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  Ex-Rare Developers Dazzle with a Beautiful and Relaxing Japanese Game

  iPad game Tengami is centered around the traditional Japanese pop-out arts and crafts. Designed by Nyamyam (an indie studio started by former Rare devs), Tengami utilizes the idea of paper popping up and down when turning a page. In that way, the game could be considered a book (or like a book) as the story…

  By Toshitaka Tachibana Published September 24, 2012
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  Mark Of The Ninja Is Coming To Steam, Won’t Subject You To Games For Windows Live

  Good news for PC-owning stealth-fans—Klei Entertainment’s Mark of the Ninja is coming to Steam in a couple of weeks. The game, which Patricia liked and Jason and I can’t shut up about will be on Steam on October 16 for $14.99. In an email to Kotaku, lead designer Nels Anderson had some assurances to make:…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 24, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Burger King Is Launching Squid Ink Ketchup and a Black Hamburger

  McDonald’s China isn’t the only place with black buns. In Japan, Burger King will soon offer the Premium Kuro (Black) Burger on September 28. This burger marks the fifth anniversary of BK’s return to Japan and the concept behind the hamburger is “irrationality”—because hamburgers with black buns ARE CRAZY. To achieve that dark hue, the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 24, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Dragon Ball Looks Exhausting on Kinect

  Dragon Ball Z is coming to Kinect as Dragon Ball Z for Kinect. They really should’ve called it Dragon Ball Z: Total Body Workout. Not sure who the gentleman playing is (or for which press outlet he writes for). If he lets me know, I’d be more than happy to add it right here! Kotaku…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 24, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  The Next Big Japanese Thing? Cat Tails Powered by Your Brain.

  In Japan, catgirls have been popular for a long, long time. They’ve inspired endless video game, anime, and manga characters as well hairstyles and even a set of cat ears (“neko mimi” in Japanese) called “Necomini” that can read your brain waves. The folks behind that product, a Japanese company called Neurowear, are at it…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 24, 2012
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  An Adventure Game That Should Have Been Called Milhouse: The Later Years

  Anna’s Quest is a new episodic adventure game series from indie developer Dane Krams, with a cute little art style. It gains added weight, though, when you see the poster/art for the game, and notice it features what looks like a 70 year-old Milhouse. Good to see he got over Lisa Simpson and moved on…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  The History of Music. In Animated Gif Form.

  Those lacking the will to read up on the history of music, or even watch a nice documentary, here: the history of music, presented in the form of animated gifs. They’re the work of musician Joshua Carrafa, and what I like best isn’t the fact they’re genuinely educational (in a “Trivial Pursuit card” kind of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  New Trailer For The New Kingdom Hearts Game…Collection…Thing

  Square Enix was really weird about Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix at the Tokyo Game Show. Kept saying it was a “video work”. We’re sure there’s going to be game in there somewhere, probably a lot going by the footage here, but just how much, we won’t know until Square stops being so weird. Anyway,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  From Mass Effect to…Death Metal Horror Movies

  Richard Boylan, a cinematic artist at BioWare, has spent his waking hours for the last few years working on the Mass Effect series. All that synth, and white walls, and clean space stations…it’s enough to drive a man to make a death metal horror movie. So, you know, that’s what he’s done. Boylan has written…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  When Brilliant Scientists Also Have Amazing Toy Collections

  Dr. Mark C. Glassy’s official bio reads like this: Dr. Mark C. Glassy is the Chief Executive Officer of Nascent Biologics, Inc., the Director of and Professor at the Integrated Medical Science Association Foundation, and is on the faculty of the University of California, San Diego in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and Bioscience…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  Animal Crossing Only Makes Break-Ups Worse

  If you’ve ever played an Animal Crossing game, you’ve surely done it at least once: name something, or somewhere, after a friend or loved one. It seems a good fit, bringing the real world into your clockwork virtual one, but that door swings both ways. What seems cute or appropriate when things are going well…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  A Week of Cosplayers Doing What They Do Best

  While all eyes were on Japan this week at the Tokyo Game Show, where cosplay is almost as big a draw as the games themselves (at least on the weekend), those engaged in the art elsewhere quietly had one of the most impressive weeks we’ve seen in a while here on Fancy Pants. Seriously. If…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  The World Would be Cooler if it Was Made Out of Polygons

  Designers Jeremiah Shaw & Danny Jones have set up a site called Geo a Day. The idea is simple. It’s a “daily exercise in exploration of shapes and form”, meaning every day we get a new image made entirely out of geometric shapes. It’s like children’s television, video games and graphic design got together and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012
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  This Brand New Neo Geo Game Will Make You Move Your TV

  From the same guys who brought you Gunlord, comes NEO XYX, a shooter for the Neo Geo that…yes, this will be a Neo Geo game. On a cartridge and everything. Because it’ll only be made in a small run, and because it’s being made for a dead console that uses expensive cartridges, don’t be too…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 23, 2012
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  “He Threatens to Stab me if I Don’t Give Him a Copy of This New JRPG”

  Website CollegeHumor has a section called Works Sucks. It’s a place where the downtrodden and downbeat can swap stories, comparing how awful their jobs are and hopefully finding solace in the fact their shitty job isn’t as shitty as someone else’s. Amidst all the complaints from factory workers and IT victims, this one popped up…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 23, 2012
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  One of These 17 Beautiful Screenshots is Your Next Desktop Wallpaper

  Joanne, aka PixieGIrl4, is a video game “photographer” in the same vein as guys like Duncan “Dead End Thrills” Harris She is very, very good at what she does. Below you’ll find some of her best “screenshots” (click to embiggen), which are captured using tools and tweaks that can – and often does – melt…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 23, 2012
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  Murdered EVE Online Player Was a CIA Agent, According to the Infinite Wisdom of Glenn Beck

  Continuing his blossoming love affair with the video game community, conservative pundit Glenn Beck has waded into the tragic events surrounding the death of State Department employee Sean Smith in Libya earlier this month Not to pay his respects, though. He’s bringing it up to accuse Smith and his colleagues of either working with the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 23, 2012
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  Sports Video Games Try to Hold On, with Infinite Diversity in Finite Releases

  The question was put forth this past week, in a podcast where I was a panelist: Are sports video games in a golden age? “No,” seems to be the most obvious answer. Ten years ago, we had competing simulation titles in college football, college basketball and in professional hockey at least, to say nothing of…

  By Owen Good Published September 23, 2012
• Culture

  The Week in Game: Kick a Panda

  Only Warcraft could survive a matchup with both FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer, and that’s what you get this week, along with Dead Or Alive 5 Tuesday • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC) • FIFA 13 (PS3, PC, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, PSP, Wii) • Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 (360, PS3, PC) •…

  By Owen Good Published September 23, 2012
• Esports

  Free-to-Play Considered for Multiplayer StarCraft, Says Designer

  At the inaugural eSports Congress in Valencia, StarCraft II‘s lead designer was asked of the possibility his game would go free-to-play, considering the potential that has to grow a game’s user base and competitive population. According to PCGamesN, that concept has been discussed. Blizzard, the game’s publisher is “looking at free-to-play as an option for…

  By Owen Good Published September 23, 2012