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  Permanent Consequences Up BioShock Infinite‘s Difficulty Like It’s 1999

  Today’s gamers crave choice. Choice in how they progress through a game; choice on how they develop their character. The gamers of 13 years ago needed not these things, which is why Irrational Games is including the punishing 1999 Mode in BioShock Infinite In 1999 Irrational Games released System Shock 2, a game that began…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 19, 2012
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  Is This the First Pokémon Plus Nobunaga’s Ambition Cosplay?

  Ambition | TOKYO JAPAN: Akina Minami shows off her new threads. (Photo: Game Watch Impress) Resident Evil: Retribution Trailer? No, You Mean Blatant Sony Ad. Movie trailers are for hyping upcoming flicks. That’s their raison d’etre. The Resident Evil: Retribution preview did more than that: it’s also flogging Sony hardware. More » You Might Soon be…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Soulcalibur is $12 on the iPhone, and That’s On Sale

  Namco Bandai has released a port of the original Soulcalibur on iTunes, but the $12 price tag might drive some folks away. I say get it now before the release sale ends and it jumps to $15. Plactice mode!

  By Mike Fahey Published January 19, 2012
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  First Look at New Pokémon Toys

  Upcoming Pokémon game Pokémon Plus Nobunaga’s Ambition is getting the usual array of Pocket Monster merchandising. Today, the first figurines were displayed in Tokyo: a Mitsuhide and Articuno figurine and a Nobunaga and Zekrom figure. Each is priced at ¥2,800 (US$36) on will go on sale March 17. There was also a life-sized Nobunaga statue…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Iconic Japanese Anime Recreated Shot-By-Shot

  Slam Dunk, first a manga and then an anime, was instrumental in popularizing basketball in Japan, as well as other parts of Asia. Students at the National Taiwan University of Arts paid tributed to the anime’s opening with this brilliant shot-by-shot recreation. It’s not 100 percent perfect, but it’s damn close. Nice work students! 灌籃高手真人版…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Does the World Really Need this Sega Meatbun?

  No. But the world is getting it. To mark the 20th anniversary of puzzle game Puyo Puyo, Sega is releasing Puyo Puyo meat buns in Japan. Last fall, Square Enix did something similar for Dragon Quest. The result was both horrific and amusing. Expect the same for PuyoPuyo. ぷよぷよ [Sega]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Look How Far We’ve Come! These Are Computer Graphics from the 1980s.

  It’s only been three decades, but it might as well have been three hundred. These Japan Computer Graphics Lab demo reels show just how far computer graphics have come in such a short span of time. The graphics look dated, sure, but not bad. Many of them have more visual style than current “realistic” generation…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Watching the New Pokémon Trailer with an 8-Year-Old

  Nintendo released another trailer for its upcoming collaboration with Koei Tecmo, Pokémon Plus Nobunaga’s Ambition The game isn’t exactly what people are expecting, and when I showed my 8-year-old this trailer for the first time tonight, neither was he. “What is this?” Mini-Bash asked. “It’s a new Pokémon game,” I said. “It doesn’t look very…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Resident Evil: Retribution Trailer? No, You Mean Blatant Sony Ad.

  Movie trailers are for hyping upcoming flicks. That’s their raison d’etre. The Resident Evil: Retribution preview did more than that: it’s also flogging Sony hardware. The movie stars Milla Jovovich and is based on the horror games from Osaka-based developer Capcom. Sony Pictures is releasing Resident Evil: Retribution, the latest entry in the successful RE…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  And the Ridiculous Bikini Cowgirl Outfits Don’t Stop

  In Onechanbara, it used to be enough to have a bikini cowgirl hack up the undead. Now it seems like just a dress-up game. Make that, a dress-up game that microtransactions you to death. Here are more DLC costumes—some of which are downright goofy—joining the one’s Kotaku posted earlier. Those were pretty silly, too. Fans…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Do You Live in South Korea? Do You Like Video Games? Write about Them!

  Well, why not write about them! Kotaku is currently fielding applications for South Korea-based part-time work. [More details here.]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  It’s Like Assassin’s Creed, But with Japanese Cookies

  Internet person Myorin sure digs Assassin’s Creed. His Twitter page is covered in AC, and when it was time to make a stop-motion flick, he used music from Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. The inclusion of Japanese snacks, though? Dubbed Assassin of the Mushroom Mountain, the stop motion flick is comprised of 400 to 500 images. If…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Flickr App for the Vita Ready for Your Photos

  The Flickr App for the PS Vita is now up on the Japanese PlayStation Network. Grab it. [PSVitaLog]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  A 3DS Modded with a PSP Thumb Pad. What Do You Think?

  Currently, Nintendo’s second slide pad solution is the 3DS Circle Pad Pro. One individual thought they could do one better. The result? This. In order to play Monster Hunter, this 2ch forum member modded a 3DS with a PSP thumb pad, giving the Nintendo handheld dual thumb controllers. To make the whole contraption work, the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Kingdom Hearts 3D Gets a Special Hardware. Release Date, Too.

  Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will be out March 29 in Japan. There will be a special Kingdom Hearts 3DS handheld. While I like the monogram, I’m not a fan with the Kingdom Hearts text or the stupid Disney copyright. The Dream Drop Distance 3DS comes bundled with a copy of the game. Pricing…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Will the Death Blog Lady Kill this Noodle Restaurant?

  Noodol Cafe isn’t your typical ramen joint. You could buy the noodles at any old supermarket. You could even make them at home, within minutes. What makes Noodol Cafe stand out is its gimmick. But what may kill it is a Japanese celebrity. With a Death Blog. Online in Japan, the Death Blog is notorious.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012
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  Darksiders II? Yup, Still About an Angry Guy Called Death

  In between all the talking there’s quite a bit of gameplay footage here of the upcoming Darksiders II If your ears tune out to the sound of developers talking up their own game—and really, who can blame you—know they’re basically saying they’re going to try and fix all the empty and boring bits from the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2012
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  Microsoft now has Achievements for…Developers

  Taking the notion of institutionalised rewards maybe a little bit too far, Microsoft has begun awarding achievements to developers Earlier today the company unveiled a beta plug-in for the Microsoft’s Visual Studio development environment, which offers 32 achievements for developers based on how well they’re coding. There are even leaderboards, and the achievements can be…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2012
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  Skyrim “Ported” to a Calculator

  It used to be a calculator wasn’t a calculator unless it could run Doom. These days, they’ve gotta run Skyrim Or at least YouTube user no9sniper’s simple conversion of the game, which turns Bethesda’s role-playing epic into something a little less open-world and a lot more Zork If you’ve got a TI-84 model graphic calculator,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2012
• Culture

  Building BioShock, StarCraft & God of War Characters

  We usually feature the work of men and women on Fine Art who design characters. Today, we’ll look at someone who actually builds them. Johnny Xiao has worked on series like StarCraft, Killzone, The Witcher, BioShock, God of War and even Fallout, turning a whole bunch of polygons into characters you love, hate or just…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2012