Earlier this year a visit to Epic Games in North Carolina inspired me to forever etch a combat-ready green rabbit on my person. The art I used as reference for the vibrant tattoo was created by independent animator turned game developer Don Dodrill, the man behind the unbelievable 2009 XNA Dream Build Play competition winner Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Last week I got a chance to play an all-too-brief demo of the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade action platformer, and I'm pleased to report I don't feel like scraping off several layers of skin.

Dean "Noogy" Dodrill is a top-notch animator, which explains why Dust looks so damn fine in motion. The Elysian Tail property, represented by both the game an animated movie, are completely Dodrill's babies. While countless professional animators toil under the yoke of creative constraints, he's living the dream.

And Dust: An Elysian Tail plays like a dream.

I'm not exactly clear on the story of the game — I know the protagonist, Dust, is out to liberate a village and uncover his past with the aid of a magic sword and a tiny fairy cat thing named Fidget. I'm sure there's much more meat to it, and if not at least the dialogue is amusing.

But dialog and story were the last thing on my mind as I dove headlong into Dust's wonderfully fluid combat system.

Swinging Dust's sword is effective enough. Fidget's magic bullets are just sad. But combine the whirlwind-like Dust Storm attack with those ineffectual bullets and suddenly the screen is filled with deadly projectiles, enemies are flying about uncontrollably, and the player feels a supreme sense of satisfaction.

It's flashy and fantastic and never slows down. It's truly hard to believe this is a title that stemmed from Microsoft's XNA program. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say Dodrill is made of some sort of magic.

Years ago Dean Dodrill helped define a green rabbit so precious to me I choose it for permanent prominent display on my person. If Dust: An Elysian Tail turns out as good as my brief demo indicated, Dodrill might lay claim to more of my epidermis.

Would you play a Firefly game with first-person gun fights? Or Mass Effect-esque dialogue trees?

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski, who says he'd love to turn Firefly into a video game, has some interesting ideas for a hypothetical game based on the beloved sci-fi franchise. He even chatted with Firefly creator Joss Whedon this year about the pipe dream, as unlikely as it may be.

Yesterday I sent a note to Bleszinski's crew over at Epic Games to ask him a simple question: How would you make a Firefly game? Here's what he told me.

(The following contains spoilers for Firefly and Serenity.)

First off, a little expectation management in regards to this. The chances of Epic Games working on an external property are darned near zero. So, remember, this is all hypothetical, pie-in-the-sky "What if Uncle Ben was Never Killed" Spider-Man kind of stuff.

I've been a Joss Whedon fanboy for years. Buffy is one of my favorite shows ever created. In fact, if you were to open up Unreal 1, you'd find that some of my trigger tags in there were various allusions to how hot I thought Sarah Michelle Gellar was. I enjoyed Angel, and fell in love with all things Firefly.

Fun fact: I was able to visit the set of Serenity when they were filming the death of Wash. I was standing there while Joss was holding the camera and the set was shaking. They nearly built out that entire ship on that lot, which I admire, because CG backgrounds can take away from the overall vibe. The next time you watch the scene, consider that I was there, off to the side, shitting my pants off and hoping I didn't ruin the shot.

I've been fortunate enough to run into Joss on several occasions. Years ago at E3, I was able to take Joss and Nate Fillion to an Unreal Engine 3 tech demo, and upon leaving the convention center Joss said, "I've seen more creativity in there in 15 minutes than I've seen in years in Hollywood." For me personally, the only external properties I would ever consider adapting to game form are Joss properties. Cut to 2012 where Joss and I often wind up running into each other at parties and, in the midst of a dance-a-palooza, I was able to congratulate him on the success of The Avengers (that kind of commercial success is long overdue for a man of his talent) and also tell him that someday it would be sweet to do a Firefly game.

Think about it. The universe is ready to go. On one side you have the Alliance, on the other you have former Browncoats running smuggling operations, and both are terrified of the Reavers. With space combat, you could do first-person gunfights "sci-fi Wild West" style on the ground with crazy escapes back to your shuttle, and everything in between.

When I watched Firefly, I got a similar feeling to when Ron Gilbert went on Pirates of the Caribbean - I wanted to just exist in this world, I wanted to be myself on that ship with that crew. The crew of Firefly feels like a family; the final shots of some episodes showing them eating dinner together at a very retro table are there for a reason. One thing Joss has always been amazing at is portraying the motley crew that comes together as a family to overcome challenges.

Going back to game possibilities, the ship may be somewhat similar to the Normandy in Mass Effect, as well as some of the dialogue trees. Consider Kinect voice interactions with the crew to further push immersion, along with awesome Wing Commander-style dogfights and you can just SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.

And, of course, you have to get the entire cast back together to play their parts. (And we find a way to get Wash back in there, because Alan Tudyk rules.)

That's just a "what if."

Strong hints of a sequel to last year's Battlefield 3 surfaced over the weekend when a mention of a Battlefield 4 beta that could be accessed by pre-ordering Medal of Honor: Warfighter popped up on EA's Origin store. Those hints became fact with specific solicitation accompanying a new Warfighter developer video. An EA press release says that the Battlefield 4 beta is coming this next fall.

