Toilet paper? Check. Dummy head? Check. White latex? Check. Zippo? Zippo? Yes, Zippo. Check.

These are just some of the supplies needed to make this:

Sado at Cosplay Weapons walks website Japanator through the process of creating a mask donned by the Nurse characters in horror series Silent Hill. Hit the link below to read the full walkthrough. Just in time for Halloween!

Cosplay tutorial: Making a Silent Hill Nurse mask [Japanator]

I've been playing the hell out of Super Mega Worm on my iPod. So, when we received an e-mail letting us know that the game was on sale for $0.99 in the App Store, I figured I should probably tell all of you. So, here goes:

Super Mega Worm is on sale for a limited time in the App Store for a mere $0.99.

It's an oddly compelling game. The controls are very touchy, to the point at which I simply can't wrangle my worm using the tilt controls and have to rely on the slider. And it's challenging, though some of that is also down to the touchy controls. But I can't stop playing it either. I've definitely received a dollar's worth of entertainment from the game, so this strikes me as a good deal.

Earlier this week, Nintendo quietly released a firmware update for its DSi handhelds, the sole purpose of which seems to be to stop people from using flashcarts on their consoles.

Flashcarts - small cartridges which allow users to play both homebrew and pirated games - are contentious devices in the industry, many applauding the expanded functionality afforded by custom applications and games, while many more choose to instead use them as a way of not having to pay for video games.

They've recently been outlawed in Japan, the UK and Australia, and this new 1.4.1U firmware reportedly blocks the Acekard 2i, DSTTi, iPlayer, M3i Zero, Supercard DSTwo, EZ-Flash Vi, iSmart DS, Hyper R4i and more similar devices from working.

Since flashcarts are able to themselves receive firmware updates, it's hardly a decisive measure by Nintendo, but for the average soccer mum who does this - and you'd be shocked to learn how many DS pirates are average families - it may be enough to get them back to the cash register.

New DSi update released, flashcarts blocked [Tiny Cartridge] [image: scdsone]

LevelUp initiates tower defense against gaming clutter with a series of stylish all-in-one gaming storage solutions that make your console the base of its own video game tower.

I'm constantly battling with video game clutter myself, particular with my game controllers. While I've yet to find a storage solution more convenient that halfway sticking out of the couch, LevelUp's new gaming towers might be a strong contender.

Each fully licensed (except for the Xbox 360 version) tower contains a place for your console with plenty of life-giving ventilation, slots for your favorite games, (non-charging) controller docks up top, and hooks to hold any plastic guitars you might have lying about the house.

"The concept behind LevelUp is simple: gaming gear shouldn't clutter the home," said Jason , Lemelson, President of Level Up. "Our line of affordable towers makes it easy for every day consumers to keep their accessories in a functional tower that looks cool in any entertainment or gaming environment."

At $69.99 MSRP, each tower - the PlayStation 3 Alloy, Zig-Zag for XBOX 360, and Aperture and Trideca for Wii - won't run you much more than a game. They're an elegant solution to a common gaming problem.

Of course if you have all three systems like I do, you'll soon find yourself dealing with tower clutter, and I doubt they'll fit snugly between your couch cushions.

The Level Up towers will be available at participating U.S. retailers, including Toys R Us, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's and JCPenney. Check out the LevelUp website for more info.

This winter, an animated feature film version of Japanese soccer role-playing game Inazuma Eleven will be hitting theaters in The Land of the Rising Sun.

The series has already spun off manga, television anime and, yes, a stage production, too.

The game's studio, Fukuoka-based Level-5, has previously turned its Professor Layton games into feature animated films.

Inazuma Eleven: Saikyo Gundan Ogre Shurai (Lightning Eleven: Strongest Ogre Corps Invasion) will be released on December 23.

Panty & Stocking, Inazuma 11, Agukaru Promos Streamed [ANN via Anime Nationa]

A "former senior employee" of Farmville devs Zynga recounts a meeting he once had with the company's boss. Via SFWeekly.

