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  How To Kill Civilians In A War Game

  Civilian casualties are rare in video games. Every real-life war results in a terrible loss of innocent life; collateral damage is a grim reality of battle. Yet most war video games play out across perfectly crafted arenas in which each “team” is clearly marked and civilians are nowhere to be found. Spec Ops: The Line…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012
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  This Indie Game Expo Trailer Makes Me Wish I Lived In Seattle

  The random car engine vrooms are the best. Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

  By Jason Schreier Published July 24, 2012
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  The Joy And Wonder Of A 3-Year-Old Playing Journey

  ThatGameCompany’s Journey is a wonderful game, a beautiful experience with universal wonder. The first time I played it, I felt a often felt a sense of childlike wonder. Logan also feels childlike wonder as he plays the game. In fact, every time he feels wonder, it’s childlike wonder, because he is 3 years old. Everyone…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012
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  Pandaren Are the Space Orks of World of Warcraft

  In today’s warlike episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Wocalax posits that World of Warcraft’s newest race is just as lore-killing as Warhammer 40K’s mean green bashing machines. Short, bitter, and generally mean to bears. The Pandas of World of Warcraft are to the Orks of Warhammer 40K Mmmmmm, analogy…. Both ruin the lore…

  Featuring Wocalax Published July 24, 2012
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  Anti-Bigotry Gaming Site Defaced With Racial Slurs

  It only took a week for Gamers Against Bigotry to be defaced by bigotry. The website, started by comedian Sam Killermann in late June as a way to fight against offensive slurs and hate speech in the video game community, was almost immediately attacked by bigots (or one single, dedicated bigot). They painted racial slurs…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 24, 2012
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  The Sex Video Game Polymorphous Perversity Made Me Question My Identity

  I don’t know what to say about Nicolau Chaud‘s Polymorphous Perversity. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to say about it; quite the opposite, in fact! It’s just that I went in to the RPG expecting a commentary on human sexuality, some reveal of a deeper truth. I was looking to explore the psychology of…

  by Adam Miller Published July 24, 2012
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  Telltale’s Walking Dead Game Is Coming To Apple Devices This Thursday

  Telltale’s masterful (so far) episodic Walking Dead game will be coming to Apple devices this Thursday, according to a post on the company’s blog The iOS version will be called Walking Dead: The Game, which should differentiate it from all the other Walking Dead stuff out there. The first episode of the planned 5-episode run…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012
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  Barricade-Jumping Video Game Developer Runs The Olympic Torch Route With A Banana

  Let it never be said that the folks who make LittleBigPlanet lack for chutzpah. Last week, the Olympic torch was set to go past the Media Molecule office in Guildford. Not one to let an opportunity like this pass by, Media Molecule’s Omar [last name redacted at Omar’s request] decided to jump the barrier and…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012
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  Five Comics That Will Make You Nostalgic This Week

  If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 24, 2012
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  No One Laughs at Aquamanatee in This Justice League

  So heroic. So graceful. So dignified. These manatee superheroes face injustices every day, for the sake of mankind (and probably manatees, too). Joel Micah Harris [deviantART via bluelightseven]

  By Tina Amini Published July 24, 2012
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  The Comics That Helped The Dark Knight Rise

  Spoiler Warning: Plot details from The Dark Knight Rises get discussed below. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and want to go in unspoiled, stop reading now. One of the things I liked most about The Dark Knight Rises is how it reconfigures elements from various Batman storylines into its own compelling experience. The…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 24, 2012
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  Panel Discussion: The Programming Block Without Fear!

  Are we still pretending that comics and video games don’t have anything to do with each other? Not anymore, we’re not. Welcome to Panel Discussion, where the focus will be on comic books and sequential art, whether they connect directly to video games or not. Confused? Read this

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 24, 2012
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  This Action-RPG For Vita Is Looking Pretty Stellar

  This is Ys Celceta: Sea Of Trees (also known as Ys Celceta: Foliage Ocean), the next game in Falcom’s Ys series of action-roleplaying games. No word on U.S. release yet, but it’ll be out this September in Japan for Vita. Boutique publisher XSEED Games has localized many of Falcom’s other games—including several in the Ys…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 24, 2012
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  Athene, The ‘Best Gamer In The World,’ Is Taking Your Questions Right Now

  Surely you’ve heard of Athene, right? He’s the best gamer in the world! He’s got all kinds of world records, in everything from World of Warcraft to online poker. He can beat Diablo III‘s first boss in less than a second. His online fans are legion, and with their help he’s farmed the most powerful…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published July 24, 2012
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  Here’s How Halo Will Look in Crysis 2. Wait, What?

  You might not be sitting around thinking that Crysis 2 needs more Master Chief. Fair enough. But some intrepid modders are using the PC release of Crytek’s alien invasion war game to stage their own version of Spartan-vs-Covenant action. They’re calling it Venerance. Tributary Creations is a loose confederation of developers who are using the…

  By Evan Narcisse Published July 24, 2012
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  Borderlands For $20 Is A Pretty Good Deal

  As are some of the other video game discounts on Amazon’s Gold Box today. Check it out! [Amazon]

  By Jason Schreier Published July 24, 2012
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  Cold is the Deadliest Weapon in Company of Heroes 2

  The harsh Soviet winter of 1941 saw temperatures drop as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature at which human skin freezes in minutes. Axis and Allied forces alike suffered tremendous casualties due to the extreme cold. Relic Entertainment harnesses this deadly force of nature with Company of Heroes 2‘s ColdTech system. We’ve seen how…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 24, 2012
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  If We Can’t Have Real Magical Books, At Least We’re Getting J.K. Rowling’s PlayStation-Powered Harry Potter “Wonderbook”

  What if there was a book that had no words in it? What if this book that required a camera, a TV and a video game console in order for you to “read” it? Would you call this progress? Would you call it science fiction? Sony calls it the Wonderbook and has enlisted Harry Potter…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 24, 2012
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  Two New DLC Packs Add Puzzles To Quantum Conundrum

  Delightful puzzler Quantum Conundrum will receive two new downloadable content packs this summer, publisher Square Enix said today. Pack one, The Desmond Debacle, sticks you in a new wing of the Quadwrangle Manor to solve puzzles that center around the drinking bird Desmond. Pack two, IKE-aramba!, tasks you with rescuing the adorable Interdimensional Kinetic Entity…

  By Jason Schreier Published July 24, 2012
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  Play Mario Anywhere, As Long As You Have Post-Its

  It might not be as difficult a game as you remember, but the stop motion animation is just as amusing. It just takes a lot of set-up to get there. Kind of like trying to find the Princess. Mario – Post It Life [YouTube via Reddit]

  By Tina Amini Published July 24, 2012