If you're looking for one more reason as to why you should pack your belongings and migrate to Japan, well we do have one more that might help. That would be the fact that Japan is one of the few countries who love their anime and video game characters so much, that these characters end up immortalized on either postage stamps or credit cards.

So, when Tecmo's well-known Dead or Alive game franchise turned 10 years old, they did the most obvious thing and decided to commemorate the event by plastering three of the most popular characters in the game onto an object which you would most likely closely guard and care for. After all, it wouldn't be pretty if you lost your best picture of Kasumi AND ended up with credit card charges you didn't make.

On top of being the proud owner of one of these cards, though, they're also throwing in special DOA 10th Anniversary original trading cards into the deal. Each credit card owner will be given one trading card which belongs in a set of nine. These nine cards also have parts of a larger image printed on the back, so if you somehow manage to collect all nine designs and put them together, you're then rewarded with an A4-sized piece of DOA artwork.

Now whether this is something that is worth extending your credit line for, is completely up to you.

We said it would hit US shores in a box, but we were wrong. Dead wrong. Some intrepid member of the online community uploaded the entire Dead or Alive film onto Google Video, where sites like ours can partake of the cheese that is Corey Yuen's bouncy, busty epic.

In any case, you can either thank or throttle Xch4ng3 for putting this up. Needless to say, we don't know why he did, much less why he used the text below as a caption, but we're definitely here to let you know about it. Get to watching before it gets taken down.

Any talk with Tomonobu Itagaki results in more than a mouthful to write about. His latest tete-a-tete with 1UP is no different, where he divulges his opinions on Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball 2's review scores, the "cultural context" of bikini Tug-o-Wars and Butt Battle, and even his impressions on the PS3 and Wii.

Now, the Via link is available for those who are interested in hearing all his thoughts (and they are quite a mouthful), but we're going to dedicate this article to probably the most important bit we extracted from the interview: there's an auto-update patch in town.

The big new thing in this patch is that they're going to make sure You Can't Cheat Anymore (TM). Team Ninja discovered an exploit wherein players who are about to lose in gambling mode pull up the Xbox Live menu to avoid losing money on a bad bet. Besides applauding the cheater's entrepreneurial skills for finding such a loophole, Itagaki will also pull the plug on that exploit. When you log on to Xbox Live with the game in the console, you'll be asked to download the patch.

Here's the thing: Team Ninja also realized that some people were doing this because the cash payouts from some of the minigames were too low. With the patch, "you'll be earning more money for every activity than you were before, as a way to address the initial reason people began cheating in the first place." That's magnanimity for you: stick and carrot.

Itagaki also disclosed that with the new patch, he'll be opening a new bikini boutique very, very soon, called the Crystal Boutique. Its address is 101 Mysteria Lane, Xbox Live Marketplace... yes, microtransactions for bikinis. He says it's "really for people like myself or you, people who like to play games, but don't have as much time on their hands." We can concede the point there, but we're wondering if paying for Kasumi's bikini collection will net the same Gamerpoints as playing for them...

While Dead or Alive was actually a nice action movie, it wasn't exactly the kind of thing that pushed video gaming as something serious and worth fighting for. Actually, the words "soft", "core", and "pornography" come to mind when faced with the whole plot behind it.

Luckily, America will not suffer the same fate. Only the most persistent fans of videogame movies or of Team Ninja's game itself will be able to see it on something larger than a TV screen.

The DOA movie is poised to hit store shelves rather than theaters, it seems. Kotaku notes the IMDB entry, saying that the film won't be headed to movie theaters. Instead, it will have a direct-to-DVD release in the U.S. sometime in April.

Expect the DVD version to have deleted scenes (the parts with the conversations and stuff), outtakes (the one where Corey Yuen cries himself to sleep while making this), and extended beach volleyball action (no comment).

Time to squeeze in some juicy info for our European readers. For those who can't hold their excitement in any longer, wait no more. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 will be bursting into the European market as of Friday, December 8. New Zack island would now be open for Team Ninja's guests of lovely ladies and their bouncy, umm, personalities.

No better way to stay warm during the freezing winter season than by spending it with your loved ones: Kasumi, Hitomi, Ayane, Tina, and the rest of the DoA girls. The new casino island of Zack will have you scoring some cash as you compete in a variety of mini-games such as Tug-of-War, Waterslide, Pool Hopping, and Beach Volleyball.

You can also opt to enter the actual casino in the resort for some Poker, Blackjack, or Roulette, and even log onto Xbox Live to battle it out with other players.

Can you feel the heat yet? While North America and Japan got this game a month earlier, it's now Europe's turn to go sunbathing with the babes.

Douglas Perry over at IGN made a list of the games released since September for the Xbox 360. There were six exclusives (three of them were Burger King games). Here's his list:

• 6 exclusives: Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Dead or Alive Extreme 2, three Burger King games (Sneak King, Big Bumpin', Pocketbike Racer)
• 2 games on Xbox 360 but not PS3: Splinter Cell Double Agent, WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007
• 6 games on Xbox 360 before PS3: F.E.A.R., Rainbow Six: Vegas, Need For Speed Carbon, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Call of Duty 3

The big title there is Gears of War. Microsoft's other big fall title is Viva Pinata - you knew that, Microsoft said this title would, along with Gears of War, capture the end-of-year shopping season. And what did IGN have to say about the rest of the games - well, the following don't sound too good:

• Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 won't sell half million copies in the next six months, said Perry, because it's just a "girlfriend simulator" and "soft core niche material."
• Splinter Cell is an "exclusive by default" that was cancelled for PS3 because it couldn't be done on time.
• Tony Hawk, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Call of Duty 3, are all sequels ("as dull as you can get," said Perry, "predictable, unoriginal, and franchise material"). It's the third Call of Duty, and the Tony Hawk title is Tony Hawk Project 8 - and it's eight years running - it's got its fans, but that's it. Ultimate Alliance is "the same old Diablo-style button-mashing action-RPG."
  

