Nintendo is joining its home console and handheld divisions into one unit to streamline its hardware, reports the Nikkei. That means the two divisions, which have be separate, will not work in concert. So don't be surprised if future Nintendo handhelds have greater interaction with the home consoles!

Nintendo is joining its home console and handheld divisions into one unit to streamline its hardware, reports the Nikkei. That means the two divisions, which have been separate, will not work in concert. So don't be surprised if future Nintendo handhelds have greater interaction with the home consoles!

Oh, but it is. Beloved by fans, you can bet that there's a seemingly endless well of Metal Gear cosplay, especially ones that bring Snake to life. Snake? SNAKE?! SNAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!

Last year, Kotaku collected some, not all, of the best cosplay of Raiden from Metal Gear Solid. This time, it's Snake's turn, with wonderful internet cosplayers breathing realism or putting their own spin on Metal Gear.

In the Metal Gear games, there are multiple characters with "Snake" in their name, whether that's Solid Snake, Naked Snake, or Old Snake (who is really an elder Solid Snake), among other Snake characters like Liquid Snake and Santa Snake. Santa Snake? SANTA SNAKE?! SANTA SNAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!

Click the lower corner of each image to expand to full size.

[HitoCosplay/bgzstudios/TheBigToe]

[cosp]
[Adnarimification_2]
[bgzstudios]
[crystalcosfx]
[effektdmentality]
[Gollum-net]
[Gollum-net2]
[HitoCosplay]
[layercloud]
[Outlanders]
[Pai]
[StealthScope]
[TheBigToe]
[WashuuOtaku]
[yume-ninja]
[Adnarimification]
[verndead4]
[Antharez]

Killer Is Dead is the upcoming action game from the folks behind No More Heroes and Killer7. The game follows 35 year-old Mondo Zappa, a suit-wearing executioner responsible for taking out heinous criminals with a katana.

A gun that can turn into a drill is embedded in Zappa's left hand—an augmentation he has no memory of getting. The weapon becomes increasingly powerful during the game, and it can be used to absorb enemies' blood for a powerful "Adrenalin Burst" slash attack. Also included in the blood is "dark matter", which can apparently be changed into energy.

The American born Zappa works at an "executioner's office", managed by Brian Rozen, who was also augmented, to become a world-class executioner.

Joining Zappa is his boss at Rozen's firm, the cat-suit wearing 25 year-old British born Vivienne Squall. Mika Takekawa, 20, is Zappa's assistant. After an earlier incident, she met Zappa and then started living with him because she can make excellent soft boiled eggs, his favorite dish.

Then, there's the evil Victor, a criminal who is dressed kind of like Mozart—if Mozart had glowing eyes, skeletal features, and green skin. Victor manipulates human emotion through song and aims to bring evil to the world.

Besides the international characters, the game uses various backdrops, such as old Western houses and Japanese buildings.

Previously, Goichi Suda said that Killer Is Dead is not a sequel to Killer 7, but that the new game does take cues from the previous title. The cel-shaded artwork does have a Killer 7 vibe to it.

Killer Is Dead will be out this summer in Japan on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. In case you missed it, here is some concept art for the game.

角川×グラスホッパー共同プロジェクト第2弾『KILLER IS DEAD』ディテールが明らかに [ゲーム情報！ゲームのはなし]
須田ゲー [都々逸]

It's a gimmick, sure, but it's a neat one: this is a sheet of water vapour that, thank to some fancy add-ons, has been turned into both a screen and a touch-screen device. Letting you get your Fruit Ninja on.

As you can see, the controls work pretty well! I mean, it's also entirely useless, especially since it costs $10,000, but hey, it works pretty well!

Playing Fruit Ninja On The Displair At CES 2013 [Jason Gilbert, via Touch Arcade]

Not content with pleasing the world with his Shadow of the Colossus hard drive enclosure, Reddit user foxfoxwaltz seems to be on a mission to turn his entire desk into a Team Ico playground, as he's also done this amazing Last Guardian speaker enclosure.

Seeing as this would look incredible just sitting there as a statue, the fact it's also serving a practical purpose only makes it twice as cool.

There's a ton of work-in-progress shots at the link below.

