Virtual idol Miku Hatsune has her own Sega video games, concerts, insane game controllers, and figurines. Whether it's plastic statues for arcade redemption games or detailed collectors' statues, there is no shortage of Miku merch.

One fan decided there was a gaping hole in the Miku figures, namely of the totally naked variety, and decided to make a highly detailed and highly nude custom Miku Hatsune figure. The figure has removable, interchangeable hands that can reveal her chest as well as a neck tie that can be wore or taken off.

The figure was auctioned off on Yahoo! Auctions in Japan, where it fetched yen;502,000 - nearly US$6,000!

The seller might not want to get too excited about this custom figure windfall. Earlier this year, two men in Niigata Prefecture were arrested for selling a customized Kamen Rider W figure (pictured) via Yahoo! Auctions for over $3,000.

The two were picked up for violating Japanese copyright law. The suspects told authorities that since the figure was one-off and custom-made, they thought it would be overlooked. It wasn't. And that one wasn't even naked. This one is.

【ヤフオク】初音ミクの魔改造フィギュアが50万円で落札される [はちま起稿]

Twisted Metal series creator David Jaffe has posted some photos on his blog, giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the new Twisted Metal's live-action cutscenes.

If you're not a Twisted Metal fan, these likely won't make sense at all! If you are, though, you'll see glimpses of costumes and characters you haven't seen in years. Some of them are hanging on racks! Some of them look surprised! And some of them are riding little green motorbikes!

Twisted Metal is, despite the singular name, the eighth title in the long-running vehicular combat series. It might be out by the end of this year on PS3.

You can check out more pics, and a short video, at the site below.

[ON SET:TWISTED METAL]

Broadcasting over the weekend, Gamers Heart Japan is a one hour program, designed to celebrate the country that's given us so many great games as well as help with the relief efforts.

Created by The Electric Playground, the program features a whole host of gaming luminaries, like Tim Schafer, Will Wright and Sid Meier, talking up Japan's games and the country itself.

The show is sixty minutes long. I'm in the last two or three minutes, if you're curious! More info on how to donate in the link below.

Gamers Heart Japan [Official Site]

Developed by Konami, Steel Chronicle is a multiplayer mech combat game that's currently - and rather quietly - having some location testing done in Japan.

The game is a shooter of sorts, with a viewpoint sat close behind the player's mech, while you're tasked with mowing down waves of invading alien bugs. The action is controlled via a rather fancy dual-joystick setup.

There's not much more known about the game at the moment, since its flier is geared more towards how to play rather than what you're playing, but the mere premise of piloting giant mechs in an arcade setting will be good enough for some!

「スティールクロニクル」ロケテスト開催 [AM-Net, via Arcade Heroes]

The star of the Metroid series gets tough in a very different way (via 4CR)

While some of the Tohoku Earthquake's youngest refugees told the Mainichi Newspaper that they really want to play video games, power shortages make that impossible. Kids are kids, and they want to play.

This is why twenty-six companies are donating four ten-ton trucks worth of toys, clothing and stationary to the relief efforts. Among those donating are Konami, Bandai, Takara Toys and Sega Toys.

With some kids escaping with just the clothes on their back, new threads are needed. What's more, the kids are studying and trying to do school work in the refugee centers, so stationary is a necessity, too. But toys might be the most welcomed donation of all.

コナミ、タカラトミー、セガトイズなど玩具26社、被災地に玩具を提供 [インサイド] [Pic: Getty]

Last week, Google thought it'd be funny to have an April Fool's gag based on Kinect powering, of all things, Gmail. Well, turns out you can actually do that.

A research team at USC already has Kinect running Google's email service, and as you'll see in this slightly stupid video (it's keeping things in the spirit of the joke), it actually works.

While the text entry will obviously need some work, the "send" command is one that all motion-based devices should make use of in the future. Provided Kinect can accurately track an ass, that is.

[via TDW]

The Nintendo 3DS is not multi-touch. That hasn't stopped Namco Bandai from making a game that requires two touch pens.

So players not only have to hold two touch pens like total goobers, they cannot use them at the exact same time. Well, they can, but the multitouch won't register. Only one of the brain training-type games shown do seem to require the akimbo pens due to the location and the speed at which flashing blocks appear on the screen.

But for the rest of it, are two pens really necessary?

You probably know who Hideo Kojima is. He makes Metal Gear Solid. But is he famous? Probably, but that doesn't mean mainstream Japanese celebs know who the heck he is.

Kojima appeared on a recent episode of variety show Real Scoop, talking about how popular he is abroad.

Famous celebrities like Yusuke Kamiji as well as comedians like Kanako Yanagihara appear on the show (Kamiji, who is in the Guiness Book of World Records for most unique visits to his blog in 24 hours, appears in movies and on television as well as releasing popular singles). Even though Kamiji appears on another show with pin-up model Akina Minami, who did promotional work for Metal Gear Solid IV, he doesn't seem to have the slightest who Hideo Kojima is!

The reaction to when Kojima was shown on Real Scoop was, "Who?" The show proceeded to introduce the Konami board member, explaining that he's responsible for Metal Gear and that he was one of Newsweek's top ten people of 2002. The rest of the segment showed various Western gamers talking about Kojima, including one lady who said Kojima is a god.

Kojima might be a god, but he's hardly a household name in Japan like Yusukue Kamiji or Kanako Yanagihara. Then again, is Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi? Yes, yes, he is. But not for video games.

小島監督がテレビに出演→芸能人「誰！？」 [Game News Flash]

While the video games of today are (usually) professional enough to hire proper writers to handle localisation and translation duties, it wasn't always that way.

Take the 1980s and early 1990s, for example. Lots of games turned up in the West from Japan. And some of them got a little...lost in translation.

You may have seen this pic floating around a few years ago when it first turned up, but since many of you probably haven't, have at it now!

Those wanting some kind of "identify the game" challenge shouldn't be too pushed picking all (or at least most) of them. Not sure why Monkey Island is in there, though. Lines that good aren't made by accident.

[via oracrest @ NeoGAF, Gameovr]