The world was informed the Osama bin Laden was killed on Sunday evening. Now that the story of his life has come to a close, we're taking a moment to look back how Osama influenced the world of video games. As you might've guessed, he mostly got shot and killed. Well, actually that's all he did. Here are a few prime examples.

Bin Laden Liquors (2001) - Shoot bin Laden in a liquor store while saving naked hostages.

The world was informed the Osama bin Laden was killed on Sunday evening. Now that the story of his life has come to a close, we're taking a moment to look back how Osama influenced the world of video games. As you might've guessed, he mostly got shot and killed. Well, actually that's all he did. Here are a few prime examples.
Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror (2003) - This sub-par PS2 shooter gained a little notoriety by making bin Laden its final boss. Each level ends with a fighter-style "capture" sequence, which is what you're looking at here.
Kill Osama bin Laden: The Game (????) - It doesn't get more basic than this. Click to shoot Osama's noggin at various locales.
Postal 2 (2004) - The Postal series and Osama bin Laden have a larger than normal relationship. In Postal 2, every male terrorist enemy is designed in his image.
Postal 3 (To be released - 2011) In the upcoming Postal sequel, bin Laden is hiding out in the town of Catharsis, where he is running a restaurant called "Talibannigans."
Spec Ops: War on Terrorism (2001) - Pummel a seemingly pacifist Osama into a bloody pulp.
Unreal Tournament (Custom Skin) (2001) - In the wake of 9/11, this Osama skin was a means of getting out pent up anger towards the elusive terrorist.
Kuma\War (May 7th, 2011) - Kuma Games announced that the next episode of their serialized shooter will tell story of Osama's demise.
Falling Fred (Mod) (2011) - Normally in the game Falling Fred, you try to help Fred avoid objects while he perpetually falls, however developer Dedalord Games released an update of their game today, turning Fred into "Ogama Ben Ladder," allowing you to smash your bin Laden look-alike instead of saving him.
Mujahedin (2011) - A Newgrounds flash game where players take on the role of a suicide bomber attacking a US army base. If you're successful, Osama says that you can be friends and get a drink together.

The line between gaming and reality blurs as the President and members of his security team watch the hunt for Osama reach its long-awaited conclusion.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Please note: a classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

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Video Games Let You Kill, Abuse Osama

Sunday night a team of two dozen Navy SEALs killed Osama Bin Laden. If all goes as planned, you will soon be able to reenact that head shot in a video game this weekend.
Kuma\War Episode #107: More »

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New Osama Bin Laden Game Tops The Charts

The chart-topping game on popular Flash gaming site Newgrounds this morning was, not surprisingly, a video game involving Osama Bin Laden.
The user-submitted game, called Mujahedin (play it here), lets players control a suicide bomber, recruited by the now-deceased founder of terrorist group Al... More »

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Sony's security problems continue to mount, as Sony Online Entertainment reveals that the personal information of 24.6 million SOE accounts and more than 12,700 credit card numbers may have been compromised in the massive attack that brought down the PlayStation Network late last month.

According to a Sony Online Entertainment statement, the company believes the data theft took place between April 16 and 17, which is around the same time as the cyber attacks that compromised the PlayStation Network. This particular data theft was discovered early this morning during Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment's investigation into the PlayStation Network attack.

Attempting to visit the home pages for popular games like Free Realms, DC Universe Online, and massively-multiplayer online role-playing game granddaddy EverQuest continues to result in the following down for maintenance message:

We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday).

According to Sony Online Entertainment, user information that has been compromised includes names, addresses, email addresses, birthdates, gender, login names, and passwords.

The credit card data stolen, however, comes from an outdated database from 2007. That database contained 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates, along with the direct debit information for 10,700 customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.

SOE will be offering subscribers to its massively-multiplayer online games a free 30-day subscription, as well as compensation for each additional day the services are down. It's also working on a "make good" for players of its PlayStation 3 MMOs Free Realms and DC Universe Online.