The Last Guardian Speaker Enclosure [Reddit]

According to legal documents obtained by tech sites Ars Technica and Extremetech, four former employees of hardware company AMD are facing a number of charges related to industrial espionage over allegations they stole "thousands of confidential documents" before leaving to work at rival company Nvidia.

The four named in the suit are Robert Feldstein, Manoo Desai, Nicholas Kociuk and Richard Hage. Feldstein has long been a key part of first ATi and later (when bought out) AMD's console push, first playing a key role in securing the company's contract to supply graphics hardware for the Xbox 360, and more recently for deals over the Wii U, Durango and PlayStation 4/Orbis.

It's alleged that Feldstein "transferred sensitive AMD documents, and in the next six months, the three defendants either did the same thing, violated ‘no-solicitation of employees' promises, or both—all obvious violations of common law, statute, and/or contracts with AMD."

To back up the accusations, AMD claim they have forensic evidence revealing that 10,000 files were stolen, covering "confidential, proprietary, and/or trade secret materials related to developing technology".

AMD also accuse Feldstein and Hagen of first recruiting Desai and Kociuk to assist them, then attempting to recruit other AMD employees to do the same.

The full list of accusations levelled against the four (or some of the four) includes:

- Misappropriation of trade secrets
- Violation of unfair competition laws
- Computer fraud
- Breach of employee's duty of loyalty
- Breach of contract
- Conspiracy

AMD is hoping to recover the files stolen, and has been granted a restraining order against the four.

Note that the suit is only being brought against the four individuals, and not Nvidia.

We've contacted the parties involved for further information, and will update if we hear back.

UPDATE:

An NVidia rep says: "Our policy is not to comment on pending legal matters."

An AMD rep says: "AMD will always take action to aggressively protect its confidential, proprietary and trade secret information. We believe the facts are clearly outlined in our pleadings and are supported by forensic evidence. The pleadings are publicly available. Current and former AMD employees are contractually required to honor the ongoing confidentiality and non-solicitation obligations each agreed to while employed with us. As this case is now in litigation, we have no further comment at this time."

AMD accuses former top employees of stealing over 100,000 documents [Ars Technica]

Industrial espionage: AMD files suit against former employees for alleged document theft [Extremetech]

Case Documents

It's got almost nothing to do with the game itself, since it shows absolutely none of it, but the debut trailer for Cyberpunk was still an exciting thing to watch, primarily because it shows at least the game's art design has the whole future noir, Blade Runner thing down pretty well.

You may be forgiven for thinking the clip was made by trailer specialists Blur, but nope. It was actually done by Platige Image, a Polish team whose previous game experience is with stuff like The Witcher 2 and Catzilla, the amazing PC benchmark animation we showed you earlier today.

Because the clip is now out, Platige are able to share some of the process that went into creating the trailer, which includes storyboard art and, to go with the images from yesterday, some concept art from developers CD Projekt.

Best of all, though, are the photos and renders showing how the trailer's characters were modelled on "performances" by real actors, captured in a special room that could make 3D models of their bodies without the need for those dorky suits covered in white dots.

I've included some of the best shots here in the gallery below, but to see the whole thing, you can check out Platige's full collection.

Cyberpunk 2077 [Platige]

If your family is from a place on the planet that means it has a heraldic shield, chances are it's actually pretty simple. I know mine is. If only I lived in the Land of Ooo, where my allegiance would get me seeing something like these framed at my Nanna's house.

If I decided to get the Land of the Dead one tattooed somewhere, I really can't think of a point in my life where I'd regret the decision.

They're the work of artist Mr. Caputo, and if you feel like putting one up at your place, they're available as prints from his store.

The Adventure Time heraldic shields collection [Mr. Caputo, via Gamefreaks]

There's been some unsavoury talk of statues today. Let's clear the air, then, with a look at a statue that does gross the right way.

This piece, of Dead Space's creepy wall-hugging lurkers, sadly isn't available for purchase. It's a custom job, by British artist Sean Schofield, and if you think it's just a wee statue to sit on your desk, nope. It's 1:1 scale. Meaning it measures just under three feet tall.

Impressive, if also slightly terrifying.

Dead Space Lurker [DeviantArt, via Toycutter]