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  Kotaku East

  Toyota Is Making a Gundam Car. You Can Buy It.

  Not to be outdone by Volkswagen, Toyota is slated to sell a nerdy car of its own: a Toyota Auris customized in the image of Gundam character Char Aznable The car was first shown last summer as a concept vehicle. At that time, Toyota said the car would go into production, provided there’s demand. Apparently…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 10, 2013
• Kotaku East

  Japan’s Newest McDonald’s Meme Is Delicious on Twitter

  Twitter. Bulletin boards. And even internet chats. These are all forums of communication and public record. According to an alleged leaked memo, McDonald’s Japan branch has drawn up a list of things that are okay—and not okay—to say online. But in the process, McDonald’s just spawned a new meme tearing up Twitter among delicious burgers.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 10, 2013
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  An Important Reminder about Tetsuya Nomura: The Man Has Mad Skills

  Tetsuya Nomura wears various hats at Japanese game maker Square Enix. He designs games, he produces them, he directs them—he also designs characters! His artwork is perhaps the most influential of the Final Fantasy series. But it’s sometimes easy to forget his pure artistic talent, and sometimes easier to get lost in his resume, whether…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 10, 2013
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  Reviews

  The Good Mouse And Its Slightly Less Impressive Brother, The Keyboard

  It’s a double-feature PC hardware review this evening, as I take a look at not one but two of Roccat’s latest offerings, the ISKU FX kedyboard and the Savu gaming mouse. One, I liked. The other, not so much. THE SPECS ISKU FX Gaming Keyboard 1000Hz polling rate 2m USB cable 5x Macro keys 3x…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2013
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  There’s An Official Xbox 360 Car Being Sold In Mexico

  Because… somebody wills it, Volkswagen’s Mexican branch will soon be selling a limited edition Beetle based on the Xbox 360. With branded stripes down the side and a colour range that (mostly) matches that of Xbox 360 consoles, it’s certainly a thing Strangely, there’s no Xbox 360 integration in the car (sorry, this isn’t Pimp…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2013
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  Grand Theft… Mario Kart

  Malaysian artist Amirul Hafiz looks to Grand Theft Auto V for inspiration in this Mario piece. He’s got the colours almost perfect GRAND THEFT MARIO KART [DeviantArt, via it 8-bit]

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2013
• Culture

  One Man’s Artistic Journey From Ubisoft To Pacific Rim

  Henry Fong is a former senior character designer at Ubisoft who, after leaving the publisher a few years back, has been working in the motion picture business on projects like Pacific Rim and the upcoming Spider-Man sequel. Fong actually enjoyed two stints at Ubisoft; his first saw him working on series like Assassin’s Creed, Prince…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2013
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  Uncategorized

  The 13 Movies That Inspired Vice City’s Perfect 1980s

  Rockstar’s 2002 classic Vice City remains so popular today as much for its bottling of mid-80s culture and excess as it does the actual game The game’s soundtrack rightly gets a lot of credit for this, as does the colour palette, but have you ever wondered which movies served as the inspiration for the neon-infused…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2013
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  Monopoly Thinks It’s A Comic Book, Wants To Kill A Game Piece

  Hasbro, perhaps after a sharp blow to the head, have decided a good way to get people interested in Monopoly again is to launch a campaign where one of the game’s iconic pieces is killed off. Not only are they messing with a tradition that didn’t need to be messed with, they’re handling it in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2013
• Uncategorized

  A Real Photo That Makes Manhattan Look Like SimCity

  Photographer Sergey Semonov is responsible for the above image that makes the heart of New York City look like a spline that’s just been reticulated. It’s not technically a single photo; instead, it’s a composite of a number of photos taken during a helicopter ride. Sergey presents it as a stunning interactive panorama on his…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2013
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  German Scientists Have Built A Real, Functional Laser Turret

  You say the words “laser turret”, and you think strategy games. Maybe shooters. They’re as clichéd a defensive tool that science fiction stories can get, but now, thanks to German scientists, they’re real. While ground-to-laser technology has existed for a while now, this pair of weapons is really something else, boasting a twin-barrel casing that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2013
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  Uncategorized

  You Haven’t Seen Rapture Until You’ve Seen It Recreated With Blocks

  Kevin, Jake and Stewie of website Hungercraft are to thank for this incredible recreation of BioShock’s Rapture in Minecraft, captured perfectly not just in block form, but in a fantastic trailer as well. If you’re over Minecraft recreations, imagine it’s LEGO BioShock. That’ll get you there. The map recreating the underwater metropolis will be released…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2013
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  Uncategorized

  Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangster

  “Gangster.” The word has so many connotations in today’s media-saturated, Hollywood-influenced world. It’s hard to believe there ever was such a thing as a non-archetypal gangster. This great new video essay from Press Play by Nelson Carvajal and Matt Zoller Seitz explores the various identities of the Hollywood gangster over the years. What’s your favorite…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2013
• Uncategorized

  EA Is Being Sued Over A… Tattoo. From 2004.

  Tattoo artist Stephen Allen is responsible for at least some of the artwork adorning the arms of former NFL running back Ricky Williams. That same tattoo has appeared on the cover of a video game, leading Allen to sue both Williams and the publisher. The game in question is NFL Street, a console game released…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2013
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  Free Downloads For Those Bitten By Buggy Walking Dead Game

  Telltale’s The Walking Dead game may have won its share of year-end awards and accolades, but it’s not without some problems. Notably, the game can be quite buggy, particularly the disc-based, retail Xbox 360 version. The game’s designer Telltale is now running an amends program for anyone struck by “hitching” in the game, which is…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2013
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  Now You Can Recruit Your Facebook Friends To Fight (And Die) For You In XCOM

  One of the best things about XCOM: Enemy Unknown is naming your squaddies after your friends. It’s a lot of fun to tell people you know about their daring exploits in the battle against the aliens, and equally goofy to inform them of their heroic—or needless—deaths. (Of course, sometimes that second part can get weird.)…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2013
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  Uncategorized

  Report: Portal Fan-Film Director Now Working On Hollywood’s Y: The Last Man Adaptation

  The cinematic adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan’s beloved graphic novel series Y: The Last Man will be helmed by Dan Trachtenberg, director of the excellent 2011 Portal fan-film No Escape, Vulture reports It’ll be Trachtenberg’s first time as a feature-film director, which… could go either way. Given how strong No Escape was, I could see…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2013
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  Man, Final Fantasy Tactics Sure Had A Steep Learning Curve

  Earlier this week, I talked to some game developers about why they love Final Fantasy Tactics. But beloved or not, man, does this game have a steep learning curve. A little background: I never had a PS1, so I didn’t have a chance to play Final Fantasy Tactics. I became terrifyingly hooked on Tactics A2…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2013
• Uncategorized

  Midweek Moneysaver: This is Fargin’ (Price) War

  This Wednesday edition of Kotaku’s The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can’t wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon. Best Buy Wii U Sale ends this Saturday and Amazon has price-matched. Below are titles that hit new lows or tie best-ever prices. • Batman Arkham…

  By Owen Good Published January 9, 2013
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  The Lead Writer Of Dragon Age Largely Avoids BioWare’s ‘Increasingly Toxic’ Forums

  It can’t be easy to be a BioWare writer. You and your co-workers run yourselves ragged crafting huge, sprawling stories, and afterwards you’re subjected to all manner of intense feedback, much of it shouted by the more extreme corners of your fanbase. So it’s perhaps not a huge surprise that these days, Dragon Age lead…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2013