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  The Leftovers Is Competitive Plants Vs. Zombies Without As Much Charm

  The LeftOvers is an quirky real-time strategy iOS game with an aesthetic that doesn’t quite gel for me. It’s sort of like competitive Plants Vs. Zombies, only without the draw of man-eating plants and cute, but deadly zombies. In The LeftOvers, the world has suddenly been stripped of all adults and the children of the…

  By Brian Crecente Published November 24, 2011
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  Writing on an Xbox 360, Not Out of Desperation

  360 | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Eva Longoria autographed an Xbox 360 game console for charity during Eva Longoria’s Celebrity Casino Night, presented by Xbox Live. (Photo: Darren Abate | AP) The Beautiful, If Stabby Art of the Assassin’s Creed Series With Assassin’s Creed Revelations out recently (and starring in its own Fine Art), I thought…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 24, 2011
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  Xbox Live Hacked? Microsoft Still Says “No.” Tabloid Still Says…

  Earlier this week, British tabloid The Sun ran a story, pointing to a series of “phishing” con jobs that were putting Xbox 360 owners at risk. It sounded overblown—phishing scams are hardly new—but the paper cited a late night meeting with Xbox brass in its “exclusive” story. Microsoft responded to the claims, stating that there…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 24, 2011
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  Why Was Fake Peter Molyneux’s Twitter Account Silenced?

  Earlier this week, the hilarious Twitter account tapping into the genius of game designer Peter Molyneux was silenced. Here’s why. The game developer behind the famous Peter Molydeux parody twitter account has made contact with Kotaku Australia to let us know why his account was suspended. “I’ve been in discussion with a few people at…

  Katie Williams Published November 24, 2011
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  Ridge Racer Has Only Three Tracks? 30FPS? No Thanks!

  I like Ridge Racer. It’s a guilty pleasure. And I was actually thinking of getting the next game. That is, until I heard what madness Namco Bandai is pulling. When the game goes on sale Dec. 17, it will come with only three tracks and five cars. That’s it. The three tracks are Harborline 765,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 24, 2011
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  Next Xbox Will Have Two Models, Just Like the Current Xbox

  One of the more maddening aspects of the Xbox 360 has been Microsoft’s insistence on a “two model” strategy. A bare-bones, cheap version, and a souped-up expensive one. It’s helped shift units, especially since Kinect’s release, but it’s also held other Xbox 360 games back since developers can’t assume everybody has, say, a hard drive.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
• Culture

  The Beautiful, If Stabby Art of the Assassin’s Creed Series

  With Assassin’s Creed Revelations out recently (and starring in its own Fine Art), I thought it’d be a good time to take a look back on some of the incredible art from the series we’ve yet to feature here on Kotaku. The pieces you’re about to see are the work of three men: Maxime Desmettre,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
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  This Cosplay Has a Monster-Sized Secret Weapon

  Sometimes it’s the cosplayer’s appearance that sells the cosplay. Sometimes it’s the costume itself. And sometimes it’s a prop that makes you go, holy shit is that cool or what? Here, it’s all three. Korean cosplayer Tasha is wearing this Monster Hunter outfit, a hodgepodge of several different characters. What makes this cosplay so special…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 24, 2011
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  EA Smartens Up, Giving Away Free Copies of Battlefield 1943

  Starting this weekend, EA will be handing out vouchers for free copies of Battlefield 1943 to those who bought Battlefield 3 on PS3. Just like they originally promised. And all it took was the threat of a lawsuit! Saying that “there have been some misunderstandings around Battlefield 1943 and Battlefield 3“, EA adds in a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
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  The Saddest Little Nathan Drake & Kratos I’ve Ever Seen

  Artist J Salvador has a series of pictures where he takes famous pop culture icons and makes them sad little children. It’s touching stuff, especially when Nathan Drake and his soaked feline are concerned. There’s also a sad, slightly creepy little Kratos, as well as a bunch of Star Wars and comic book characters, all…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
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  A Woman Worthy of Her Face…on a Car

  In Japan, “itasha” are cars covered with stickers depicting anime or video game characters. They’ve been around for a couple years now, and there are even gatherings of itasha enthusiasts. What “itasha” have in common is that the characters they feature are not real—they are created by artists or designers. Nana Mizuki is real. In…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 24, 2011
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  Free Gold (Four Day) Weekend Starts Today On Xbox Live

  This weekend being Thanksgiving weekend in the US, there’ll be millions of Xbox gamers lounging around, sleeping off food hangovers. What better way to spend it, then, than with a free weekend of Xbox Live. And it’s not just a weekend! It’s the entire mini-holiday period, meaning from today (Thursday November 24) through to Sunday…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
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  Someone Rebuilt the Titanic. In the Crysis Engine.

  Even if you have zero interest in sunk ships or James Cameron movies, you need to see this video of the interior of the Titanic, built using CryEngine 3. It’s as amazing as it is shiny You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
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  What Happens when You Spawn 50 Dragons in Skyrim?

  In the PC version of role-playing game Skyrim, there is a string of code which will allow players to spawn dragons. The creatures, as previously mentioned, aren’t exactly flying around in huge packs in the game. But paste the code once, you’ll get one dragon. Paste it twice, you’ll get two. What if you paste…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 24, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Good Lord, World of Warcraft Is Old

  In an industry where games barely even a month old are slashed in price then swiftly forgotten, World of Warcraft is an exceptional, well, exception. The game, which turned seven yesterday, was first announced back in 2001. For it to be still played today isn’t just mind-exploding, it’s a testament to how addictive and successful…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2011
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  Leland Yee Has More Black Friday Shopping Tips For You

  Calif. State Sen. Leland Yee was unsuccessful in getting his anti-video game law to remain the supreme law of the land of California—when the Supreme Court smacks down something 7-to-2 with Justices Scalia and Ginsburg agreeing, you know that was one rancidly unconstitutional piece of work. So he’s back with another handy set of Black…

  By Owen Good Published November 23, 2011
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  I Am Alive’s Creator Does Just About Everything He Can to Piss Off PC Gamers in Explaining Why They Don’t Get a Version of the Game

  Here’s a heartwarming tale full of good holiday cheer. In an interview with IncGamers, Stanislas Mettra, the creative director behind Ubisoft’s thought-provoking survival tale I Am Alive said chances of a PC port are about zero because a) um, piracy and b) lol, nobody buys PC games anymore. U mad? Oh, it gets better, Mettra…

  By Owen Good Published November 23, 2011
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  Chasin’ The Trane

  And here we are, the night before Thanksgiving, ready to dive into one more Kotaku open thread. What games will you spend the long weekend playing? Planning to cash in on any Black Friday deals? Talk about all that or anything else, for this thread, it is open! Here are a few conversation starters as…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published November 23, 2011
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  Check out the Variety of the Tekken Hybrid Bundle

  I have always been a huge Tekken fan. Eyes bloodshot, fingers cramped and snacks demolished, the Tekken series was always a big part of my gaming nights. When I heard about Tekken Hybrid I was super excited. Well…excited about the HD remake of Tekken Tag. I can’t say I care much for the movie or…

  By Chris Carolan Published November 23, 2011
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  The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

  When Sony San Diego Studio needs to build a new major league ballpark for MLB The Show, they go to that ballpark, take hundreds of measurements and images, and spend about four months constructing it in the game. When they need new sounds you hear at that ballpark, they go to a minor league field.…

  By Owen Good Published November 23, 2011