_{[Community member Mr Dillinger and crew went to a Halo: Reach event in Australia. This is their story. -- Hamza Aziz]}

Hey Destructoid. Recently I've been focusing on getting a more professional image in the PR work of gaming and let it be known, it's not easy when it comes out of your own pocket. To be perfectly honest it was a slaughter to get what we got and some of you might even consider what we got to be very little. That being said, we are quite happy with the results we got out from flying economy to Sydney, Australia to catch Microsoft and Bungie in their latest efforts to market what is around the corner with the help of NASA space cowboy, Buzz Aldrin.

While at the event we got to shake hands with YouTube hit generator Blunty, key members of Microsoft, Bungie, NASA and Make A Wish Foundation. And let it be known that City Hunter is the best place you can go in Sydney to kick back and get your game on. Actually, I'm just going to go out there and state that China Town in general is simply awesome because it never sleeps, and that suits me just fine.

In the following presentation, we give you an exclusive look at Microsoft's new motion control add on, Kinect, as well as listen in on the wise words of one of the few men on this planet to travel to the Moon's surface, Buzz Aldrin. To top it all off, we manage to get a brief sit down with David Allen (Multiplayer Producer) and Chris Opdahl (Campaign Design Lead) of Bungie, as they give us an promising look into their upcoming Halo: Reach. Enjoy!

Creat's support for the PlayStation Network seemingly has no end. Although the studio's TerRover was just released this week, Creat has already revealed its next game: Skyfighter, an "unabashedly retro" side-scrolling shooter. The gameplay looks straightforward -- players take control of a small fighter plane, gunning and bombing over 21 levels -- but that's to be expected of a title from a studio whose previous works include Hamster Ball and Smash Cars. Skyfighter will also have a multiplayer mode, but TheSixthAxis reports that it will be offline only.

Surprisingly, the game is arriving on the PlayStation Store for PS3 in just a "few weeks" time. Perhaps Creat wants Skyfighter to fly under the radar -- but we're certain the sales team wouldn't appreciate that.

Skyfighter: an old-school side-scrolling shooter for PSN originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google launched a new search service today, which returns query results as you type them in. Let's see how it handles some of the most popular video game series.

The test is simple. Keep typing in the title to a video game or series until Google Instant turns up a result. See how many letters it takes. Presumably, the bigger the series, the faster the result, though the first few letters of a game's name help; Zelda doesn't have much competition, for example.

The most impressive? Metal Gear Solid, Team Fortress 2 and Tetris, the first two because they show up having just typed words as common as "metal" and "team", the latter because all it needed was a "te".

UPDATE - Seems these results could be skewed by your browsing history, but I've never searched for "grand canyon", "granite" or "teamviewer" in my life. Maybe a mix of recorded results and Google's suggestions?

The 3DS is amazing! It's like real life, but BETTER!

We revealed our game of the show for PAX Prime 2010, Jim chatted with Randy Pitchford on Duke Nukem Forever, Sundays with Sagat is over for now, a lucky community member got to check out Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and more happened on 09/08/10.

Destructoid Originals:
Destructoid wall graphics now on sale + CONTEST!
PAX 10: Sterling and Holmes hands-on Donkey Kong's mound
Gearbox's Randy Pitchford talks Duke Nukem Forever
PAX 10: Sterling and Holmes hands-on Kirby's Epic Yarn
PAX 10: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 Klog hands-on interview
PAX 10: Bonk: Brink of Extinction hands-on of love
The 3DS captured on video like never before!
PAX 10: The best of cosplay super-cade of super-friends
Sundays with Sagat: Street Fighter Final Fight finale'
PAX 10: Destructoid Best of Show Awards

Community:
Community blogs of 09/08/10

Previews:
Jimpressions: Hunted: The Demon's Forge
Jimpressions: Fallout: New Vegas
Jimpressions: Retro City Rampage
Hands-on with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
PAX 10: A hands-off look at Guild Wars 2

