Launching back in 2008 with Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Online, the online Metal Gear spin-off, had 1.3 million members at one point in 2009. This summer, Metal Gear Online is going offline. The game's service is finished, Konami stated today.

On June 21, the MGO's in-game client will come to an end. But first, on March 21, the MGO Online Shop will cease operations. It will no longer be possible to make new characters by late April. However, all the game's expansion packs will be free until service ends in June.

METAL GEAR ONLINE サービス終了のお知らせ [Konami]

" width="960" height="540" />Binary | TOKYO, JAPAN: Via tipster Jinah comes these photos. (Photo: Game Watch)

Active Duty Marine is Making a Video Game About Zombies

Zombies, man. Everyone loves killing zombies. 22 year-old Marine Sergeant Jacob Way is betting that video game players love killing zombies enough to make room in their libraries for one more zombie-slaying simulator. More »

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The Only Japanese Video Game Starring...Bruce Willis, Mike Tyson and...Alfred Hitchcock?

If you're the kind of person that believes violence isn't the answer, then I have just the game for you. I hope you're good at trivia questions instead, because otherwise you won't get far in SNK's 1991 quiz-em-up Quiz Daisousa Sen – The Last Count Down. More »

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Watch Someone Play Mass Effect 3 for 60 Minutes

Many people already have access to the Xbox 360 demo for Mass Effect 3, so naturally, there are people recording the thing like crazy and uploading videos to YouTube. More »

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The Very Best In Cosplay: Lindze

Kotaku's journey around the very best cosplayers in the world continues this week with a look at American costume builder, model and make-up artist Lindze.
A make-up artist by trade, Lindze is an example of quality over quantity: More »

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The Very Best In Cosplay: Lindze

Kotaku's journey around the very best cosplayers in the world continues this week with a look at American costume builder, model and make-up artist Lindze.
A make-up artist by trade, Lindze is an example of quality over quantity: More »

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The Very Best In Cosplay: Lindze

Kotaku's journey around the very best cosplayers in the world continues this week with a look at American costume builder, model and make-up artist Lindze.
A make-up artist by trade, Lindze is an example of quality over quantity: More »

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You know "itasha", right? It means "painmobile" and refers to cars covered in nerdy stickers.

These days, everything that has been covered with nerdy imagery—from Shinto plaques to bicycles—seems to get the "ita" label in Japan. Heck, there are even "itachoco" this Valentine's Day. I guess a literal translation would be "painful chocolate".

Check out this itachoco gallery, collected by sister site Kotaku Japan from various Japanese Twitter users. Delicious!

2次元好きへの勝負チョコ！ バレンタインデーに「痛チョコ」を作ってみた [Kotaku Japan]

Gravity Rush (Gavity Daze in Japan) is one of Sony's most anticipated titles for the Vita in the West. The entire game is built around manipulating your own personal gravity as you adventure through a floating city in a mysterious steampunk world.

We'll be posting our hands-on impressions of the Japanese release on Kotaku East this Friday, but in the meantime, check out this seven minute chunk of gameplay—packed to the brim with platforming and combat—to get a feel for the game.

And if that's not enough, take a look at our time with the demo at E3.

Today, love simulator New Love Plus went on sale. Today is also Valentine's Day. A photographer at Japanese game site 4Gamer snapped this photo, which seems to show a young couple passing by the Love Plus Akihabara launch, which is populated with dudes.

Online in Japan, commenters are saying that the couple is probably wondering what the hell is going on. Granted, they could be buying New Love Plus. On Valentine's Day. Together. It's possible!

Other commenters are pointing out how good the photographer's timing is and how the photo shows the contrast between those dating virtual girls and a guy with a real one.

【ある１枚の写真がエグい】 カップル 「何あれー・・・」 NEWラブプラスのステージイベント会場より [オレ的ゲーム情報]

Instead, I got apple pie. Mrs. Bashcraft, my wife, made apple pie for the kids and me. This is it!

Actually, this isn't mine. While the kids got their apple pie in nice little bags, I got mine in a Ziploc bag. Apparently, we are out of nice little bags, but have tons of Ziploc bags.

(Mental note: get more nice little bags.)

Shame I didn't get any itachoco or virtual chocolate from the Love Plus girls. Oh well!

