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  This Week’s iPad Charts: Temple Run 2 and the NRA Practice Range

  On one side we have the sequel to one of the most beloved mobile games in the world. On the other, an app mainly being downloaded due to controversy, morbid curiosity and irony. There’s room for everyone in the weekly free iPad app charts! Thanks to our new streamlined table format for these weekly chart…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 18, 2013
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  SimCity‘s Four-Day Beta is Jan. 25; Here’s the Tutorial Level

  The SimCity beta will be from Jan. 25 to Jan. 28, and registration is underway now on the game’s official page, the SimCity Twitter feed said this morning. Perhaps not coincidentally, that video above showed up on YouTube around the same time. It showcases the game’s opening tutorial. The Tweet said that beta users will…

  By Owen Good Published January 18, 2013
• Reviews

  The Yakuza TV Show is Action Packed From Beginning to End

  The Yakuza franchise has definitely been one of the most popular video game properties in Japan for the last few years. Not only has there been at least one main series game every other year, but there have been several spin-off titles as well (not to mention a live-action movie). One of these titles is…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published January 18, 2013
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  Rumor: Monster Hunter 4 Is Headed to the PS Vita [Update]

  Oh boy. If this is true (big if!), the PS Vita could be poised for, ahem, a monster comeback. According to Japanese game magazine Game Lab, Nintendo 3DS exclusive Monster Hunter 4 was delayed to summer for a reason other than “improving quality”. That reason is apparently that the game is also being developed for…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  Why PC Gaming Is Still Niche in Japan

  Cold rain drizzles outside. Inside, everything is pink, round, and frilly. The first floor of this otaku (geek) retailer is plastered with release info for new PC games—adult PC games. A young clerk in glasses near the 18-and-up section taps away on a computer, probably checking inventory. I approach, excusing myself for asking a sudden,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  C’mon, Let’s Not Blame One Piece for This Divorce

  Tsubasa Masuwaka is one of Japan’s top gyaru models. Besides appearing in fashion mags, the 27 year-old also designs clothes and cosmetics as well as appears on TV. Even after she gave birth to her son, Masuwaka made motherhood fashionable, too, as a “charisma mom”. Part of that appeal was her ideal family life. All…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  I Think I Need to Join Trophy Whores Anonymous

  My name is Richard and I have a problem. When it comes to games, I am a completionist. If there is a nook left unexplored or some random item that needs to be collected, I feel compelled to spend hours getting the job done. What’s odd is I don’t find it fun to do these…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  Optimus Prime Totally Could’ve Commanded Armies in Ancient China

  This is the work of Chinese artist Nkzhangwang, who did a masterful job of weaving a Chinese visual sense into the famed Japanese mecha. Just look at it! Stunning. This “Chinese military commander style Optimus Prime” is Nkzhangwang’s first uploaded work this year. The illustration mixes the vibe of the Three Kingdoms era with Transformers.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  Five Reasons Yakuza 5 is Not For Me

  Until I sat down and played Yakuza 5, my knowledge of the Yakuza series was limited, to say the least. I knew the characters and some of the story (from wikis, friends, and the movie), but when it came down to playing the series, the most time I had spent with it was in playing…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  In Japan, This McDonald’s Is Serving Breakfast 24 Hours a Day

  Face it. The best meal you can get at McDonald’s is breakfast. And for a limited time, you can get just that at a McDonald’s in Tokyo. That’s all you can get. Wahoo! The McDonald’s in Tokyo’s Shinjuku (the Meiji-dori Sutepa-ten, to be exact!) has put its regular menu on hold and is serving round…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2013
• Kotaku East

  Google Removes Offensive Make Me Asian and Make Me Indian Apps

  Last year, a pair of apps, Make Me Asian and Make Me Indian, raised eyebrows after they appeared in the Google Play Store. The original description (via Reappropriate) for Make Me Asian read: Have you ever wondered to present himself as a person of another nationality? You can imagine, for example, Chinese or Japanese? No?…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2013
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  The Horrors/Delights Of A Multiplayer Game About Doodling

  Doodle or Die is sort of like all those other drawing games you’ve seen and played, with one difference: it tends to be a lot funnier, because it’s built around the idea of multiplayer “chains”, whereby people write something, someone else draws it, then someone else bases the next inspiring line on the image that’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2013
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  Hitting The Streets To See If A New Action Figure Really “Makes a Mockery Of Slavery”

  Django Unchained has action figures. Hardly unsurprising, given nearly everything gets an action figure these days, but what’s topical about Django’s are that Al Sharpton’s “National Action Network” has called for a nationwide boycott of the toys Why? Because “The movie is for adults, but these are action figures that appeal to children. We don’t…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2013
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  These Star Wars Cosplayers Don’t Give A F**K

  Not all cosplay needs to be about “realism”. Sometimes humour can carry the day, sometimes bravado can do the job, and sometimes you can combine the two for something really special. I’m having a hard time picking my favourite. Fred Durstwalker is great, yeah, but the “classic dame” C-3PO seems to be channelling the inner…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2013
• Culture

  It’s Tough Fighting A Robot With Giant Arms On Its Back

  Arnaud Kotelnikoff is an artist who has been working in the video game business since 1996, beginning his career with Ubisoft before moving onto work with companies like Gameloft and Tokyo-based Nintendo subsidiary Nd Cube. He’s now back at Ubisoft, and in this gallery we’ll see a collection of some of his personal and professional…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2013
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  Turning Half-Life Into a Dragonball Z Fighting Game

  Earth’s Special Forces is a mod for the original Half-Life’s engine (not Half-Life 2’s Source) that transforms Valve’s shooter into a massive arena for Dragonball Z battles. It’s a third-person fighting game with a few different modes (you can team up for deathmatches, etc). Being a mod it’s a constant work-in-progress, and comes with a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2013
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  Wild Conspiracy Theories Abound In Death Of FPS Russia Producer

  Last week, a body was discovered in Carnesville, Georgia. It belonged to 32-year-old Keith Ratliff, who was a producer on the YouTube series FPS Russia. Ratliff had died of a single bullet wound, execution-style, to the back of the head. FPS Russia has not posted a new video since. FPS Russia is a massive online…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2013
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  Call Of Duty Survey Hints At Next-Gen Console Downloads

  Call of Duty fansite Charlie INTEL is claiming that it managed to get hold of some screengrabs, taken while users were completing a survey for Activision on the future of the series. What’s interesting about these surveys is that they mention what could possibly be a next-gen console feature. While the site has edited the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2013
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  Steam’s New Built-In Game FAQs Are Pretty Good!

  First announced last month, Valve today announced the formal release of its Game Guides Feature, adding the ability for users to compile their own guides to games (or parts of games), then have other users enjoy and rate them. While there’s not exactly a tome of reference material there now, what is there shows the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2013
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  This Really Is How The Hobbit Should’ve Ended

  I’m so happy to learn, watching this funny video from How It Should Have Ended, that I’m not the only one who wonders: “Why doesn’t Gandalf get everywhere flying on an eagle?” And then to ask, “Why didn’t they just fly into Mordor straight-off, on eagles?” How’s everyone’s week wrapping up? Good? Cool. Talk about…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 17, 2013