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  Meet The Most Amazing Etch-A-Sketch Artist I’ve Ever Seen

  Yes, Etch-A-Sketch artists are a thing, or at least they should be an official thing. Looking at this list of hand-picked, video game related selections from Jane Labowitch, aka pikajane, what else could you call her? My hands are tired just looking at these things. Etch A Sketch Art [pikajane via Geekologie]

  By Tina Amini Published October 23, 2012
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  Eleven Japanese Video Game Names You Won’t Believe Are Real

  Today marks the release of lovely little adventure game Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward, and if you think that’s a silly name, you’re not alone. For decades now, Japanese developers have whipped up a great number of video games with titles that seem more than bizarre to Western audiences. As an unabashed fan of Japan-made…

  By Jason Schreier Published October 23, 2012
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  Transform Grand Theft Auto IV Into Zelda, Mass Effect, TMNT or Halo

  The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV allows for mods. We’ve shown you some of these before. But I’ve never seen a collection so diverse, and so impressive, as that of modder William Peddell. Posting on the GTA4-MODS forum, he’s made a speciality of transforming the game’s star into everyone from Zelda’s Link to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Macross FB7 is More a 90-Minute Commercial Than a Film

  Thanks to the surprise popularity of Macross Frontier, the Macross franchise has been riding a wave of popularity for the last five years. However, as popular as Macross Frontier is, the longest series in the franchise was 1994’s Macross 7 (52 episodes, a movie, and an OVA). So this year, as part of Macross‘ 30th…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Report: iPad Screws Up Kid’s Neck

  Apple’s iPads are intuitive. Even kids can easily use them! But should they? Like, all the friggin’ time? According to NdDaily (via MIC), a seven year-old boy in China experienced severe headaches and neck pain after spending too much time playing his iPad. The boy spent long stretches of time playing games on his iPad,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Sexy? Disgusting? This Silent Hill Statue Is Being Called Both

  Next February, figure maker Gecco is releasing this 25cm Silent Hill 2 Bubble Head Nurse figure. It’s priced at ¥9,800 (US$123—though, you can find it cheaper). Online in Japan, bloggers and net users are calling the figure “eroguro” (エログロ), which means both “erotic” and “grotesque”. Fair enough, I guess, as that’s what the Bubble Head…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Hideo Kojima’s Iconic Mecha Will Soon Loom Over Tokyo

  As part of the Zone of the Enders HD Edition launch, Konami is rolling out a large Jehuty mecha on the rooftop of a building in Tokyo’s geek district, Akihabara. On Thursday, the Jehuty statue will go up on Shimura Musen Building in Akihabara and should be viewable from the main drag until it’s taken…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
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  Modern Warfare Map Returns, Minus the Offensive Imagery

  Earlier this month, one of Modern Warfare 2‘s most popular maps, Favela, disappeared. The reason was that the map contained imagery some players found offensive: holy teachings written in a bathroom. As previously reported, in a single room on the map, two paintings had been hung whose frames contained a decorative representation of a quote…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The First Two Hours of Project X Zone are Wall-to-Wall Insanity

  This last week I picked up the Capcom/Namco-Bandai/Sega mega crossover Project X Zone. The game sports characters from Space Channel 5, Resident Evil, and Tales of Vesperia, just to name a few. But nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for the utter and complete insanity of this game. Read on to see…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The Racial Politics of a “White Guy” Playing an Asian Bad Guy in Iron Man 3

  Ah not a white guy, sighed a Kotaku commenter after seeing Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin in the Iron Man 3 trailer. Kingsley, however, isn’t simply “a white guy”, and this isn’t simply another example of Hollywood whitewashing an Asian character. Quick background: Kingsley was born as Krishna Pandit Bhanji in England to mixed…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Watching Project X Zone In Action Sounds Like a Good Strategy

  Project X Zone is a game that combines many of Capcom, Sega, and Namco-Bandai’s most famous franchises into one mega crossover—including series like Street Fighter, Valkyria Chronicles 3, and Tekken, among many others. On the battle map, it’s like most strategy games. On your turn, you move your characters around a grid-based map and attack…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published October 23, 2012
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  You Can Get a 250GB Xbox 360 For $99 (But There’s a Catch)

  Microsoft is expanding its “pay as you go” plans for the Xbox 360 in the United States, adding a 250GB console (and a 250GB console + Kinect) to go alongside the 4GB console that’s been available for a few months now For $99, you can get the 250GB unit (the 250GB + Kinect deal is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  You’ll Never Believe What Game Character This Volcano Erupted

  When Kyoto resident Clifford Brown was in Kagoshima on vacation this spring, he noticed something familiar in the swirl of volcanic ash in the sky. He noticed Yoshi. On his Flickr page, Brown recently uploaded the photo and titled it, “Yoshi Volcano”, adding that it depicts a “Yoshi shaped eruption from Sakurajima”. Sakurajima or “Sakura…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The Most Amazing Place to Play Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan

  An internet cafe in Tokyo’s Takadanobaba is rolling out a Phantasy Star Online 2 “Arks Briefing Room”, which available for hourly rent. According to 4Gamer, the space is decked out with four, pricey Emperor 1510 gaming chairs, ALIENWARE Aurora ALX computers, and slick displays. Stunning. In case you missed it, here are Kotaku‘s impressions of…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
• Kotaku East

  First Look at the Newest World Ends with You. It’s a Social Game.

  The World Ends with You is getting a new game for smartphones. It’s a social game called The World Ends with You: Live Remix, and it features songs from the previous game. According to Famitsu, the game uses touch controls, and it’s described as “an easy way” for players to enjoy The World Ends with…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
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  Gotham Overrun with Leather, Latex, and Itchy Plants

  Last week, Kotaku took a look at the men of Batman. This week? This week, it’s the ladies’ turn. Brace yourself for the likes of Batgirl, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and more. Any one familiar with Batman knows that the outfits—both for both male and female characters—aren’t exactly a snap to pull off—literally and figuratively. They…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
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  Not Even Famous Developers Could Save This Game From Kickstarter Failure

  It’s quickly becoming accepted that for a game to really hit the big time on Kickstarter, it needs the involvement of people gamers can trust. Minimising risk, and all that. So you’d have thought a project involving the co-founder of id Software (Tom Hall) and the designer of Wizardry 8 (Brenda Braithwaite, both above) would…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
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  The First Iron Man 3 Trailer Is Pretty Damn Great

  Next spring, Iron Man 3 will hit theaters. Here’s the movie’s first trailer, which just hit. It looks…just wonderful. Iron Man 3 opens in the U.S. on May 3 and on April 26 in the U.K. Iron Man 3 — Official Trailer Marvel [Marvel@YouTube]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2012
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  The Sad, Sweet Story of Justin and His Big Day Out Playing PlayStation Games

  Every Wednesday, the Freddie Mac Foundation sponsors a segment on local news channels in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC, turning the cameras on one of their kids who is in need of adoption. The latest was Justin, a “quiet, reserved child” who sure does love video games. So for his turn…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
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  In Dishonored, Stealth is For the Boring

  Having got the fancy ending for Dishonored, I thought I had some skills. Turns out my only skills were patience and cowardice. The way Flakked gets things done in this video shows me that my second, more violent playthrough might be a lot more interesting That slide near the end is the stuff of highlight…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012