News:
FINALLY: The Last Guardian confirmed for TGS
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 revealed, playable at TGS
Mikami/Suda51 collaboration to be revealed next week
Sega: Sonic Colors is for everyone!
Naughty Bear 'Episode 9' coming this month
'Special Edition' 250 GB 360 Kinect bundle announced
Microsoft bans Xbox Live user for living in Fort Gay
Deadly Premonition director working on Lord of Arcana?
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 announced for Winter
Free App of the Day: Oceana
Tecmo Koei reveals its Tokyo Game Show line-up
Hirai: PSPgo had an audience, honest!
Kinect brain training (with Pac-Man!) headed to Xbox 360
Feelplus's Mindjack delayed to 2011
Order Knights in the Nightmare, get Yggdra Union for free
LittleBigPlanet 2 beta codes go out this week
L'Abbaye des Morts is bringing ZX Spectrum back
Burning Tide: Blizzard's first StarCraft II custom map
PAX Prime 2010 pulled in 67,000 attendees
Kmart really wants you to buy Halo: Reach

Media:
Carmine's fate sealed, fans raise $150k for Child's Play
Video reminder: Rock Band 3 has keyboards
Islands of Wakfu is an XBLA game to keep an eye on
Keep a dungeon once more with 'Dungeons'
Enslaved pre-order item: Uh, 'Sexy Robot Trip'

Back from PAX and thinking "Man, I would have had much more fun had I dressed up as my favorite videogame character"? There's always next year, and have you considered being a Silent Hill nurse?

Our sister site Japanator has a full-on detailed tutorial on how to make your very own Silent Hill nurse mask. All you need is a dummy head, toilet paper, turpentine, and some other crap and… viola! A terrifying Silent Hill nurse mask to call your own.

No really, it's terrifying; by the time it gets to the last steps, it looks like they're working with rotten meat. Or dog feces. How authentic!

Cosplay tutorial: Making a Silent Hill Nurse mask [Japanator]

Think it's only Westeners that look goofy playing Microsoft's Kinect? Nope, Japanese people look silly, too. Don't believe me?

Kinect launches on November 11 in The Land of the Rising Sun. Let the ministry of silly poses commence!

?Xbox 360 Media Briefing 2010????? Kinect? [Game Watch]

While PS3 owners are already enjoying the demo for Tecmo Koei's Quantum Theory, it looks like the denizens of Xbox Live will have to wait a little longer. Unfortunately, we don't have a solid date for the demo's Xbox debut, with an official announcement saying simply that it will arrive "later this month."

Don't worry about it too much though, we're sure you'll find something to keep you busy for the rest of the month.

Continue reading Quantum Theory demo on Xbox Live 'later this month'

Quantum Theory demo on Xbox Live 'later this month' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quick Hit Football - now officially Quick Hit NFL Football - has re-launched with all the colors, logos and nicknames of the National Football League, as well as a long anticipated three-dimensional presentation in the browser-based PC game.

The game is still free to play, with several options of paying to upgrade or advance a team available as players get more invested in their franchises. But anyone joining the football management simulation will now get to pick their favorite NFL team and play under its logo, uniform and colors. Legacy players who started before the relaunch will still keep their old team names and uniforms if they choose.

Most significantly, for a subscription fee, players can see the action play out in console-style 3D animations. The original top-down presentation is also offered for free.

Jeffrey Anderson, Quck Hit's founder and CEO and the former CEO of MMO-maker Turbine, said in a statement that the game "marks an important day for gamers and football fans who have long awaited the return of NFL gaming to the PC."

Quick Hit, launched last year without league branding, blends in-game strategy with MMO and fantasy football elements of roster management and player advancement. The games themselves do not play out according to arcade skills; players rather scout their opposition's strengths and weaknesses, and in the games select the best playcall for the situation, either against the CPU or a live opponent. Between games they work to train players, upgrade promising ones, and cut weaker performers.

Quick Hit 2.0 delivers the 3D animations longed for by its users, but the game's multiplayer feature can still match Flash users (playing in the basic top-down view) to gamers using the Unity plug-in to deliver the 3D action.

