And the winner of The Gay Gamer Giveaway™: Painter Momopie Edition is ...

... finchiekins.

Congratulations! Also, sorry to those of you who threw your hats into the ring but didn't walk away winners.

Don't fret, though, as I'm planning to hold at least three more such "Gay Gamer Giveaways" in the coming weeks. In fact, I'll likely publish a post about the second one early next week.

In the meantime, finchiekins, please send me your address so I can mail this copy of Painter Momopie to you, pronto. We follow each other on Twitter, so maybe you could send that info via a direct message? If not, let me know and I'll share with you my e-mail address.

Congrats again, and thanks to everyone who participated!

See also: 'The Gay Gamer Giveaway™: Painter Momopie (GameBoy) Edition'

The Gay Gamer Giveaway™: Painter Momopie (GameBoy) Edition

So, I'm going to do something a little silly over the next few weeks--I'm going to publish a handful of posts (like this one) that will result in one of you fine folks walking away with a free Japanese GameBoy cartridge.

Sadly, none of these copies are "complete"--you're only going to get the cart, not the box, the manual or even the plastic case--and all of them are a bit beaten up, but on the other end of the spectrum, they work and they're free, so who really cares, right?

The only rule for this particular giveaway: leave some sort of comment below that indicates you'd like to throw your hat into the ring for the copy of Sigma's Painter Momopie, a cute Pac-Man clone that never saw the light of day outside of Japan, seen above and below. (And if you're commenting anonymously, please share some sort of username so I can properly and easily identify you if you're victorious.)

I'll ship to wherever the winner may reside and I honestly don't care what the winner dos (keep, sell, turn into a piece of nerdtastic jewelry) with the cartridge he or she receives--although of course I'd love it if some or all of them actually get played by recipients.

The winner of this particular Gay Gamer Giveaway™ will be determined first thing in the morning on Monday, June 19. Shortly afterward, I'll publish a post that reveals the winner, and then I'll follow that with yet another post about the next giveaway--assuming there's any interest whatsoever in this first one.

Finally, should you want to read up on Painter Momopie before deciding whether you even want the cart shown above, check out this introductory post, this "Great Gaymathon" review or this "Manual Stimulation" installment that's devoted to this adorable title.

Hubba hubba, part trois

It's been almost a year since I last wrote about the guys I consider to be gaming's hottest hunks, so I think it's about time I chimed in on this steamy subject once again, don't you?

The five studs below have been placed in alphabetical order, by the way. If I were to organize them from hottest to hot-but-not-quite-the-hottest, I'd probably put either Garcia Hotspur or Sigma in the pole position.

Chuck Greene (Dead Rising 2)--I included this series' dark-and-scruffily handsome Frank West in my first "Hubba Hubba" post, so why not include the blond-and-scruffily handsome protagonist of its second entry in this one? It helps, of course, that Greene looks more than a bit like actor Aaron Eckhart. Sure, he shows up as a psychopath in Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, but nobody's perfect, right?

Dunban (Xenoblade Chronicles)--Dunban is a special guy. Not only is he one of the few people capable of wielding the Monado, the legendary "energy blade" that serves as the centerpiece of this long-awaited Wii RPG, but he has a jaw so square it would make even Viggo Mortenson jealous. And then, of course, there's his flowing locks and muscular, tattooed torso. The only strike against this studly solider, as far as I can tell: He has a rather questionable sense of fashion. Oh, well, who wants to see him clothed anyway?

Enoch (El Shaddai)--To be completely honest, Enoch, the protagonist of this PS3/Xbox 360 action title, isn't my type. Oh, he's easy enough on the eyes, but he's just a bit too ... pretty for me. (I mean, look at that hair! Is Fabio his role model or something?) His guardian angel, Lucifel, on the other hand, is much more my cup of tea, if you get my drift. Still, I thought I should include a blond or two on this list, so there you go. (Pointless aside: Go here if you'd like to see some fan art that depicts Enoch and Lucifel "in flagrante delicto.")

Garcia Hotspur (Shadows of the Damned)--On the surface, Hotspur is your typical bad boy: He's covered in tattoos, he's got a facial scar, he has an affinity for leather (jackets, especially), his hair is dark and unkempt ... you get the picture, right? Dig a little deeper, though, and you discover that this questionably-named hunk has a softer side, too. (During the course of this Grasshopper Manufacture-made game, he goes to hell in order to save his true love.) Can I get an "awwwwwwwww"?

Sigma (Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die)--The Wikipedia entry for this upcoming Chunsoft-developed 3DS/Vita title says that Sigma, its main character, enjoys making risque jokes. In other words, he's pretty much the perfect guy. After all, it suggests he has a (crass) sense of humor as well as model good looks and a penchant for wearing what looks like a (form-fitting) mechanic's get-up. Be still my heart.

Honorable mentions: Hawke (Dragon Age II), Lucifel (El Shaddai), Reyn (Xenoblade Chronicles) and Skyrim's "Nude Muscle Bears" (link NSFW).

See also: 'Hubba hubba' and 'Hubba hubba, part deux'

Chunsoft's Extreme Escape Adventure (3DS/Vita) has some sexy cover art

I don't usually get all hot and bothered over game characters (despite what I've said in posts like this one and this one), but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel at least a little tingle "down there" after catching my first glimpse of the cover art that was produced for Chunsoft's Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die (aka Kyokugen Dasshutsu Adv: Zennin Shibō Desu, due out in Japan on Feb. 16).

That's chiefly, if not completely, due to this 3DS and Vita game's main character, Sigma, who takes up the right half of said cover, of course. (Speaking of whom, more shots of Sigma can be ogled, I mean seen, on the game's official site.)

As nice as this game's cover art is, it's all for naught if it never leaves Japan, right? After all, Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die, like its predecessor--the DS-based sleeper hit, 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors--is an "adventure game," which means lots and lots of text.

Unfortunately, no one has admitted to working on an English translation of the game at this point. That doesn't mean one isn't in the works, though; in fact, I'll be pretty shocked if Aksys Games doesn't lay claim to it sooner rather than later thanks to success the company had with the aforementioned 999.