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  Kotaku East

  How About Some Kirby Music Played by an Orchestra? Yes, Please.

  In the above video, an orchestra plays a Kirby medley. It’s glorious, and it will be featured on the music CD that comes with the upcoming Kirby’s Dream Collection compilation. Kirby’s Dream Collection – Medley Recording Feature [YouTube]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Korea Gets a Theme Park Dedicated to Toilets and the Crap that Goes in Them

  Outside Seoul, the city of Suwon recently opened a public park and museum dedicated to toilets. Makes sense, as the city has been a toilet pioneer in South Korea. As YouTube user KRTVtv pointed out, Korea’s public toilets were “ramshackle and disgusting” before the 1980s. In Korea, it’s being called the “world’s first toilet theme…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Kotaku East Starts Now!

  Kotaku East runs from 4am to 8am Eastern. For more info about Kotaku East click here

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 4, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Assassin’s Creed III Sure Knows It’s July 4

  This trailer is still a little too YEAH AMERICA for my tastes, especially given the series’ normally restrained take on matters historical, but then, this was put together for the Fourth of July. Hopefully the actual game plays more like history, and not like a bad Mel Gibson movie.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Oh God, Chuck E. Cheese Has Been Redesigned

  Not the restaurants, Chuck himself. See for yourself. If this was looking for me to write something about how it looks like a b-side Dreamworks character from 1998, well, mission accomplished. An AP report describes the redesign as making Chuck appear “as a hip, electric-guitar-playing rock star”. Making things even more unsavoury is the news…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
• Uncategorized

  If You Blew $50 on Duke Nukem Forever, Would You Blow $300 On This?

  It’s been over a year since Duke Nukem Forever was released, and to commemorate (commiserate?) the whole experience, Sideshow is next year bringing out this 16″ statue of the Duke. Selling for USD$300, he’s certainly not cheap, and given the reception to the last game in the franchise, may seem entirely unwarranted. But then, there’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  OK, There Might Be Too Many Live-Action Trailers Now

  We live in a time where even a new Total War game gets a live-action trailer, complete with sexy bits (the ring-kissing is not a sexy bit), stabbings and sexy stabbings. A Total War game. Because nothing says “command tens of thousands of men on the field of battle in a game of epic strategy”…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Once You See This “Half-Life” Photo…

  …well, yeah. You can’t unsee it And I thought fast zombies were bad. Fast squirrel zombies with headcrabs on their chins that screamed as they crawled down post-apocalyptic trees would be about the worst thing ever Animal pictures of the week: 8 June 2012 [The Telegraph, thanks John!]

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
• Culture

  Bikini Cowgirls, Heavy Rain and British Zombies Lead This Concept Art Parade

  Over the years French artist Morgan Yon has worked on games such as Heavy Rain and Zombi U, and movies like Prince of Persia and GI Joe. His work is incredible. We featured some of it a while back, back when Heavy Rain was in the news, but that was then (when we only showed…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
• Esports

  Report: eSports Team Owner Arrested by FBI Over Internet Crimes

  According to a report on Russian news site Fontanka, prominent eSports personality Dmitry Smilyanets has been arrested in Amsterdam. Smilyanets is the owner and leader of successful eSports outfit Moscow Five, who are big on the League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike scenes. While the charges haven’t been made public, Fontanka understands he was…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Dragon Ball’s Creator Takes on Street Fighter

  Akira Toriyama is famous as being the creator of Dragonball, though he’s also worked on video games, most notably doing character design for the Dragon Quest series of RPGs (as well as Xbox 360 RPG Blue Dragon). This antique image, from what looks like an old Japanese magazine, has the legend giving his take on…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 3, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  The Time Nintendo Forgot About Games, And Went After The…Stock Market?

  Unlike its rivals Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has usually had a staunch games first philosophy when it comes to hardware. But it hasn’t always been that way. In the 1980s, the company had a brief flirtation with, of all things, the business market. Booming business and ambitious technology were two of the hallmarks of Japan’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 3, 2012
• Uncategorized

  I’m Busy, You’re Busy, We’re All So Fricking Busy

  I tell you what, working full-time at Kotaku is one mother-effin busy job. I’m busier than I’ve ever been. When people ask me how I am, I always say “Good! Busy. But good!” This article at the New York Times comes directly at the idea of being “too busy.” We say we’re busy for a…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 3, 2012
• Uncategorized

  May The Thread Be Opened

  Hi, gang. Last night, we ran the first off-topic forum (as opposed to post). I went through it this morning— I saw a lot of people doing regular discussion, and it seemed like several folks were wondering why have a dedicated off-topic forum in addition to Talk Amongst Yourselves. That’s a perfectly good question, and…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 3, 2012
• Uncategorized

  I Can Now Compare The Three Parts of the Resident Evil 6 Demo

  If you picked up a copy of Dragon’s Dogma on the 360, Capcom has unlocked the Resident Evil 6 demo for you starting today. I played the one demo three times over. Or really, I played the demo in three fractions. What’s this craziness, you ask? Resident Evil 6 will let you play in three…

  By Tina Amini Published July 3, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Not Even Death Will Keep A Gamer Away From Their One True Love

  Warning: video is slightly NSFW. Not only is this animated short beautifully rendered, but it teaches us an important life lesson, too. You can fool the Grim Reaper into playing games against you instead of taking your soul away. Gamers=1, Death=0. Thanks Oded!

  By Tina Amini Published July 3, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  S*** Just Got Real in Valve’s Movie-Maker

  We’ve already reached the point at which Valve’s Source Filmmaker is generating too many awesome movies to watch, let alone share. But let’s live in the bubble a little bit longer so that we can experience the awesomeness of this re-creation of Michael Bay’s finest moment: The “S*** Just Got Real” scene from Bad Boys…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 3, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  If Tetris Were About Making Words, It Would Be This Game

  I play a lot of word games. Competitive, single-player, silly, serious… I like messing around with all the weird and wonderful combinations the English language has to offer. I am used to the ebb and flow of word games, to the way consonants feel, to the hunt for vowels. They comfort me. Which is why…

  By Kate Cox Published July 3, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  “Terrorists” Frustrated By Lack Of Steam Summer Sale Send “Threatening” Video Message To Gabe Newell

  My, my. The lack of the traditional end-of-June Steam summer sale certainly has some people riled up, if this video is any indication. While gamers wait out as the early days of July pass on with no sale announcement, some want to take matters into their own hands. Like these two “threatening” terrorists, claiming they’ll…

  By Tina Amini Published July 3, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The 3DS Now Officially Has DLC

  Theatrhythm Final Fantasy launches today, and with it comes the Nintendo 3DS’s first-ever batch of downloadable content. Here’s the list of tracks you can get, each for a buck: 1. “Battle Theme 1” (FINAL FANTASY II) 2. “The Final Battle” (FINAL FANTASY IV) 3. “Fighters of the Crystal” (FINAL FANTASY XI) 4. “Fighting Fate” (FINAL…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 3, 2012