural Ibaraki Prefecture is being promoted with an anime style miko, or shrine maiden. While traditionally mikos were shaman with oracle-like functions for the shrine, these days their spiritual meaning is more figurative. It's not uncommon for college students to work as mikos during the New Year's holidays to pick up some extra cash.

Japanese tourism has used anime girls in the past in hopes of promoting travel to the country's interior. Some shrines, like the Washinomiya Shrine in Saitama, are capitalizing on their anime connections. The Washinomiya Shrine is one of the oldest in the greater Tokyo region and features in the opening credits of Lucky Star.

After the show debuted in 2007, fans began visiting the shrine in droves. Those numbers increased after a popular magazine printed directions to the shrine. At first, many in the area vocally opposed the influx of fans, because they did things like left messages for their favorite Lucky Star characters. Critics didn't like what the shrine had been reduced to and that people seemed to be worshiping deities (here, anime girls) that were not the shrine's own. But Shintoism is a flexible religion. If blessing cell phones and cars is kosher, then accepting anime girls can't be too far behind.

But the fans kept coming and coming and coming. Last year, over 300,000 visitors. flocked to the shrine, which is 130,000 more than the previous year. Protest and opposition died down with the shrine and surrounding shops largely catering to the shrine's otaku ("geek") visitors. Fans apparently spent millions of yen on Lucky Star goods. And fans snap photos of the shrine's gates, not because of the shrine's long, rich history, but because it appears in an anime.

Many of these shrines in rural Ibaraki could only dream of record attendance like that. Though, is the price worth it?

Culture Smash is a daily dose of things topical, interesting and sometimes even awesome — game related and beyond.

[Pic, Pic, Pic, Pic]

Tennis sim Top Spin 4 teased more realistic controls when it was announced three months ago; a retail listing says it'll continue sports gaming's trend of moving commands to the right analog stick. A singleplayer career mode also is coming.

"My Player," which debuted in MLB 2K10 last spring and has been a moderate success in 2K's NBA series for two years, will arrive with Top Spin. The game also will feature "all new intuitive controls" and a player roster featuring 25 current professionals "dozens of talented up-and-comers" as well as licensed superstars from the past.

Top Spin, like much of the rest of the pro tennis tour, has been a solid entrant in sports gaming without much attention. On their face these features don't represent the kind of game-changer that will drag people over to the sport. But PlayStation Move support - and 2K's NBA game was the first major title on the platform - might.

Top Spin 4 is due for release in February.

[via Operation Sports]