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  The Mastermind Behind the Ouya Console Is Answering Your Best Questions Right Here

  Julie Uhrman want to make a $99 hackable Android-based game console, and now she’s got about $5 million in Kickstarter pledges to make that dream a reality. But since news broke about the ambitious Ouya device, many gamers have had many questions. Some have been answered in official interviews; some on Ouya’s Kickstarter page. Today,…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 19, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Oh Look, It’s A Crapload More Resident Evil 6 Gameplay Footage

  Man, at this rate, we’re not even going to have to play Resident Evil 6, we can just watch it. Then again, after reading Jason’s article about Let’s Play, it actually sounds like a kinda cool idea. At any rate, three new videos of the game have hit YouTube—you can watch them here. Lots of…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 19, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  This Is What The Real Console War Looks Like (Spoilers: It’s Deadly)

  For everyone’s online bickering and arguing, who knew that the real console war was being fought out on an actual, dangerous battlefield. But who will come out victorious?

  By Tina Amini Published July 19, 2012
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  The Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed III Will Answer Your Questions Live on Kotaku at 5pm ET

  We’re so in love with our new live, reader-led Q&As that we’re doing two of them today. At 1:30pm ET, you’ll be able to ask questions and get answers from Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman. And then, at 5pm ET, come back and do the same with Alex Hutchinson, the creative director (read: top game developer)…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 19, 2012
• Esports

  Heroes of Newerth Ready to Give All Players All Heroes for Free

  Heroes of Newerth, originally launched in 2010, is one of the many multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games clamoring for attention these days. The genre grows more popular almost daily, with millions worldwide logging in to the generally free-to-play games and millions more tuning in to streaming matches online. Heroes of Newerth is trying a…

  By Kate Cox Published July 19, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Fieldrunners 2 Is a Huge Improvement Over the First Fieldrunners

  It’s been four years since the first Fieldrunners, the hit tower defense game which was what everyone with an iPhone seemed to have long before Angry Birds took over. Subatomic Studios has finally created a sequel, a rather large game that makes the first one look like a tech demo. The core gameplay is the…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 19, 2012
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  Reviews

  Tony Hawk HD: The Kotaku Review

  In 1999, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater showed millions of people the world over that their fingers could talk. There’s a language that comes built into certain video games. Buttons become verbs, launching virtual figures into new landscapes. Combinations of inputs string together whole sentences that make you fluent in physics, aesthetics and sometimes even ideas.…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 19, 2012
• Uncategorized

  How Ratchet & Clank Does Tower Defense

  Yesterday’s news that the next Ratchet & Clank involves tower defense elicited at least one groan from a reader who recalled what a wretched addition tower defense was to last year’s Assassin’s Creed. Tower defense games may be popular—who doesn’t love setting up rows of towers to kill marching enemies?—but some series just don’t need…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 19, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  It’s Thursday. You’ve made it this far. The weekend is within reach. Do not falter, heroes. Go on and talk about the games you’re playing, loving and hating. Head over to Talk Amongst Yourselves, the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Go to the TAY…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 19, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Blizzard CEO: We Know Diablo III ‘Isn’t Perfect’

  Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has addressed player concerns with action-role-playing game Diablo III, promising improvements in a statement on Battle.net today Noting that the launch of Blizzard’s highly-anticipated sequel had “many challenges,” Morhaime noted that the team had fixed the majority of technical issues—like the much-mocked “error 37” issue that prevented players from logging into…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 19, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Check Out the Largest Map in Battlefield History

  In September Battlefield 3‘s next expansion, Armored Kill, brings five new vehicles, a tank superiority game mode and the sweeping sands of the Bandar Desert, the largest map in the history of the franchise. Let’s take a look at the first gameplay trailer! Look at all that sand. It’s like a budding George Lucas romance…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 19, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Joy Of Playing Video Games Without Actually Playing Them

  Playing video games can be wonderful. Sometimes not playing them can be even better. See, games are often time-devouring. Tedious. Difficult. Annoying. You might not want to spend hours of your life grinding for experience points to kill a dragon or shooting up bloody clouds of soldiers en route to some submarine. (There’s always a…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 19, 2012
• Uncategorized

  If I Were Death I’d Probably Use My iPhone to Harvest Souls Too

  The sinister sounding Darksiders II: Soul Harvest is more than just an iOS marketing tie-in that let’s fans of all things dark and stalky unlock special goodies prior to the game’s release next month. It’s also how I imagine the anthropomorphic personification of the end of all things would get things done in the digital…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 19, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Strategy RPG Series Sure Loves The PSP

  The Summon Night series is coming to the PSP. For those who don’t know, Summon Night is a strategy simulation RPG series from Banpresto (Namco Bandai for the DS versions). Summon Night and Summon Night 2 were both released on the Sony Playstation in 2000 and 2001 and later rereleased on the Nintendo DS in…

  By Toshi Nakamura Published July 19, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Unboxing the Nasne, Sony’s New Media Hub

  Yesterday, the day before Nasne’s release, Sony suddenly postponed the media hub because units were damaged during shipment. The Nasne that sister site Kotaku Japan ordered online, however, arrived today—fit as a fiddle and undamaged. Hello unboxing time! The Nasne is a networked recorder that offers 500GB of storage as well as the ability to…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 19, 2012
• Kotaku East

  These Pokémon Cards Are Slightly Different. Can You Tell?

  One card is Japanese. One is English-language. But that’s not it. And sure, the Pocket Monster is “Grimer” in the West and “Betobetaa” (ベトベター) in Japan and the HP order and font were changed. Those aren’t it, either. Those are big differences. There’s a slight difference between these two Pokémon cards. Can you spot it?…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 19, 2012
• Kotaku East

  This Kiki’s Delivery Service Cosplay Delivers a Big Bow and a Little Black Cat

  Big red bow? Check. Simple dress? Check? Jiji, the cat? Check. All that’s missing is a broomstick and a little Yumi Matsutoya Somewhere between the skimpy midriffs and hot pants at a recent Japanese cosplay event, there was this lovely Kiki from the Ghibli classic Kiki’s Delivery Service. That’s cosplayer Kuroneko as Kiki. Click on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 19, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Giant Video Game Monsters Invade Universal Studios Japan

  Most of the West might not give two farts about Monster Hunter, but Japan adores it. Capcom’s monster hunting series is appearing at Osaka’s Universal Studios Japan this summer in giant statue form as part of “Monster Hunter Real 2012”. By “real”, I’m assuming they mean “herky-jerky”? Last year, Universal Studios Japan held “Monster Hunter…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 19, 2012
• Kotaku East

  The PS Vita Still Struggles After Six Months, But The Solution Is Obvious

  The Playstation Vita hit stores in Japan on December 17th, 2011. Since then, sales performances for the powerful little handheld have been… “Not meeting expectations” would be a mild way of stating it. This week, Weekly Famitsu covered the past 6 months of the Vita’s fight in the game market. As of July 7th, the…

  By Toshi Nakamura Published July 19, 2012
• Kotaku East

  No, This Isn’t a Star Wars Set. It’s a Japanese Game Studio.

  The vast, vast majority of Japanese game studios are bland, boring office affairs. Even the entryway for Nintendo’s Kyoto headquarters is nothing to write home about. This, however, is. So start writing. Level-5, the folks behind those Professor Layton games, have a truly spectacular corporate digs. Internal design and architect company Noa did Level-5’s HQ…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 19, 2012