Raheem Jarbo, aka Mega Ran, aka Random, is one of the more noted video game musicians out there. For his latest album, though, he went a little further than just rapping about video games.

With financial help from fans, he's been able to put together a concept album that includes not just the music, but accompanying comic and video game material as well, all centred on his partly-autobiographical idea of a man who is a teacher, rapper and hero.

The album, Language Arts: Volume One, isn't bad! And while I haven't read the graphic novel, I have played the game, which for a guy called Mega Ran is unsurprisingly based heavily on Mega Man. It's pretty good!

Language Arts: Volume One is the first in a series of three planned releases based on the idea. You can check out more info below.

Language Arts: Volume One [Random]

Scourge of internet comments sections and saviour of countless rainy days, the humble animated GIF file turns 25 this year, Compuserve having first introduced the file format back in 1987. To celebrate, here's a ton of the things compiled in a mildly nauseating video.

Note: only celebrate if you call it a "giff". If you say "jiff", don't celebrate, because there is clearly something very wrong with you, and that's hardly something to celebrate.

A 25th Anniversary GIF Mashup set to 8-bit Dubstep [PBS, via it8bit]

This week's cosplay roundup here on Kotaku is mercifully short on Final Fantasy and/or Kingdom Hearts, two series that are a little, let's say, over-represented in the field.

In their place, we've got some costumes that are way more interesting, including some stuff from Warhammer, Tekken, Kiki's Delivery Service, Lord of the Rings and even Avatar. Not the James Cameron Avatar. The other one. The good one.

As seen on Magoro.
As seen on 0kasane0.
As seen on hybridre.
As seen on Nebulaluben.
As seen on Gone-Wrong.
As seen on Witchiko.
As seen on the-mirror-melts.
As seen on ivettepuig.
As seen on ivettepuig.
As seen on andrewhitc.
As seen on Jack-Dan.

Indie adventure game The Journey Down, which has actually been available in various versions for a while now, but today sees the release of a "HD" version which turns the formerly low-fi experience into something a little shinier.

If you've never played it, but love adventure games, you should see about fixing that. Of all the games in the last twenty years to have tried, The Journey Down probably does the best job of all in capturing that special mix of humour, puzzles and quirkiness that made the 1990s the golden era for the genre.

It's playable for free, but if you like what you play I'd say pay the $14 and get the HD version (available below). It's definitely worth it.

The Journey Down [Official Site]

For all the concern over Diablo III's requirement to always be online - and it's a very legitimate concern, given many people's twitchy connections - let's not forget the trivial flip side to that situation: the gamers trying to push the limits of just how connected they can be while playing.

Reddit user puttputt has posted some images of he and a friend playing the game on top of Canada's Mt. Yamnuska (7,349 ft high!), using their laptops tethered to a 3G connection picked up on their mobile phones.

It was hardly an ideal situation, with ping in the 300-2000 region resulting in fairly laggy conditions, but they say it was playable.

Playable and beautiful. That's one hell of a view.

Mom told us to go play outside, so we did. Playing Diablo 3 on top of Mt. Yamnuska [Reddit]

Sunday afternoon at New York's Citi Field, and the stands are full to capacity. They're packed not with New York Mets fans, though. They're packed with 40,000 Ultra Orthodox Jews, there to attend a rally against the more nefarious aspects of the internet.

These amazing images, snapped by Getty photographer Mario Tama, capture the rally in full swing, as the all-male crowd listened to addresses warning against the potential dangers of social media, online pornography and other aspects of uncensored web use.

Don't get the idea it was a rally against the internet itself. The event couldn't have been organised without online correspondence, kosher apps (yes, they exist) were being advertised and those among the Orthodox Jewish community in New York who couldn't attend were able to watch events via webcast.

BioWare's extended ending sequences for Mass Effect 3, which are looking to give players a little more closure on the series, will feature lines from at least three of the franchise's main voice actors.

Lance Henrisken (Admiral Hackett), Tricia Helfer (EDI) and Raphael Sbarge (Kaidan) have all confirmed they've been back in the recording booth, which suggests - given the nature of Kaidan's potential survival - that Kimberley Brooks (Ashley) will be there as well.

"I just did another session with them...They were saying there's a little bit of a problem with the abruptness of the ending," Henriksen told G4. "So we did a whole series of things to add to the end of the game, to live up to the quality they've been doing."

"Usually, when a guy loses the game, the game shuts down; it's over. It's done. The players don't like that."

Admiral Hackett And EDI Wil Be Back In Mass Effect 3 Ending Content [G4]

Over the weekend, some supposed new screenshots of Beyond Good & Evil 2 - or at least BG&E2's tech demo - look to have turned up. Interestingly, while they share the same setting as the last screens (and the tech demo video), these actually have star Jade front and centre, and show sequences not depicted in prior looks.

Sadly, as good as this looks (or as weird, since all the tech seems decidedly human and contemporary), we probably won't get our hands on a second BG&E game until the next generation of home consoles.

Fresh Beyond Good & Evil 2 screenshots [VentureBeat, thanks CV1!]

Bar none, Hong Kong outfit Hot Toys make the most realistic action figures on the planet. So it's nice to know that, with The Avengers destroying box office records all over the planet, Hot Toys has the license to produce large, expensive and very fancy figures based on the movie.

Nearly every major character in the film is or will soon be available (and we've even seen some already). Indeed, four of the are being thrown together in the one pack that's being given away, with Kotaku readers able to hit up this link to enter the draw to win a bundle including Nick Fury, Captain America, Hawkeye and Thor. The same link will also let you know how to get your hands on Tony Stark's Mark VI figure, which is limited to only 3000 pieces worldwide and won't be available in stores.

Below you'll find pics of the four bundled figures, the Iron Man Mark VI and the newly-announced Loki, who'll be out in December and cost $210. Wondering where Black Widow and Hulk are? They're coming a little later...

You buy games at GameStop. You buy games hardware at GameStop. You may sometimes even buy a magazine or action figure. Very soon, though, you'll be able to add something a little unexpected to the list: mobile phone plans

The multinational games powerhouse will soon, in the US at least, turn itself into a telecommunications provider, offering a range of pre-paid and contract-free deals that rely on the user bringing their own phone to the table (GameStop won't, at least for now, be offering phone + plan deals).

Prices range from $5 to $55 a month depending on your data. Oh, and GameStop's plans will operate on AT&T's network.

I'm trying, real hard, but I cannot think of a single reason why anyone would want to do this.

GameStop Mobile launches as AT&T virtual carrier, gives us rare bring-your-own GSM in US (update) [Engadget]