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  Hulu Plus Coming Soon to Wii, Nintendo 3DS

  Nintendo’s just announced that the popular video streaming service will be hitting its best-selling home console and it latest handheld by the end of the year. The move puts Hulu’s premium, subscriber offering on all three major home video consoles now, with the service having debuted on the PlayStation 3 last summer. While the basic…

  By Evan Narcisse Published October 21, 2011
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  Three Incredibly Cool, Incredibly Rare Nintendo 3DS Consoles

  Nintendo did reveal new Nintendo 3DS hardware today. But Nintendo isn’s selling these 3DS consoles. No, Nintendo is giving them away. Club Nintendo winners have an opportunity to win special Nintendo 3DS units that feture Princess Peach, Mario, and Toad motifs. There are only three thousand of these 3DS units—one thousand of each. And the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Cuddle Up With an Official Portal Companion Cube

  In December, there’ll be a soft, cuddly Portal turret available to buy. Those who like their Portal companions a little squarer (but just as cuddly), you get yours a month earlier. In November, NECA will release its first piece of official Valve merchandise, in the form of a plush Companion Cube. No word on price…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  Batman: Arkham City PS3 vs. Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360. This Is No Two-Face.

  Batman: Arkham City is coming to the Xbox 360, the PS3, and the PC. Website CVG compared the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. Watch the above clip to see them face off. Dunno about you, but they look like they’re about the same—both look pretty great! Batman: Arkham City PS3 vs Xbox 360 gameplay [YouTube]…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Watch Nintendo Give New 3DS Details

  Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is calling today’s presentation “Nintendo Direct”. Think of it as a fireside chat with the company responsible for Mario. It’s expected that Nintendo will detail Mario Kart 7‘s wireless features, show new Monster Hunter 3G footage as well as detail the 3D filming functionality coming to the 3DS in the November…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Is Hollywood Having a White Guy Once Again Play a Japanese Character?

  So says a white guy, but stay with me. Hollywood is on the prowl, turning Japanese manga and anime into movies. And yet the star factory, once again, cannot find a Japanese person to find a Japanese character. The movie in question is Akira, which is set in Tokyo (well, Neo Tokyo) and which follows…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Three New Twisted Metal Screens, One Iron Maiden

  Yesterday, Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe quietly released three new screenshots for the PS3’s entry in the franchise. Here they are. Twisted Metal is a PS3 exclusive, and will be out in February 2012. You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  Report: Nintendo 3DS Can Film 3D for a Chunk of Time

  Ten minutes isn’t an eternity. But on YouTube, ten minutes is a fair bit of time. And, according to Japanese news source the Nikkei, that’s how long you can shoot 3D on the 3DS. Next month, the Nintendo 3DS is getting a big update. Later today, Nintendo will apparently be detailing said update. The Nikkei…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Some Fallout Cosplay to Survive the Apocalypse In

  Inspired by last year’s Fallout: New Vegas, Nanahra has made himself a replica New California Republic Ranger’s outfit that, at a glance, looks as good as the real thing. Not that the real thing’s actually real. But if it was, it’d probably look like this. Only slightly more radioactive. What’s great about it is the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  From Iwo Jima to Super Mario

  In the West, Kazunari Ninomiya is best known for the Clint Eastwood film Letters from Iwo Jima. In Japan, he’s better known as a member of the boy band Arashi. Arashi continue to appear in Nintendo commercials, flogging the lastest games and hardware from the Kyoto-based company. This Super Mario 3D Land ad is no…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Comparing Video Game Screenshots to Real Photographs

  Valve’s Source Engine may be getting long in the tooth, but the fact it’s constantly updated means it can still produce some surprisingly realistic results. Like this gallery, comparing images taken inside the game engine to photos taken in real life. Reddit user NullPoint84 has assembled a gallery of pictures in which he’s recreated scenes…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  Lady, That Isn’t an iPhone. It’s an iPod.

  Like elsewhere, the iPhone is hugely popular and hard to get in Japan. Earlier this week, actress Yumiko Shaku did a post in which talked about getting her first smartphone—the “new iPhone model”. Thing is, it wasn’t the new iPhone. It wasn’t even the old one. It was an iPod Touch. Almost every Japanese celebrity…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Portal 2’s Chell has Never Looked Better

  Comics artist Alex Garner whipped this Portal 2 tribute up in his spare time. It feels strange calling it fan art. There should be a better name than that for pieces like this. As the original image wasn’t in wallpaper dimensions, and it’s so damn pretty people are going to ask, I’ve taken the liberty…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  This is the Greatest Button-Press In all of Video Gaming

  QTEs, or Quick Time Events, are a way for video games to let the player feel like they’re interacting during a mostly cinematic sequence. They’re slightly controversial, because many argue they’re barely “gaming” at all; you’re just pressing some buttons while the real action takes place solely on the screen. There’s no controversy about this…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  Yup, Ezio is in Soulcalibur V

  That’ll teach me to doubt! It’s been confirmed tonight that Ezio, star of the last three Assassin’s Creed games, will be making a guest appearance in upcoming fighter Soulcalibur V As far as these wacky guest appearances go, he’s…surprisingly tasteful. Appropriate, even, given the series’ loose affiliation with world history and things with sharp edges.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  PlayStation 4 Game Development Is Underway

  While Sony hasn’t yet officially announced the PS4, no doubt it’s coming. The PlayStation 3 will get a successor. According to a “trusted source”, work has started on PlayStation 4 games. Website Develop reported that “various game projects are at very early stages”. Apparently, Sony’s in-house studios are starting development first, which makes obvious sense.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
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  Has the PlayStation 3 Been Cracked Again?

  The last time somebody got past the PS3’s copy-protection defences, it ended in lawsuits and, albeit indirectly, a massive security breach that brought down the entire PlayStation Network. Here’s hoping the next time somebody manages, things are a little more peaceful. That next time may already be upon us, with videos and reports surfacing showing…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
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  UPDATE: Doom 4 “Indefinitely Postponed” Following Rage’s Disappointing Launch

  A source claiming to be close to the publishers of the recently-launched Rage has told Kotaku that, at a recent “company wide” meeting held in Dallas, Bethesda and parent company Zenimax made the decision to “indefinitely postpone” development of Doom 4 Pete Hines, responding to our request for comment this morning, says no game in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  Where Are They Now? Diseases That Killed You in Oregon Trail

  You have died of dysentery. These are five words familiar to anyone who has attempted to caulk a wagon and ford rivers en route to the Willamette Valley. Oregon Trail not only taught generations of kids about Western migration in 19th-century America, it also familiarized them with various strange-sounding diseases. Let’s catch up with some…

  Laura Turner Garrison Published October 21, 2011
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  What Animal Crossing Can Teach Us About the Anger of Occupy Wall Street

  Don’t get what’s motivating Occupy Wall Street, or any of the Occupy demonstrations worldwide? Look to a video game, writes one blogger. He believes Animal Crossing supplies an allegory for the protesters’ anger, and it involves being pressed into servitude by a debt you had little choice but to acquire. “Animal Crossing was probably the…

  By Owen Good Published October 20, 2011