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  When The Jonas Bros. Came To the Shopping Mall

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft I don’t even know who the Jonas Brothers are! But apparently, American teenage girls like them. Sorry, Disney bubble gum idols aren’t exactly on my radar. Japanese idols, on the other hand… Wait. Take that back. I do know who the Jonas Bros. are. Sorta. One of them did that horrible…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  Mommy, Where Do Game Boxes Come From?

  Sometimes, the most interesting back-stories can be the ones about the most uninteresting things. Take, for instance, the humble zipper. Or, for a more relevant example, how video game boxes are made. Gamasutra ran a great interview last week with the creative director of Hamagami/Carroll, a packaging company that’s designed the game boxes for titles…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Microsoft’s Experimental, Hands-Free Technology

  Microsoft are developing technology that will allow people to perform “everyday tasks” – like playing Guitar Hero – by using their muscles, and not their hands. The tech works by reading your body’s electrical activity (the signals sent from your brain to your limbs) and intercepting the data, replicating the action in a program. Potential…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Hospital With Convicted Killers Gets 22 Wii Consoles

  Broadmoor Hospital, previously known as the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, has been outfitted with £5,000 worth of Nintendo Wii gaming thanks to UK tax payer money. The high security institution, which is not a prison, treats the likes of rapist and murderer Robert Napper and the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Stucliffe — both of which are…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  Get Ready For Def Leppard: The Game

  Here’s something that slipped by unnoticed during the festive season: someone is making an “unusual” Def Leppard video game. Buried in an announcement about upcoming Def Leppard licensing deal with Primary Wave – which will see the company promote a Def Leppard cartoon series and cell phone apps – is news from Primary Wave CEO…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Perhaps This Bridget Is An Actual Girl

  Yes, *another* Comiket cosplay gallery. Comic Market, or Comiket, ended on December 31, but Japanese website Moeyo.com has recently posted a few more galleries of costume playing players. Have a gander. Characters from titles ranging like Bayonetta, Dead or Alive, Fate/stay night, Fate/unlimited codes, Sengoku Musou 3, Monster Hunter and Guilty Gear — you know,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  People Paying Good Money For Free FFXIII Item

  The Final Fantasy XIII avatar pets that were handed out last week were free. And required minimal effort to get hold of. Still, even minimal effort is too much effort for some. Over the weekend, dozens of the little Chocobos went on sale over online auction site eBay, some going for as much as $50.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  2010 Independent Games Festival Finalists Announced

  With submissions having been open since July, the twenty finalists for the 12th annual Independent Games Festival have been announced. And boy are there some good games in the running. Granted, I haven’t played all of them, but I like what I’ve seen of Joe Danger, and I love what I’ve seen of Owl Boy,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Arise, Sir Championship Manager

  Every year around this time, the Queen’s New Year Honours list is released, honouring those from the United Kingdom who are, well, worth being honoured. This year, plenty of video game types made the cut. The founders of Sports Interactive, Oliver and Paul Collyer, have been given MBEs (a member of the Order of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Is This The Xbox 360’s Retail Retreat In Japan?

  2008 was a strong year for the Xbox 360 in Japan. With timed exclusives like Tales of Vesperia, Microsoft was able to drawn both long lines and new gamers to its platform. 2009 was another story altogether. Spring 2009 looked promising with otaku heroine and Japanese popstar Shoko Nakagawa getting her own Xbox 360. But…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  EA Shutters Online For Selected Games, Including Madden 09

  Game company EA has announced that it will be shutting down online service for “some older EA titles”. Included in the list is football game Madden NFL 09 (PS3 and Xbox 360), which was released in August 2008. EA, it seems, has a different definition of “old”. 2009 just ended, days ago! Here is the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  This Is One Crazy Final Fantasy XIII Bug

  At 50 to 60 hours long, Final Fantasy XIII is an enormous game. But with as long as Square Enix worked on the title and with all the money spent, that still hasn’t stopped a few bugs from slipping through. While there aren’t many bugs and the bugs that have been reported seem to be…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  A New Year’s Message From Square Enix’s President

  To kick off 2010, Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada has issued a public statement outlining the publishers corporate goals as they head into the new year. And that goal is? “Taking Root”. Which doesn’t really explain it too well, so let’s allow his Imperial Hotness to elaborate. “In the near future, the rate of convergence…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  The Biggest News of 2009 According To Famitsu Readers Is…

  Japan’s biggest gaming publication, Famitsu, has polled a handful of readers (and retailers) about what news they thought made the most substantial impact during last year. Only a small number of the millions of Famitsu readers participated in this poll — the few, the proud, the dedicated. It would be a stretch to call those…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  Master Chief’s Dancing Spartan Parade

  This was from Philadelphia’s 2010 Mummers Parade. We post it not because we’ve developed a sudden interest in choreographed parade dance routines, but because we have an interest in 17 Spartans from Halo performing a choreographed parade dance routine. Reader Justin was on the scene to capture the moment with his camera. Thanks Justin! Click…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  Twilight Freakout, Guido Names and Fist Bumps

  It’s 2010, and we’re off and running. Ditto for gaming’s Twitterati. Microsoft cleared out its Christmas decorations, Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski got a new name and Twilight caused a teenage girl freakout. Robert Bowling from Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward ponders fist bump etiquette. Teenage girls do not freak out over Brutal…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010
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  New Year’s Football

  To: Luke From: Owen Re: Happy Happy This was left unsaid in the sports column I wrote Saturday, but I wanted to make a record of it here. Dad’s method of arranging football pictures is far easier in real life. Doing it on a video game was tough. First I needed to recreate my high…

  By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010
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  Week in Games: Bayonetta Fix

  Bayonetta finally arrives in North America, concluding a year, if not more, of sex-infused hype. Remember, this game actually can be played using one hand. Darksiders, near as I can tell, still requires both. They’re this week’s big highlights. Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot releases to PlayStation Network and the PC on Thursday. Speaking of downloadables,…

  By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010
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  Kotaku’s Top 5 List of Top 10 Lists

  Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What’s better? A list of those. Here’s a roundup of the rundowns out there. •2009 Sleepers: The Best Games You Didn’t Play [1Up] I gotta say, with the exception of Flower they’re right. If I had a PC I…

  By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010
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  Argument Over Game Blamed as Nine-Year-Old Stabbed to Death

  Police and relatives say an argument over Tony Hawk: Ride precipitated a shocking murder in New York; Anthony Maldonado, 9, (pictured) who got a PS3 for Christmas, was stabbed in the chest by an enraged 25-year-old early New Year’s Day. The specifics of what sent Alejandro Morales, 25, into a murderous rage are unclear. The…

  By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010