This was pretty much Valentine's Day here for us! I didn't get any giri-choco (obligatory chocolate) this year. Though, I usually get giri-choco from my mother-in-law around V-Day. I always return the favor with chocolate on White Day in March, so hopefully it's not really "giri", but that my mother-in-law actually likes me as a son-in-law. Heh.

The problem with getting home made sweets for Valentine's Day is that there is pressure to do likewise. Not sure what I should make for White Day...

While North Korean hamburgers look (and sound) awful, North Korean gasoline-baked clams also sound pretty friggin' awful.

They're not, according to Japanese site RocketNews24. A Japanese traveler who recently visited the country and tried the dish said they're actually pretty good—and don't even taste like gasoline.

While Kotaku East does not recommend playing with gasoline or eating food covered in the flammable liquid, RocketNews provided a run-down on how to make the dish.

The clams were drenched in two 500ml plastic bottles of gas and then light ablaze. They burned for about five minutes and, according to the Japanese traveler, were some of the best clams he'd ever eaten. They were, however, slightly underdone.

Since raw clams can cause food poisoning, North Koreans tend to get liquored up on soju.

That's right, get liquored up and then bust out the gasoline and matches—which is sorta how Kim Jong-il ran the country.

北朝鮮でハマグリのガソリン焼きを食べてみた / 朝鮮人「たまに当たる人がいるけど焼酎飲めば大丈夫」 [RocketNews]

Everyone's heard about high score runs, but how about the opposite? In this video, NicoNico Douga user Haru@Yotsuba sets out to get the lowest possible score in Super Mario World on the SNES. Mario World becomes a very different game in this challenge, where killing Koopa Troopa or breaking a brick is the same as failure. But not content with this already insane challenge, he added a few more rules:

Rule 1: Must be played on an actual SNES.
Rule 2: Must not redo or quit any level half way through.
Rule 3: Must play as Luigi.
Rule 4: Must never be hit.
Rule 5: Must not pick up any coins.
Rule 6: Must not pass the goal with more than one second remaining.

In addition to showing his low score run, this video also includes information as to how he maneuvers certain parts as well as what exactly affects the score in Mario World and what doesn't. In all, he goes through sixteen level and scores a mere 500 points total during the whole game. The video lasts a good 28 minutes (even with fast forwarding the clock at the end of each level) but is hands down one of the most amazing Mario challenges ever seen. So for all you Mario masters out there who think you can do better, a new challenge awaits!

At this weekend's Wonder Festival in Chiba, Japan, collectible figures and cosplayers weren't the only thing on display. There were also super cars—and race queens.

The Neon Genesis Evangelion racing team (yes, there's an Eva racing team!) was on hand, showing of its Super GT cars and bikes. The Eva team's "race queens", dressing as Evangelion characters, were also on hand.

Figure maker Good Smile Company also put in an appearance, not only displaying its new figures, but its Hatsune Miku BMW Super GT. (Hatsune Miku is a popular virtual idol.) The team races at Okayama International Circuit on March 31.

Sister site Kotaku Japan and Japanese website Gigazine were on hand at this winter's Wonder Festival. More photos in the links below.

どちらの痛レース車が好み？ [Kotaku Japan]
本気度が違う！ [Kotaku Japan]
「エヴァンゲリオンレーシング」の2012年版車両とレースクイーンがワンフェスに登場 [Gigazine]

Yesterday, a report surfaced that after Apple lost a lawsuit over the term "iPad" in China, the tablet was getting pulled from the country's shops.

Via sister site Gizmodo, the news was that the Chinese Administrations of Industry and Commerce was seizing iPads.

Officials at Shijiazhuang Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau, however, were confiscating the device in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, reported Shanghai Daily.

The move appears to be entangled in bureaucratic red tape and largely local. Officials at the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau stated there were no orders to pull iPads from store shelves. The device is still on sale in both Shanghai and, according to Kotaku East correspondent Eric Jou, Beijing.

The country's gray market is, no doubt, ignoring the court ruling altogether.

Proview Technology's Hong Kong branch sold Apple the "iPad" name, but last year, Apple lost a court case in China regarding the use of that name.

According to Chinese newssite Xinhua (via China Daily), the company is filing a complaint with the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce as well as appealing to three courts in other places: Shenzhen Futian District People's Court, Huizhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court and Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court

Apple, meanwhile, continues to produce the iPad in China.

Authorities seize iPads in dispute over name [Shangahi Daily]