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  How the Wii U and Pokémon Could Destroy Wallets Worldwide

  Nintendo’s upcoming home console, the Wii U, has a killer app. It’s not necessarily the feature you’d first figure as the machine’s most intriguing element. But it is what could help push the machine past rivals with the help of some cute monsters. The Wii U is outfitted with NFC (near field communication) that will…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 4, 2012
• Culture

  The Most Delicious Hardware Is Deep Fried Hardware

  Can’t get enough food porn? Want more gadget porn? Well then, munch on this. This is “Deep Fried Gadgets”, a series of photos by photographer Henry Hargreaves. The series was inspired by Japanese kids who fried a PSP—and then ate it. Hargreaves, however, didn’t fry the actual devices, but rather, made foam models and fried…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 4, 2012
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  LEGO Minecraft Now Real, Has Great Packaging

  While the official LEGO Minecraft set doesn’t look like much in pictures, it looks a lot better before you take it out of the box, the bricks coming in square packaging that’s been printed to look like a chunk of Minecraft terrain. Cute touch! Lego Minecraft Set 21102 Review [Brothers Brick]

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  Soulcalibur Takes on Zelda & Fifth Element In This Week’s Cosplay Showdown

  There’s some great cosplay on show this week, from a Zelda with a horse (that’s also in cosplay) to Fifth Element (Chick, good!) to a Legend of Korra posse that’s, well, acting like a boss A special shout-out to cosplay superstar Crystal Graziano as well, who is putting her 12-month sponsorship to good work by…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  Check Out This Gorgeous New Ni No Kuni Trailer

  To go along with the announcement that Ni No Kuni will be out on Janury 22 in the US and January 25 in Europe, publishers Namco Bandai passed along this new trailer. It’s as lovely as just about everything else we’ve ever seen of the game. Ni No Kuni is a collaboration between Japanese developers…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  The Sims Creator’s Latest Idea Isn’t Going so Well

  Will Wright is most famous for his work on SimCity and The Sims. His latest venture, though, doesn’t seem to be going so well. VentureBeat reports that Hive Mind, his new social gaming startup, is in serious trouble. [VentureBeat]

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  Hawken’s Live Action Trailer Stars Some Very Serious Men

  Does upcoming multiplayer shooter Hawken need a story? It’s multiplayer-only, so maybe not. I know I liked it better when I could pretend it was just based on some obscure, bleak manga where the only things that mattered were money and staying alive. This rather expensive-looking trailer – directed by Jerry O’Flaherty, the art director…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  The Weirdest Thing About Nintendo’s E3 Are These Swollen Glands

  Unless a giant, naked and mechanical Miyamoto crashes down the aisles during Nintendo’s E3 presentation, blaring a cover of Tori Amos’ cover of Raining Blood, this is likely to be the strangest thing we’ll see from the company at this year’s E3. And it wasn’t even shown at E3. It was shown before E3, during…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  Nintendo Shows Off Wii U Online Community, New Control Pads

  Earlier today, Nintendo got the jump on its E3 rivals by holding a little pre-recorded conference to discuss some of the features of its upcoming console, the Wii U. There was no talk of games, no talk of a release date and no talk of a price. What Nintendo was talking about mostly were two…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2012
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  Now You Can Piss All Over Guitar Hero

  Sega, you now have some competition in the urinal game market. Guitar Pee is an installation you can currently find in some men’s toilets in São Paulo, Brazil. If you stick with it until around 0:35 in, you’ll see the most amazing thing to come out of a men’s bathroom since…ew, OK, forget that last…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2012
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  Uncharted, BioShock Stars Punch Their Way Into Sony’s PlayStation Fighter

  I’m loathe to wander down this path again, after the horror that was Nintendo’s marketing push for the last Smash Bros., but these characters are probably important enough to warrant the update: Nathan Drake and BioShock’s Big Daddy will be making an appearance in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale While their reveal was surely meant to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2012
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  Microsoft Wants to Stream Console Games to Phones, Turning Handhelds Into “Xbox Live Companions”

  Kotaku has learned from a reliable source that, either at E3 or in the very near future, Microsoft plans to unveil a new feature known as Xbox Live Companion. Not to be confused with its social and marketplace app Xbox Companion, Xbox Live Companion is a system where developers of Xbox 360 console games can…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2012
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  Amalur’s Developers Saved, Now an Epic Studio

  Baltimore-based Big Huge Games, the subsidiary of 38 Studios responsible for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, was caught up in the company’s complete meltdown and suddenly shuttered at the end of May. However, for the Big Huge employees, the sordid tale may have a happy ending. They found themselves in need of work at exactly the…

  By Kate Cox Published June 3, 2012
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  The Wii U Hardcore Controller Looks Familiar

  Today, Nintendo revealed a brand new game controller for the Wii U. It’s aimed right at the hardcore. And boy, talk about déjà vu. Dubbed the Wii U Pro Controller, it looks very much like the Xbox 360 controller—not just in color, but also, in shape. There are shoulder buttons and what look to be…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 3, 2012
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  With Wii U, Nintendo Finally Admits the Internet Exists

  Annoying friend codes. Lacking multiplayer functionality. If there’s any area where Nintendo’s really lagged behind Sony, Microsoft and even smaller indie game-makers, it’s been in capitalizing on the connectivity that the web offers game designers and game players. But with the Wii U, it finally looks like they’ve gotten a big clue. Arguably the biggest…

  By Evan Narcisse Published June 3, 2012
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  Enter the Miiverse. It’s a World Nintendo’s Invented.

  The Miiverse is a “Mii universe” that is the system’s redesigned networking and designed Mii Plaza. Miiverse the new network service where Miis from around the world can meet. The redesigned Wii Plaza shows Mii clustered around various Wii U titles. This shows what games players are enjoying and what’s popular. Nintendo also showed Miis…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 3, 2012
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  Nintendo’s Wii U Has a Proper Online Community

  Here’s a pleasant surprise: the Wii U looks like it’s going to have a proper online community built into the console. In a video shown during a pre-E3 conference, a user on the console jumps onto the controller and consults a GameFAQs-like service, while at the same his friend is monitoring Tweet-like messages on his…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2012
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  The Wii U GamePad Is Different. Here’s How.

  Today in a pre-recorded statement from Nintendo’s Kyoto headquarters, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata introduced Nintendo’s new home console the Wii U and how the Wii U GamePad, the controller’s official name, is different. First, Iwata revealed that Wii U GamePad’s name harkens back to the Nintendo Entertainment System’s controller, the NES gamepad. Regarding the changes,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 3, 2012
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  Nintendo Unveils Hardcore Wii U Controller

  The point of the Wii U is that it has a fancy, touch-screen controller. That may not be suitable for all titles, though. Especially ones being ported from other consoles. For that, much like the Wii, the Wii U will have a Pro Controller, one that you could say resembles the pads of one of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2012
• Culture

  New Games Up Against the Next Games

  E3 is always a tough week for anything to release, which is why we’re probably seeing the likes of Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats and an old-school six-platform movie adaptation. Inversion is the week’s big name. Tuesday • Inversion (PC, 360, PS3) • Rayman Origins (3DS) • Bang Bang Racing (PSN) • Virtua Fighter 5 Final…

  By Owen Good Published June 3, 2012