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Rappies, figures and cosplay: a look at the TGS 2012 shopping area
You say you need a new Hatsune Miku costume? A wind-up Rappy? The soundtrack to every single Mega Man game? The shopping area at the 2012 Tokyo Game Show is the place for you. Come have a look at its wares. Just be sure to bring plenty of Yen.
This weekend's Mass Effect 3 event is 'Operation Broadside'
Hey buddy, still bummed out that your hand-knit N7 armor didn't arrive from Etsy in time for this year's San Diego Comic-Con? Well, just because you can't go rub elbows with cardboard Gundams and all the other cosplayers, that doesn't mean you can't spend your whole weekend pretending to be a highly-trained marine in the Systems Alliance military. Operation Broadside, which lasts until Monday, July 16, puts an emphasis on getting the hell out of dodge: Individual squads are tasked with successfully extracting at least one squad member from a Gold-level Reaper engagement. Meanwhile, the Alliance as a whole is striving for 400,000 successful squad extractions from any Reaper conflict. Squads that complete the Squad goal will receive the standard Commendation Pack, while all participants will receive a Victory Pack and a Medi-Gel capacity increase from five to six, provided the Alliance's overall goal is accomplished.
Jump at the chance for a real Portal 2 jumpsuit
NECA is beginning a bold new behavioral experiment, to determine whether the addition of a logo will render plain orange jumpsuits desirable enough for consumers to purchase them in high quantities and for $100 each. The company's hypothesis is that it will, and we tend to agree.In order to get one of NECA's official Portal 2 Chell Jumpsuits (in women's and men's sizes) from ThinkGeek, you need to get on a mailing list. ThinkGeek will alert its "Test Subjects" about the product's availability when it arrives in October. This is the only way the retailer plans to sell these, so if you want that testy look go sign up now.Pre-orders are available from a variety of other retailers, some of which have their own restrictions – like only offering reservations during the weekend of Comic-Con (i.e. now). Given the response to other Portal memorabilia, you're better off pre-ordering immediately from your retailer of choice.
The Perfect Ten: Amazing amateur MMO cosplay
I find the whole cosplay subculture at conventions to be both foreign and fascinating. On one hand, I deeply admire the dedication and time it takes to put together a complex outfit and then spend all day wearing this custom-made sweatsuit. On the other hand, it does tend to bring out some folks' narcissism and unnecessary cleavage. While many facets of geek and video game culture are adequately represented by those crazy cosplayers, I don't see as much when it comes to MMORPGs. Was it truly underrepresented, I wondered, or have I just never looked? Consider the following 10 costumes the result of an afternoon or two combing through so much amateur cosplay that it vastly exceeded the recommended amount as set by the American Medical Association. I'm glad to make the sacrifice for you, and besides, you just know those doctors are the ones in these outfits, anyway. (Please note that if you're looking for more skin than skill, this will not be the list for you!)
Nintendo's Kid Icarus: Uprising cosplayer is Pit (and not the pits)
Normally we wouldn't post about a single cosplayer found at PAX East, much less one there at a publisher's request; however, this Kid Icarus: Uprising Pit costume, designed and worn by PikminLink, is too amazingly accurate to ignore. The wings! The weapons! The character-accurate bike shorts! The reflective tape to create a glowing effect when a camera flashes! (See after the break). Anyway, if we can't post impressive cosplay once in a while, what's the point of coming to PAX?Even though PikminLink is an "official" costumed character present at Nintendo's booth, Nintendo reps told us that she designed and created the costume herself. Nintendo helped her by providing design reference.
The Firing Line: Thousand-player dogfights and more PlanetSide 2 conjecture
Welcome back to The Firing Line, boys and girls. Last week I talked at length about PlanetSide 2, and despite the fact that I'm apparently unqualified to do so according to some folks, I'm going to do it again this week. How do ya like them apples? Anyhow, that's not all I'm going to talk about, as a couple of other online shooters made news over the last seven days. Most of you know that I can't pass up the opportunity to mention Tribes: Ascend, and oh yeah, would you believe there's an aerial combat game that supports 1,000-player dogfights?
