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  Your Official Guide to the World, and Maps, of Westeros

  For lovers of George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones series, or just fantasy geography in general, your family’s birthday/Christmas shopping just got a lot easier. Announced a little while back, the The Lands of Ice and Fire is a compendium collecting the first detailed and officially-sanctioned maps of the book and TV series’ world,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  Mario, You Look Different Without Your Moustache

  Cosplay superstar Meagan Marie shows just why she’s a cosplay superstar with this Super Mario photoshoot, originally done in 2009 and then updated for a charity calendar, but now available for the whole world to see. Mario [Meagan Marie]

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  Has EA Been Caught Stealing Designs From a Tabletop Game?

  EA Phenomic’s upcoming “social” take on Command & Conquer, Tiberium Alliances, hasn’t gathered much good press. Probably because it looks about as enjoyable as punching yourself unconscious. It might be in line for a little more bad press, though, given the similarity between some of its unit designs and those found in tabletop war game…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  Sony Fires 10,000 Employees

  Sony has confirmed today that it will be cutting 10,000 jobs across the company, as it looks to stop losing cash in areas like TVs and make more cash in areas it does a little better in. Like video games. [Sony]

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  Meet the Brand New Pokémon Trainers

  This year, a new Pokémon game, Pokémon Black and White 2, is headed to the Nintendo DS. The latest issue of Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic revealed new details about the game, including the first images of the game’s brand new trainers. Set two years after Pokémon Black and White, BW2 features a Pokedex with about…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2012
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  Star Command Looks Like the Best Thing to Happen to Phones Since Operators

  Star Command, a mobile game we’ve been keeping a very close eye on lately, has its first trailer. And it’s everything you’d hope for from a game that combines space strategy with ship management, two things that are way cooler combined than they sound individually. It’ll be out this Summer on iPhone, iPad and Android…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  My Favourite Spaceships in the World Aren’t in Games, or Movies, but LEGO

  Confession time: I am a very picky man when it comes to appreciating spaceship design. I am also glad I have one of the few forums on Earth where I can say that and not be given a wide berth. There’s an art to it. Because space vehicles aren’t burdened by little things like gravity,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  StarCraft II’s Next Chapter Has Already Lost a Couple of Units

  In an update on the game’s official site, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm developers Blizzard have outlined some changes that have been made to the sequel/expansion during the process of testing. Most important are that a couple of units intended to be present in the final product have been cut loose. The Terran’s Shredder…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  Skyrim Developers Trademark “Fus Roh Dah”

  “Fus Roh Dah”, the iconic shout from Skyrim that sends things flying across rooms like nobody’s business, has become the most popular non-meme saying to come out of the game. So, naturally, its creators are looking to lock down their ownership of the slogan. Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax have filed a number of trademark applications…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  My Most Anticipated PS3 Game Slides Out of 2012 (But Here’s an English Trailer)

  Ni No Kuni, a collaboration between RPG powerhouse Level-5 and animation wizards Studio Ghibli, is not only one of the prettiest video games I’ve ever seen, but also one of the more enjoyable, at least on the PS3. It’s very sad news, then, that the game’s Western release has been delayed. Originally scheduled to appear…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  The Greatness of Terrible Voice Acting

  The AV Club’s newly-relaunched games section, the Gameological Society, explores one of the greatest single examples of voice-over work in the history of the industry: Last Alert, a shooter for the TurboGrafx-16. A game renowned the world over for just how shitty its localisation work was, just about everything that could go wrong does go…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 11, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  A Controversial Arcade Classic Gets its Own Documentary

  Arcade classic Dragon’s Lair has its share of critics, but because it was so beautiful for the time, it’s also got its share of fans. Enough for there to be a market for a very slick documentary. Inside the Dragon’s Lair is an upcoming documentary being put together by Sleepyeyed Films, who are looking to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 11, 2012
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  This Image Has Spoiled Me. I Now Refuse To Watch Movies In Any Other Way.

  Hey Kotaku! Kirk is out today, so in his absence I shall steer this conversation. So, this image is pretty old, but I came across it on Reddit today and it reminded me of the best movie experience I’ve ever had. It was a year (or two?) ago on a summer day in Austin, and…

  By Tina Amini Published April 11, 2012
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  Darksiders II Lets You Customize Your Own Death

  The first Darksiders won a loyal following of fans for its badass remix of the Legend of Zelda’s dungeon-crawling gameplay. But you couldn’t really differentiate the way that main character War played. He was a bruiser with weapons that worked the same way for everyone. But Death will be more individualized, once players get their…

  By Evan Narcisse Published April 11, 2012
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  Some Very Early Screenshots of Minecraft Creator’s Next Game

  Marcus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, is working on something new. It’s called 0x10.cc, and is a sci-fi game that’s got some neat ideas, promising things like working computers and the ability to “seamlessly [land] on planets”. Another neat idea he’s had, and one which more developers could do with following, is that he’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 11, 2012
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  ‘Never Take For Granted What You Have Played In Zombie Games’

  Deadlight is a side-scrolling survival game set in a zombie-infested, ruined Cold War 1980s. It’s inspired by writer Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” It plays a bit like Prince of Persia and Another World Deadlight was also the last game I saw at PAX East and one I had to shoot video of in a rush,…

  By Stephen Totilo Published April 11, 2012
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  Watch Foxconn Workers Make an iPad

  Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and other companies have repeatedly come under scrutiny in recent months and years for the conditions under which their high-tech gadgets are made. Reporter Rob Schmitz visited Foxconn’s Longhua facility in Shenzhen, China. The video from his trip shows the actual process of making an iPad, which is surprisingly fascinating. It’s one…

  By Kate Cox Published April 11, 2012
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  Organ Trail Adds Zombies To That One Educational Game Where You Could Get Sick and Die

  Ryan Wiemeyer gets asked the same question all the time, so basically before you can ask it, he’s answering it: Yes, you can die from dysentery in Organ Trail, his indie team’s zombie version of the classic old-school educational game Oregon Trail Organ Trail is designed to look like it was made for the Apple…

  By Stephen Totilo Published April 11, 2012
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  These Mass Effect Hoodies Make Video Game Clothing Finally Look Cool

  Check out these awesome Mass Effect hoodies, designed by deviantART user lupodirosso earlier this week. Unlike a lot of gaming-centric clothing, these babies have style. You wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen in them. (Well, most of them.) lupodirosso says he sent an e-mail proposal to BioWare, asking them to consider officially commissioning the hoodies.…

  By Jason Schreier Published April 11, 2012
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  Free-to-Play GraFighters Lets Players Make Their Own Doodles Fight to the Death

  With Kickstarter all the rage these days, one can’t help but wonder: what about all those projects that don’t get fully funded? What happens to those games, to those plans, to those dreams? For two college friends, Eric Cleckner and David Chenell, a venture capitalist steps in and makes the game happen anyway, providing ten…

  By Kate Cox Published April 11, 2012