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  You Can’t Un-Launch a Crappy Game…Oh Wait, You Can

  Glitch, the casual MMO that’s the work of the creators of Flickr and Katamari Damacy, launched with a ton of promise! It also promptly turned out to be a bit rubbish. So rubbish that its developers are “unlaunching” it. Wonderfully, that’s the term they’re actually using, dragging Glitch back into beta with a promise to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  Japan’s Most Talented Pro-Gamer on Television. Set to Music.

  As far as Street Fighter gamers get, they don’t come much bigger than Daigo Umehara. He endorses fight sticks and has his own t-shirts. And here, he’s profiled on Japanese TV. This is a best-of collection, with Daigo footage you’ve probably seen before. There’s also a page from a Famitsu article from 1998 with a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 1, 2011
• Reviews

  Reviewing Chun-Li’s Giant Plastic Thighs (and Ryu’s Giant Veiny Feet)

  Square Enix’s first two Street Fighter IV figures, based on series “heroes” Ryu and Chun-Li, have just hit shelves. Part of the company’s Play Arts line, they’re big, they’re detailed and they’re a little on the expensive side. But are they any good? They’re certainly heavy, that’s for sure. Standing just over 20cm each, these…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  A Handy Guide for When a Game Is and isn’t Being Sexist

  When is a game being sexist? When is a game not being sexist? They’re tricky topics to wade through with words. Like most things in life, it’s easier with a picture. It’s a rough guide, and applies more to fantasy games than, say, a puzzler, but you can make do! When is it sexist? [Reddit]

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
• Uncategorized

  So This Call of Duty Ad is Much Better

  OK, so that first Jonah Hill x Sam Worthington Call of Duty ad was…OK. A little cheesy, a little much, but OK. Their newer, second commercial is much better. Less effects, less bombast. Just two dudes from different sides of the tracks hangin’ out, talking tactics. It drags in parts, and Hill’s leaner face is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  The New Gran Turismo 5 Is Called Spec II

  Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo 5 is getting an update. It’s called Gran Turismo 5: Spec II Spec II is Gran Turismo 5 with the Online Update Ver.2.00, a free update which was released in October, included on the Blu-ray disc. Spec II also comes with a product code so that players can download the “Complete…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 1, 2011
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  Skyrim Can Mean Only One Thing: Adventure Time

  Artist Robert “DoomCMYK” Mangaoang, who we’ve featured here previously, certainly knows the fastest way to the bottom of my heart: by having the crew from Adventure Time engage in some Skyrim cosplay. Once available as a print, this image now sadly only exists on the internet, but that’s OK. We can still enjoy it. Adventure…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  Army of Two’s Sequel Is Not Army of Three

  Army of Two is a 2008 co-op third-person shooter that allowed one player to control one of the mercenaries, while the other player controlled the second. A sequel followed—Army of Two: The 40th Day—in 2010, and it was more of the same. The next game could be different. The unannounced third entry in the series,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 1, 2011
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  Some Footage From the New Counter-Strike’s Beta

  The beta for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive went live yesterday. Know what that means? Yup! People filming themselves playing it then uploading it to the internet so we can all see. The footage is from the tweaked update to classic map “Dust”. It’s…Counter-Strike all right!

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  Wow, a Sonic Toy That Doesn’t Suck?

  Sure looks like it! This new Nendoroid figure, from Japan’s Good Smile Company, will be out next year. Pre-orders are already kicking off, though, and you can get one for around USD$35. Looks great, doesn’t he? The accessories are a nice touch.

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  Making Japanese Swords Is Beautiful

  The West might have been won with the Winchester. But Japan was ruled with the katana. It’s not simply what the gun is to Americans, the sword is to the Japanese. It’s much more, and then some. As master swordmaker Korehira Watanabe said in the above Esty documentary, the katana can express the soul and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 1, 2011
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  New Vita Commercial. Not Bananas!

  Did you see the first Japanese Vita commercial? It was nuts. There’s a new PS Vita commercial for the U.S., and, surprise, it’s totally not crazy. The “coming soon” trailer is actually straightforward and easy to follow. There’s this thing called the Vita. It has buttons and thumbsticks and a camera and video games. Got…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 1, 2011
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  This “Model Railway” Took over 500,000 Hours to Build

  This is the Miniatur Wunderland, in Hamburg, Germany. It sprawls across 1,300 m², filling an entire warehouse. It consists of over 1000 moving vehicles. It took over 500,000 hours to build. And it’s absolutely incredible I mean, come on. Look at those fire engines driving down the road! And the planes taking off and landing…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  Holy Crap, What Happened to These Anime Schoolgirls?

  Yu Kobayashi, that’s what. The Japanese voice actress, known for her twisted drawings, sets her sights on schoolgirl rocker anime K-On!. This is the result. Goodness, this is scary. It’s like her pen channels the soul of Satan himself. For those not familiar with K-On!, this is not what the characters are supposed to look…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 1, 2011
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  The PSP Has Put On a Little Weight

  Despite the impending release of its successor, the PlayStation Vita, the PlayStation Portable is going out in Europe with one final model, the dirt-cheap PSP E-1000, priced at a ridiculous €99.99. The savings come at a cost, though, as according to a little review of the PSP’s swansong over at Eurogamer, it’s not exactly built…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  This is the Worst Thing Nintendo Has Ever Done. Ever.

  Nintendo has done some awesome things over the years, but it’s done some awful things too. But this, this is the worst. Nintendo of America has spent what’s probably a ton of money to get serious airtime in the video clip for a novelty Christmas single. A Justin Bieber Christmas single. To minimise civilian casualties,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  The Glory of Atari’s Original Logo

  The original logo for the original Atari (as in, not the watered-down ghost we know today) is, for the history-conscious, about as close to a religious symbol as old-school arcade and console gamers are going to get. While the company didn’t invent the video game, it did do more than anyone else in the 1970s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011
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  Saints Row‘s Dildo Bat: More Than Two Million Served

  Since its introduction two weeks ago in Saints Row: The Third, the game’s four-foot long dildo bat—nom de guerre: “The Penetrator”—has killed more than two million citizens of Steelport, publisher THQ said in announcing a stat-tracking capability that charts all the mayhem taking place in the open-world crime game. The two million penetrated to death…

  By Owen Good Published November 30, 2011
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  Call It a Hunch, but EA, LucasArts and BioWare Probably Aren’t Making a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

  Australia’s classification board has received an application for an M-rated game entitled “Paper, Scissors, Stone,” to be published jointly by Electronic Arts, BioWare and LucasArts. As amusing as the concept is, this is most likely Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will not include Australia (nor any countries outside North America or Europe) when the…

  By Owen Good Published November 30, 2011
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  Indie Game: The Movie is Heading to Sundance

  Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky’s upcoming documentary Indie Game: The Movie will be making its debut at the well-regarded World Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The documentary follows three independant game developers— Fez‘s Phil Fish, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, aka “Team Meat” of Super Meat Boy renown, and…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published November 30, 2011