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  Tomb Raider’s First 14 Minutes Are About Jumping (And The Slaughter of Deer)

  The new Tomb Raider was at PAX. Were you at PAX? Me neither, so this is the first I’ve seen of the demo that was running over the weekend. It goes for 14 minutes, so you might want to make a cup of tea. When you do, and get back, you can join me in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
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  Easy Modes Can Ruin Games? Um, No.

  Alex Hutchinson, the lead designer on Assassin’s Creed III, has some very interesting thoughts on video game difficulty. “A lot of games have been ruined by easy modes,” he tells Edge. “If you have a cover shooter and you switch it to easy and you don’t have to use cover, you kind of broke your…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012
• Culture

  This is Who We Thank For Bastion’s Gorgeous Art

  Jen Zee works at Supergiant Games. A small indie team, Jen is art director (and part-time badass cosplayer), meaning she’s the main one to thank for the amazing colours and vibrant world of Bastion, one of the best-looking video games in recent memory. A Seattle native, Jen has also done work for Gaia Interactive and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2012
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  A Space Invader Origin Story Is Hilarious, Brilliant, And Sort Of Heartbreaking

  Space Invaders: they move mindlessly. In formation, they slowly attack, heading towards earth with a terrifying, robotic certainty. But what about before these invaders were selected to wage war on humanity? What happened before then? In this brilliant comic, we get to see the Space Invader origin story – watch as he is born, grows…

  by Mark Serrels Published September 3, 2012
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  This Zelda Sword Goes Great with Butter

  While at work, Tumblr user spacekat267 created this “Zelda inspired breadstick.” Stick? You mean sword! “Twas delicious and most powerful with a side of Lon Lon Ranch,” blogged spacekat267, adding that he was thinking of doing an Ocarina next. Go big, spacekat267! Do a Hylian Shield! Doooooooo it. I crafted… [spacekat267]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 3, 2012
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  Star Wars Meets Ancient Rome, When Senates Were More Interesting

  Custom toy builder Sillof has made quite a name for himself in the past few years turning random action figures into themed, fantasy sets of Star Wars pieces. His previous efforts, like Second World War and Steampunk Star Wars, were great, but this latest one might be the best of all, if only for the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2012
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  Valve’s Erik Wolpaw On How DayZ And Minecraft Fulfill ‘The Promise Of Games’

  Among the many highlights from the Erik Wolpaw/Tim Schafer panel at PAX this past weekend was a brief exchange where an audience member asked what Wolpaw thought about the disconnect between authored single-player games and games that allowed truly personal stories to emerge, like Notch’s Minecraft and Dean Hall’s DayZ “It’s not [about] single-player vs…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 3, 2012
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  See The Room That Ate Ms. Pac-Man and Three Other One-of-a-Kind Video Game Experiences Right Here

  Proof that video games are art isn’t just on the screen. Sometimes it can be right in front of you, in the form of an arcade classic that swallows a whole room or tricked-out gloves that let you throw a Street Fighter fireball. The video game art that viewers saw at the recent Babycastles Summit—along…

  By Evan Narcisse Published September 3, 2012
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  Yep, Looks Like Valve’s Still Making Hardware

  A recent job listing on Valve’s website confirms what the Half-Life developer has been discussing for the past few months: they’re making hardware. “Valve is traditionally a software company,” the listing for an Industrial Designer position reads. “Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners…

  By Jason Schreier Published September 3, 2012
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  Make a Gears of War 3 Designer Happy and Find This Easter Egg

  You’ve had a year to play Gears of War 3 and you still haven’t found all the Easter eggs. During the Gears of War panel yesterday at DragonCon in Atlanta, lead level designer Jim Brown teased a submersible secret, and told us of the drunken Dizzy Easter egg that didn’t make it in. After a…

  By Mike Fahey Published September 3, 2012
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  This Isn’t a Photo, It’s a Catwoman Action Figure

  The last few months of Hot Toys’ show-stopping range of Dark Knight Rises figures have seen some great pieces, but the range’s reveals (presumably) come to a close today with the fourth and final primary character from the movie, Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman. To be released in March 2013, she’s available now for pre-order, and will…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2012
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  Solid State Drive Showdown: SSD Is On PC Gamers’ Minds

  It’s been a great year for prospective SSD shoppers as prices are finally becoming more practical for system builders and consumers alike. Scrolling through our reviews from last year, most of the higher capacity models were prohibitively expensive for “mainstream” enthusiasts. The OCZ Vertex 3 240GB was $500 ($2.08/GB) when it arrived last spring, while…

  by Steven Walton | TechSpot Published September 3, 2012
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  If You’re Going To Dress Up Like A Black Mesa Employee, This Is How You Do It

  Seen at PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend: this Black Mesa cosplayer, complete with lab coat and (hilarious) recruitment manuals. Enjoy them:

  By Jason Schreier Published September 3, 2012
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  Hardest Video Controls Ever?

  Take QWOP, the notoriously difficult running video game, and swap in a horse. You get CLOP Take CLOP and try to control it with four PlayStation Move motion controllers. You get the video above, featuring the ever-enterprising creator of top unlicensed Move game Johann Sebastian Joust, Doug Wilson. RoboCLOP [YouTube, via Twitter]

  By Stephen Totilo Published September 3, 2012
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  Hyper-Realistic Angry Birds Look Ready For Murder

  No doubt inspired by his previous work on the franchise, Rovio recently commissioned artist Sam Spratt to whip them up some paintings of some Angry Birds. They’re as expressive as you’d expect from our former in-house artist, and unlike the mildly cranky birds you see in the game, look genuinely furious at…something. “ANGRY BIRDS ARTIST…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2012
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  Hey iPhone App! You’re an Annoying Orange Game

  Hey! Hey! I’m late to the Annoying Orange party, I know. As much time as I spend online, I really didn’t know about Annoying Orange until recently when I saw the character’s YouTube clips featured on Japanese TV. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know, I’m playing the Annoying Orange‘s iPhone…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 3, 2012
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  Wargaming A U.S.-China War

  As if the U.S. and China don’t have enough problems, now they’re eyeing each other like two high school jocks competing to be Big Alpha Male on Campus. Oh, they’re not exactly enemies. Actually, they’re kind of friendly with each other. One loans the other money, and the other uses that money to buy cigarettes…

  by Michael Peck Published September 3, 2012
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  Reminder to Arkham City Players: Talk to Calendar Man Today… For the Last Time!!

  Today is Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas New Year’s Day Valentine’s Day St. Patrick’s Day April Fools’ Day Mother’s Day Father’s Day The 4th of July something called The Feast of St. Roch Labor Day. So if you’re playing Batman: Arkham City and you don’t believe in cheating by changing your system’s internal clock, go talk to…

  By Stephen Totilo Published September 3, 2012
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  Mario Taught Me Typing. He Should Teach Me Texting and Internet Stalking, Too.

  Middle school was a drag for most of my pre-teen classmates—unless it was computer class. Computer class felt less like the boring, uninspired rote that the rest of our education was and more like a gateway to a technological wonderland. Most of us couldn’t even afford computers, so that was our one chance to mess…

  By Patricia Hernandez Published September 3, 2012
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  The Best Monsters I’ve Seen So Far in Resident Evil 6

  There’s something to be said about a well-designed enemy, and Resident Evil 6 has that in spades. They’re not just the old-fashioned, shambling zombies of yesteryear. They have personality and visually communicate what their purpose is even from far away. I ended up really growing fond of them! With that in mind, here are some…

  By Chris Person Published September 3, 2012