This upgrade comes at a price, of course. QuickHit 2.0 arrives with a new pricing model - $5.95 a month of $47.95 a year for a "Pro Membership" that delivers the 3D presentation, the ability to brand your team as any of the 32 existing NFL franchises, plus a monthly allotment of in-game currency and "coaching points" to improve your team or buy new playbooks. Browser banner ads also are removed in QuickHit's premium subscription.

That said, for those just want the 3D presentation and prefer to advance their team with freely earned experience points, or to pay for individual upgrades a la carte, QuickHit's 3D mode is $14.95 for lifetime access on a single account. As these players progress through a slate of 32 challenges and full 16-game seasons with their team, they will also unlock access to other NFL team logos if they choose.

Though the game does not carry realistic rosters - it is not licensed by the NFL Players' Association - it still will reflect the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of the NFL's current franchises, said Brandon Justice, Quick Hit's director of design.

"The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, will feature a powerful running back, several receivers and a pocket passer - but a suspect secondary," Justice said. "Teams have been customized to fit the style of that NFL team. They'll get a team that plays like that team."

That goes not just for talent, but also in playbooks - at least for those opposing you at first. Those facing the Steelers will see a 3-4 defense, typically; against the Miami Dolphins, players can expect to see direct snaps to a running back out of Wildcat formations. That's for CPU-controlled teams, at first. New users get a basic set of plays that are upgradeable either by acquiring in-game experience or paying for in-game currency.

Those who played QuickHit and built teams prior to this relaunch will get to keep their original user-generated colors and logos, or switch to an actual NFL team's branding for free. Further, new teams created in Quick Hit 2.0 will see a spread of players between levels 1 and 5; new teams created in the game's first iteration saw players between levels 1 and 10. "Early adopters have a pretty significant advantage," Justice said. "Plus they may already have legends, for free, on their team."

"Legends" refers to the slate of past NFL greats seeded into the game's talent pool. There also are five active players licensed to appear as opponents in Quick Hit NFL Football. New England receiver Randy Moss and Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware already were announced as participants in the game's latest version; they'll be joined by Titans running back Chris Johnson, Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb, and Redskins (for now, anyway) defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth. Coaches like Brian Billick and the late Tom Landry will oppose you - Bill Cowher guest stars as a booth analyst in the game's audio, too.

Google has been long-admired for its unique company motto: "Don't Be Evil." Critics will note that some of Google's practices have fallen from that mantra, but it's a better place to start than, say, Zynga, the company known for the popular Facebook games FarmVille and Mafia Wars. "Zynga's motto is 'Do Evil,'" a former employee of the company told SF Weekly. "I would venture to say it is one of the most evil places I've run into, from a culture perspective and in its business approach. I've tried my best to make sure that friends don't let friends work at Zynga."

The driving force behind this bitterness and resentment of Zygna is the company's derivative culture. "You're not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers," one employee recalls Zynga's founder, Mark Pincus, telling the team. The SF Weekly report shows clear examples of Zygna's copy-paste attitude: there's Farm Town (pictured right), which preceded FarmVille (left) by months; and Playfish's Restaurant City, coming before Zynga's Cafe World.

Zygna has already been sued by Digital Chocolate for the use of the Mafia Wars name. According to another employee, lawsuits have been accounted for, with the company mindful of possible settlements. "I was around meetings where things like that were being discussed, and the ramifications of things like that were being discussed -- the fact that they'd probably be sued by the people who designed the game," he says. "And the thought was, 'Well, that's fine, we'll settle.' Our case wasn't really defensible."

Supposedly, things are changing. With hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the company, the public has been placing much more attention on Zynga's upcoming games. The era of the quick copy-paste cash-in may be over for Zynga, with at least one employee saying that there's a "new emphasis on original content and more sophisticated applications to draw in and keep users."

