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  Finnish Kid Bums Mario, Jabs Luigi Right In The Kisser

  Let’s say you were on stage with Mario and Luigi during a Nintendo event at a digital entertainment fair in Helsinki. You lost the competition. Frustrated, what would you do? Dry hump Mario? That’s what one Finnish gamer did, before going on to jabbing Luigi in the face. Those poor, poor Mario Bros. They’ll never…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 11, 2010
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  There’s A Touch Of Nintendo In This Tower Defence Game

  This is Glory Days, an upcoming DSiWare strategy game from Odenis. If you think it looks like renowned Nintendo series Advance Wars, you’re not the only one. That’s where the similarities end, however, as instead of being a turn-based strategy title Glory Days is actually an innovative tower defence game, which is played by rolling…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  Xbox Support’s Cryptically Depressing Message

  In the West, the Xbox 360 is all about friends. Playing with buddies online, friends lists, making new pals — all of which make this Japanese Xbox Support message all the more sad. On the Japanese Xbox Support page for console set up, “View More” (もっと見る) appears under the third item, which concerns connecting the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 11, 2010
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  Tales Of Vesperia’s Figure Is Not A Brooding, Menacing Monster

  Tales of Vesperia, one of the best Japanese role-playing games of this hardware generation, now has one of the prettiest action figures of this hardware generation as well. And yes, I said pretty. It’s not like he’s ruggedly handsome. Or even regular handsome. So pretty it is. He’s Imperial Knight Flynn Scifo, one of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  Metal Gear Arcade Lurches Out For Fresh Air

  First revealed at 2009’s E3 gaming expo, Metal Gear Arcade is still under development. According to Konami, the game is getting one more “location test” in arcades for the general public. One more? That seems to indicate that 3D game is finally edging towards an official release in Japanese arcades. The game was originally supposed…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 11, 2010
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  A Man In The Middle Of The West vs Japan Development Divide

  We hear a lot from Japanese developers (and Western pundits) about how the Japanese development scene is dead, but what about a Western developer who works for a Japanese publisher? What does he think? Julien Merceron is Global Chief Technology Officer for Square Enix, the company behind the Final Fantasy series, giving him a unique…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  A Tale Of Two Call Of Duty Musicians

  Eminem’s “Won’t Back Down” was the soundtrack to Black Ops’ American trailer. While the hip-hop star has a following in The Land of the Rising Sun, the Japanese version gets homegrown talent. Namie Amuro’s “ROCK U” scores the game’s Japanese television ads. The Okinawa-born Amuro debuted in the early 1990s as part of the pop…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 11, 2010
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  I’ll Take Rockstar Sandbox Games For $500 Thanks, Alex

  As seen on Rockstar

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  Resident Evil Creator Grew Up In An Evil Residence

  Shinji Mikami is responsible for one of the most successful game franchises ever, horror series Resident Evil. It’s not just the games that are scary. Mikami’s own abusive childhood sounds horrific. The game designer tells game magazine Famitsu about how his father would hit him “pretty much daily”. Mikami does have respect for his father…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 11, 2010
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  A Minute’s Silence For Cannon Fodder And The Great War Dead

  Is it sad that the closest video games are able to come to commemorating Veteran’s/Armistice/Remembrance Day is the poppy flower featured in the intro to 1993’s Amiga classic Cannon Fodder? It is a little, yeah. Especially when you consider one of the only other games to evoke a feeling of loss and respect for those…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  The Moment You Know You Ain’t Popular

  Popularity is a fickle thing. Some people are loved, adored. Some are not. Most never become accurately aware of what the masses think of us. Shizuka Oya did earlier this month. AKB48 is not only Japan’s biggest girl group, but one of the biggest groups in Japan. The outfit’s most recent single, released on October…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 11, 2010
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  Developer Changes Name Because The Old Name Was Dirty

  Wet developers Behaviour used to be known as Artificial Mind & Movement. Then they shortened that to A2M (which has an alternate, rather NSFW meaning). And that’s why they’re now known as Behaviour. Behaviour CEO Rémi Racine tells Eurogamer that initially, the team was unaware of any other meanings for the studio name, until the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  The iPhone’s Best Free Games Right Now

  Apple’s App Store is flooded with short burst games to play… but what if you don’t feel like paying for the privilege? Here’s a selection of some of the best free gaming the iPhone and iPod touch have to offer. There’s no lack of free things to play, but why waste your time with iPhone…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 11, 2010
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  Kinect Is A Blessing For This Family

  With a (mostly) disappointing launch lineup and some niggling problems, it’s easy to get down on Microsoft’s Kinect. Try sparing a thought, though, for the parents of a four year-old autistic boy, for which it’s been a revelation. Gaming Nexus writer John Yan has penned an account of his experiences playing with Kinect with his…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  The PlayStation 3 Is For Giant Babies

  At least, that’s what these new commercials for the console in Latin America are saying. The Move one below is…OK, but boy that top one is something special. It’s great to see some quality PlayStation ads again that don’t involve Kevin Butler. It’s not that I don’t like Kevin, it’s just…he’s very brash, and Sony’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 11, 2010
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  Sega Promotes Awareness Of Endangered Hedgehogs By Being Cruel To Them

  Britain’s hedgehog population is in crisis, with many falling victim to roadkill. Sega staged a “hedgehog road crossing” to raise awareness of the creatures, and, of course, Sonic Colors. Here one’s fitted with red booties. Seen via Daily Mail.

  By Owen Good Published November 10, 2010
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  Travel Time

  Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, let’s put this Wednesday to rest with a little off topic conversation as we enter… Kotaku After Dark! My day was busy writing about video games, buying video games, playing video games and making travel arrangements for the holidays. If you’re in the New York City or Orlando areas…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 10, 2010
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  Victor Declared In Hack-Kinect Bounty Hunt

  Adafruit, which laid a $3,000 bounty for the first open source driver for the Kinect, has declared a winner. “Hector” delivered the goods, verified as workable by a third party in the hacking community. He’s putting the $3,000 toward “hacking tools and devices for a group of people he works with closely,” on projects such…

  By Owen Good Published November 10, 2010
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  EA Has Warp, Gatling Gears & Fancy Pants Adventures On Tap For 2011

  Electronic Arts will be hitting Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC users hard next year with a trio of newly unveiled games, sci-fi stealth action game Warp, twin-stick shooter Gatling Gears and Flash-based platforming game The Fancy Pants Adventures. Warp comes to us from the newly signed EA Partners member Trapdoor. The XBLA, PSN…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 10, 2010
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  Website Names Tip Plans For SSX Sequel

  SSX, the snowboard supercross game, was one of the most acclaimed series on the defunct EA Sports Big nameplate, but hasn’t seen a new release since a poorly received Wii title in 2007. That might change with “SSX Deadly Descent.” Superannuation, cataloger of all prospective video game paperwork, noticed five sites all have been registered…

  By Owen Good Published November 10, 2010