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  Loving Video Games is Right, and I Don’t Want to be Wrong

  It’s hard for me to look at the news of the preceding 10 or so days and not feel like there’s been some enormous, possibly irreparable rupture between gamers and those who serve them. I certainly contributed to this with a post about the ending of Mass Effect 3 and the movement to have it…

  By Owen Good Published March 16, 2012
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  Math Genius Appears To Have Guessed Diablo III‘s Release Date Two Months Ago

  Yesterday, Blizzard announced that Diablo III will be out on May 15. Reddit seems to have beaten them to the punch. By two months. In January, Reddit poster SweenWSweens said he used a ridiculous mathematic equation to guess Diablo III‘s release date. By figuring out exactly what Blizzard community manager Micah “Bashiok” Whipple meant by…

  By Jason Schreier Published March 16, 2012
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  Epic Games’ Anti-Cloning Solution? Make It Huge and Add “Secret Sauce”

  It’s not only smaller, younger developers who have to worry about cloning. Idea theft is on the minds of the people at Epic Games, too. Even though they make big, burly games like Gears of War and Bulletstorm, the developer still sees themselves as an indie, said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. People could try and…

  By Evan Narcisse Published March 16, 2012
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  ‘I’m Going to Go Home and Play Video Games’

  News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: • Dwight Howard ended—for this year, anyway—the drama surrounding his tenure in Orlando when he told the Magic he would waive the early termination option in his contract and remain with the team through at least next season. “I’m going home to play video…

  By Owen Good Published March 16, 2012
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  Hey, LucasArts—How About Making a Star Wars NBA Game?

  We get sent weird and hilarious emails all the time, but there is a subtle brilliance to what one Australian reader, Chris, is proposing. I’ll just offer it here, verbatim: Hi Owen, Mate, would love to see LucasArts bring out a Star Wars sports game, featuring arcade-style NBA, NFL, baseball and NHL. I would love…

  By Owen Good Published March 16, 2012
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  Mr. Yamauchi, Please Go See the Mariners Play. You Own the Team, After All

  The man who made Nintendo into a video gaming giant is warmly regarded in Seattle, and not just because the company’s American headquarters are there. He purchased the Seattle Mariners in 1992, almost certainly saving the team from moving to Florida. But Hiroshi Yamauchi, the third president of Nintendo, has never seen his team play.…

  By Owen Good Published March 16, 2012
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  Gearbox Promises Not to Screw Up the PC Version of Borderlands 2

  In an adorable letter posted on the Borderlands 2 website today, developer Gearbox Software addresses some of the issues that fans complained about in the PC version of the action-role-playing game’s predecessor, Borderlands Like an abusive boyfriend, Gearbox then promises that it won’t happen again Here’s what will be included in the PC version of…

  By Jason Schreier Published March 16, 2012
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  Boldly Going Where No Week in Gaming Apps Has Gone Before

  What’s 60 percent space age adventure, 20 percent cuteness, and 20 percent some sort of photo matching game? Why, it’s the Week in Gaming Apps, with graphics enhanced for your brain’s retina display. We had a definite science fiction theme running with this week’s Gaming Apps of the Day. Waking Mars saw us journey into…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 16, 2012
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  Mass Effect 3‘s Sex Scenes Are Super Awkward

  Writer Tom Bissell, who might be one of the most insightful critics in gaming today, published a great piece over at Grantland today about Mass Effect 3 Here’s an excerpt (though you should totally read the whole thing): A lot, finally, has been made of the fact that the male Commander Shepard can have a…

  By Jason Schreier Published March 16, 2012
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  Dyad is Part Mind-Bending Racer, Part Soaring Video Game Drug-Trip

  At the end of the Game Developers Conference, everyone is usually exhausted. I sure was—it had been five long days of standing and walking, of typing and recording and listening, of engaging in long, heated conversations about video games. Also long, heated conversations about Buffy, which seemed to be the most popular non-game subject for…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012
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  Eighteen-Year-Old Developer: “F**K F**K F**K THEY CLONED MY GAME”

