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  Are Angry Fans Really Ruining Video Games?

  Josh Olin, Community Manager at Call of Duty: Black Ops developers Treyarch, thinks that “pundits” and “angry entitled fans” are ruining creativity in video games. They’re not. In an interview with NowGamer, Olin – who admittedly must wade knee-deep through stupid questions from assholes as part of his job – says the following: Personally, as…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  When Activision Met The Wonder Years

  Normally, the sequel to a popular video game remains largely the same as the preceding title (or titles). If the first one was a shooter, the second one is a shooter. In 1993, however, one series did things a little differently. That series was Zork, a pioneering succession of text adventure games for the PC…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011
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  Dragon Age II Demo Hits February 23, But Some Get It Earlier

  BioWare will apparently release a demo version of Dragon Age II—at the very least for PC players—only February 23, according to an e-mail sent to GameStop employees. Those lucky retail warriors will get access to said demo even earlier. One of the perks of working at GameStop is early access to the Dragon Age II…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  What Are You Listening To?

  You know what Kotaku’s semi-nightly open thread needs? Or could possibly benefit from? Themed Tuesdays. Yeah, let’s guide this off-topic conversation toward the new world of music. Yes, that can include video game music! How about, let’s say, once a month we share our current playlists so that we can turn each other on to…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  New Creative Ways Of Crushing Humans Comes To Resistance 3

  The folks behind Resistance and Ratchet & Clank may be best known for their inventive, sometimes kooky weapons, but Insomniac Games are also developing new ways of turning bodies into lifeless piles of meat. The latest Resistance 3 trailer not only features the glorious return of the weapon wheel—missed you, weapon wheel!—but introduces the Chimeran…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  Over 60 Billion Dead In The Battle of Call of Duty: Black Ops

  Since its launch in November, Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops has racked up more than 5 billion headshots, downed more than a billion aircraft and killed virtual soldiers to the tune of nine times the world’s population. That’s about 62 billion and change, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s world population clock Activision hit…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  Celebrate The 3rd Birthday On March 29

  The 3rd Birthday, the PSP action-RPG entry in Square Enix’s Parasite Eve series, comes to North America on March 29, 2011. Yvonne Strahovski (Mass Effect 2’s Miranda) will voice series heroine Aya Brea.

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  Vault Bikinis Offer Little Protection Against Fallout Mini-nukes

  Charlotte‘s custom Fallout 3 character Jinx Jones wiped Megaton straight off the Wasteland map! Also, check out her Fallout: New Vegas art piece HERE Related Rampage: Red Dead Redemption – Marston Tenpenny Babe by Charlotte / hel999 Need your daily fill of geek eye candy? If so, head over to Justin Page’s Rampaged Reality and…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  Shuma Gorath Versus Servbot!

  Meat Bun is my favorite game-themed t-shirt company, and it’s not just because Mike owns it. It’s because they make some amazingly subtle video game shirts. Take this one of my favorite one-eyed Marvel-filched Robert E. Howard creation: Shuma-Gorath. What you missed Black Ops’ Newest Four Maps in Action, Plus Zombies! A Cursed Catwoman and…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 1, 2011
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  PlayStation Store Update: Rearmed With A Mustache

  This week’s North American PlayStation Store update brings a great deal of mustache, thanks to the arrival of Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2, now with 100% more soup strainer. What else is on tap? The Clash’s London Calling might be the best music you can download this week, unless you’re adamantly against Rock Band 3 or…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  A New Super Mario Bros. Is Coming To Nintendo 3DS ASAP

  After the runaway success of New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS and New Super Mario Bros. Wii for Nintendo’s home console, news of a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Nintendo 3DS is probably not a surprise. So, we won’t pretend that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto promising a new Super Mario Bros.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  How To Control SOCOM With The PS3’s Gun

  When I played SOCOM 4 today, I controlled it with the forthcoming PlayStation 3 Sharpshooter peripheral, a shell that houses a PlayStation Move. This scheme is not mandatory, but it works. SOCOM developer Ben Jones explains how. Jones’ explanation gives you the pertinent details. It’s hard to assess how good the Sharpshooter will feel during…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 1, 2011
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  Street Fighter IV Ultra Combos Look Ultra Cool In Real Life

  When Street Fighter IV’s ultra combos are recreated in the real world, is the result silly looking or totally bad-ass? As “action company” Thousand Pounds, demonstrates, it’s somewhere in the middle. Watch as Vonzell Carter, James Young and David ‘Dax’ Bauer beat each other up with a series of dramatic, slow motion death blows lifted…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  Throne Together: A Crusader Kings II Preview

  You’re old. Your wife’s plotting your downfall. Your son’s a dribbling imbecile. Your father-in-law hates your guts. And I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “Yes, that is certainly my life. Why would I want to play a game like Crusader Kings 2, which models all of this in a medieval environment?” Well, I’ll tell…

  Quintin Smith, Rock Paper Shotgun Published February 1, 2011
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  Meet The Ladies Of Infamous 2

  Infamous 2‘s Cole will be joined by a pair of lovely lady co-stars in Sucker Punch’s PlayStation 3 sequel, two representations of the game’s karma system. Meet Kuo and Nix. Nix, pictured above, is “a New Marais native that grew up in the swamps,” complete with a burning hatred borne from the murder of her…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  Which Indie Game Deserves To Win The IGF’s Audience Award? You Decide!

  The 2011 Independent Game Festival has opened voting for the public to decide this year’s Audience Award. Should Amnesia win? Cave Story? Nidhogg? Minecraft? Download these games and vote now!

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 1, 2011
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  This Could Be The Uncharted Movie’s Female Lead

  The bad news is the big-screen “adaptation” of Naughty Dogs’ beloved Uncharted series is still underway. The good news? I get to post a picture of Scarlett Johansson, who could be in the running to play Nathan Drake’s girl. We know director David O. Russell wants Mark Wahlberg to star as Nathan Drake, and we…

  By Mike Fahey Published February 1, 2011
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  How To Kill A Super-Hero Using Foursquare

  Foursquare could be more deadly than Kryptonite, according to the smartly-written — really! — 60th issue of the latest Supergirl comic. A bright Harvard guy makes a crowd-sourced Foursquare-style app that lets supervillains hunt super-heroes. Mark Zuckerberg meets Lex Luthor? Shades of Foursquare backfiring site PleaseRobMe.com, Gawker Stalker, and all that good stuff. Here are…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 1, 2011
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  SOCOM 4 And The Modern Shooter’s Flirtation With Call Of Duty

  The new SOCOM is like a lot of other sequels these days. It’s changed just enough to worry fans of the older games, changed just enough to take a crack at a more popular competitor. SOCOM, meet Call of Duty. You could mistake SOCOM 4 for being something other than a true sequel to the…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 1, 2011
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  Playing Video Games With Dad Builds Better Daughters

  Do video games make girls healthier and happier? A brand-new study out of Brigham Young University’s School of Family Life suggests they do, as long as parents are willing to play along. The Brigham Young study, authored by Sarah M. Coyne, Ph.D., distributed questionnaires to 287 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16 and…

  By Mike Fahey Published February 1, 2011