Zynga employees speak out on 'doing evil' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If nothing else, you have to give credit to Locomalito for excelling at capturing the essence of aged, beloved videogames. And hell, they have the best faux old-school box art I've ever seen. First there was the shoot-'em-up Hydorah, and now we have L'Abbaye des Morts.

It's a platformer in the same vein as Matthew Smith ZX Spectrum titles Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy. Sold yet? Well, it is a free download, so that's okay. The influences are a little before my time, but I can appreciate what Locomalito is going for nonetheless.

L'Abbaye des Morts [Locomalito via IndieGames]

Ah, the PSPgo. Right idea, wrong time, and definitely wrong price.

In an interview with MCV that covers all things PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment Kaz Hirai has touched on the challenges his company have faced in trying to sell the PSPgo, a handheld that requires online purchases and is exorbitantly priced.

"It is the first time we have done that with any of our devices, and we did get a lot of feedback, both good and bad", he says. "I think we need to make sure we have as many titles available to download as possible, to make the experience as easy as possible. But also pricing is perhaps an issue. Because of the cost reductions we've been able to do over the years, the traditional PSP has benefited. But the PSPgo is a completely different design, so the cost trend is different."

"Those are some factors. But I'm happy with the results that we've seen on PSPgo, including the invaluable feedback that we've been getting from our consumers. I think it has done well for us."

That last line pretty much means "we now know what not to do", which can only be a good thing for the next PlayStation handheld.

INTERVIEW: Kaz Hirai [MCV] [image credit: Jin Han]

Thanks to documentation from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, we now have a better idea of the terms involved in 38 Studios' controversial move from Massachusetts to R.I. Obtained by WPRI, the report kinda explains what's going on: 38 Studios will receive $51 million from the state; $13 million as soon as Curt Shilling's studio signs the contract to move and another $38 million as the company achieves milestones over the next 15 months. The remaining $20 million is held in some reserve to assure three years of debt payment, which is tied to other caveats.

38 Studios also has a strict job creation schedule over the next three years. The developer must have 125 full-time jobs within a year of signing for the loan, another 175 the following year and 150 more the year after. That may just be numbers to many of you out there, but industry human resource representatives and studio directors just spit coffee all over their monitors. The studio will be penalized $7,500 per year for each of the 450 jobs it doesn't create. Obviously, if you do the math, it's cheaper not to hire for the full-time job and take the penalty.

38 Studios must also announce the location of its new studio operations and corporate headquarters by November 30, 2010 -- note: the company just has to say where it's going, not actually get there. Also, the closing of the loan requires a "signed, enforceable" 10-year lease for 38 to stay in Rhode Island. Looks like R.I. wants to make sure that it's not paying to raise a studio -- which, to date, hasn't released a single project -- and watch it leave for California or Canada after it gets all that cash.

38 Studios' loan from Rhode Island detailed in new report originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your nightly open thread is here, so if you want to talk about The Dark Tower, Captain America or X-Men: First Class, this is the spot, kind Kotaku reader.

If you're out of the loop, you may want to catch up on some of today's nerd news, including the TV and film adaptation effort of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, which will (in theory) spawn three movies and two seasons of television. Which seems crazy!

On the less exciting side, peeks at Captain America: The First Avenger filming and Emma Frost from the next X-Men movie are out. And... uh... I'm sure it's going to be fine in the long run.

Anyway! Let's catch up, shall we?

• Stephen King's The Dark Tower to become crazy ass series of movies and television series - Sounds incredibly expensive, but cool.
• Cambridge Knocks Harvard Off Top in University League
• Dragon*Con missed connections on Craigslist - "If I had a TARDIS, I'd go back and make myself ask you to dinner. Temporal paradoxes be damned."
• Science determines which dance moves are irresistible to the ladies - I tend to stick to just cabbage patching all night. It really works!
• Canada's new speed bumps - Optical illusions of kids playing in the street.

Terry Cavanagh's great gravitational platformer VVVVVV has been re-released on Steam and can be yours for a pittance at just $4.49 USD right now. Enjoy dying by spike, Mac and PC gamers!