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  Report: The PS Vita Is Killing Off the Instruction Booklet

  In years past, gamers poured over instructional manuals. The booklets gave a story synopsis, tips, and a rundown on how to play the game. Recently, the manuals have gotten skimpier and skimpier. For PS Vita, the manual vanished. Poof! Japanese website IT Media got its hands on PS Vita packaging a day before the new…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Modern Warfare 3 Getting New Modes, Tweaks

  In response to player behaviour, and also a desire to just add new stuff, Infinity Ward and co. will later today be adding a new game mode (Drop Zone) to Modern Warfare 3, among other things. [Call of Duty]

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  There Will be Official LEGO Lord of the Rings

  LEGO and Warner Bros. have just announced that the Danish toy company has picked up the rights to produce playsets based on both Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the pair of new Hobbit movies. For people who like hobbits and toys, this is good news. For people who like LEGO…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Testing Video Game Graphics with Women’s Underwear

  Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear, is working on a new game engine called the Fox Engine. Today, he’s been posting test images showing off what it can do. One of those things is see woman’s bras through their shirts. “One of the Fox Engine’s sales points?” Kojima tweeted. “Seeing bras through clothes tech.” Some…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
• Culture

  The Incredible Video Game Art of Marek Okon

  The Last of Us. Crysis 2. Star Wars: Old Republic. Uncharted 3. Some of the biggest games of the year, and beyond, and this man has done amazing art for the lot of them. Marek Okon is a Polish artist who primarily paints. The work you’ll know him for is of an incredibly polished state,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Those Awful “No Sue” Clauses, In Plain English, So You Can Understand Them

  The gist of many big company’s new “No Sue” clauses are that you can’t sue them, but beyond that, aarrggghh, there’s so much legal wish-wash it makes your head spin. So thank you, website EULAgony, for translating them into something we can understand. The site, whose name is a play on the term EULA (End…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Look at this “New Title” from Metal Gear‘s Creator

  Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear fame has shown off a test image of his “new work”. The game is unannounced and it currently does not have a title. The screen shows a tank and a soldier crouching as he moves forward. The image is a “test” for a “new title”, and it was done on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Your First Proper Look at a Valve Action Figure

  Valve action figures. Based on Half-life, Team Fortress, Portal and Left 4 Dead. It was amazing news back in June, but since then, all we’ve seen is teases. Nothing final. That changes today. Figure maker NECA took the wraps off the first Left 4 Dead action figure, the Boomer, which isn’t due until well into…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Does Porno Graffitti Make Phoenix Wright Better?

  Porno Graffitti is a Japanese band—a Japanese band I don’t really care for. They’re okay! Nonetheless, the group is singing the flick’s theme, dubbed “2012 Spark”. The above preview, which is subtitled, is the movie’s most recent trailer. You, dear reader person, might actually like Porno Graffitti! Well, good for you. If you have no…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Witcher Devs Playing Judge, Jury & Executioner With Alleged Pirates

  CD Projekt, the developers of the Witcher series, have been sending letters to alleged German pirates demanding over US$1,000 for having illegally copied the game. Um, what? Website TorrentFreak reported that through law firms the Polish developer sent “thousands” of letters to BitTorrent users, each asking for €911.80 in compensation for the accused having obtained…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Blue Sky Black Death: Our Hearts Of Ruin

  While Europe and the Americas labour to catch up, it’s already Friday night here in Australia. Time for Soundtrack. Time to kick off my shoes and feel good And few things on Earth make me feel better than sitting on the couch, pouring myself a drink and putting this on. The track is called Our…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Finally! Curtains for Nerds.

  Fandom started with t-shirts and posters. A simple way for geeks to show their love for a favorite anime or video game. That wasn’t enough. From there, it spread to lunch boxes—bento boxes in Japan—and figures. Now, in 2011, nerd culture is highly developed. Whether it’s “hug pillows” or character-shaped desserts, geeks have a plethora…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Game Boy Advance Ambassador Games Are Live

  The Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program’s second batch of games are now. You can see a full list here. Download them the same way you downloaded the NES games!

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Zelda‘s Post-Apocalyptic Future Is Dangerous. Take This.

  The Legend of Zelda is set in idyllic Hyrule. But what if things in Hyrule weren’t so pastoral? What if Zelda was set in the future and all of Hyrule had gone to shit? Then it might look something like this. Website Dogbomber is in the process of redesigning Zelda so that it looks closer…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Did Sony Remove Another PS3 Feature? Or is it Just a Glitch?

  For a little while there, owners of both a PS3 and PSP could use their console to download certain games designed for both systems, then easily copy them over. It was way better than using the PSP on its own. Now, for some reason, that feature is missing. Since updating to the latest firmware, users…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  The 3DS Circle Pad Pro Busted Open. Look at It!

  A few years ago, a Nintendo Wii rip-off, called the Vii, appeared in China. A couple Chinese dudes purchased one and then filmed themselves opening it up to see what was inside. There was a tiny, sole circuit board. They broke out laughing. The inside of the Nintendo 3DS Circle Pad Pro, that add-on second…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2011
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  Skyrim Now Has Multiplayer (Sort Of)

  While modders have been working tirelessly since Skyrim’s release to improve things like the game’s graphics and inventory, one mod has set its sights a little higher: adding multiplayer to the decidedly singleplayer game. And it’s been done. Sort of. While it’s still early days, the Skyrim Online mod is working in a limited manner,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Skyrim is Steam’s Fastest-Selling Game. Ever.

  Amidst some back-slapping and self-congratulation over the impressive sales of Skyrim since its release (10 million copies shipped) came one very impressive piece of information from Valve. It’s the fastest-selling game in Steam history. Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve, revealed the fact to IndustryGamers yesterday, and given how Steam is almost the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Reviews

  Kicking Faces With HORI’s Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Stick

  Real men (and women) who play games (well, fighting games) don’t use control pads. Those are for children. Real men (and women) use sticks. And some of the best around are HORI’s sticks. The one we’re looking at today is the company’s Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 arcade stick, released in November. There’s a lot…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011
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  Goodbye, Star Wars Galaxies

  Tonight is the end of Star Wars Galaxies, once a crown jewel of Sony Online Entertainment’s MMO portfolio. There is now less than an hour before the total shutdown of the eight-year-old MMO. Right now, courtesy of Giant Bomb’s live stream broadcast, we’re seeing enormous deciduous trees growing in the Tatooine desert, and X-Wing fighters…

  By Owen Good Published December 15, 2011