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  This Post Will Ruin Your Breakfast

  Shoko Nakagawa, queen of Pokémon and star of an upcoming Zelda commercial, gained fame a few years back for sticking her cat’s head in her mouth and smelling its butt. She has another unusual hobby. Putting odd things (NSFW?) on her head. During summer in Japan, the sound of cicadas is heard throughout the country.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
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  EA Sports’ ‘Season Ticket’ Subscription Gets Diehard Fans In the Game Early

  EA Sports will offer an annual subscription for hardcore sports gamers, which includes a three-day, pre-release full-play preview of five of the label’s most popular titles, and a 20 percent discount on their paid downloadable content catalog. EA Sports’ “Season Ticket” begins Aug. 27 with Madden NFL 12, and it will cost $25. Covering Madden,…

  By Owen Good Published August 2, 2011
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  The Tokyo Game Show Will Tell Us More About the PS Vita

  The keynotes at this year’s TGS will be delivered by Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada, Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida, and the president of social gaming company Gree. Japanese netizens speculate that the PS Vita will be dated during Sony’s keynote, the title of which translates as “The PS Vita’s Full Details”. The PS Vita was first…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
• Culture

  Don’t Get Caught Out in Heavy Rain’s Concept Art

  French artist François Baranger has been doing concept work for years now, and has experience in the worlds of both film and video games. Some of the movies he’s worked on include Prince of Persia, GI Joe and the 7th and 8th Harry Potter flicks. And games? Most of them are still locked away under…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  A Different Samus for Every Day of the Month

  For the past month, artist Chris Furniss has been drawing a picture a day depicting Metroid heroine Samus Aran doing…different stuff. That month has now sadly come to an end. From exercise to karaoke, part-time work to cooking, she keeps herself busy as a bee, and while she may not succeed at everything she tries…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  Who’s Writing that Schoolgirl Chainsaw Game?

  Lollipop Chainsaw, the up-and-coming zombie killing cheerleader game, is being designed by Japanese game developer Grasshopper Manufacture of No More Heroes fame. It’s being written by a guy from St. Louis. Hollywood filmmaker James Gunn is penning the game—exciting when you think about the movies he’s been involved with: Tromeo and Juliet, Slither, LolliLove, and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
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  An Amazing Documentary About the Street Fighter Who Can’t Kick

  This clip, which debuted over the weekend at fighting tournament EVO 2011, isn’t one of those joke documentaries, with crummy acting and a couple of cheap gags. It is, in all seriousness, a serious documentary. About Street Fighter‘s Balrog. When I say serious, it’s serious! This is a look at the life and times of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  Call It the Mintend 3DS

  The 3DS’s recent price cut was surprising. The handheld is still new, and a drastic slash like that whiffs of desperation. But don’t worry, the 3DS isn’t dead, by any stretch. Maybe one of Japan’s most successful manga artists can work his magic. While appearing on variety show SMAPxSMAP, famed manga artist Osamu Akimoto drew…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
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  Oblivion Is Made Better when Burger King Punches Men with a Fish

  If you’ve ever wondered why PC gamers are so passionate about mods, or why people love/hate/love the Elder Scrolls series so much, watch this. Apparently this was the result of several months work. It’s worth every second. While waiting for Skyrim, this is what I’ve been doing in Oblivion. Tell me what you think Reddit!…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  Is This a Pikachu Ripoff?

  One of the Japanese media’s favorite topics is how China copies everything, whether that be giant Gundams or toys. But Japan is no stranger to ripping off the creative work of others. This is “Eco-chan”, the mascot for an environmental community center in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture. Let’s not screw around, Eco-chan sure as snot looks…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
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  Your Handy Map of Half-Life 2’s City 17

  Reader Michael sent us an image he’s been working for a while. It’s a map of Half-Life 2’s City 17 done in an “authentic” style. That means no easy-to-read Google Maps style of cartography. City 17 is in Eastern Europe, and the world is a mess, so all the Resistance have to go on would…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  Infamous Studio Is Now All Sony’s

  Sony Computer Entertainment has acquired Sucker Punch, the studio behind titles like Infamous and Sly Cooper, the Tokyo-based game giant revealed today. Sucker Punch was previously an independent studio. However, it has worked only on PlayStation titles since 2000. “Sucker Punch Productions is one of the most highly acclaimed development studios in the industry and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
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  Square Enix, Your iPhone Pricing Is Bananas

  Awesome news: after a long wait, Final Fantasy Tactics is on its way to the App Store, with the classic strategy title due out this Thursday. Only, there’s a catch: it’s expensive The iPhone is a different market than other handheld gaming platforms. Nintendo is finding this out the hard way. Games are normally sold…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  Rhythm Heaven is Where Idols Go to Press Buttons

  This week, the biggest game in Japan is Rhythm Heaven. It was created by a man who was at one time the biggest record producer in the country: Tsunku. The Osaka native produces tracks and makes music for a variety of artists, such as Morning Musume (vintage pic above), who were the most popular idol…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 2, 2011
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  Can You Possibly Have too Many Batmans? Batmen?

  Maaaaaaybe. At least, the number of preorder skins currently available for Batman: Arkham City is certainly pushing the envelope. A British fan site has put together all of the skins available for customers in the UK (some of them are available outside Europe, others not), and it’s a little bananas. There are five available, most…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  There are Other Games to Play On a Laptop (at an Airport) Besides Diablo III

  As a man about to embark on a 20-hour flight, comments like this—from Blizzard’s Rob Pardo in response to the news Diablo III requires a constant internet connection—make me pull little sad faces. Diablo 3 Will Require Players to be Online When Playing [1UP] You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Horror Comes In Many Forms (Including Tiny Ellipsoid Cocks)

  There was a PC game released in 1994 called Escstatica. It’s notable for two things: it was scary, but it was also a technological marvel. It doesn’t matter that the technology in question never really went anywhere. It was cool for the time, and this feature is all about looking back in time! Ecstatica was…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2011
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  Could This Graphics Tech Revolutionize the Way Video Games Look?

  Or is the technology that powers Euclideon’s “Unlimited Detail” graphics engine another contender that hopes to unseat the traditional way of modeling and rendering things in 3D (with polygons)? Whatever Euclideon’s fate, it’s potentially a very exciting development. Euclideon’s Unlimited Detail tech, which uses “tiny little atoms” to display 3D objects instead of polygons, is…

  By Michael McWhertor Published August 1, 2011
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  Go Get ‘Em, Robo

  Happy Monday, Kotaku readers. You’re free to contain your excitement for another workweek in tonight’s open thread, where we can talk about the EVO 2011 Championships, Las Vegas or debt ceilings if you’d like. Anything goes here. I spent much of my weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio Hotel and Casino—an establishment I…

  By Michael McWhertor Published August 1, 2011
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  Rhythm Heaven Wii Ascends to First Place in Japan

  The delightful Rhythm Heaven series has come to the Wii—in Japan, at least—arriving to divine reception from the Nintendo loving masses. Rhythm Heaven Wii (aka Minna no Rhythm Tengoku) is Japan’s bestselling game. The latest entry in Nintendo’s simple rhythm game series bested two newcomers, Capcom’s Sengoku Basara Heroes Chronicles for PSP and Grasshopper Manufacture’s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published August 1, 2011