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  Master Chief is Back from Deep Space, and He Looks Great

  In this week’s round-up of the best in costume play, we’ve got the star of the Halo series on the loose, a Queen (not a Princess!) from The Legend of Zelda and everyone’s favourite transgender fighting game character. There’s also someone dressed up as Lara Croft (do we go a week without someone paying tribute…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  When Mario Meets The…Figure Skating World Championships

  This is Russian pair Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, competing at the World Figure Skating Championships 2011 held in Moscow. They didn’t just break out the Mario Bros. theme: they won the silver medal to boot.

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Who Is Team Fortress 2’s Judas?

  Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is a work of art. So too is Team Fortress 2. In a way. So it’s only natural to see the two come together like this. Especially when the combatants are wearing their best hats. “The Last Sandwich” by EvGen1us

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Which Country Dominates the PSN?

  The PlayStation Network is Sony’s global online gaming service. Countries from around the world can access the PSN and game. But which country has the most accounts? Is it Japan? Nope! In light of the recent PSN breach, here is a breakdown of the number of PSN accounts per country: – USA: 31,140,307 – UK:…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2011
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  Classy Documentary Charts the Early History of Video Games

  Playing the Revolution is an upcoming documentary series by Italian outfit Junk Food, which chronicles “the Spacewar! milestone to the rise of the 16-bit era”. It’s not some cheap retrospective. This is an in-depth series, each episode an hour long, and is full of interviews with some of the most important founding fathers of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Cosplayers Know How to Party, Dream Party

  Dream Party, the bi-annual event devoted to beautiful girl games, was held in Tokyo over the weekend. Cosplayers were in attendance, too. According to website Heisei Democracy, the point of Dream Party is for bishoujo companies to raise money through schwag for sale or to build hype for their games. 【コスプレ速報】魔法少女まどか☆マギカ多し！「DreamParty東京2011春」コスプレ ダイジェスト [moeyo.com]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2011
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  Star Wars & Sworcery Is Something That Would Be Welcome Around Here

  Artist Slaterman23 has taken an everlasting love (Star Wars) and a love that’s very much of this moment (Sword & Sworcery) and combined the two. Thanks, Slaterman23! His series of works called Star Wars Pixel Posters reimagine some characters from the classic trilogy as characters drawn in the style of the brilliant iPad/iPhone game, complete…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Firefall Is What You Get When a WoW Creator Makes a Shooter

  Firefall is an online shooter that is quietly pushing a lot of people’s buttons. Which is what happens when you pitch an online, co-op shooter that looks a lot like classic jetpack simulator Tribes This trailer for the “massive co-op” PC shooter, due at the end of the year, shows both jetpacks and co-op shooter…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Hey, This Mascot Looks Really Familiar

  This month, a sweets festival is being held at Kanazawa Castle. The mascot character looks very familiar. Japanese netizens are quick to point out the Kirby resemblance, even adding that the mascot character looks like Kirby mated with Starfy Kirby and Starfy? That would be some hot fucking action right there. 任天堂は金沢市を訴えるべき [2ch]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2011
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  Yes, Nolan North Is in Too Many Damn Video Games

  Nolan North seems like a super nice guy! And does a cracking job as the voice of Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. Problem is, he also does the voice for around a million other characters, and it can sometimes get very distracting. Not helping matters is the fact he often (though not always!) uses…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  How an Angelic Game Changed over the Years

  El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron wasn’t always called that. It was once called Angelic: Ascension of the Metatron, with “once” being a few years ago. Compare the above 2007 trailer with the E3 gaming expo 2010 trailer The voice acting is certainly better! And gone is the Jude Law-inspired face modeling. Not sure which…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2011
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  These Custom Portal 2 Figures Came Straight from Testing

  Custom toy creator Christian Hooton, whose work we’ve featured previously, has sent us some pictures of these Portal 2 figures he’s made. Warning: they are amazing Remember, these are entirely custom figures. Hooton has built them from scratch, from the bodies to the cables, and they took two solid weeks to finish. If Valve ever…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Sony Shows That Saying “I’m Sorry” Isn’t Enough in Japan

  This Sunday, as the Golden Week holidays began in Japan, Sony execs Kazuo Hirai, Shinji Hasejima and Shiro Kambe answered reporters’ questions about the PSN breach that put the private details of over 70 million gamers at risk. The execs didn’t just apologize for the breach, but bowed for seven seconds. In the world of…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2011
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  Sony Says 10 Million Credit Card Accounts May Have Been Compromised

  It’s a good thing Sony warned people to be vigilant about their credit cards, because as part of the company’s Tokyo press conference yesterday PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai said that up to ten million customer’s account details could have been compromised. That’s not the personal details on their PSN account – all 77 million of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  Professor Layton and the Curious Royal Marriage

  From the blanket media coverage it received, you’d have thought the entire planet sat down to watch the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton last week. Some people, though, had better things to do. By Margaret Albaugh, via Tiny Cartridge

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Metal Gear Was Born On Microsoft’s Great Japanese Success

  Microsoft and video games are a bit of a running joke in Japan these days. After a decade of trying (and failing) with the Xbox, the company just can’t seem to win the Japanese public over. It wasn’t always that way, however. Indeed, in the 1980’s, Microsoft produced a surprisingly successful games platform, one that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011
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  CONFIRMED: Osama bin Laden is Dead

  Twitter is freaking out right now over news that Osama bin Laden is dead. Jill Jackson, a producer for CBS News, seems to have broken the story on her feed. President Obama has called a news conference…Developing.… [Gawker]

  By Seth Abramovitch Published May 1, 2011
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  Squared Away

  Ready for His Close-Up | Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis, selected after a five-week fan-voted playoff, takes his cover shot for Madden NFL 12 in Times Square on Thursday. (Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images) Sony: PlayStation Network Will Return This Week PlayStation Network, down since April 20, will return this week, said Kazuo Hirai, the…

  By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011
• Culture

  Apocalypse Now

  The zombie fad shows no signs of dying – hah, get it? – as Treyarch delivers the Escalation Map Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The week’s biggest retail drop is Motorstorm: Apocalypse for PS3, but all your racing will be offline if the PSN Apocalypse hasn’t abated by Tuesday. Monday Fate: The Cursed…

  By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011
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  Claire Redfield Put Guns N’ Roses in Mega Man X5

  The transparent naming of Mega Man X5‘s Maverick bosses for the members of Guns N’ Roses stood as an unexplained oddity since the game’s 2001 release here in North America. (That’s Axle the Red above. See? Not subtle.) Now we have an explanation, and it’s just as strange. Claire Redfield did it. No, really. The…

  By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011