Okay, this one's going to write itself, folks. Our tipster, Roger, writes: "My girlfriend recently took a white pair of those vans-style slip-on shoes, and painted good ol' Ryu Hayabusa on them for me against a red rising sun background." He goes on to describe the end result as "OMGWTFBBQAWESOME," which, given the above deviantART image, seems like a comment laced with truth.

Warning: Do not read the last sentence. YOU WILL REGRET IT.

And because you know this post is a shoe-in for stinking footwear puns, you'd best keep a straight face, stop sneakering and galosh over it before the jokes start achille-n you.

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting the British Academy of Film and Television Arts has decided to postpone this year's announcement of its prestigious game awards for 2008 to March 10, 2009. The move is intended to avoid some of the timing issues with last year awards which required some games to be evaluated before they were done (at least one nominee wasn't even released until 2008). The postponement will also avoid conflict with the competing Golden Joystick awards, which last year were announced just a few days after the BAFTAs.

It's common knowledge that movies based on games are generally awful (much like games based on movies). But for all the internet griping about everything from Dead or Alive to Hitman to anything by Uwe Boll, how many of us are insane enough to want an encyclopedic knowledge of every awful game-based movie ever made?

The answer to that question is "at least one" and that one is former Gamespotter Ryan Davis, who has publicly set out to watch every game-based flick as part of "The Giant Bomb Video-Game Movie Experiment." While the project sadly leaves out game-inspired movies like Tron and WarGames and animated classics like Pokemon: Yet Another Insipid Movie, we still have to admire the moxie required to even attempt such a project. Will Davis' determination be enough to see him through? Will his sanity hold out? Find out this summer, only in theaters on the web.

Gamers tired of being pushed around by game retail behemoth Gamestop can check out a potential ray of hope at this week's International Franchise Expo in Washington, D.C. There, game retailer Gamer Doc will be showing off new store prototypes that "will change the way the video game store is interpreted," according to a press release.

Strong words for a franchise that only has three outlets nationwide in development thus far [Updated with corrected wording on 4/11], but Gamer Doc seems eager to show off its new, FHA-designed stores, which it says will make customers "feel like they're walking into a video game, not a video game store." The three themed designs have been created to replicate "a first-person shooter battle zone, ... a futuristic "Borg Spaceship," [and] a carefree, cartoon-character atmosphere." Great news for anyone who's ever dreamed of buying video games from the Borg, we suppose ...

While we're a little skeptical that gimmicky store themes are really enough to drive a wedge into Gamestop's 5,000+ store dominance, we definitely support anyone trying to bring real competition to the game retail space. Godspeed, Gamer Doc.

Next time you're running around your local Target, keep an eye out for some indie gaming love. The Experimental Gameplay Project has recently launched its own clothing line: EGPApparel. The shirts are appearing in Targets all across the United States, each featuring a particular independently-developed title. As if that wasn't filled with enough awesome on its own, each shirt includes the full version of the indie game. That's an awesome t-shirt, and an awesome game, for only $12 USD.

There are currently eight shirts in production, featuring indie titles like Tower of Goo, Big Vine, Gravity Head, Gish, and more. According to Tower of Goo developer Kyle Gabler, the shirts are appearing in Target stores nationwide, but have not yet reached every last chain location. Of course, the more people who run out and feverishly buy all eight designs, the more likely Target will be to ramp up distribution. We're just saying.

Check out a full list of participating Targets in California after the break.

Using contact lenses to simply change your eye color is so passé. Using contact lenses to augment reality is where it's at. At least it is for the Pentagon, which has put out a request for information on a system to display data "not unlike information provided to players of first-person, shooter-type video games" directly on the surface of the human eye. Sounds kind of like those TV display glasses you hear about sometimes, except, y'know, actually cool.

The technology is a little out there, but it's not a total pipe dream. Researchers at the University of Washington are already working on a nano-scale prototype, and the Pentagon wants actual results out the project in three to five years. The means the technology could trickle down into the consumer market in about ten to fifteen years, just in time to be integrated into the Sony PlayStation 5 and the MicroTendo HyperBox 1080. We can't wait!

[Via Wired]

Say what you will about Ubisoft's Imagine line of games (targeted at girls aged 6 to 14), they're generally pretty original. There are precious few game makers trying to tap into the figure skating, fashion designing, and animal healing segments of the burgeoning DS game market. Unfortunately, the same can't really be said for Ubisoft's latest Imagine game announcement, Imagine Rock Star.

Not to focus on the negative, but when Imagine Rock Star comes out in June, it will bump up against a veritable cornucopia of competing DS rhythm games, including a couple that have a very similar premise of multiplayer, "join a band" action. We don't want to sell it short before we see it, but we find it hard to "imagine" (ha!) that this game will bring something new to a genre that's already getting a bit overcrowded. Especially when the "ability to customize the look of each band mate in order to become the most stylish rockers" is a major selling point. Then again, we aren't girls aged 6 to 14, so what do we know?

