Dicks, why does it always have to be dicks? Before the Wii U's user forum, dubbed the Wiiverse, launched, I said that it would be a dick drawing inferno. Little did I know that Japanese Xbox users would launch their own Wiiverse clone.

But, I'll tell you what, I sure saw the dick drawings coming. Isn't that always the case? These aren't just dicks for the sake of dicks. Okay, well, maybe they are.

The Wiiverse clone is called "Xboxverse". In Japanese, it's called "Hakoverse" (箱バース), with "hako" (箱) meaning "box" and being one of the console's nicknames in Japan. To be clear, this isn't a Microsoft Japan joint, but rather, the work of Japan's fledgling Xbox 360 owners. In Japan, the Xbox 360 hasn't exactly lit the country on fire.

The Xboverse is browser-based and obviously not part of Xbox Live. Community members, however, are uploading Wiiverse-style drawings—as well as drawings that would most likely be clamped down on pretty quick in the Wiiverse.

So far, all the dick drawings seem to be confined to the board on the Tintin game. There's a clever reason for this! Did I say clever? Ha, I meant juvenile. SORRY.

In Japanese, Tintin (yes, Tintin) isn't called TinTin. Instead, the comic (and its titular hero) is known as "Tantan" (タンタン). The reason for this is that in Japanese, "ti" is a tricky sound. In traditional Japanese, the sound for "ti" was pronounced as "chi" (in today's Japanese, "ti" can be written out—more here). Thus, the name "Tintin" was changed, because it could be pronounced and written as "Chinchin". "Chinchin" (ちんちん) means "penis". The Adventures of Penis sounds like a very difference experience.

Hence, the Xboxverse thread on the Tintin game is covered with cocks and "chinchin" jokes. So, for once, dick doodles are fitting, no?

箱バース [Official Site]

Dicks, why does it always have to be dicks? Before the Wii U's user forum, dubbed the Miiverse, launched, I said that it would be a dick drawing inferno. Little did I know that Japanese Xbox users would launch their own Miiverse clone.

But, I'll tell you what, I sure saw the dick drawings coming. Isn't that always the case? These aren't just dicks for the sake of dicks. Okay, well, maybe they are.

The Miiverse clone is called "Xboxverse". In Japanese, it's called "Hakoverse" (箱バース), with "hako" (箱) meaning "box" and being one of the console's nicknames in Japan. To be clear, this isn't a Microsoft Japan joint, but rather, the work of Japan's fledgling Xbox 360 owners. In Japan, the Xbox 360 hasn't exactly lit the country on fire.

The Xboxverse is browser-based and obviously not part of Xbox Live. Community members, however, are uploading Miiverse-style drawings—as well as drawings that would most likely be clamped down on pretty quick in the Miiverse.

So far, all the dick drawings seem to be confined to the board on the Tintin game. There's a clever reason for this! Did I say clever? Ha, I meant juvenile. SORRY.

In Japanese, Tintin (yes, Tintin) isn't called TinTin. Instead, the comic (and its titular hero) is known as "Tantan" (タンタン). The reason for this is that in Japanese, "ti" is a tricky sound. In traditional Japanese, the sound for "ti" was pronounced as "chi" (in today's Japanese, "ti" can be written out—more here). Thus, the name "Tintin" was changed, because it could be pronounced and written as "Chinchin". "Chinchin" (ちんちん) means "penis". The Adventures of Penis sounds like a very difference experience.

Hence, the Xboxverse thread on the Tintin game is covered with cocks and "chinchin" jokes. So, for once, dick doodles are fitting, no?

箱バース [Official Site]

This morning, Japan's Asahi News ran a story on the PS4. It included several things we've heard before, such as how the PS4 will allow you to share things with friends while playing (more here in a previous story) and that it will come with a DualShock 3 shaped controller—which Kotaku previously reported.

(Meanwhile, the Nikkei ran its own story on the PS4, saying what we've previously heard: that it's ditching the Cell processor and is using processors from another company. The Nikkei also added that the PS4 will use the Gaikai cloud service, which shouldn't come as a surprise.)

The original Asahi story goes on to say that the PS4 will launch for the end of year sales war in Japan and the US, and that it looks to be priced over ¥40,000. (That's US$427, but assume it would translate to US$400.) There was no specific US pricing in the original article. The original Japanese text in the Asahi piece (価格は4万円を超えるとみられる) is rather vague, as "to mirareru" (とみられる) can mean "is believed", "is expected" or even "is considered to be". In short, this seems like speculation. Yet, this is the bit of news everyone is latching on to.

When major Japanese newspapers like Asahi or Nikkei run rumors, they are usually pretty solid. Thing is, there's not much here that hasn't already been leaked before. And like I previously said, the price point doesn't seem rock solid. Remember how much the original PS3 cost? The 20GB version was US$499, while the 60GB version was $599. Now the Asahi News is saying PS4 will cost over $400. That's not only kind of vague, but rather obvious!