Update: Sony Online Entertainment has issued a notification assuring customers that current credit card information has not been compromised. "There is no evidence that our main credit card database was compromised. It is in a completely separate and secured environment."

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PlayStation Network Breach Could Carry A $24 Billion Price Tag (In Some Crazy Fantasy World)

While the financial ramifications of the PlayStation Network's "external intrustion" on Sony, PlayStation developers and consumers likely won't be known for many moons, a data-security research firm and the mathematicians at Forbes have put a worst-case scenario price tag on the breach: More »

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Sony Comes Clean: PlayStation Network Hackers Have Stolen Personal Data

A security breach in the Playstation Network by still unidentified hackers resulted in stolen personal information, Sony confirmed today.
Sony says while personal information was likely stolen they don't believe credit card numbers were and that they hope to have the Playstation Network service... More »

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FBI Cybercrimes Joins 22 States In Sweeping PlayStation Network Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigations today confirmed to Kotaku that it is looking into the security breach that brought the Playstation Network down and exposed millions of users' personal data to cybercriminals.
The FBI is joined by nearly two dozen state attorneys general and possibly the Federal... More »

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Sony Says 10 Million Credit Card Accounts May Have Been Compromised

It's a good thing Sony warned people to be vigilant about their credit cards, because as part of the company's Tokyo press conference yesterday PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai said that up to ten million customer's account details could have been compromised.
That's not the personal details on their PSN... More »

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Xbox 360 owners looking to use their Kinect controller to do some hands-free killing may want to pay attention to what young Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver is currently working on—a new "core AAA shooter experience using Kinect."

That's the description of MGS Vancouver's new game from one of its senior artists who says the developer, also known as Zipline Studios, as spotted by a NeoGAF forum member.

Artist Shawn Woods writes on his personal site that the year-old was originally focused on creating "social microtransaction games" but "our studio strategy has changed and now focuses on developing a core AAA shooter experience using Kinect."

Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver says on its site that it is "dedicated to making games for 'core' gamers" with a mission "to push the limits of proven and unexplored game development and show the world what's possible on Microsoft's game consoles."

According to some currently active job listings for the Vancouver-based team, the studios is "focused on bringing high quality, highly experimental gameplay to Xbox 360 and Kinect." That same listing describes its project as "an original IP that uses Kinect in new and unique ways." So, probably not that Gears of War Kinect experience we'd heard about, despite the above mock-up image.

MGS Vancouver also says it's working on "Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Kinect, and future gaming platforms."

Silicon Knights, the creators of Xbox 360 game Too Human, says it still "intend[s] to finish the trilogy" despite meager sales, middling critical reception and a very long development cycle. Studio founder Denis Dyack tells Industry Gamers it has no further comment, noting "You know, there's very public litigation around that." We know!

Ten years ago the original Red Faction gave PlayStation 2, PC, and Mac gamers their first taste of the future of humanity on Mars. Developer Volition explains how the three games before led up to next month's Red Faction: Armageddon.

We've come a long way since Red Faction came out back in 2001, haven't we? Back then the PlayStation 2 version of the game was either the bee's knees or the shit, depending on your praise of choice. Nowadays the original doesn't hold up quite as well, but playing through it does convey a strong feeling of how we've gotten from the fledgling franchise of a decade ago to what we're getting next month.

Red Faction: Armageddon hits the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on June 7.

Increases in the realism of video games are limiting the ability of Japanese games to appeal outside of their home country, according to the president of Nintendo.

"Because the expressions in games are becoming more and more photo-realistic, I imagine that the cultural differences in acceptance have started to be reflected more clearly," Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata told a group of investors in Japan last month. "I think this is the reason why western users tend to prefer software created overseas than software from Japanese software developers."

