With Grand Theft Auto 4 as the hottest game on the market right now, video games — no matter what your favorite choice of console may be — are bigger and gaining more media attention than ever.  Appealing not just to kids, but perhaps especially adults, video games are one of the leading recreational activities in the world.

With their own network, G4 TV and several major conventions, this unique form of media and fandom has captured the attentions and joysticks of millions.  While attending some of these conventions, many fans sport elaborate costumes of their favorite game characters.   One of the most elaborate of these costumes would be the collector’s edition of the Xbox franchise Halo’s main character, Master Chief, complete with a full suit of futuristic armor and a two-piece helmet and mask.

While Halo is still undoubtedly hot, the long-running Mortal Kombat franchise with its myriad of ninjas, monsters, and mystics is due for another round hitting the shelves in December of this year, just in time for the holiday rush.  This time, Mortal Kombat’s cast of characters do battle with notable legends of the DC comic book universe. 

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Although comic book movies are ruling the roost this summer blockbuster season, don’t count out comedy bringing it’s A-game to theatres!  Several comedies with great costuming potential are making their way to the box office. 

One of the most notable new films features Mike Myers making his return to a big screen with a comedy of his own creation, The Love Guru.  Myers, best known for the rockin’ “Wayne’s World” and the Austin Powers series of films, attempts to bring a new character to his comic repertoire, with Pitka, the Love Guru, an American who was raised by Indian gurus and comes back to the States to break into the self help market.  His first challenge is to reunite a hockey player with his wife who has left him for his biggest on-ice rival.  Click here to see the trailer for “The Love Guru.” 

Love Guru costumes are already hitting the shelves in preparation for Halloween.  Get your guru on with the Love Guru wig and beard with a long brown wig with curled ends and a matching mustache.  Dress the part with the Love Guru costume complete with a bright, sunflower yellow caftan shirt trimmed in white that hits to roughly knee level.  Also included are white pants and a garland of colorful flowers to wear around your neck as you spread the love!  Put on a pair of Birkenstock type sandals. 

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After an absence from the road, masked musicians Slipknot hits the tour trail again as a headlining act on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour, sponsored by the Rockstar Energy drink. Scheduled to hit major cities across the United States, tour dates can be found here to see if they’re headed to an amphitheatre near you this summer.

With a new album due out in August, Iowa’s gift to the music scene, Slipknot,  is a throwback to the days of Kiss, with many of the members until recently having kept their faces hidden from fans for a long time beneath distinctive masks worn by each member.  The nine musicians’ mask styles have changed slightly over the years, but still remain variations on the same theme.  Shawn “Clown” Crahan usually wears a creepy clown mask, while drummer Joey Jordison favors a Kabuki style mask.  Regardless of their style, a menacing, horror theme extends throughout all of the Slipknot faces… And fans love ‘em for it!

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Based on a true story, “21″ hit theatres this week, telling the story of six MIT students who turned the tables on Vegas casinos using math and probability to beat the odds.  Heroes to everyone who has ever lost and lost big in Sin City or Atlantic City,  these students leveled the playing field, turning the crap tables on an industry designed to profit from patrons’ losses.  Check out the trailer for the film here.

Even if you can’t beat the system, cheer on the guys and gals who can by donning some casino costumes.  Score the look of a high roller with dollar trimmed accessories, or sit on the side of your favorite Sin City score-settlers as Lady Luck, clad in elegant head to toe green.    Make a statement with a One Armed Bandit costume.  Spruce up a slot machine costume with bandit accessories like a robber’s mask and a sack of “money.”.

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Sure to be a big hit, Indiana Jones hits the screen for the first time in almost two decades.  The trailer for the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due in theatres May 22^nd, 2008 can be found here. 

Of what is known of the fourth film in the series, this time, Indy takes on Cold War-era communists in a race to take possession of an artifact known as “the crystal skull.” True to the spacing of time, the film takes place almost 20 years later with Harrison Ford reprising the role of the archaelogist/academic/adventurer and Karen Allen turning up again as Marion Ravenwood from the first film.  Steven Spielberg is directing and George Lucas took part in crafting the storyline.  While some old faces figure prominently, some new ones are equally important with actors like Cate Blanchette (taking on the role of the film’s chief villainess), Shia LaBeof, and Ray Winstone rounding out the cast. 

