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  Reviews

  SimCity Social: The Kotaku Review

  Facebook has been very good to the city-building genre. Every day millions of people wake up, log in and click away the day placing buildings, upgrading facilities and incessantly bugging their friends for help in titles like Zynga’s CityVille or Game Insight’s My Country. Now the legendary franchise that inspired these games has come to…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 10, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Cast Of NBC’s Community Are Naturals At Roleplaying Mass Effect Characters

  Troy and Abed have clearly been playing with the dreamatorium for a bit too long. And now I need to see them make an episode out of this. Community Effect Mashup: Pt. 3 [Adventures of lil Obi-Rus-Kenobi]

  By Tina Amini Published July 10, 2012
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Worlds are colliding! This must be discussed! 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 forum at this link and do what you’ve always…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 10, 2012
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  Deus Ex: Human Revolution Gets Deal to Be the Next Big Video Game Movie

  It’s apparently a big week for silver screen adaptations. Yesterday we heard that Michael Fassbender would star in an upcoming Assassin’s Creed film, and today, we learn we’re getting a Deus Ex movie. And not just any Deus Ex story, but specifically Deus Ex: Human Revolution Eidos and Square Enix have announced a deal with…

  By Kate Cox Published July 10, 2012
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  More Free Mass Effect 3 DLC Hitting Xbox Next Week

  A new downloadable content pack for Mass Effect 3 will be out on July 17 for Xbox 360, Microsoft said today. Called Mass Effect 3: Earth Multiplayer Expansion, the DLC is totally free according to a blog entry by Microsoft’s Major Nelson This is likely the map- and weapon-packed “Earth” DLC that was leaked by…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 10, 2012
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  Whoa, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor Is Doing the Theme Music for Black Ops 2

  Who do you call when you want electro-tinged, industrial-inflected rock for a world gone wrong? Trent Reznor, of course. Along with groundbreaking work as a recording artist in the 1990s, Reznor’s done film for both The Social Network and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo And now, it’s been reported in USA Today that the…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 10, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  That Just Cause 2 Multiplayer Mod Looks Like Entirely Too Much Fun

  The fan-made add-on that’s aiming to bring multiplayer to the PC version of Just Cause 2 came out of hiding last month. And lest you think that it might recede into the background again, here’s proof that the JC-MP devs have been hard at work. The clip above is edited together from one player’s session…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 10, 2012
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  New Xbox Application Gives You Achievements For Burning Calories

  Microsoft has launched an application called Kinect PlayFit as a free download for all Xbox Live members, the publisher said today. Kinect PlayFit is a “new fitness dashboard that aggregates and tracks the calories you burn as you play a variety of Kinect games,” Microsoft says. You’ll be able to compare your stats to other…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 10, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  An All-Star Plan to Build a New $99 Hackable Video Game Console Requires $950,000 Of Your Money [UPDATE]

  Julie Uhrman isn’t asking the world for a million bucks. No, she’s asking for just under it to produce a new $99 Android-based video game console called Ouya (“ooh-yuh”) that will challenge the way Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been bringing games to you on your television for years. “We don’t think the console-makers are…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 10, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  This LEGO Portal Gun Moves and Lights Up Our Imagination

  This sweet LEGO Portal gun comes courtesy of Ted from the LEGO Store in Minneapolis. In the above video, he gives a quick rundown of his creation in said LEGO Store. Bravo! LEGO Portal Gun [YouTube]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
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  Sonic and Mega Man Team Up for the First Time Ever in An Archie Comics Crossover

  Can Mega Man jump higher than Sonic? Is Sega’s blue hedgehogedgehog faster than Flash Man? We’ll all find out next year, thanks to Archie Comics. The Capcom and Sega mascots have both had long-running series published by Archie for many years now but the upcoming 2013 crossover marks the first time that the heroes will…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 10, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Finally! True Cross-Platform Gaming with Crazy Fairy Tale Characters

  Crazy Fairies: One World is the newest game by American McGee’s Spicy Horse studio. Inspired by fairy tales from across the world, Crazy Fairies is a multiplayer social game that can be simultaneously played across web browsers as well as iOS, and Android devices in real time. The game itself plays like Worms or Scorched…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Video Game Site Party Ends in Violence

  Some people you meet online are jerks. Some are super cool. And occasionally, those online friendships become offline ones. That’s what happened here, but with violent results. On Monday, 29 year-old Daisuke Masumura attended a BBQ in Kawasaki City with around 30 people. The BBQ was for people who met through a social networking video…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Pokémon Black and White 2 Is Neither Black, Nor White. It’s Gray.

  There have been a lot of games in the Pokémon series but none has been a direct sequel to any other. Rather, they have each focused on a different region in the world with a unique adventure largely unrelated to any other one. However, this all changes with the first direct sequels in the series,…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Mecha Sure Look Awesome Stomping Through Swamps

  In the world of Japanese model makers, Naoto Arakawa is at the forefront. He’s best known for his Gundam model building, and for good reason—it’s amazing. Last spring, his series of Gundam landscapes were documented in book form. His work is really meant to be viewed at 360 degree angles. At a recent model event…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Why I Feel No Need to Catch ’em All

  Way back in 1999, a friend of mine gave me an ancient gray brick of a Game Boy and a very used copy of Pokémon Red while we were on a middle school field trip. An eighth grader, I already knew myself to be “too old” for Pokémon. After all, I was already into games…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  It’s Like Cosplay, But Without the Costume

  This week, the World Body Painting festival wrapped up in Austria. With artists from 40 different countries, the event is the World Series of body painting. While this is the 15th annual event, body painting first hit it big in the early 1990s. In 1992, body painting got mainstream exposure when Demi Moore appeared on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Hunter x Hunter Shows There’s Life in the PSP

  This September, popular manga Hunter x Hunter is getting a new PSP game in Japan, Hunter x Hunter: Wonder Adventure. Check out the game’s trailer.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Iconic Anime Heroine Made Freakin’ Enormous

  In Japanese anime, they don’t get much bigger than Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Starting this month, I mean that literally. Between July 25 and August 26, an 18.5-meter (61-foot) version of the Eva heroine will be erected along side a slide in Tokyo’s Shiodome as part of a summer event. Visitors can ride…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012
• Kotaku East

  iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Start at This Chinese Store. Hey, Wait a Second…

  Okay, so the iPhone hasn’t been officially announced yet. But! But that isn’t stopping this eager retailer. According to Chinese site Sohu, this shop is getting the jump on everyone else by offering iPhone 5 pre-orders. The in-store display doesn’t show the actual iPhone 5 (it looks to be an iPod Touch, rather), but that’s…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2012