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  This Adorable Video Shows the Birth of a Gamer

  Before and after: What you’re seeing here is the moment when a person makes the leap from future suit to Gamer. You might want to turn your volume down. You can contact Brian Crecente, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.

  By Brian Crecente Published October 19, 2011
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  Should Reviewers Take Off Points For Online Passes?

  Used sales squashing online passes are annoying as hell, but should their utilization affect a game’s review score? Commenter Smash Bro thinks they should, and he’ll tell you why in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku. Can we get a call to reviewers to start taking off points for anti-consumer practices, like online passes? I understand…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 19, 2011
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  Skylanders Hits The Mac

  The fun, expensive, toy-laden Skylanders Spyro’s Aventure is now available on the Mac, according to a press release.

  By Brian Crecente Published October 19, 2011
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  New Battlefield 3 Trailer Shows Off Multiplayer

  Finally, the chance to watch DICE’s shiny Frostbite 2 engine get put through its paces in nearly two minutes of multiplayer mayhem. The clip showcases action from all the multiplayer maps shipping on the disc. The game’s massive destructibility looks like it’s going to radically change the experience of online warfare. One minute you’re in…

  By Evan Narcisse Published October 19, 2011
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  Star Wars Machinima A Clone Apart Returns, Reminds Us of Battlefront

  What a wretched, wonderful fictional construct the Star Wars universe has become. While many people hate how George Lucas’s fiddling continues to dilute the memories of the folks who love it most, the Skywalker saga remains a rich playground for all kinds of comedy or tragedy. Three years ago, the crew at Illusive Entertainment created…

  By Evan Narcisse Published October 19, 2011
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Hello people of Kotaku! We’re halfway through the week, I hope you’re having a good one. Gaming is keeping me busy, as well as watching my beloved sports teams. I’ve been playing Minecraft, FIFA 12, and some of the F2P MMO Vindictus. How about you? If you’re curious, I’m a huge ice hockey and soccer/football…

  By Matthew Buzzi Published October 19, 2011
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  Virgin Admits They’re Not the Best For Online Gaming, Gets Censured

  Virgin Media was told it can no longer run broadband ads claiming that their UK internet service is the best for online gaming. The Advertising Standards Authority said in their censure that the Virgin ads were likely going to lead gamers to think that Virgin’s broadband service was better than other UK internet services for…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 19, 2011
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  From Yale To Persia: Read the Private Diaries Of Gaming’s Renaissance Man

  In 1985 Jordan Mechner was a student at Yale riding high on a mix of euphoria over the surprise success of his first video game, Karateka, and trepidation over the idea of turning that success into a career. Trading the east coast for the west landed him in the thick of a game industry beginning…

  Jordan Mechner Published October 19, 2011
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  Hey! It’s Dead Island Zombies and Keiji Inafune

  Mega | TOKYO, JAPAN: Dead Rising creator Keiji Inafune attended a Dead Rising event in Tokyo. (Photo: Game Watch Impress) Here’s Harrison Ford. Playing Uncharted. [Updated] National treasure Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, your childhood) has popped up in an unlikely place: A Japanese television commercial for Uncharted 3. More » The Spies, Soldiers and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011
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  Sega Now Location-Testing Toilets

  Remember Toirettsu? It’s a toilet, outfitted with mini-games. As Sega Toys pointed out, “You’re able to game with pee!” Finally! The contraption is outfitted with mini-games, and there is a sensor that can apparently measure the speed of one’s urine stream. Some of the mini-games include erasing graffiti with a hose (with your pee), causing…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011
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  Do You Like Mecha Figures? Like Z.O.E. and Gundam?

  Sure you do! At the recent All Japan Plamodel Hobby Show held outside Tokyo, a whole bunch of figures were on display. There were the standard bishoujo (“beautiful girl”) statues, along with mecha and robot figures. Let’s focus on those. The gallery is Gundam heavy, but there are appearances by Zone of the Enders and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011
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  Call of Duty: Elite Shutting Down Today. Only for a Bit.

  In preparation for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launch, the beta for Call of Duty: Elite, Activision’s new social network and stat-tracking service, is going offline later today. According to an official release, Activision and Beachhead Studio are shutting down the Elite beta at 3:00pm EST. Before MW3 and Elite‘s launch, the following sections…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011
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  The StarCraft MMO is Coming Along Nicely

  It’s been a while since we saw how the fan-made MMO built on the bones of StarCraft II is looking. So let’s take a look! Yup. Looking great. Admittedly, as a man who finds the prospect of playing a traditional MMO as exciting as watching paint…just sit there, on the wall, I love what’s being…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011
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  Xbox 360 Bundled for the Holidays

  Those without an Xbox 360 (or looking to get a new one) for the holiday season, Microsoft has you covered with two games-and-hardware bundles, one with Kinect and one without

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011
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  What Gears of War’s Designer Wants for the Next Xbox

  The next Xbox hasn’t been announced. There have been hints and rumors, but nothing official. Regardless, it is coming, and game designers, like the rest of us, have a laundry list of things they want. Gears of War Cliff Bleszinski is no different. Bleszinski told OXM, “I’m sorry, do you think graphics are good enough?…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011
• Culture

  The Spies, Soldiers and Sexy Ladies of Splinter Cell: Conviction

  Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Conviction lived two very public lives. The first had Sam Fisher looking like the sexiest homeless man on the planet. That version was binned. The second version, the one that was actually released, was more “traditional”. This art, from Ubisoft’s Bruno Gauthier Leblanc, is of this second Sam Fisher. And loads of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011
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  EA’s Origin Used by Five Million People Every Day

  EA says that 5 million people use Origin every day. Note that this isn’t a measure of popularity; like Steam, it’s hard to avoid a service when you practically have to use it to play certain games.

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011
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  Rap Music, Final Fantasy VII and Some Pretty Visuals

  It’s a wonderful world we live in when rappers can release singles from albums devoted entirely to Final Fantasy VII Nerd rap superstar Mega Ran, who we’ve featured before, has with Jon Louden put together this video for the track Absolute, which can be found on his Black Materia album If you like what you…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011
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  Nintendo Having Yet Another Press Conference (What’s Going On?)

  Right before this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo suddenly revealed it was having a press conference. It was a total bust. Today, Nintendo suddenly announced it was holding another press conference. Will it be a disappointment, too? Dubbed “Nintendo 3DS New Information: Internet Presentation”, the event will be carried over Japanese video site NicoNico Douga…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011
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  The Next Call of Duty DLC Has…Muppets?

  Oh, if only that were the case. This fan art from poopbird, dropping the Muppets in as Call of Duty characters, certainly has me wishing. Though, when you think about it, it’s not that crazy an idea. It’s not that far a leap to go from soldier dudes to zombies to Muppets. Is it? Especially…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011