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  Two Heartfelt Love Letters From the Mass Effect Universe

  Here’s a treat for Mass Effect fans. If you’ve played Mass Effect 2, you’ll know that at some point, you run into an old friend from Mass Effect 1 on the colony of Horizon, who depending on how things play out, leaves you a heartfelt letter upon your departure. It’s a nice touch for those…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  The Bronx: History’s Stranglers

  Ah, The Bronx. They’re a punk band, if you want to label them that generally, but they’ve always been a little out of sorts in that scene. The last time I saw them live, for example, was at a festival in Melbourne where they played right after Slayer and right before Iron Maiden. And they…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  Sony Sells Over 300,000 PS Vitas in First Two Days

  As sister site Kotaku Japan pointed out, the PS Vita sold 321,407 units in its first two days on sale. Sony shipped over 700,000 units, meaning that around 46 percent of the initial shipment was sold. [Kotaku Japan]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 20, 2011
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  This Awesome Metal Slug Tank Was Born a Fisher Price Toy

  Jin Saotome, a man who moulds toys like Demi Moore fondles clay, has taken a cheap, awful Fisher Price toy and turned it into something about a million times cooler. What began as an Imaginext Robot Police Tank has, through modifications and a paintjob, become the iconic tank from the Metal Slug series, complete with…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  It’s Bikini Time in Final Fantasy XIII-2!

  A slew of new downloadable outfits are coming to Final Fantasy XIII-2, including a low cut “resort style” getup for FF character Serah. Lucky her! The DLC should hit sometime early next year.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 20, 2011
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  Relic Working On Company of Heroes 2?

  Oh please God let this be true. The rumours section of the latest issue of PC Gamer magazine says that, in addition to its work on yet another Dawn of War game, THQ’s Relic is also gearing up for something to do with Company of Heroes They don’t explicitly say what that is, but the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
• Reviews

  Sony Delivers with the PS Vita. It Does Not Disappoint.

  When I fired up the PS Vita for the first time this past weekend, I couldn’t help but think back to Dec. 2004. So much has changed. I had a one-year-old son, who is now eight. I hadn’t started writing for the blog you are reading right now. Sony entered the handheld fray, with the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 20, 2011
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  Farmer Grows Pikachu Fruit

  It was about three months ago that sixty-three year-old Toshinobu Takamoto noticed two bumps attached to a Japanese persimmon growing in his yard. After harvesting the fruit, it became the talk of his Fukui City neighborhood, and it was dubbed “Pikachu” for the way it resembled the famed Pocket Monster. Black eyes were drawn on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 20, 2011
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  Batman: Arkham City Gets Cheat Code, Free Costume

  To thank you for making their publishers millions of dollars and themselves a swag of awards, Batman: Arkham City developers Rocksteady have unlocked a couple of holiday treats for owners of the game. First is a “cheat code”, which players can enter and which lets them unlock any skins they’ve earned/accrued without having to actually…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  Could the Father of the PlayStation Run Sony?

  Sony Computer Entertainment honcho Kaz Hirai seemed like a logical choice to replace Howard Stringer. But with Hirai lacking in experience outside gaming, Sony’s old guard could actually select someone with a deep understanding of electronics—namely Ken Kutaragi. [東洋経済]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 20, 2011
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  See How Magic Cards are Made

  How It’s Made is a TV program that shows us how common, everyday items like footballs and musical instruments go from raw materials to the finished product. They have sadly never shown how Magic Cards are made, though, so we’re relying on this write-up from Wizards of the Coast to do their job for them.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  Syndicate Has Been “Banned” In Australia

  The latest game to fall foul of Australia’s lack of an adults-only game rating is the upcoming Syndicate reboot, the shooter having been “refused classification” in the country, which effectively bans the game from sale. While no reason has yet been provided for the refusal, the game has plenty of up-close violence and stabbing and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  The Best Game Music of 2011: Total War: Shogun 2

  Total War: Shogun 2 may look and sound for all the world like the latest in a long line of reasonably bland strategy strategy games. As most grand strategy games are. Removing the player from the action to such an abstract level tends to rob the genre of its potential to truly immerse you in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011
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  The Most Gloriously Depressing Christmas Song of the Season

  I don’t like most Christmas music. “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas”… they can all pretty much bite me. I saw this band called Foxtails Brigade last night in San Francisco and was majorly impressed. So, I am sharing their brand-new (and wonderfully depressing) Christmas song “I’m Not Really…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published December 19, 2011
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  Rest in Peace, Lil’ Kim. Wait, I Mean Kim Jong-il!

  Greetings all, and welcome to another Kotaku open thread. The stockings are getting hung by the chimney with care, and all the blog readers will soon be chatting. Isn’t that the way the poem goes? Something like that. Below are your usual assortment of conversation-starters and miscellaneous junk from around the ‘net. Glark has posted…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published December 19, 2011
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  Rift Posts a Massive Win as MMORPG.com‘s Game of the Year

  “What is Kotaku‘s game of the year?” you may be asking yourself. Well, I’m certainly not going to spoil the surprise. But in the meantime, we’re sharing the GOTY winners from other sites around the web. Over at MMORPG.com, they’ve named Trion Worlds’ color-splosional Rift as the best massively multiplayer online game of the year,…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published December 19, 2011
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  PETA Fights Elephant Abuse with an iPhone Game

  The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals turn to the iPhone to help communicate that elephants are great and circus folk are the devil. The elephants get their revenge in This is Pop’s Circus Slam! PETA does not like the circus, though they might really enjoy the twisted talents of the folks at Cirque…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 19, 2011
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  The Best Game Music of 2011: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

  I liked a whole lot of things about Deus Ex: Human Revolution, chief among them the way it felt like a loving tribute to so many different games that I love. It successfully combined a ton of familiar mechanics— Metal Gear-style stealth, Mass Effect-style dialogue, Deus Ex-style open levels, and even L.A. Noire-style interrogations. But…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published December 19, 2011
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  Not Exactly an Energon Cube

  Not exactly an Energon cube | More swag, this time for next year’s Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Everything You Need to Know about Japan’s PlayStation Vita Over the weekend Sony unleashed the next evolution of portable gaming on Japan, and Kotaku was there. Here’s our complete coverage of the Japanese PlayStation Vita launch, from queuing…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 19, 2011
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  Three Simple Rules for Talking Like My Star Wars: The Old Republic Smuggler

  It may be massively multiplayer, but Star Wars: The Old Republic is still a BioWare game, and that means dialogue trees. Let me share with you the rules I’ve set in place to make sure my Smuggler character is every bit the scoundrel I want him to be. Call it role-playing light. I’ve spent my…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 19, 2011