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  Leaked Call of Duty: Black Ops II Screenshots Apparently Confirm Near Future Setting

  Throwing more fuel on the Call of Duty: Black Ops II fire, here are a couple new screenshots apparently from the upcoming game. Last month’s leaked art images showed the gun-toting “quadcopter” that appeared in internet videos and on the game’s website. The quadcopter also appeared in these latest screens, courtesy of Japanese site Doope.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Schoolgirl Smuggler Caught with Skirt Full of iPhones

  Last month, a 12 year-old girl was caught trying to smuggle iPhones into Shenzhen, China from Hong Kong. While the iPhone is assembled in China, there is considerable demand for the product in the Mainland. This has led to the birth of smugglers bringing the iPhone back into the country. According to recent Chinese news…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Have a Good Time with Pikachu’s…Um…Yeah

  Poor Pikachu! If it’s not inflatable Pikachus that are totally inappropriate, it’s stuff like this. This is some sort of Chinese drink container, featuring a phony Pikachu, a straw, and an invitation to have a really good time. So, you do that—have a good time! 同桌的早点 [TT.Mop via はちま起稿]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Full Scale Macross Fighter Is More Amazing Than You Can Imagine

  How do you celebrate a 30th birthday? With some cake? Presents? If you are Macross, you do it with a 1/1 scale VF-25 Valkyrie. Sci-fi anime Macross debuted in 1982 as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which was reworked as part of the hodgepodge known as Robotech for the West. This variable fighter is on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 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 May 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  A Final Fantasy Tattoo, in Memory of a Fallen Soldier

  Last June, the brother-in-law of reader Taylor was tragically killed in action while serving in Afghanistan. He had been due in September to return home and join Taylor in getting tattoos. While he never made it back, Taylor decided to go ahead and get a tattoo done anyway, only now it would be done as…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  The Most Amazing Playgrounds You’ve Ever Seen

  Danish company Monstrum may sound terrifying, but they do amazing work, building children’s playgrounds across Europe that look more like fantasy arenas than the dirty old contraptions most of us grew up with. Founded in 2003, Monstrum takes playground design very seriously, building with things like Siberian larch, Robinia wood and birch plywood, which the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  From Pro Gamer to Pro…Poker Player?

  It’s a question proper athletes face all the time. What do you do when you hang up the cleats/boots? Well, if you’re Griffin “Flush_Entity” Benger, former pro Counter-Strike player, you make the move from video games to online poker. Which sounds a little random, seeing as one involves furious mousework and fast reflexes while the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Game of Thrones’ Intro Replaces Gears With LEGO

  It’s, um, not quite as slick as the official HBO version. It’s definitely not as well lit. But the combination of craftsmanship and charm still makes this worth a watch. Just remember, dudes building LEGO with a stop-motion camera are a little slower than fancy computer graphics. I love the soundtrack. It’s like Game of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Guy Created Angry Bird’s Physics and All he Got Was This Lousy Sweatshirt

  A few years ago, in 2006, Erin Catto created some code called Box 2D. It was a simple, free physics system the “math-obsessed PhD gamer” came up with in his spare time and gave away for free. A year later, the iPhone was released. And suddenly his convenient, effective little code for implementing realistic physics…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• Culture

  It’s the End of the World as This Concept Art Knows it

  Ioan Dumitrescu is a Romanian concept artist who does mostly freelance work in the video game industry. While you’ve likely never played some of the games he’s worked on, like World of Mercenaries, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying some of his amazing artwork. You can see more of Ioan’s art at his CGHub site…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  This Action Figure Will Make You a God Damned Sexual Tyrannosaurus

  There just aren’t enough Jesse Ventura action figures in the world. And while the very top of my wishlist would have to be a piece based on Running Man’s Captain Freedom, seeing this Predator figure is almost as good. Built by toy creator Count Chocula, he’s a combination of custom sculpted parts and cannibalised pieces…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Sham Kickstarter Project Found Out, Closes Down

  When the whole Kickstarter thing blew up earlier this year, there was always a very quiet suspicion. That amidst all the nostalgia and indie enthusiasm, someone would use the service to try and rip people off. Well, looks like we’ve got our first scammers. A Kickstarter fund for a game called Mythic: The Story of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Obiwan Kenobi Arrested, Charged With Hit & Run, Yes, This is a True Story

  A 37 year-old man from Roseville, CA by the name of Obiwan Kenobi has been arrested and charged over a four car pile-up on a motorway last week. Seems Kenobi, while driving, came across some cars backed up on the road. While trying to change lanes, he hit two of them then sped off, which…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Brand New Dark Knight Rises Trailer Needs More Gary Oldman

  I mean, there’s some in there, sure. But it could always do with more. What there’s plenty of, though, is Catwoman.

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 30, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  The 1970s Movie That Looks Just Like a Video Game

  In 1976, a short film called C’était un Rendez-vous was released in France. It ran for ten minutes. And if you’ve ever played a driving game you’ll probably want to watch it. There’s no real plot or anything to it, at least not until the end. It’s just a guy driving a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 30, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Video Game Books Used to be Amazing

  If cheap magazines or dummy’s guides to dummy’s games are the only exposure you have to video games and the world of words on paper, I’m sorry you weren’t gaming in the 1980s, when you would have been treated to some of these I shared one of them a few weeks back, but seeing a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 30, 2012
• Uncategorized

  You’re Through, Soup Nazi. Pack It Up.

  Hi there Kotaku. It’s Monday, and so here we are doing another open thread. Here are a few things from around the ‘nets for you guys to read and talk about. HBO renews ‘Girls’ and ‘Veep’ for second seasons – I just watched Veep and it’s funny! Recommended. Dentist gets revenge by pulling ex’s teeth…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published April 30, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Looks Like the Next Black Ops Is a Little More Modern

  Call of Duty developers Treyarch have only ever made games set in the past. Whether that be the Second World War or the Cold War, doesn’t matter, their games have never seen the 1990s, let alone today. But that looks like it’s set to change with the next game in the series. What will surely…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 30, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Epic Games’ History Unfolds in This Graffiti-Covered Stairwell

  From 1991’s ZZT to Gears of War, the history of Epic Games is sprayed across the walls of one particular staircase in the company’s North Carolina offices. This wonderful series of graffiti from artist Sean Kernick was probably the most delightful aspect of my visit to Epic Games’ headquarters last week. I started at the…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 30, 2012