This afternoon, Sony commented to Famitsu on the Asahi story, saying, "SCE has nothing to announce regarding this matter. No comment even on whether this story is true or false."

For more about the next PlayStation, read Kotaku's previous coverage here and here.

PS4は年内に発売、価格は4万円超え。ネットワーク機能が充実化、年末商戦に投入される見通し [DSPSP初心者講座]
複数メディアが"プレイステーション4"年内発売決定の報道 [ファミ通]

When I rolled out of bed this morning, I never expected the world would decide to present 2009's biggest internet sensation singing the theme song to 2011's biggest video game in... 2013.

A little late on both fronts, then, but it's not without a certain charm. Or, it will be, once I manage to get past the fact it kinda sounds like something you'd hear blasting from a cab driver's stereo in Eastern Europe.

Skyrim MAIN THEME! - "Dragonborn" - Tay Zonday [YouTube]

Legendary British special effects wizard Stuart Freeborn, who is responsible for some of science fiction's most memorable on-screen characters, has passed away at the age of 98.

Freeborn, who made the ape-men from Stanley Kubrick's 2001, will be remembered most for his contributions in the Star Wars franchise, where his puppet-building and make-up skills led development on the characters of Chewbacca, Yoda and Jabba the Hutt.

Freeborn was also responsible for many of the aliens in the Mos Eisley Cantina sequence, the ewoks and the native creatures of Hoth, the wampa and tauntaun.

It was almost a year ago that the man credited with designing many of these characters, artist Ralph Macquarrie, passed away at the age of 82.

STUART FREEBORN REMEMBERED [Star Wars]

This incredible, miniature rendition of Winterfell—as it's seen in the opening credits to the Game of Thrones TV show—was done by Daniel Ammann.

if you've got access to a 3D printer, or as I like to call them "boxes of dark sorcery", he's made the plans for the model publicly available, so you can print your own off and pretend that SPOILERS eventually turns up and SPOILERS before SPOILERS then SPOILERS.

Winterfell [Thingiverse, via Geekologie]

A group of very serious fans want to make a web series based on Skyrim. So far, so modern internet, but what's setting the pitch for Skyrim: The Shadow Cult apart is the level of professionalism that's going into the production.

Instead of just tossing robes on a few friends and letting computer effects do the rest, the team have commissioned some of the biggest names in cosplay—like Harrison Krix—to build props and costumes. The results are as good as you'll see... well, maybe not in the movies, but definitely TV.

The aim is to shoot five 20-30 minute episodes, which at the end can be combined to run as a feature. What I'm most impressed with, though, is the location. Most efforts like this end up being shot in some guy's garage, or a warehouse, in front of a green screen. At best, they drive to the nearest woods.

To really nail the remote, mountainous feel of Skyrim, the team will be filming in the forests of Millinocket, Maine, a location "so remote in the height of winter its only accessible by snow mobile accross a frozen lake." Or a fast travel.

Funding for the project is currently up and running on indiegogo.

Skyrim: The Shadow Cult - A Fan Mini Series [indiegogo]

Maybe it's because Western artists are dealing with a genre that's so close to their own culture and history (or at least close to it), but there's a reason the majority (though not all!) of fantasy art ends up looking the same. It tends to stick too close to the real deal.

Unless it's some tripped-out dark magic shit, what you see in the design of everything from huts to swords in games like Skyrim and The Witcher tends to look just like their historical counterparts.

It can get a little... boring. Which is why I love the take artists from places like Korea tend to have on the genre, taking Western fantasy cliches and putting their own spin on them to create something a bit fresher.

I've posted several examples of this previously, but the latest is the work of Jeon JongUk, aka ENrang. Those castle and town environment shots are fantastic, but his character work—albeit with less flair for the original—isn't far behind.

You can see more of Jeon's work at his personal site (thanks Concept Root!)

Waaaay back in time, long before even the first Far Cry was released, Crytek were working on a game called Engalus. Envisaged as a first-person game with an emphasis on story and role-playing, it actually made a small public appearance in 2000 as a tech demo for Nvidia before disappearing from sight, never to be seen again.

Well, until this week, when Superannuation was perusing the page of Brian J Audette, former lead designer on the project, where you'll find not just a story synopsis for the game, but also a mod for Deus Ex that implements some of Engalus' design, assets, voice acting and dialogue.

Brian J Audette [Home Page, via Superannuation]

Ars Technica's Kyle Orland recently found a security issue with Valve's online marketplace, Steam. "Out of respect for the privacy of Steam's more than 50 million users", Ars didn't immediately publish the article. Instead, they contacted Valve.

Barely three hours after being notified, the exploit had been fixed. That's fast. But what's really interesting is that Valve kept their mouths shut the entire time, neither commenting to the site or even publicly admitting that the exploit had been discovered.

The full piece on Ars details how the exploit was discovered and how easy it was to do, while also raising the point that, by keeping quiet on the matter, Valve is potentially discouraging further acts of voluntary "white hat" security existence.

HTML holes exposed sensitive data for "private" Steam user accounts [Ars Technica]