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  Here’s One Theory Why Japanese Games Aren’t as Big as They Used to be

  Ever since this console generation kicked off in 2005/06, Japanese developers have become increasingly irrelevant to the purchasing habits of many Western gamers. There are plenty of theories as to why this is. And Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki has one. “In Japan, in this industry, they are lacking not just in technology, but…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 26, 2011
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  Pokémon, Japanese Icon

  Pocket Monsters first launched in Japan back in early 1996 on the Game Boy. Later that year, a card game followed. By the late 1990s, the series was supposed to be a fad, a passing fancy. Yet this month in Japan, two Pokémon feature films hit Japanese theaters. Pocket Monsters isn’t a fad, in Japan,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2011
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  There is CityVille In China (and it’s Legal!)

  Super-popular Facebook game CityVille now has a little brother, developers Zynga releasing a version of the game in China. An official version. It’s called Zynga City, and has been largely overhauled for the local market, with buildings and events geared toward Chinese tastes and experiences. It’ll also, fitting for a nation hooked on MMO games,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 26, 2011
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  If You Update Our Firmware, Tell Us Why

  There’s a new 3DS update in the wild. And it does, well…something. What exactly that is, Nintendo isn’t saying, because when Nintendo updates the 3DS, it doesn’t tell you what it’s updated. Aren’t we entitled to know that? Sony does the same thing on the PlayStation 3, firmware updates often accompanied by vague statements about…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 26, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  An Outlaw to the End

  Outlaws was the first FPS title to introduce a zoomed scope for a sniper rifle

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 26, 2011
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  A Family’s Miis Aid in Return of One Stolen Wii

  A Jacksonville, Florida family’s Wii is back in their possession after being stolen and pawned, thanks to a handful of Miis. According to a report from FOX 30 from Jacksonville, the Witherspoon’s Wii was stolen, alongside several televisions, during a burglary in May. Police tracked a stolen television to a local pawn shop, where the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  Just A Couple Slimes

  Welcome back to the workweek, Kotaku readers. I know. Bummer. But we’re back from Comic-Con, better rested and in possession of two new Slimes. That, ladies and gentlemen, represents the entirety of my Comic-Con haul. Did you fare any better? Granted, I did walk away with a free book and one free Team Fortress 2…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  Take Some Friends With You to Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

  Beautiful adventure game Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet comes to Xbox Live Arcade next week. It is a mysterious, quiet game—Dimmu Borgir music notwithstanding—that is Metroid-like, full of exploration, power ups and re-exploration, at least on the single-player side. But there is a multiplayer side to Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet as well. This 10-minute-long video of…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  New Screens For Silent Hill HD Collection and Silent Hill: Downpour Come to Light

  Silent Hill fans will be soaking in terrifying blackness this fall with the release of the Silent Hill HD Collection and Silent Hill: Downpour, two titles shooting for release by October. Konami has released new screen shots of both titles, Silent Hill HD Collection‘s version of Silent Hill 2 for the PlayStation 3 and Silent…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  This Thursday Retro Game Master Takes On Mighty Bomb Jack

  This week on Retro Game Master The Kacho takes on Tecmo platformer Mighty Bomb Jack Mighty Bomb Jackwas released in 1986 for the arcade and the following year for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the game, Jack makes his way through a 16-level pyramid on his way to defeat the demon Belzebut and rescue a…

  By Brian Crecente Published July 25, 2011
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  Twisted Metal Goes For the Gore and the ‘Mature’ Rating, Passing on Public Beta

  Most Twisted Metal games, despite their carnage, have been rated T for Teen. The lone exceptions are Twisted Metal: Black, the 10-year-old PlayStation 2 game with a darker bent, and this fall’s equally grisly PlayStation 3 reboot. Eat Sleep Play co-founder and Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe told Comic-Con attendees this weekend that the PS3…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  What’s With These Comics?

  Like… Mint? – It’s good to see that they still have comics at Comic-Con (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Reckless Endangerment Makes for a Sloppy Getaway When video games call for criminal behavior, I try to portray the bandit with a heart of gold. Running innocents off the road delivers neither a thrill nor a…

  By Brian Crecente Published July 25, 2011
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  Madden Welcomes Back the NFL, Gets to Work on Free Agency

  The NFL’s four-month player lockout suspended all personnel operations except for the rookie draft—signings, trades, all of it. With labor peace declared today, that process will be condensed down to a hectic few weeks, and can dramatically reshape the rosters in Madden NFL 12 By way of that video, and a “Free Agent Forecast” web…

  By Owen Good Published July 25, 2011
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  This is Kinect 4, for People Who Believe that Connect Four Isn’t Physical Enough

  We can’t blame or credit the new, more physical version of Connect Four on Microsoft’s Kinect sensor. No, the TV show Hasbro Family Game Night is responsible for that. That’s where the basketball version of Connect Four came from. The basketballized version of Connect Four has simply been ported from the world of real game…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 25, 2011
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  See the PS3 Exclusive Tekken Hybrid in Glorious Three-way Action

  What’s Tekken Hybrid? Well, as we learned at Comic-Con this weekend, it’s now three Tekken things on one Blu-ray disc: Tekken: Blood Vengeance, Tekken Tag Tournament HD and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue. Still confused? Maybe this trailer will help! Tekken Hybrid is due this fall, exclusively on the PlayStation 3, bringing one CG animated…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  A Candid Look Inside the Weird and Wonderful Minds Behind Dwarf Fortress

  In a small two-bedroom apartment 20 in a strip mall of a town outside of Seattle, two brothers are hard at work crafting one of the most complex, convoluted, and difficult games ever created. Sometimes they code ASCII graphics. Other times they break out the crayons. Writer Jonah Weiner spent five days with Tarn and…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 25, 2011
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  Our Intern Max Will Now Play an Entire Video Game Before Your Eyes

  Platformance: Temple Death is a $1 downloadable indie game for the Xbox 360. Max Abrams is an agreeable Kotaku intern. I think the Platformance games are cool. They look great (you’re seeing the entire game up top), but they’re tough. How best could I share this game with all of you? I asked Max to…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 25, 2011
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  Taki’s ‘Not Dead’ and Ivy’s All Grown Up in Soulcalibur V

  A 46-year-old female ninja with a preference for revealing red tights may still have a place in the next Soulcalibur game, according to its creators—the same creators that found a way to make Soulcalibur‘s Ivy look remarkably young in her advancing years. At Comic-Con last week, the people making Soulcalibur V, a development team named…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011
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  Amazon Temporarily Pulls Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS From Sale, But Why?

  Anyone looking to pick up a Cosmo Black 3DS today from Amazon was met with a disconcerting note: Item Under Review While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the…

  By Max Abrams Published July 25, 2011
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  The Warts of Old Video Games Look Beautiful in this New One

  Our technology has progressed past the age of TV monitors that curve the corners of our video game graphics. Scan lines are a thing of the past. But how beautiful a modern game looks when it takes the visual flaws of 80s arcade games and celebrates them as artistic effects. Take a look at the…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 25, 2011