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  Final Fantasy Meets Hellboy

  Comic artist Joe Dellagatta combines the moody art style of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola with the giant swords and giant haircuts of Final Fantasy. Somehow, it works. Final Fantasy: Joseph Dellagatta [Brand New Nostalgia]

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2012
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  Words With Friends Ends With Marriage Between Friends

  Megan Lawless and Jasper Jasperse didn’t meet at a party, or through friends, or via a dating service. They met as random opponents over social game Words With Friends What began with greetings and then basic conversations over the Scrabble-like game soon became emails and Skype conversations, before the two met, fell in love and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2012
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  That Game About Dating Disabled Girls is Finished, Ready For Download

  Nearly two years ago, Leigh wrote a great column on a dating game called Katawa Shoujo being made by members of a 4chan group. What made it stand out were two things: one, it’s been on the drawing board for over a decade, and two, it was a dating game based on girls at a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2012
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  Steam Now Has 5 Million Players. At the Same Time.

  As testament to just how damn popular/important Valve’s Steam platform has become to the PC market, recently over five million people were logged into the service at once. The milestone was first achieved last month, while the service’s notorious holiday sales were going down, but it’s hit it again and again since, as recently as…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2012
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  “Games Lawyer” Doesn’t Understand Why People Hate Piracy Prosecution

  “Game Laywer” Jas Purewal has written an open letter to Edge, addressed to “those who defend game pirates”. You’d hope it’s a considered, practical approach to one of the muddiest topics this industry faces today. It is not. Instead, Purewal begins like this: In case you hadn’t guessed, this is a letter to those folks…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  There was a Famicom Game About the Leader of the Soviet Union

  You expect, and will find, old games for the Famicom where you play as a soldier. Or a pilot. Or an athlete. What you don’t expect, but what you’ll find anyway, is a game starring the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This is Gorby’s Pipeline, otherwise known as Gorby no Pipeline Daisakusen.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2012
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  Akuma’s a Goth-Punk Gun-Toting Woman in This Co-Op Trailer for Syndicate

  The latest glimpse at EA’s corporate warfare shooter introduces the characters you’ll be playing as, and teases a few more multiplayer details, too. It says that nine missions from the original Syndicate will be available to play in the upcoming reboot, so that might comfort those who pine away for the 1993 version. Starbreeze’s take…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 3, 2012
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  Darksiders, NFL Blitz New This Week on the PlayStation Store

  It’s slim pickings this week for new additions to the PlayStation store, with a full-game download of the often-overlooked but quite enjoyable Darksiders leading the way for full retail releases. Rock Band 3 gets some good-times pop rock tunes, and Rocksmith gets a whole bunch of Black Keys DLC, which I would imagine is a…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 3, 2012
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  Japanese Shinto Tradition Goes Geek

  During New Year’s, Japanese people visit shrines and temples. There are many traditions observed during this period, such as omikuji—a type of fortune telling. In the last few years, one ancient tradition in which people write wishes on wooden plaques is now taking a decidedly otaku bent. Kanda Shrine is located near Tokyo’s geek mecca,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 3, 2012
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  The Voices of Bastion Perform “Build That Wall”

  As a nice little treat, the folks at SuperGiant Games have posted a video of audio director Darren Korb and vocalist Ashley Barrett doing an impromptu performance of “Build that Wall,” the track that won so many hearts (including mine) in the studio’s lovely downloadable game Bastion In a nice bonus, Korb goes straight into…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 3, 2012
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  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Wins the First Annual Kotaku Community Game of the Year Award

  While Portal 2 walked away with Kotaku‘s official game of the year award for 2011, Kotaku commenters held their own damn awards this year and they ended with a resounding chorus of “FUS ROH DAH”. Yes, this year a committee of readers that frequent our Speak Up forum decided to set up their own game…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 3, 2012
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  Patents Show that the Next Xbox Might Be a DVR, Too

  Xbox 3, Xbox 720, NextBox… whatever you call it, lots of rumors are being floated about Microsoft’s next home console. Some say it’ll output Avatar-level visuals while others say it’ll lean heavily on cloud architecture. But the latest hint as to Microsoft’s gaming future point to their ever-increasing ambition to fuse TV, film and gaming…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 3, 2012
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  A Sherlock Holmes TV Show for the Video Game Era

  Sherlock, the BBC’s modern-day Sherlock Holmes reimagining, is a heck of an enjoyable TV show. In addition to the solid writing, strong acting, and un-cheesy modernizing of Holmes, I’m struck by the many ways that Sherlock uses the visual language of video games to place viewers in the mind of the master deducer himself. Sherlock…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 3, 2012
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  Did Something Happen Today?

  Joel, Stephen and Brian | As seen on GTTV, from the roof of Kotaku‘s NYC HQ. Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO Log Part Three: Force-Feeding Myself Evil It’s too bad there’s no option to just settle down and retire in BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic. After hours of questing amidst the tranquil sands…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 3, 2012
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  Sonic Races the Flash, Ryu Drinks All the Coffee and Mario and Luigi Give Each Other Dap In These Great Drawings

  Way before dumb-ass pundits called it a “terrorist fist jab”, the act of greeting a homie by touching clenched hands was called dap. (We’ll also accept ‘giving a pound’ as appropriate terminology.) Characters from the worlds of film, comics and video games give each other dap—or, don’t in the case of Darkseid and Orion—over at…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 3, 2012
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  Are You Addicted to Cosplay? This Post Is for You.

  Last year, cosplay at Japanese events was toned down. New regulations tried to make outfits less revealing. Extreme cosplay looked to be a thing of the past—that is, if not for Cosholic. Earlier this year, the spring Cosholic event was held in Tokyo’s Odaiba. The winter Cosholic was held during last month’s Comic Market, and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 3, 2012
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  Pokémon, Digimon, What’s the Difference?

  A situation that’s surely played out at hundreds of birthday parties over the years gains new life courtesy of the fine folks at Dorkly. I spent countless hours in toy stores during the early oughts explaining the difference between Pokémon and Digimon to confused parents. Usually the explanation would boil down to Pokémon making better…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 3, 2012
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  Disaster Report Developer Making New Games

  Kazuma Kujo, who created the Disaster Report games, recently stated via Twitter that he is working on a new title. The game is a downloadable title for the PS3 and the PS Vita. There are no plans for a PSP version. Expect more details at a later date. This past November, Kujo revealed that Disaster…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 3, 2012
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  It’s Not Star Wars Without Slavery, Torture, and Forced Voyeurism?

  Meet Vette. She’s the loyal Twi’lek companion character to my Star Wars: The Old Republic Sith Warrior. Or at least she’d better be, if she knows what’s good for her. Beware, spoilers ahead. Vette is my character’s slave, gifted to him by his dark master. She comes complete with a convenient high voltage shock collar,…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 3, 2012
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  Bikini Cowgirl Game Gets Inevitable Boob Mousepad

  Onechanbara might not be a computer game, but that’s not stopping it from getting a boob mousepad. Boob mousepads have been around for a few years, and it seemed like every Japanese game was getting one a few years back. This Onechanbara one, priced at ¥5,800, is tied to the upcoming Onechanbara Z: Kagura. If…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 3, 2012