Maiev Shadowsong cosplayer Mary Booth
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. The first-place winner of this year's Costume Voting Contest was the impressive costume shown above of Maiev Shadowsong. What's interesting about the character of Maiev is that she's never really been known for her facial features; the easily recognizable part about Maiev has always been her iconic armor. That armor was recreated here in an incredible, breathtaking costume by Mary Booth, aka Faliná from the guild Scandalous on Kel'Thuzad (US-A). When you're dealing with a character as well-known as Maiev, the details have to be correct, and Mary did an outstanding job. She looks as if she's just jumped out of the game! Creating this kind of costume is an arduous task and takes months of work to get just right. Maiev wasn't Mary's first effort, nor will it be her last -- but it definitely made an impression at BlizzCon this year. Mary was kind enough to sit down and have a chat with us about Maiev, gaming, and next year's plans. %Gallery-142770%
The unveiling of Hogger cosplayer Bryce Masunaga
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Perhaps you're familiar with the photo above, we've used it on several occasions for a variety of articles here at WoW Insider, partially because it' a really cool costume with a lot of detail and partially because hey, it's Hogger! But I've always wondered just how that costume was put together -- and more importantly, who the heck is in there, anyway? Luckily, that question has been answered by an email from the costume's creator, Bryce Masunaga. While Hogger was a fantastic costume that many remember, Bryce has done a couple of other costumes for BlizzCon as well -- a sturdy Tree of Life that does the Twist, and a lovely version of priest tier 5. Bryce sat down with us and chatted about the art of costuming, patience, and how exactly he managed to walk around in that Hogger costume and still see where he was going! %Gallery-142533%
BioWare stages SWTOR freeze mob event in New York City's Times Square
If you happened to be walking around Times Square on the night of December 20th, you may have witnessed one of the more unique MMO launch day promotions in recent memory. BioWare enlisted the help of Darth Malgus and a cadre of heavily armored Jedi (or at least, their cosplay equivalents) to stage a Star Wars: The Old Republic freeze mob event complete with lightsabers and bewildered onlookers. What's a freeze mob? Well, it's just what it sounds like, and fortunately for those of you who didn't get to see it live, there's a video of the shenanigans after the cut.
Cosplay fun with the Stringer family
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. When I ask cosplayers, "How did you get into cosplay?" the answer most often given is that they attended a convention, saw someone in the costumes and decided to create a design based off their characters or a character in game. Well, today I've got a submission that happened to be the other way around entirely! After last week's amazing tauren cosplay, I was sent this amazing female tauren costume along with a whole host of others from 30-year costuming veteran Susan Stringer. Susan didn't start out playing WoW; it was her son Jake's dwarf hunter costume that inspired her to try her hand at creating a WoW character. One thing led to another, and Susan picked up WoW and started playing for herself, eventually completing the costume you see above. For the Stringers, both cosplay and WoW are now a family activity. %Gallery-141743%
Jaw-dropping tauren cosplay is larger than life
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Just how tall would a tauren be, if one suddenly appeared in real life? Monstrously huge, apparently! While we've had submissions from plenty of female cosplayers over the past couple of months, we haven't seen anything from the male side of the spectrum, and I was delighted to open my inbox and see the above photo of tauren warrior Mokkun, fully realized and come to life. This gigantic costume is didn't make an appearance at BlizzCon this year -- instead, it made its first showing at WindyCon, a science fiction convention in Illinois. The best part about all of this? It was a family project, of sorts. Mokkun's mother and father both play WoW and got him into the game, and his mother created the costume. Meant to be a stage piece rather than an up-close, detailed production, the costume still manages to impress. But don't take my word for it -- follow after the break for a few words from Malkinius, Mokkun's father!
Voting for BlizzCon costume contest ends tomorrow!