Last year, teasers for a new MOH game were packed in with Battlefield 3 and this new development makes it seems like EA will be pursuing an alternating-year release strategy for its premier FPS franchises.

Imagine living in a town so remote, so isolated, and so dreary that the prospect of a Taco Bell opening nearby ignites a spark of hope in the populace so intense it has to be set to moving music.

Some would say Bethel, Alaska sounds like hell. Me? I say it sounds like the healthiest place on Earth, at least until Taco Bell's corruption engineers worked out a way to airlift 10,000 Doritos Locos Tacos to the once-fit people.

Apparently someone tricked the entire town into thinking a Taco Bell was coming, and that broke the heart of the restaurant's public relations department. There was only one thing to do: capitalize on the situation with a touching video, and if they made a few thousand people happy in the process? Well, that's just something they'll have to live with.

Congratulations, Bethel, Alaska. May the emergency orange never fade from your fingertips.

About three weeks back, Bandai-Namco released their first big-name, free-to-play title, Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation on the PlayStation 3. Set during the original Gundam series, this multiplayer third-person shooter reenacts some of the biggest battles in the One Year War, with six people siding with the Earth Federation and six with Zeon. But is this first step into the world of free-to-play gaming a worthwhile one or is Gundam Battle Operation just another example of "you get what you pay for."

Good — Unique Take on Capture-the-Points Gameplay

The game itself is set up like your standard capture-the-point versus mode—you go out, capture points, and then defend them. What makes Gundam Battle Operation unique is how you do it. To capture a point you actually have to leave your mobile suit, making you vulnerable to bullets and explosions—as well as giant robot feet. If you kill an enemy player while he's outside his suit, you can take it over yourself, allowing you access to all its weapons. If you're smart, you can even sneak behind enemy lines and lay a bomb on the enemy home base—pretty much guaranteeing you the number one spot on the scoreboard.

Good — A Real Weight to Your Giant Robot

The mobile suits in Gundam Battle Operation handle far more like enormous lumbering tanks than giant humans—and this is a good thing. Every suit feels heavy and moves realistically for an object of its size. This makes weight—and therefore speed and maneuverability—an important consideration when choosing your mobile suit. Are you willing to ditch your armor to speed back and forth across the battle field, or would you rather be able to shrug off enemy bullets like annoying flies? The choice is up to you and your play style.

Mixed — Play Time Equals Strength

While being able to choose your mobile suit is a great tactical option, when starting up the game for the first time there is zero choice or customization. You have one suit for each side with no weapons nor augmentations. In battle you will undoubtedly be facing opponents with far better suits and gear—so much so that you could fire at them non-stop for a full minute with the starting machine gun and still not kill them. Of course, they can just take you out with a few rockets or a sword thrust.

Upon your team winning (or losing) a battle, you gain experience points which are then put randomly into research for new weapons, armor, and mobile suits—and there are tons of these items to unlock. Unfortunately though, because of the sheer number of possible upgrades, it will take a long time before any single one has been researched enough to use in battle. Still this wouldn't really be an issue if you were allowed to play as much as you want to grind out the experience points. However, when Bandai-Namco said Gundam Battle Operation was free-to-play, what they meant was...

Bad — Free-to-Play (...for 30 minutes a day)

Each battle in Gundam Battle Operation takes ten minutes and costs one "energy point." You gain one energy point every two hours and can save up to a maximum of three. This means you can play at most thirty minutes in one sitting—i.e. thirty minutes a day if you have work or school—unless you are willing to buy more energy off of the PSN. In a game where it is impossible to be competitive unless you've grinded exp hour upon hour, it pretty much becomes "pay money or prepare to wait weeks for the fun to start."

Bad — Only Two Maps

Another annoying bit is that, at this point in time, there are only two playable maps—an open desert and a rocky canyon. While both are very different in layout, there are only so many times you can play the two maps before getting a bit tired of them. More maps are promised to be in the works, but at the moment, the lack of maps makes for very little variety in how each battle plays out.

Final Thoughts

As a free-to-play title, Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation isn't half bad. It looks good and plays well to boot. There is a ton of customization and the whole mechanic of leaving your suit adds an entirely new level to gameplay. However, only being able to play it in short bursts without paying really puts a damper on the game—as does being more than a little useless in battle until you spend a sizable amount of time playing. In the end, Gundam Battle Operation is worth a download, but only those who fall in love with its gameplay (and have money to burn) are likely to give it a permanent spot on their hard drives.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation was released on June 28, 2012, for PS3 on the Japanese PlayStation Network.

Sword Art Online originally debuted as a light novel series, but earlier this month, an anime version kicked off.

Sword Art Online is set in 2022 when a new virtual reality MMORPG called Sword Art Online is released.

Players can control their characters with their minds, and all seems to be going well until the game's creator locks the game, preventing players from logging out.

A challenge is issued: If you want to leave SAO, you must reach the 100th floor of an in-game tower and defeat the last boss. But if you die in SAO, you die in real life...

