Corporate "he said, she said" can be a little boring at times, but Activision boss Bobby Kotick calling Halo creators Bungie "the last remaining high quality independent developer" is too good to pass up.

Speaking at an investor's meeting, Kotick said "Bungie are a very unusual company. They're probably the last remaining high quality independent developer."

That's not just a swipe at, well, every independent developer on Earth. It was also aimed at Microsoft.

"When they started the process of looking for a new partner, they'd been in business with Microsoft. They had a vision for a product they wanted to create that needed certain skills and capabilities - that Microsoft had some of.

"But as they started to go and look at the obvious candidates, they realised that no company other than Activision had the skills that they needed to be successful for the vision of that product."

Oh, to be so rich and powerful that you can put on a suit and make money trolling. That's the life.

Bobby Kotick insults every indie developer on the planet... except Bungie [CVG]

Arcade cabinets, retro game consoles and CPUs. "Hardware Girls" isn't just photos of beautiful hardware, it's also pics of beautiful girls.

Photographer Julie Watai photographed 25 models for her latest photobook. Watai released a photobook called Samurai Girl in 2006.

Last December, the multimedia artist shared her thoughts on East vs. West cosplay in a Kotaku feature.

電子ハードウェアｘ美少女写真集　「はーどうぇあ・がーるず」 [アキバBlog]

That short, blurry, fan-made trailer for a live-action Pokémon movie didn't do the thing justice. So let's watch the thing, in full, in its original form.

While the blurry shots from the first trailer helped hide the cracks in the special effects, it also robbed this fan project - called Pokémon Apokélypse - of much of its hammy charm. And before you rain down internet criticism, hammy charm is the order of the day here, the entire thing a sly nod and wink in response to the more serious fan trailers we've seen this year.

That short, blurry, fan-made trailer for a live-action Pokémon movie didn't do the thing justice. So let's watch the thing, in full, in its original form.

While the blurry shots from the first trailer helped hide the cracks in the special effects, it also robbed this fan project - called Pokémon Apokélypse - of much of its hammy charm. And before you rain down internet criticism, hammy charm is the order of the day here, the entire thing a sly nod and wink in response to the more serious fan trailers we've seen this year.

Richard Marks has an impressive resume: He has created the EyeToy, the PlayStation Eye and the PlayStation Move. He also likes buttons.

"Buttons are irreplaceable as an input device," Marks tells Edge Magazine. "Too many buttons are overwhelming, but one single action button is very powerful feeling."

Continuing, Marks adds, "For core games you really do need a set of buttons to quickly choose things. Trying to replace buttons with gestures doesn't work very well."

This fall, the PlayStation Move is going head-to-head with Microsoft's Kinect. The Move has buttons. The Kinect does not.

Designing PlayStation Move [Edge via CVG]

Dean Fraser's Springfield Punx website - where the artist renders celebrities and famous characters as if they'd appeared in The Simpsons - has long been a favourite internet time-waster. Especially now there's game characters on it.

We're surprised it's taken Dean this long to start on the world of video games, but we're not complaining, especially when his first three offerings are World Warriors Ken, Ryu and Blanka.

I'd love to play a game using these models. Those tiny, stumpy legs would make things awkward.

And Dean, if you're taking requests, it'd be great to see you take on the crew of the TCS Victory. Thanks!

[Springfield Punx]

More Colorful Than Your Game Room
Comment by: Demonbird
Nominated by: kyoshizen

How dare you assume my game room is less colorful.
Let me paint the picture for you,
Every surface is covered in LED lights.
Each one a different hue of a different color.
The walls, floors, I have them sticking out of the gaps in this keyboard.
The chair I sit in right now?
Just a massive pile of LED lights.
Am I in pain? All the time.
My curtains are just 4 foot wide strips of fruit by the foot.
The window that they are attached to? You bet your ass that's stained glass.

It's so colorful, you have to strip naked and cover yourself in an assortment of paints that would make a rainbow vomit with jealousy just to gain admittance.

This room is the reason Wizard of Oz has color.
It is where the Technicolor Dream coat comes to die.

Amateurs.
Picture related, it's my gardener.

Kinect Gets Its Panzer Dragoon
Comment by: Luke MacDonald
Nominated by: Gyaruson 2.0

Motion based dragon game? That could NEVER go wrong!

Report: Apple Gaining Fast On Nintendo
Comment by: JGab
Nominated by: StubbornScorpio

JGab's test of a gaming console's legitimacy as a portable gaming console:

Question 1: Does your console play digital games? (A wad of paper and pencil are not digital.)

Question 2: Is it actually portable? (Systems that must be played while on a table in horrible red hues that may or may cause eye strain are not portable.)

Question 3: Is the game console actually created and sold to people? Do people actually purchase it? (Lookin' at you, N-Gage...)

Question 4: Does the console have any titles that do not solely fall into the following categories: made for children to learn and narrowcasted to them, rip-offs of other popular titles, hacks of other titles, games that are mostly produced in the time-span of a week?

Question 5: Is your console a gaming focused machine, or a machine that has gaming tacked on as an after-thought? If the latter, you are not legitimate.

Question 6: Does your console have any games that will have a legacy in 25 years enough for the company to make a video commercial about the character in the game turning 25 years old? Or, alternatively, a game that will be remembered in 10 years?

If you are able to pass this simple test, you are a legitimate portable gaming device. If you are unable to pass this test, you're likely kidding yourself if you think people are really using your device for gaming.

Bumper Stickers For Proud Gamer Parents
Comment by: cbarrentos
Nominated by: OctaneHugo: Airliner Pilot of DOOM

My Child Is A Bad Enough Dude To Rescue The President

Kratos Walks The Streets Of Atlanta
Comment by: wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!
Nominated by: Kobun

Kratos, take with you these Blades Of Athena, these Claws Of Hades, and these Calf Muscles Of Pre-Adolescence

Want to nominate comments? Send to tips any insightful or funny comments you read from other commenters. (Read: NOT YOURSELF). Be sure to include the post's URL, the commenter's page, the actual comment and your commenter page.

Here's a handy guide to commenting. Read it, learn it, live it, love it.

That delightful Japanese commercial celebrating Super Mario Bros' 25th anniversary has received a surprise extended cut. Only thing is, there's no new footage.

Above is the old trailer. Short, and cute! Below is the updated version. Longer, and less cute.

Wondering what's being said? Basically, DON'T BLOW ON CARTRIDGES. EVEN DS ONES. IF THEY NEED CLEANING, GET AN OFFICIAL NINTENDO CLEANING SET.

Way to spoil the fun, guys.

Nintendo warns against cassette fufu → [Tiny Cartridge]

With the final, actual release of Gran Turismo 5 less than two months away, it's time to start ramping up the promotion for the game. In Japan, that involves hundreds of cars careening down a slide.

It's cute, it's catchy, and between the song and the volume of vehicles on display pretty much sums up what Gran Turismo is about. Even the damage modelling looks spot-on!

Your PlayStation 3 has just graduated to version 3.50, adding 3D Blu-ray support, more Facebook integration and better griefing reporting. More details at the official PlayStation.blog.