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  Giant Mecha Sonic Will Destroy Tokyo in Search of Giant Golden Rings

  Artist and toy customiser Donald “KodyKoala” Kennedy, whose work we’ve featured a few times here before, returns with a Sonic the Hedgehog piece that sheds new light on the term “Metal Sonic”. What’s cool is that not only is the pilot a regular Sonic figure, but the big mech itself is also a figure, being…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2012
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  The Unfinished Swan is the Anti-Call of Duty

  Man, there’s been a lot of Call of Duty news tonight. Perhaps, if you don’t like the series, too much. If that’s you, here’s a palette cleanser, in the form of a PSN game that’s about swans, and paint, and pretty music. The Unfinished Swan is based off an old tech demo that’s been around…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2012
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  How Call of Duty Is Making Anonymous “the Enemy” [UPDATE]

  Blink and you’ll miss it. The Guy Fawkes mask flashes on the screen only for a brief instant, but it’s there. Twice. The iconic mug first entered pop culture in the graphic novel V for Vendetta, but has since been re-appropriated by internet collective Anonymous as well as Occupy Wall Street protesters. That iconic mask,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2012
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  GameStop Offering $5000 Reward for Capture of Armed Bandit

  As much as this sounds like a Red Dead Redemption marketing stunt, it’s a real thing. Police in Texas are on the lookout for a man believed to be on a GameStop-robbing spree, hitting as many as five stores in the state. Having robbed a store in Haltom City at gunpoint, they believe he’s also…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2012
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  First Look at the “Set” of the Halo 4 Live Action Series

  The Halo 4 live action web series announced earlier this week is already filming, on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Reader xxxblank just so happens to attend Simon Fraser University, and says the film crew has been transforming various parts of the grounds into something a little more futuristic. The university’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2012
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  Oliver North Sold Weapons to Iran. Now He’s Selling Call of Duty.

  In case you haven’t seen it already, Oliver North is now selling video games. And fear. It’s a step down from illegally selling weapons, true, but it’s still raising eyebrows. Go on, take a look at these clips. They’re part of a “documentary” released by publishers Activision to coincide with the reveal of the latest…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2012
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  Everything We Know About Call of Duty: Black Ops II

  We’ve seen the amazing new Call of Duty, and we can’t wait to play it on November 13. Today, we’re telling you all about it… PLUS: How many Call of Dutys is this? | The fake debut trailer that made us laugh | The leaked poster that started it all | Review: The First Call…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 2, 2012
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  Explosive, Horse-Laden Screengrabs From Black Ops II‘s First Trailer

  So, how about that Black Ops II trailer? Pretty explosive stuff. Now that you know more about the game itself, I thought it might be fun to go through some image-grabs from the trailer, just to tell you what I’m seeing there and how it lines up with that I saw of the game last…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012
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  Black Ops II‘s ‘Strike Force’ Mode Adds a Branching Narrative With a Tactical Twist

  Every past Call of Duty game has featured a rigidly linear single-player campaign. They’ve gotten shorter and shorter as the years have gone by, too—the last few games have featured campaigns that have lasted merely 4-6 hours. Treyarch is aiming to change that with Black Ops II with the inclusion of “Strike Force,” a new,…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012
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  48 Things That You Should Know About Call of Duty: Black Ops II

  Last week, I headed down to visit with Treyarch in Santa Monica to get an extended look at Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Our visit was entirely hands-off, and consisted mostly of a series of in-game demos of missions from the single-player campaign, as well as a new open-ended single-player mode called “Strike Force.”…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012
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  Watch Oliver North Shill Call of Duty: Black Ops II

  During the 1980s, Oliver North rocketed into the national spotlight with the Iran-Contra controversy. Decades later, North is still in the national spotlight, but this time it’s not for selling arms for U.S. hostages. It’s for selling a video game. In the clips, North explained why black ops needs high-tech devices and how new tech…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Sega Debuts the World’s First Hologram Video Game

  We’ve looked at Sega’s pioneering role in the world of 3D gaming before here on Total Recall, but only briefly stopped on Time Traveler, one of the company’s two and only attempts at holographic, 3D arcade gaming. This antique video, from Time Traveler’s 1991 debut, gives only a few hints as to how unsuccessful these…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Just How Many Damn Call of Duty Games is This Now, Anyway?

  Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Activision and Treyarch will spend the next six months telling you this game is a sequel, but the fact the game’s name starts with “Call of Duty” reminds us we’re way past the point of using the number “II” when it comes to these shooters. Unless it’s XII. Or,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  Hard-Hearted Harbinger of Haggis

  Greetings, Kotaku! Welcome to the Tuesday open-thread. It’s been a busy day ’round Kotaku way, and I’ve been unable to amass the requisite amount of off-topic links for you to read and gab about. So instead, I thought I’d improvise and share my favorite poem from a movie maybe ever. I’m referring, of course, to…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  What an Aliens Pulse Rifle Looks Like in the Real World

  Gearbox, the guys making Aliens Colonial Marines, have been working on the game since, oh, before you were born. In that time, they’ve racked up a ton of reference material from James Cameron’s sci-fi classic, none as badass as this replica pulse rifle from the 1986 movie. This isn’t some toy, some commercial thing made…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  Mortal Kombat Comes to the Vita in Fine Form

  It has occasionally felt like a dirty secret that Mortal Kombat 9 was one of my favorite games of last year. But there it is. It hit just the right blend of punchy violence, imaginative special moves and accessibility, and it got me invested in the (silly) Mortal Kombat universe and its (ridiculous) characters all…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  Plants vs Zombies Toys Want to Eat Your Money, Not Your Brains

  The next time your neighbor tells you there’s a zombie on your lawn, you can finally reply, “Thanks! Isn’t it cute?” And ideally, your neighbor will have meant the cute little toy zombie from Plants vs. Zombies and will agree with you. (Either that, or you’ll be eaten by horrible, slavering zombies. As happens.) PopCap…

  By Kate Cox Published May 1, 2012
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  Watch the First Trailer For Black Ops II Right Now

  Here it is, folks—the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops II As you can see, the game will take place in the future. And in the past! The military has come to rely on a huge force of unarmed drones and tanks, and some nefarious so-and-so has hacked them and turned them against…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012
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  This Isn’t Black Ops II’s Debut Trailer. But it Should Be.

  Press play on this video. For around 40 seconds you may think it’s actually the debut trailer for upcoming blockbuster Black Ops II. Then you get to 41 seconds and, sadly, you realise that as wonderful as this is, it is not the debut trailer for Black Ops II For reference, the actual trailer goes…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  When You Can’t Find A Video Game Box, Make Your Own

  Video game retailer GameStop lets you trade in games for cash. You don’t have to bring in the original packaging. So sometimes, when trying to re-sell those used games, GameStop will stick them in those generic, blank cases that look terribly ugly on your living room shelf. But sometimes friendly employees make their own versions.…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 1, 2012