"Yo Sneak, go snake that shi..."

Wait, we've got that backwards. Regardless, it seems like a totally obvious product tie-in. Solid Snake sneaks silently in a sneaking suit, so MGS "inspired" sneakers are certain to be solid seller. But seriously, we don't get it ...

We're a bit torn between whether the above image is horrifying or brilliant. On the one hand, someone clearly drew massive eyebrows on this poor animal, whose uncanny likeness to Animal Crossing's resident musician K. K. Slider is certainly no fault of his (or her?) own.

On the other hand, someone did look at this dog, and realize that with the slightest modification they could create a most excellent cosplay. In either case, consider us in awe. Now all he/she needs is an adorable guitar, and a puppy-sized stool. But we suppose the poor thing's been through enough already.

[Via DS Fanboy]

Tired of searching Etsy in vain for fan-made God of War apparel? You're in luck! Sony today announced partnerships with four different clothing and accessory makers to feature the company's biggest franchises on all sorts of shirts and such. IV Gear has a list (shown above) of at least some of the franchises which will be depicted, including God of War, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance: Fall of Man, Heavenly Sword and Little Big Planet. Apparel makers Fortune Fashions, Bioworld and MJC will also put the games' logos and character on everything from hoodies to handbags.

"PlayStation is an extremely strong and well-known brand" Shelly Gayner, Director of Licensing, SCEA, said in a press release "We feel that this is a great opportunity for us to satiate our core fans and extend and capitalize on PlayStation name recognition by creating a new line of apparel in connection with the PlayStation brands and our top franchise titles." Memo to Sony: If you really want to satiate the fanboy audience, you'll put Sofia from Battle Arena Toshinden on a body pillow. We're just saying ...

What's the only thing better than a plastic wheel attachment for your Wii remote? Plastic wheels for all your friends' remotes, of course! Unfortunately, each copy of Mario Kart Wii only comes with one of Nintendo's revolutionary necessary new Wii Wheels.

Japanese gamers shouldn't worry, though, as Famitsu (machine translation) reveals that Nintendo will be offering additional wheels for sales at the bargain price of 1200 yen (about $11). No word on whether Americans will get the same chance, but with the market for useless plastic attachments for the Wii remote being what it is, we imagine a similar deal will come stateside eventually.

[Via SiliconEra]

Sometimes it might seem like we here at Joystiq are wedded to our jobs -- that we spend every waking moment aggregating and writing about the latest video game news. Well that's just not true. We do get out occasionally, you know. To anime conventions, for instance.

But even when we're supposedly "relaxing" at incredibly nerdy gatherings, like this weekend's Katsucon in Washington DC, we can't help but think of you, the reader, and how we can be serving you. With that in mind, please enjoy the below gallery, which features some of the more unique/interesting game-related costumes on display by attendees (not included: the million or so Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts related costumes around. Come on guys... originality counts!)

After this week's spoilerific Smash Bros. Brawl leaks and video dump out of Japan, you might be sick to death of the game already. Or you might be writhing around on the floor, gibbering like a baby and drooling at the thought of more information about Nintendo's fan-service-fest.

If you fall into the second group, the below videos should help stop the shakes for a little while. We know you're busy, so we tried to pick out the highest-quality, most intriguing and informative of the literal ass-ton of Brawl videos floating on the web, so you can get your spoiler-fix in the shortest amount of time possible. Enjoy!

Warning: major spoilers contained in almost all of the below videos

Do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, "Boy, I have all these fabulous clothes, but I don't know how to wear them in an ensemble?" Perhaps you'll need to import a Japanese DS title that teaches you how to dress properly. We're still not exactly sure what the name of game is, but we reckon our trusty comment crew translation squad can help.

The game features 200 recorded lectures on dressing yourself and includes a 3D model to dress up and coordinate properly. We doubt this game will make it out of Japan, but it's good to know that if we ever get desperate enough there's a game out there to help us -- or we'll just take notes watching Carson Kressley on Queer Eye reruns.

[Via GayGamer, Go Nintendo]

Between Nights and the upcoming Samba de Amigo, Sega seems pretty committed to remaking their classic franchises on the Wii. Soon there might be a third series to add to the list, as Japanese news site The Magic Box is reporting that Sega has announced Space Channel 5.0. The Wii remake of the stylish, rhythmic original will feature licensed songs from series fan Michael Jackson, according to the extremely brief report. The lack of detailed information and a Sega denial via IGN make us less than certain on the validity of this information, but we wouldn't be surprised (or sad) if this turns out to be true.

Don't own a Wii? Don't lose hope! In an interview with Wired, SC5 creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi hinted that he might be interested in bringing the Dreamcast game to modern download services, a la the upcoming Rez HD. "If I had a reason to remake Space Channel 5 on the new platforms, I will do that," Mizuguchi said. Of course, for that to work, he'd have to get the rights for the game back from Sega. Maybe if we all sing in unison the company will be convinced to make it happen.