As we were reading Perry's article, we kept thinking, "It's no big deal, Halo 3 and Lost Planet are coming out next year" - Perry did eventually mention these games at the end of his article - and we also kept thinking "Microsoft knows what it's doing" - Perry did eventually come to that. In other words, these are common thoughts and doubts for any Xbox gamer.

But what's the big problem? Perry is concerned that Microsoft will not win the console war if it continues to have such thin line-ups. While we agree with him that this second-year line-up is a bit thin, who's to say that every year's line-up will be like this fall? Surely Microsoft will continue to try to get exclusives. Surely they'll try to get more successful titles like Gears of War.

In the end, we're not too concerned. Not after reading Robbie Bach's interview where he showed that Microsoft really does have a plan. Yes, Dead or Alive isn't as, um, "big" as Gears of War. And Marvel plays like an RPG. But they each have an audience. And they're still fun and worth playing - it's not like they're hurting the console; they're still helping it along.

Also, the second-year games line-up of a console is not all there is to determining the fate of the Xbox 360. Because it's not all there is. The future has more games. The present has Xbox Live, good gaming (not a lot of titles, but enough), excellent value for your money... And we're still here, the Xbox 360 community: still going strong.

That's right, boys and girls, we have yet another helping of the Xbox 360 game Dead or Alive Extreme 2. We'll be able to ogle more at the lovely DOA ladies as they frolic on New Zack Island.

Having just been released in Japan and North America this month, this offering from Team Ninja is continuing to gear up as it hopes to woo the Australian and European audiences over to its side. After all, the game will be hitting store shelves in Australia by November 30 while European gamers will finally be able to get their copies by December 8.

In the meantime, while you guys are still trying to make up your minds whether this title will be worth the purchase, we have here a video clip which shows the first ten minutes of the game. Hopefully, it will help you decide (not that you'd really need the help though).

Enjoy!

Download: [First 10 minutes of DOAX2]

Over at IGN, one of their IGN UK writers has posted images of the "Metro", London's free newspaper. Out of the 64 pages in the newspaper, 48 of them feature Xbox 360 ads. The ads include Gears of War (Emergence Day!), Viva Piñata, Call of Duty 3, and the reserved, shy, and very morally-upright ladies of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 in a pull-out-and-pin-up 2007 calendar (so you can schedule your prayer meetings).

The paper is distributed throughout train stations and the London Underground (we mean the tube trains, not the Neil Gaiman world of "Neverwhere").

IGN was nice enough to post images for those of you who can't get your hands on a copy of the "Metro."

Tim Buckley from CTRL+ALT+DEL sure is funny. So funny, in fact, that we had to "filter" the two other panels of the comic strip above. Anyways, yes, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 does have its assets (literally, true, but let's take it academically here). Assets: anything of material value or usefulness.

So, what assets do this game have? For one thing, the graphics and physics are highly realistic. Team Ninja really maximized the potential of the game engine. There's a back-story to how the girls arrived in the island as well. And one more thing: despite popular opinion, there is actual gameplay involved. It's a game after all, and not just eye candy.

Below, we have proof of that. It's a gameplay video of the girls playing beach volleyball. There's also a short segment towards the end when the girls get wet after falling into the pool while playing tug-of-war. See? Gameplay!

*note: the vid requires an XviD codec, if you do not have this, you can just click on the "Read" link below to watch the steaming streaming version*

Download: [DOAX2 gameplay trailer]

Pre-order: [Dead or Alive Xtreme 2]

Those who carry the Y chromosome will need no encouragement to unlock these DOAX2 Achievements, provided courtesy of Xbox360Achievements. And the name of the game is collection. Collect swimsuits. Collect friends. Collect Achievements. And collect this 100-point Secret Achievement just by playing the game further. No need for encouragement there either.

I guess the girls have some built-in fashion sense, if Xbox360Achievements are right and all you have to do to "Make X friends" is to collect as many swimsuits as you can. Aren't the minigames supposed to be responsible for that? Can't be sure; we'll have to wait till we get our own hand(s) on the game to find out. But collecting swimsuits should be fun.

KASUMI ACHIEVEMENTS
Kasumi's Lovely Collection (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Kasumi!
Make 2 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Kasumi!
Make 4 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Kasumi!
Make 6 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Kasumi!
Kasumi Complete Collection (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Kasumi!

AYANE ACHIEVEMENTS
Ayane's Adorable Collection (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Ayane!
Make 2 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Ayane!
Make 4 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Ayane!
Make 6 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Ayane!
Ayane Complete Collection (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Ayane!

HITOMI ACHIEVEMENTS
Hitomi's Fresh Collection (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Hitomi!
Make 2 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Hitomi!
Make 4 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Hitomi!
Make 6 Friends (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Hitomi!
Hitomi Complete Collection (20): Gather as many swimsuits as you can with Hitomi!

More Acievements at the full article.

Pre-Order: [Dead or Alive Xtreme 2]