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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Today is the best sort of days. It’s a summer Friday. Let us all rejoice! Welcome to Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that…

  By Evan Narcisse Published June 15, 2012
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  BioWare is ‘Looking at Free-to-Play’ for Star Wars: The Old Republic

  Back in December BioWare’s dueling doctors told us they couldn’t see their newly-launched massively multiplayer online Star Wars role-playing game going free-to-play in the foreseeable future. Then BioWare botched several free game updates and lost a good chunk of the game’s subscribers. Suddenly free-to-play isn’t looking so bad. In an interview with Games(TM), lead designer…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 15, 2012
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  Dead or Alive 5 Developers Would Love If Their Game Was in Fighting Tournaments But…

  These days, it’s impossible to make a fighting game without the awareness that the community surrounding those games is going to put it through its paces. The fact that there’s a dedicated group of players who’ll be picking apart movesets and stun durations isn’t daunting to fighting game creators, though. For some, it’s inspiring, When…

  By Evan Narcisse Published June 15, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  A Terrifying First Look at the Sequel to the Scariest PC Game Ever

  In case you don’t want to watch the first teaser trailer for Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, let me summarize it for you: Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, oh god what is that? What the hell is that?! There’s a terrifying monster pig creature out there, and the truffles he’s rooting for are your soul. If…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Watch Out! It’s a (Tokyo) Jungle Out There

  Evolved from a PSN title to a disc-based release, Sony’s newest PS3 game, Tokyo Jungle has caught the attention of many with its interesting urban environment, animal survival concept. But does this title bring gameplay equal to its unique narrative base or does it never completely manage to escape its budget title roots? Good —…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Teenager Lured Little Girl with Video Games. Then, He Raped Her.

  Early this past March in China’s Gushi County, 14 year-old Xiao Qiang told seven year-old Xiao Hua she could play games on his mobile phone. He lured her into a room in an abandoned shoe factory. There, he proceeded to sexually assault her. After raping Xiao Hua, the boy continued to bully and abuse her…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Red Games Are Patriotic Communist Games That Always Have China Winning

  Chances are when you hear “China”, you immediately think of communism, Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao. Well, those three things don’t really scream video games, but in China they are an important part of China’s video gaming history. Chairman Mao and his vision of China a red China has influenced a genre of video games…

  By Eric Jou Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  And Japan’s Most Popular Manga is… (Survey Says)

  Last month, goo Research polled 1,939 Japanese people from ages 15 to 44 about their manga reading habits. Questions ranged from which manga they read to who their favorite character is—they even asked about favorite one-liners. So if manga is your drug of choice, read on to see which are the most popular in Japan…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  A Small Fleet of Cars. Pokémon Cars.

  If you collect Japanese toy cars, you’re well aware of the Pikachu toy car. This wasn’t a one off dealio. Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy is running a campaign this summer with Toyota dealers to give away Pokémon mini toy cars as part of a promotion with the new Pocket Monsters feature film. This month…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Decades Later, Dirty Doorknob Manga Locks Up an Adult Film Version

  Last year, Kotaku profiled the male and female photographers behind Doorknob Girl, a collection of photos featuring young women licking doorknobs. The NSFW photos, which are now available in book forum, sexualize an object that most view as innocuous: the doorknob. But this wasn’t a first. Over a decade ago, an underground manga artist named…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Forget Food! Chinese Kids Want Virtual Gaming Loot, Instead

  According to a population study done by Nanjing Normal University and published by Tencent, over 33% of Chinese junior high students in the Nanjing area are willing to go hungry in the morning so that they can purchase items for online games. In their study, Nanjing University surveyed over 1,200 junior high, high school, and…

  By Eric Jou Published June 15, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Final Fantasy, King of Fighters, and Magic: The Gathering Collide in This Arcade Game

  Trading card games are big in Japan—from Yu-Gi-Oh! to Pokémon to Magic: The Gathering. And given the popularity of video games also, it’s really not surprising that videogame makers figured out how to combine the two. Today, outside of fighting games and medal games, these card/video games are the most popular thing you’ll see in…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Chinese Doctors Tells Parents With Young Children to Say No to the iPad.

  Children ages three and under should not be allowed near touch screen devices such as tablet computers and smartphones, say Chinese doctors in Guangzhou. According a recent study done in Guangzhou, the doctors found that children are adversely affected by touch screen devices. The study states that the children can develop “severe” eye problems ranging…

  By Eric Jou Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  South Korea To Ban Those Gold Farming Bots

  According to the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, roughly sixty percent of game items for sale were acquired via bots. In online games, these programs allow players to hunt and collect items without controlling them directly. And soon, these programs will be outlawed. The Korea Times reports that the country has decided…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Oh, The Ways Japanese Anime Has Changed Over the Years

  These image of popular anime K-On! has been making its way through the Japanese internet. They show K-On! as the anime actually appears now as well as how it “would” appear if it had been drawn in the 1990s, the 1980s, the 1970s, and even the 1960s. K-On!, of course, is not a decades old…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012
• Kotaku East

  How Japan’s Most Wanted Criminal Almost Escaped at a Comic Book Cafe

  On March 20, 1995, Japan experienced the country’s worst act of modern terrorism. It was domestic terrorism carried out by the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo. Members of the doomsday group released sarin gas on the Tokyo Metro, killing thirteen and injuring thousands more. Ten male Aum Shinrikyo members carried out the attack: five of them…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 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 June 15, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Getting the Grand Theft Auto Band Back Together

  Only rarely do they ever see each other in a game, so it’s nice to see the stars of every Grand Theft Auto title (at least the ones that had a star) find the time to catch up. Swap stories, talk about beatings, car chases and unfair checkpoint structures. If you’re wondering who the brooding…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 15, 2012
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  Journey Cosplay is Tough, Because Humans Have Arms

  While it’s not as cute as the feline edition, this round of cosplay featuring humans dressed as the characters from PS3 game Journey is just as impressive. True, I’m pretty sure the game is set in a fantasy universe, and not a beach in New Jersey, but when you cosplay, sometimes compromises need to be…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 15, 2012
• Culture

  Time for More Terrific Korean Game Art!

  I don’t know what, specifically, it is in the water in South Korea that makes so many of its artists so damn talented, but if they ever feel like bottling it, they could make a fortune. Latest example: Sang-heun Nam, who works at Korean developer Nvius, and whose cheery style is brightening up my dreary…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 15, 2012