I'm completely sick of Portal fandom, but I have to admit that this is some good Portal cosplay. Joystiq has a gallery of game costumes from Katsucon '08, but beware that it contains things like scrawny pale-armed Ken and someone in an Amaterasu costume.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Silent Hill 5 screenshots, Alone in the Dark tech demo, Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust trailer, BlazBlue scans and gameplay footage

• Reports are piling up that Toshiba may be about to give up on HD-DVD.
• A Best Buy product description for the upcoming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game says that you can drum and sing in the game. Overzealous copywriter or leak of new peripherals?
• The executive director of the Game Developer's Conference highlights the presentations to watch. Coverage of the GDC will begin Monday.
• Kotaku has a feature article on the subject of Objectivism in BioShock.
• The Telegraph reports on why scientists love gaming consoles. "'I noticed that the architecture looked a lot like high performance supercomputers I had seen before,' he says. 'That's when I thought about getting one for myself.'"
• IGN has a short hands-on with BlazBlue from the AOU Amusement Expo in Japan.
• Dead Head Fred has won the first ever Writer's Guild of America Video Game Writing Award.
• This week's Rock Band tracks will be Stone Temple Pilots - Sex Type Thing, Weezer - El Scorcho, and Garbage - Why Do You Love Me. This announcement lends credibility to the supposed complete list of tracks found in data files inside previously released DLC.
• Illinois legislator Robert Pritchard knows what's really to blame for gun violence. "[Gun control] doesn’t seem to impact the kind of gun violence that goes on. ... I think video games is a part of the problem, television, movies. Just a whole culture of violence."
• Meanwhile, the New York Post reports "College Killer Crazy for Violent Vid Game".
• Just in case you need someone to actually rebutt Jack Thompson's comments about the recent NIU shooting, Kotaku has done so.
• But in one good bit of news, the New Mexico video game tax bill has died a quick death.
• GameSetWatch breaks down what to expect from game programming interview tests, just in case any of you plan on becoming programmers any time soon.
• Some student filmmakers are planning to make a documentary about the E.T. landfill, which will be released for free on the Internet.
• Chris Dahlen poses the question: Is it okay for game reviewers to cheat?

PC and mobile news

• The Battle.net forums keeps an updated Starcraft II Q&A archive with questions about all sorts of minutia.
• Yahoo! Games reports on a woman who is divorcing her husband of six years over his World of Warcraft addiction. "I bought the game for him for Christmas 2004, when it first came out. By May we had our first serious discussion about where our marriage was going, and by September I had moved out."
• A recent job posting suggests that Amazon is looking to open a digital distribution service for games.

Nintendo news

New media: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood screenshots

• The ESRB has rated Gauntlet for the DS.
• The latest Iwata Asks feature on Wii.com looks at the origins of Wii Fit, with photos of prototype boards included. The balance board idea was originally inspired by sumo wrestlers.
• A GameStop ad for a DS carrying case has an R4 cartridge in it. R4 carts are used to play games illegally on the DS.
• The extra costumes for We Love Golf have been chosen by the Internet masses: Ken and Morrigan.

Sony news

• Sony has released details on what the Warhawk 1.3 patch will entail.
• I sense a pattern here: Lost Planet on the PS3 requires a 5 gig install.
• An Eye of Judgment expansion is coming this spring.
• Sony recently donated PS3s, PS2s, PSPs and HDTVs to the Children's Hospital of New Orleans.

Microsoft news

New content: GripShift Turbo Expansion Pack

• Remember that time is running out to download Dream On for free in Guitar Hero III.