So, yeah, bring on the .hack comparisons!

Website Random Curiosity has been chronicling the anime in detail, offering insights and opinion (why this isn't just a .hack rehash) as well as screen caps. Have a look at the first episodes in the above gallery.

Sword Art Online [Random Curiosity]

Starting this month, PS3 exclusive Tokyo Jungle (read Kotaku's preview here) will be reborn in manga form in the latest issue of Champion Red, which goes on sale this week in Japan. Check out the first image above.

チャンピオンRED9月号(7月19日発売)、『TOKYO JUNGLE』がRED上陸!! [Akita Shoten]

You know how Apple Stores have those elaborate glass staircases? They're elegant and stylish, sure, but in Hong Kong, they're causing some to worry about awful pervs.

See, the front of Hong Kong's flagship Apple Store is glass and the glass staircase faces a main road—both provide possible peeping opportunities for unsavory types.

The store first opened in Hong Kong last fall. But with summer and summer clothing, female shoppers have voiced concerns that the staircase and the glass front can make them victims of unwanted peeping. In an Apple Daily news report, some female Apple customers, however, were not so worried. Others seemed to be concerned.

"Actually I have noticed it (glass staircase), but what I see it's not a fully transparent glass, it's that kind of matte finish," said one female customer from Shenzhen (via MIC). "In fact... I'm not so worried..."

Another one of the woman interviewed said she would be more careful in the future when in the store.

No wonder a woman's commission for a Hong Kong political party listed the spot as a location that can reveal far more than shoppers intend.

The design of the Hong Kong store shows one constant flaw in Apple products: They look and seem great and wonderful in the abstract, but sometimes less so in real world conditions.

透明樓梯無遮無掩蘋果旗艦店最易走光 [Apple Daily via MIC]

Going into Anarchy Reigns, I knew two things about it. 1) It was made by Platinum Games and 2) you could play as Bayonetta in the multiplayer. And with its Western release pushed to 2013 (despite the full English game being on the Japanese disc), it seemed like a must play. As I went through the game, chopping up scores of nameless mutated freaks with my double chainsaw hand, something started tugging at the back of my mind. There was something familiar about this game. But it wasn't until the screen faded to black and white during a cutscene that it hit me, I was playing as Jack Cayman, the main character from Madworld. Note: This post contains spoilers.

Madworld had always been one of those titles I had meant to pick up and play but never had. And I was so intrigued after beating Anarchy Reigns that I went out and bought Madworld to learn more about the life of chaser Jack Cayman.

At first, everything was going good. I saw several characters I knew from Anarchy Reigns; I learned some backstory about Jack and the voice in his ear, Amala, and saw The Blacker Baron's dominatrix assistant, Mathilda, in all the DeathWatch challenge cutscenes.

Yes, things were going along smoothly until I met Rin Rin... and brutally killed her. Suddenly I was more than a little confused. After all, Rin Rin is not only a boss in Anarchy Reigns, but also a playable party member. And yet I killed her in Madworld? Does this mean Anarchy Reigns is a prequel to Madworld? Sadly, that doesn't work either.

One of the key plot points in Anarchy Reigns is that Jack no longer smokes. It's heavily implied that he never will again. Yet Jack is always smoking in Madworld so Anarchy Reigns must happen afterward.
Perhaps the two games are totally unrelated …and just share the same cast ...with the same personalities, motives, and backstories. Yet, the games are clearly connected. You kill the Black Baron in MadWorld, so you get the Blacker Baron in Anarchy Reigns. You kill Big Bull Crocker in MadWorld, so he's a robot with a human brain in Anarchy Reigns. At one point in Anarchy Reigns, Jack even directly quotes himself from MadWorld ("I don't help people. I kill them").

No matter how you try to put the games together—even if you try to separate them—it doesn't work. Anarchy Reigns is dependent on things that happen in MadWorld; yet at the same time, some events in MadWorld clearly contradict Anarchy Reigns. So in the end, I am left confused with no way out.

But why is this? Were the writers simply too lazy to make sure the two stories matched up? Did they just want to reuse the characters and didn't care about anything else? Only Platinum Games knows for sure.

The worst part is, by changing a few small details, adding a few lines of explanation, or even just a bit of lampshade hanging, the stories of these two games could form a cohesive narrative. Instead, it's just a confusing mess that takes two entertaining stories and makes them both somewhat worse.

Anarchy Reigns was released on July 5, 2012, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan and will be released outside of Japan in March of 2013. Stay tuned to Kotaku East for our import preview later this week.

Sega's Yakuza series of crime games always pride themselves on top-notch voice acting and realistic faces. The games continually get some of the biggest names in Japan to lend their voices (and mugs) to the games.

Today, Sega released a series of voice cast photos with their in-game counterparts. These are famous (and talented) folks, like Show Aikawa and Eiji Okuda.

See how the game versions stack up.

哀川 翔さんや奥田瑛二さんなど豪華な顔ぶれがズラリ。 [4Gamer]