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  Goatsnake: El Coyote

  Ah, Goatsnake. Formed in 1996 and for all intents done for today, this is El Coyote, taken from the band’s 2000 album, Flower of Disease. Goatsnake were one of several amazing bands on the sadly now-defunct Man’s Ruin label, which was owned by artist Frank Kozik and which at some time or another boasted the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  These Video Game Companies Hunt Pirates For Cash

  You know how Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt were using German courts to go after alleged pirates of the game? And how they gave up when everyone told them how shitty the practice they were using was? Turns out CD Projekt are just the tip of the iceberg. An investigation from file-sharing specialists TorrentFreak has…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  How to Make Your Skyrim Map Better: BLOOD

  Fake blood, that is. Skyrim player and prop maker Shannon Clawson decided to modify the map bundled with The Elder Scrolls V. Out came the sandpaper, fake blood, and fire. Add an old frame and bam you’re done! “Project time was less than an hour,” Shannon wrote. “Well worth the effort.” And yes, Shannon is…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 17, 2012
• Culture

  Game Art From Star Wars, Command & Conquer, Call of Duty & More

  Thomas A. Szakolczay is a video game concept artist. With twelve years experience across some of the biggest franchises in the business, if you can’t tell me you’ve played a game he’s worked on, you’re probably lying. He’s been employed by the likes of Activision, Capcom, Epic, EA, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Warner Bros., Lucasarts and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  Fake Guns Make for Great Battlefield 3 Movies

  This isn’t, despite all appearances to the contrary, a fan film based on EA’s Battlefield 3. It’s a commercial based on EA’s Battlefield 3, one for a store that sells replica guns But that’s OK. The advertising is kept to a bare minimum, the majority of the clip devoted to grown men running around with…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  Play Mario as Samus, Simon Belmont and Mega Man. Again!

  In 2010, a fan-made game called Super Mario Bros. Crossover was released, which let players tackle the Nintendo classic using not just the standard plumber, but a cast of characters from other 8-bit games as well. It now has a sequel which is kicking things up a notch, taking the 8-bit visuals from the first…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  Fans are Helping Make This Racing Game, and Will be Paid for it

  Slightly Mad Studios made the white-knuckled, if flawed Shift 2 for EA. They’re now making something a lot more interesting: a racing game, Project CARS, where they’re getting help from fans to not just pay for the game, but to code it. Because the team are short on the millions normally provided by a publisher,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  This Half-Life Mod is About Being Stuck in an Elevator. It is Incredible.

  If you’ve got Half-Life 2 and Garry’s Mod you should really go and download this free mod called Elevator: Source. It’s about being stuck in an elevator with strangers. Internet strangers. And the elevator can take you anywhere That really is it. It’s like Chatroulette meets Half-Life. You’ll end up in an elevator with….well, freaks,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012
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  Every Game Studio That’s Closed Down Since 2006

  Pub trivia fans and those looking for an example of just how cut-throat the video game industry can be, take a look at this list. Try and memorise it if you must, but know it is very long, because it’s a list of every developer and studio that’s closed down since 2006. But first, a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 16, 2012
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  Hello, Sharon Stone From Total Recall. Is It Me You’re Looking For?

  Greetings, Kotaku travelers, and welcome to a new week. For with a new week comes all sorts of new things to talk about. Here, gathered as usual from the suggestions of my fellow editors and writers, is a list of various internet falderal upon which you can feast your eyes before diving into the comments……

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 16, 2012
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  Pretend Toilets in Video Games

  Having another crack at Heavy Rain. I’ll give it this much, it’s certainly unlike anything else I’ve ever played but to be honest, once the novelty of being able to make this dude take a piss in pretty much every scene he’s in wears off the frustration of not being able to make him CALL…

  Michael J Dolan Published January 16, 2012
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  Microsoft is Not Doing Enough to Help Xbox Live “Hack” Victims

  So there’s been some kind of security problem with Xbox Live accounts for a while now. Microsoft denies there’s been any compromise of its own data, yet still, for months now users have complained of having their accounts hijacked by people making unauthorised transaction. A theory emerged last week that the cause of the issue…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 16, 2012
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  More Triangles in Games! Love-Triangles, That Is

  I was disappointed with Uncharted 3 for a number of reasons. Certainly one of those reasons was that the game had bizarre difficulty spikes and could be kind of a dick sometimes. But another, possibly bigger reason was that while Uncharted 3 generally mirrored the pacing and story-arc of Uncharted 2, it lacked one of…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 16, 2012
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  Google Maps Becomes A Video Game

  Coming to Google+ Games in February is what appears to be a virtualized marble balance game with a theme more grounded than what you’d find in your average dentist’s waiting room; you’ll be tilting your way through the streets of our own world. The ad above above demonstrates the concept for the game-ified maps service,…

  By Pierre Bienaimé Published January 16, 2012
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  It’s Dangerous…

  Good Luck, Link | You’re going to need it and a sword. (Image via Cracked.com.) Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Kotaku Review While dozens of video games have strived to capture the hearts of Star Wars fans through previously untold tales of epic space fantasy, BioWare’s massively multiplayer Star Wars: More » Gaming Industry Spent…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 16, 2012
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  Word-Battle-Game Quarrel is Finally Coming to Xbox Live

  The iOS competitive word game Quarrel is coming to Xbox Live Arcade, Joystiq reports. The game was initially developed for XBLA, but was moved to iOS due to financial troubles at its development studio. It’ll come out on Jaunary 25th and cost 400 Microsoft Points, or $5. (It is currently free on iOS.)

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 16, 2012
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  Soulcalibur Battles Its Way to the iPhone

  With the success popular 2D fighting franchises like Street Fighter and The King of Fighters have had on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, it was only a matter of time before Namco Bandai got in on the action with 3D fighter Soulcalibur, due out for iOS January 19. According to the post on Japanese…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 16, 2012
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  The New Best Way To Argue About Video Games [Now Back in Stock]

  About a month ago, I wrote the following post about “The Metagame,” a fun card game dedicated to fostering debate about video games. Right as I published it, however, the folks behind the game ran out of inventory. They’ve just gotten more printed, so I thought I’d re-post now that you can order your own…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 16, 2012
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  Q.U.B.E. Shows One Way for Indie Games to Get Money and Make it Back

  How much does it take to make an indie game? How long until one makes a profit? The metrics on this kind of thing are always mysterious but a new post on Indie Fund’s official website gives some enlightening information with regard to the first game funded by the small-developer investment collective to see release.…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 16, 2012
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  Britney Spears’ Son Follows In His Mother’s Dance Steps

  Well now we know where one of those 25 million copies of Ubisoft’s Just Dance games ended up: In Britney Spears’ living room, where the all-singing, all-dancing performance artist recorded her son Preston getting down to a little “Shake Your Groove Thing”. Ubisoft couldn’t pay for a better endorsement of Just Dance Kids 2. Spears’…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 16, 2012