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  Now You Can Use Your Vita To Call Grandma

  The voice and video chatting service Skype will be available on PlayStation Vita later today. You’ll be able to use the chatting app on both the 3G and WiFi models. [PlayStation Blog]

  By Jason Schreier Published April 24, 2012
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Welcome to Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that aren’t even out yet? Knock yourselves out! Who needs Kicking Guy? Not Angryrider ! This…

  By Evan Narcisse Published April 24, 2012
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  This Batman Box Art Parody Is Better Than The Real Thing

  By now you must have seen the box art for the Game of the Year edition of Batman: Arkham City It’s pretty much the worst thing ever, stuffed with superfluous quotes in giant red text that almost make the whole thing seem like one big parody. Well here’s a better parody. The fine folks at…

  By Jason Schreier Published April 24, 2012
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  Naked Snake and The Boss Have Never Been So Amazingly Lifelike

  Hong Kong-based collectible company Hot Toys makes some gorgeous action figures, but none have impressed me as much as the recently-revealed sneaking suit Naked Snake and The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and it’s not just the gruesome chest scars. Okay, it’s mainly the gruesome chest scars, but also the skin texture,…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 24, 2012
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  Trials Evolution‘s Two Best Tracks Will Abuse You With Insane Plunges and Tricky Jumps

  How much of a difference does it make for Trials Evolution to have tracks set in the great outdoors? A whole bunch. As great as the tracks in Trials HD were, Evolution’s levels open up a whole new plateau of vertigo and surprise. Here, you’ll see two of my favorites, Roller Coaster and Sewage Plant.…

  By Evan Narcisse Published April 24, 2012
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  Photo Claims First Look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s Box Art, But Is It a Fake?

  Evidence continues to mount that a Call of Duty: Black Ops sequel is oscar mike. First there was an Amazon listing. Then there was an odd black balling. Then, there was what looked to be a Black Ops 2 teaser poster surfaced—after that, a GameStop teaser website. Now? Now, a photo depicting the game’s box…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
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  Damn, Halo Action Figures Just Got Classy

  A few companies have tried their hands at Halo action figures over the years. McFarlane is one. Square Enix another. Well, you can now add Hong Kong outfit threeA toys – only the best damn toy company on the planet – to the list. threeA has teased an image of a figure based on Carter,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  The Big New Things in Crysis 3 are Deadly Bows and Nano Domes

  When one thinks of this industry’s true tech-driven developers, one doesn’t have to think too hard. Count them on one hand—Id, Epic, DICE, Valve, and Crytek. When these teams reveal their games, the titles often feel more like tech demos than game demos. Last night in San Francisco, Ca., Crytek debuted Crysis 3, and it…

  Douglass C. Perry Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Girl’s RPG Is No Cinderella Story

  Girl’s RPG Cinderellife is the newest 3DS title from Professor Layton creator Level-5. Marketed as a “girl’s RPG,” Cinderellife is the story of a plain girl coming to live in the big city for the first time. Before long, she is working in a Japanese hostess club and dreaming of finding true love amongst her…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published April 24, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Do You Love Aliens? You Will.

  Love Like Aliens is a short six-minuted animated film inspired by the work of Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. Have a look at the film’s trailer. “In the silent film era, images were created first with music performed at the screenings and in the music video era, music was created first. What we’ve done with sonic…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  All You Need is a Single Choice to Make a Novel into a Game

  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been playing the fan-made visual novel, Katawa Shoujo. Like the name of the genre implies, there is a heavy emphasis on the story to the point where you’re almost reading as much as you would with a print novel. In fact on one path through Katawa Shoujo, there are…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Black Widow Killer Spawning Female Admirers

  Kanae Kijima, 37, met her victims online. She picked lonely nerds. She took their money, and then, she killed them. Yet, as horrible as Kijima was, she supposedly has a group of female admirers. They’re called “Kanae girls”, and according to Japan’s Shukan Bunshun, they have been “conspicuous in the courtroom”. One Kanae girl apparently…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Lewd 3DS Game Gets Official Tissues

  Senran Kagura, that large chested ninja 3DS game, is getting a sequel. That sequel is getting official tissues for an upcoming promotional event. Talk about knowing your audience. Talk about knowing your game. 3DS「閃乱カグラ Burst -紅蓮の少女達-」が8月30日に発売。「ニコニコ超会議」では，マーベラスAQLブース内に特設コーナーも [4Gamer]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Smuggling iPhones with Empty Beer Bottles Won’t Get You Drunk

  It’ll get you arrested. According to Chinese news reports from late last week, an old lady was stopped while trying to bring bags of beer bottles into Mainland China via Hong Kong. As website M.I.C. Gadget pointed out, some people do bring in bags of bottles in hopes of recycling them for spare change. However,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  How To Get Old Dudes in Internet Cafes? Sexy Secretaries and Shoe Shines

  Young folks go to Japanese net cafes to surf the web, play video games, read comics, and guzzle soda. Old dudes? Generally speaking, old dudes do not go to internet cafes. Old dudes, generally speaking, go to bars. Leave it to Japan’s most wildly inventive net cafe chain to figure out how to attract salarymen…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Running a Marathon Dressed as Naruto and Failing Miserably

  In sports, not everyone can be winners. Some must come in second, or third place. Some must come in dead last. Some don’t even do that. Just ask Hiroshi Matsuyama. He’s the head of Japanese game developer, CyberConnect2, and to mark Naruto selling ten million video game spin-offs, Matsuyama decided to run the Paris Marathon…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  In Final Fantasy VII, Soap Wasn’t Only for Cleaning. It Was for Sex.

  I was 21 years old the first time I heard the word “soapland” and upon finding out exactly what one was, I reacted with confusion and disbelief. The concept just seemed too absurd to be true. But really, it shouldn’t have. After all, one of the best-selling and most renowned video games of all time…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  You Won’t Believe What’s Lurking in LG’s Logo

  The logo of South Korean electronics company LG is supposed to resemble a human face. The “L” forms the nose, and the forms the face and mouth. But after seeing this GIF, all I can think of is waka waka. It sure is easy to make Pac-Man with the LG logo. All you need to…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012
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  65-Foot Long Dragon Incoming, and It’s Not Skyrim

  This summer, from July to September Universal Studios Japan will hold Monster Hunter the REAL 2012 in collaboration with Capcom. To greet you for the event, there will be a life-sized golden Rathian model, straight from the Monster Hunter series that moves and roars as though alive. Last year’s event had a life-size model of…

  By Toshitaka Tachibana Published April 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  From Steve Jobs’ Death to the Prime Minister’s Q&A, Sakura Bloom in Unlikely Places

  Last night on Japanese television, Prime Minister Noda appeared in a Q&A. To his side sat a young participant in black glasses. This young man’s appearance, while certainly not striking, looked familiar to one Japanese net user, who quickly uploaded a photo showing the same man with a mic to his face. Impressed with the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012