  In a summer of blockbuster films, there are high hopes for Indiana Jones.  With all of the buzz surrounding the film, costumes based on the film may likely be on the way! While no Indiana Jones costumes are available in a pre-packaged form, you can create your own with a weathered brown fedora, a beat up bomber jacket, a sturdy-enough-for-swinging bullwhip, and tan pants and a shredded shirt that look as if you’d been excavating ancient ruins all week.  As more photos of other characters featured in the film pop up, it may be easier to whip up some ideas for Cate Blanchette’s scheming Agent Irina Spalko with a black bob wig or a leather jacket for Shia LaBeof’s Mutt Williams biker/greaser character. 

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One of the most popular cartoon and toy franchises of the ’80s, G.I. Joe, is the latest to make its move to the big screen.  Scheduled for release some time in Summer 2009, the military vs. global terrorist action-packed feature is starting to leak out some photos of characters already in costume. 

 

Martial artist and actor, Ray Park (who played Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and “Toad” in X-Men) is on tap to play fan-favorite, Snake Eyes.  With Park on board (having coordinated his own stunts and action sequences in Star Wars and X-Men), his scenes as the mute ninja Snake Eyes battling his Cobra ninja nemesis, Storm Shadow should prove exciting to long-time fans.  For a look at Ray Park in costume as Snake Eyes, take a look here .  

 

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The countdown is on!  The biggest and best-known Comic Convention is only months away.  For its 39^th year, the San Diego Comic Con is bringing together fans and notable faces in the world of comics, sci-fi, television, movies, and other spheres of popular culture for three days.  With Preview Night on July 23^rd, and the convention itself running from July 24^th through the 27^th, the convention usually garners extensive coverage in print and even on the G4 television network.  There are usually tons of exhibits on display pertaining to the latest toy releases from notable franchises and staffed by attractive “booth girls,” usually decked out in costumes similar to the video games or franchises they’re representing. 

 

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Far removed from the stodgy wood-paneled libraries of droning, overly academic texts, history is suddenly hot! Cable networks like HBO and Showtime have seized upon the more sensational or even just plain human aspects of historical figures and turned their life stories into hit programming. Suddenly, history is hot!

With historical figures becoming so popular, there are tons of costuming options that will undoubtedly be recognized by not just history buffs, but television aficionados, too!

In the past week, HBO has started running a mini-series on the life of John Adams and the Revolutionary War. Dress as any of the fascinating figures of the time period with a John Adams costume or an colonial woman Abigail Adams gown. Become the life of the (Boston Tea) Party with a Ben Franklin costume, paying homage to the inventor, humorist, and statesman.

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In less than a week, Peter Cottontail makes his trek down the Bunny Trail delivering all sorts of Easter goodies. Chances are, if you have little ones eager to see the Big Bunny himself, make arrangements for the Easter Bunny to pay a visit to the family egg hunt with an assortment of fluffy rabbit costumes with full, faux fur bodysuits, oversized bunny paws and feet, and a large over-the-head mascot style mask with stand-up or floppy ears.

Add some “hip” to your Easter Bunny’s “hop” by accessorizing with rap-themed accessories, like an oversized Flavor Flav clock and viking helmet.

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Everything old is new again and a lot of trends from the ’80s are finding themselves firmly entrenched in pop culture today. From leggings, long tunic tops, and Izod polo shirts in bright colors to even bands from the ’80s finding a new audience with concert tours, releasing albums, and even television shows.

Celebrate “The Me Decade” with a themed costume party! Decorate your with vinyl tablecloths and streamers the neon colors popular back in the day with ’80s candies like Nerds, wax soda bottle candies, and even decks of (the recently re-released) Garbage Pail Kids cards as party favors.

If the politics of the decade are more your thing, a high-quality latex Ronald Reagan mask can make you over in the image of the former United States President.

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