Iwata said he has seen the influence of Japanese-made games decline in the past thrree or four years, since the decline of the PlayStation 2. "Nintendo is doing what overseas software developers do not do, so Nintendo's software is selling relatively well also in foreign countries, but for the software oriented to enthusiastic game players, such as Call of Duty, the ones created by overseas developers are more mainstream in the overseas markets."

While Iwata didn't name any games other than Call of Duty to explain his theory, it's true that, during previous generations of gaming hardware, Japanese-made games, be they Resident Evils, Metal Gear Solids, Final Fantasys or others, were more consistently topping sales charts. American and European-made games appear up there more often now, specifically the likes of Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed.

The graphics theory, which Iwata made clear is just one possible culprit, is interesting, but it doesn't seem like it will translate into Nintendo, say, making more realistic-looking Mario games. "Of course, Nintendo will continue to run a business by creating Nintendo-like games," he said, "but we will not be able to meet the various tastes of consumers by only doing this, so I feel that it will become necessary to reinforce the development resources in the foreign countries. Therefore, I hope we will be able to show you something like that at E3."

E3 is when Nintendo will show playable versions of its new 2012 console. What might be running on it? Iwata's comments let the imagination run wild and suggest that, if there aren't great-looking Western-made games on it, Nintendo's got a problem.

Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2011 [Nintendo]

Assassin's Creed fans have unlocked the second leg of the teaser for what might be called be Assassin's Creed Revelations. What does it mean? Follow the unfolding saga at the AC Reveal Facebook page.

IHeartChaos' Cranberryzero was so impressed with the Nintendo 3DS augmented reality cards that he decided to have one permanently stabbed into his skin. What could be better than this augmented reality tattoo? I have a few suggestions.

Since the release of the Nintendo 3DS, people have been putting images of its augmented reality cards everywhere, from t-shirts to the sides of buildings, all for the sake of making Nintendo characters and games pop up in bizarre places. This was only a matter of time.

Luckily for CBZ the tattoo AR card works like a champ, though there is at least one easily remedied problem.

Right now, the tattoo doesn't always work in really bright light, like sunlight, but it works fine in dim-ish light. I think I need to go back and get an outline around it, because I think the 3DS is looking for the edge of the card and can't find it in bright light. In the manual, it says to never obscure the white border around the card when you're using the 3DS, something I didn't notice til later.

You can see it in shaky action via the YouTube clip, demonstrating one of the key ways I feel this tattoo could be improved upon. Don't put it on your arm.

In order to play the augmented reality games on Nintendo's 3DS, you ideally want both hands free, something that's hard to do when the image you have to focus on is on one of those hands. My suggestion? Have it placed on your upper leg, just above your knee. That way wearing shorts becomes a wonderland of Nintendo magic, and you can get two of them to keep things balanced.

My other suggestion? Use one of the character cards instead. That way you are etching a permanent love letter to a Nintendo character on your body, and that's never a bad thing, plus you can put them in creative places for maximum effect.

I'll leave those places up to your imagination.

Nintendo 3DS augmented reality tattoo is awesome, real [IHeartChaos]

They might be at odds in the live-action Thor movie and its accompanying video games, but there is one thing Norse god of mischief Loki and earth goddess Sif agree upon, and that's Mario Kart.

GamerLive.TV has posted a series of interviews with the stars of Thor, asking the cast of this week's big comic book movie what it was like working on the Thor: God of Thunder video game with Sega. They've captured lovely Sif actress Jaime Alexander admitting she would have worked on the game for free, while Loki's Tom Hiddleston calls the experience of seeing himself as a video game character somewhat weird.

asked about their video game experience, both divine role-players admit a love for Nintendo's Mario Kart, while Thor himself (Chris Hemsworth) and Kat Dennings cite Donkey Kong as an early video game influence.

Thor hits theaters on May 6. The Thor: God of Thunder video game drops tomorrow.

Thor's Jaime Alexander Told Sega She'd Play Sif in the Video Game for Free [GamerLive.TV]