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. This year's winners for the BlizzCon costume contest were all incredibly amazing efforts, such as the winning costume above, but the contest isn't over for the runner-up costumes! Both the BlizzCon US and the BlizzCon Europe websites are running a contest for those who didn't win on the big stage, and there's a lot of costumes to choose from and vote for. From Maiev to an Orgrimmar mailbox and from the fluffiest moonkin you've ever seen to the ever-bubbly Mylune, these 20 amazingly constructed costumes were picked and given a second chance at nabbing some prizes. Voting ends tomorrow, Nov. 18 -- so log in and vote while you can! And if you're in the mood for more magical costumes, check out our previous articles with cosplayers Svetlana Quindt, Christina Sims, and KittyCatChi. While you're at it, why not take a look at the full gallery of BlizzCon 2011 costume contest images? %Gallery-137313%
Vanessa VanCleef cosplayer shares experience balancing big cosplay projects
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Vanessa VanCleef is something of a fan favorite at WoW Insider. Appearing in not one but two seasons of Two Bosses Enter, Vanessa managed to trick her way up the brackets for a shot at winning it all. Needless to say, I was hoping to see at least one Vanessa cosplayer at BlizzCon this year, and I was not disappointed. Meet Kristie, otherwise known as KittyCatChi on Cosplay.com. Kristie's been doing cosplay of various anime and comic book characters for years, but this year, she decided to devote her time to creating two costumes for BlizzCon -- Vanessa VanCleef for herself and a very nice Harrison Jones costume for her boyfriend Wren. Given Kristie's background, it's no wonder the final product turned out to be accurate, detailed, and gorgeous! Take a look at the gallery for some of the process behind creating the Vanessa costume, and follow us after the break for more from Kristie. %Gallery-137951%
World of WarCrafts: The stunning cosplay of Christina Sims
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. BlizzCon just wouldn't be BlizzCon if it weren't for the cosplay -- and this year's costumes were absolutely stunning. We were lucky enough at BlizzCon this year to get a chance to meet up with Christina Sims, who won last year's cosplay competition with her startlingly accurate reproduction of the Diablo 3 monk costume. Christina hasn't been resting on her laurels since last year's win. In between Alexstrasza appearances at the Darkmoon Faire, she constructed yet another elaborate and exceedingly detailed costume for this year, based on the paladin tier 12 set. Check out the gallery below for a look at Christina's previous costumes, as well as some in-progress shots from this year's entry, and follow us after the break for a few words from Christina about the art of costuming and Warcraft. %Gallery-137526%
This retro Metroid cosplay is without equal
It's almost Halloween, and it's likely you're pretty much set on what you're dressing up as this year. If you're thinking Samus, think again: Dan Cattell's sprite-based Samus and Chozo Statue costumes are without equal. In fact, they're even featured in the latest issue of Nintendo Power.
Spiritual Guidance: The priests of BlizzCon 2011
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore covers the healing side of things for discipline and holy priests. She also writes for LearnToRaid.com and produces the Circle of Healing Podcast. This past weekend, BlizzCon 2011 brought a plethora of announcements for World of Warcraft. Players can now look forward to pandas, a dramatically new talent system, a Pokémon-style minigame, and lots more. Priests in particular are in for radical changes with the new talents, and while I suspect some of you would like to hear my perspective on things, I'm going to wait a week and see what else unfolds from the blues as they respond to some of the more obvious questions the community is asking. This also gives me the opportunity to follow through with my original plans of introducing you guys to some of the priests I met at BlizzCon 2011.
G4's cosplay women of BlizzCon
There are many great costumes to see on the attendees at every BlizzCon. From the intricate to the homemade, the creativity and passion on display is always stunning to behold. In fact, we've already snapped pictures from the first day of the con spotlighting this year's show stoppers. However this time, G4 didn't wait for the hordes of BlizzCon attendees to descend on Anaheim to get their cosplay gallery together. Instead, they assembled some of most well-known costumed fans in advance of the big convention and shot a gallery showing off their amazing outfits. Women profiled this year include last year's Diablo III monk winner in the costume contest, Christina Sims, Jo-Jo Chen who runs an agency for costumed models and many more. Check out the full shoot over at G4. The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!
BlizzCon 2011: Cosplay image gallery
Pandas? Pfft. None of you care about pandas. Nerds in costume? That's where it's at, ladies and gentlemen, and I mean that with all sincerity. The costumes are routinely one of the most fascinating aspects of any convention, and ... uh, I'm sorry, sitting here in front of that costume up above is freaking me right the hell out. Enjoy the pictures. %Gallery-137291% Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
TGS 2011: Cosplayers suffer for their art
Every year, many of Japan's biggest game and anime fans put incredible time, effort and money into creating detailed costumes of their favorite characters. Then, in September, they don those costumes ... and cram themselves into the most crowded, humid place on Earth, a corridor between two halls of the Tokyo Game Show. Seriously, we were wearing regular non-costume clothes and we were sweating at all times. Join us in celebrating talent, commitment, and unhealthy zeal of these brave cosplayers by perusing our gallery of TGS 2011 cosplay. You'll see that, in Japan, people like the Yakuza games enough to dress up like its characters! Kind of amazing! %Gallery-134659% [Photos by Heidi Kemps]
It's what's inside that counts: Wheatley puppet edition
After seeing something completely astounding, our first instinct is to rip it apart to see just how its innards work in such graceful harmony with each other. Thankfully, the amazing Wheatley-puppet creator Jennifer Sorrell is giving us an inside look at her personality sphere with in-progress photos, descriptions of materials and process, and humble assertions (lies) that her Wheatley didn't turn out to be perfect. Wheatley was Sorrell's first foray into puppetry, but we're guessing it's not her last. Check out the complete behind-the-scenes build on her cosplay blog, and request she make a 1-1-scale puppet of GLaDOS next. The office has been looking pretty bare recently.