  Mattia Traverso’s eighteen years old. But that didn’t stop him from having his first-ever video game be about love. One and One Story‘s a puzzle platformer where the narration changes depending on what you do. Millions of other people tried out it as a Flash game and gave it love right back. Someone out there…

  By Evan Narcisse Published March 16, 2012
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  Five Dead JRPGs That Should Be Revived On Kickstarter

  Kickstarter is now officially a thing. Not that it wasn’t before. Since its launch in 2009, the crowdfunding website has evolved into an extremely effective financing tool for business ventures, creative projects, and auteurs of all kinds. It has facilitated the relationship between creators and their fans, both giving us access to the people who…

  By Jason Schreier Published March 16, 2012
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  Peter Molydeux Game Jam Expands to Cities Around the Globe

  “What Would Molydeux?”, the cheekily titled game jam dedicated to the weird and occasionally brilliant ideas of the twitter persona Peter Molydeux, continues to grow. What started as a goof on twitter quickly became a San Francisco event, which expanded to New York and the UK and possibly even convinced the real Peter Molyneux to…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012
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  Is Tic-Tac-Toe a Great Game? I Battled Some of the World’s Best Video Game Creators To Find Out.

  Only one award-winning video game developer got violent when I played Tic-Tac-Toe with him last week. A few of them were simply convinced I was trying to trick them. I was not trying to trick anyone. I just wanted them to share some wisdom about one of the most popular games in the history of…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 16, 2012
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  Nominate This Week’s Best Comment

  Following with last week’s tradition, we’re opening this thread up to you to nominate this week’s best comment. We rounded up last week’s best content, but in preparation for tomorrow’s reveal of our weekly Best Of, we’ll need input from the community. Was it something witty, controversial, or smart that caught your eye? Let us…

  By Tina Amini Published March 16, 2012
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  Only 1 Out of 5 Mass Effect Gamers Plays As A Woman

  Dear 82% of Mass Effect gamers, I’m tempted to tell you that you’re doing it wrong. According to The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3, the superb iPad app from journalist Geoff Keighley, the people who make Mass Effect say that only 18% of gamers play as a female Commander Shepard. And that’s not even…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 16, 2012
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  The Last Express Will Speed To iPhone And iPad This Year

  The critically-acclaimed 1997 adventure game, to be ported by French developer DotEmu, will be released later this year for iOS devices. Creator Jordan Mechner announced the news on his blog today. [Jordan Mechner]

  By Jason Schreier Published March 16, 2012
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  Witness the Awesome iPad Game That Lets Your Fingers Get Intimate with the Universe

  Steph Thirion’s games understand the power of touch. While most iOS games require tactile contact to play, so few translate what it means to touch in real life. Touching a thing or a person can connect you to it intimately. Think about touching ingredients when you cook or affectionate laying hands on a romantic partner.…

  By Evan Narcisse Published March 16, 2012
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  WTPT: Modern Warfare 3 Player Demolishes The Opposing Team In One Run

  Against all odds of flash grenades, timid teammates, and an onslaught of enemies, one intrepid warrior makes it through the battlefield alive. Or for an impressive while at least. Watch as YouTube user AznShuffler156 tears through the opposing team while his teammates hide behind riot shields and creep around corners. Equipped with an MP5 with…

  By Tina Amini Published March 16, 2012
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  Adding New-School Sounds to Old-School Games

  Games like Tetris and Donkey Kong would be so much better with current-gen sound effects, wouldn’t they? Sound designer Jake Kaufman sure thinks so. He’s made this video to show off what old-school games would sound like if they were made today. It’s… unique. ULTRA NEXTGEN AAA Sound Design [YouTube via Reddit]

  By Jason Schreier Published March 16, 2012