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  48 Things That You Should Know About Call of Duty: Black Ops II

  Last week, I headed down to visit with Treyarch in Santa Monica to get an extended look at Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Our visit was entirely hands-off, and consisted mostly of a series of in-game demos of missions from the single-player campaign, as well as a new open-ended single-player mode called “Strike Force.”…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012
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  Watch Oliver North Shill Call of Duty: Black Ops II

  During the 1980s, Oliver North rocketed into the national spotlight with the Iran-Contra controversy. Decades later, North is still in the national spotlight, but this time it’s not for selling arms for U.S. hostages. It’s for selling a video game. In the clips, North explained why black ops needs high-tech devices and how new tech…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Sega Debuts the World’s First Hologram Video Game

  We’ve looked at Sega’s pioneering role in the world of 3D gaming before here on Total Recall, but only briefly stopped on Time Traveler, one of the company’s two and only attempts at holographic, 3D arcade gaming. This antique video, from Time Traveler’s 1991 debut, gives only a few hints as to how unsuccessful these…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Just How Many Damn Call of Duty Games is This Now, Anyway?

  Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Activision and Treyarch will spend the next six months telling you this game is a sequel, but the fact the game’s name starts with “Call of Duty” reminds us we’re way past the point of using the number “II” when it comes to these shooters. Unless it’s XII. Or,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  Hard-Hearted Harbinger of Haggis

  Greetings, Kotaku! Welcome to the Tuesday open-thread. It’s been a busy day ’round Kotaku way, and I’ve been unable to amass the requisite amount of off-topic links for you to read and gab about. So instead, I thought I’d improvise and share my favorite poem from a movie maybe ever. I’m referring, of course, to…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  What an Aliens Pulse Rifle Looks Like in the Real World

  Gearbox, the guys making Aliens Colonial Marines, have been working on the game since, oh, before you were born. In that time, they’ve racked up a ton of reference material from James Cameron’s sci-fi classic, none as badass as this replica pulse rifle from the 1986 movie. This isn’t some toy, some commercial thing made…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  Mortal Kombat Comes to the Vita in Fine Form

  It has occasionally felt like a dirty secret that Mortal Kombat 9 was one of my favorite games of last year. But there it is. It hit just the right blend of punchy violence, imaginative special moves and accessibility, and it got me invested in the (silly) Mortal Kombat universe and its (ridiculous) characters all…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  Plants vs Zombies Toys Want to Eat Your Money, Not Your Brains

  The next time your neighbor tells you there’s a zombie on your lawn, you can finally reply, “Thanks! Isn’t it cute?” And ideally, your neighbor will have meant the cute little toy zombie from Plants vs. Zombies and will agree with you. (Either that, or you’ll be eaten by horrible, slavering zombies. As happens.) PopCap…

  By Kate Cox Published May 1, 2012
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  Watch the First Trailer For Black Ops II Right Now

  Here it is, folks—the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops II As you can see, the game will take place in the future. And in the past! The military has come to rely on a huge force of unarmed drones and tanks, and some nefarious so-and-so has hacked them and turned them against…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  This Isn’t Black Ops II’s Debut Trailer. But it Should Be.

  Press play on this video. For around 40 seconds you may think it’s actually the debut trailer for upcoming blockbuster Black Ops II. Then you get to 41 seconds and, sadly, you realise that as wonderful as this is, it is not the debut trailer for Black Ops II For reference, the actual trailer goes…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  When You Can’t Find A Video Game Box, Make Your Own

  Video game retailer GameStop lets you trade in games for cash. You don’t have to bring in the original packaging. So sometimes, when trying to re-sell those used games, GameStop will stick them in those generic, blank cases that look terribly ugly on your living room shelf. But sometimes friendly employees make their own versions.…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 1, 2012
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  Screw With Your Skyrim Friends Using Two Simple Voice Commands

  They’ve sort of added multiplayer to Skyrim via the game’s new Kinect voice-control update. Not real multiplayer. Not the kind that lets two people play the game together or against each other. No, they’ve simply added voice commands. But when a friend barges in on your gaming session and yells “ally attack” and then “quicksave”…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 1, 2012
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  Around the Corner From PAX, May Day Rioters Are Smashing Windows

  Protesters around the world are commemorating today’s May Day with rallies in support of workers and against the economic and political powers that be. Much of this has been peaceful or at least standard Occupy-style protest-and-arrest, but in Seattle, in the same downtown area where tens of thousands of gamers gather each year to attend…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 1, 2012
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  Is This 3D Model of a Portal 2 Robot Cute or Fierce? I Can’t Decide.

  Cosplayers and model creators will all give you fairly similar advice to starting a new project. It begins with a ton of hours spent on the Internet for research, and ends with paint, polish, and possibly some decals. Psychobob has experience creating awesome 3D models of game characters and pieces. After the research, printing, sculpting…

  By Tina Amini Published May 1, 2012
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  Stop Getting So Mad About Video Game Reviews

  It’s easy to take personal offense when you disagree with a game review. It’s easy to believe dissenting opinions mask ulterior motives. “How could that guy love Dragon Age 2?” you might think to yourself. “That game sucked! EA must have paid him off.” Or maybe you’re angry about a video game’s ending. Or a…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 1, 2012
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  What Quirks and Life Lessons Have You Picked Up From Video Games?

  We all (probably) play a ton of video games and watch a ton of anime. Sometimes we get invested in the stories and the characters, and sometimes their fiction is relatable. Making a connection to these media can translate to real-life changes. Commenter bakura wants to know how they’ve impacted you on today’s Speak Up.…

  Speak Up Published May 1, 2012
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  These Girls Sing a Darned Lovely Song About Hobbits

  Well, aw. I have to admit a fondness for Leonard Nimoy’s Hobbit Song, but this is on a whole new level. For starters, it’s actually good Songwriter Allie Goertz and vocalist Megan Barrett perform this heartwarming duet about Bilbo Baggins, the shire, and the quest that lies before him. It’s great stuff. Take a little…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  Ghost Recon Future Soldier Gets Its Own Live-Action Mini-Movie This Week.

  Halo 4‘s not the only AAA game with a real-life movie lead-in. Ubisoft’s just announced that their near-future squad shooter will be preceded by Ghost Recon Alpha, a 26-minute live-action film that will air on G4. There’s a multiplayer map based the locales in the film and scenes in the film will lead up to…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 1, 2012
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  In Paris, I Learned a Few Things About Video Games (And Toilets)

  I went to Paris last weekend, which is an extravagant thing to do if you live in New York and should probably be making shorter weekend commutes. But I had a rare chance to go and so off I went, out Thursday overnight, back Monday afternoon. I wasn’t supposed to be working, but I can’t…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 1, 2012
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  Five Comics That Will Make You Switch Identities This Week

  If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 1, 2012