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  World of Fourcraft is Like Real-Life Risk, Played in New York

  Foursquare, the hot social network expansion that … does … social things … yeah, actually, that’s sort of the problem. Sensing an opportunity to make the “check-in” utility for Twitter “more compelling for long-term use,” some people have used it to turn New York into a giant game of Risk Foursquare, if you don’t use…

  By Owen Good Published June 29, 2011
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  Finally a Game To Play on my 3DS

  SUE: | This is my first time playing Cave Story. It’s quite fun. No wonder so many people suggest it. (Photo by Brian Crecente) Thank Ratchet and Clank for This Wonderful Disney Game The latest Ratchet & Clank game is wearing a Disney costume While Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension is based on…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 29, 2011
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  Blizzard’s Secret Titan Project Labeled a ‘New Casual MMO’

  The people who make MMO juggernaut World of Warcraft have another massively multiplayer online game in the works, a game they’re calling Titan for now. Blizzard calls it “awesome” and “ambitious.” One analyst calls it “casual.” That analyst would be Stern Agee’s Arvind Bhatia, who writes that Blizzard Entertainment’s next products are “expansion packs for…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 29, 2011
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  Internal Memo Addresses Madden Losses, Lays Out EA Sports’ Expansion Plans

  In an internal memo obtained by IGN, a senior EA Sports executive says the label will soon open a third studio in Texas, and addresses the departures of key developers from its flagship Madden NFL product. Daryl Holt, EA Sports’ chief operating officer, informs employees that he will be visiting Austin, Texas “this week” to…

  By Owen Good Published June 29, 2011
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  The Creator of Xbox is Also Fond of Gore-Tex Backpacks

  The Clymb, a flash sales website with a focus on outdoor gear, just raised two million dollars from an unlikely source—former Xbox exec J Allard, fan of all things extreme. [Via All Things D]

  By Joshua Rivera Published June 29, 2011
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  Bobby Kotick Didn’t Buy Myspace & Friendster is Now a Social Gaming Site

  Activision boss Bobby Kotick didn’t buy Myspace. Someone else will for a measly $35 million (considerably less than the $580 million IGN owner News Corp. paid in 2005). Furthermore, also-dying social network Friendster is now a social gaming hub

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 29, 2011
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  At Least Diablo III, the Book, Will Be Out This Year

  There’s still no firm date on Blizzard’s next entry in the Diablo series, but at least one of the game’s official tie-ins, Diablo III: Book of Cain, is expected to arrive in 2011. So what is Diablo III: Book of Cain? It’s not a novelization of the story of Diablo III, but an “‘in-world’ artifact…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 29, 2011
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  Looks Like Limbo May Be Coming to PlayStation 3 Too

  Patient PlayStation 3 owners may soon be able to die a thousand grisly deaths in PlayDead’s gorgeous puzzle platformer Limbo, based on a newly listed rating submitted by Sony Computer Entertainment Korea. As we head toward the one year anniversary of Limbo‘s release on Xbox Live Arcade, it appears that Microsoft’s exclusivity window may be…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 29, 2011
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  Respawn Entertainment Offers First Cryptic Look At Its Post-Call of Duty Project

  There are signs of life from Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded by ousted Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella, as the developer’s web site has gone live, including two teasers that will tell you next to nothing about its still unannounced game. The former Infinity Ward developers are working on a new…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 29, 2011
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  Half Minute Hero Won’t Let Me Doom the World

  Many role-playing games ask us if we want to save the world. Even the parody role-playing game Half Minute Hero, which I love, and which was ported to Xbox Live Arcade asks this question. Help the Time Goddess banish evil? “Yes” or “no”? As if “no” was an option… I started playing the XBLA version…

  By Stephen Totilo Published June 29, 2011
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  Buddy Up in the Uncharted 3 Beta

  Now that the Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception multiplayer beta is underway, the Playstation Blog has a post up with a video from the developers along detailing what features you can look forward to. In addition to a new set of boosters, the beta will prominently feature a new buddy system-one that will pair you with…

  By Joshua Rivera Published June 29, 2011
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  Sonic’s New Genesis, Scalped at #50 and other New Comics Highlights

  By popular demand—yes, because both of you demanded it—my weekly round-up of new comics recommendations is arriving before the sun sets on any corner of the United States. Do not go to a comics store without consulting these tips. Do no download new comics through the ComiXology app without studying these recommendations. It is a…

  By Stephen Totilo Published June 29, 2011
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  Somewhere Between Predator Drones and Battlefield Have We Lost Sight of the Horrors of War?

  Predator drones and other high-tech weaponry are turning war into video games and making the use of military force a more, perhaps too, palatable option, an Aljazeera op-ed piece argues. In The Virtue-less war of the ‘Nintendo bomber’, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, a Glasgow-based sociologist and the co-editor of Pulsemedia.org, writes that clinicalizing war with the…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 29, 2011
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  This Wii Cycling Peripheral Costs More Than the Console

  Nearly two years ago Bigben Interactive teased us with the Cyberbike, a full-sized stationary bicycle that acts as a game controller for your Nintendo Wii. Now that the Wii has dropped in price to $150 and a new console is on the way, the Cyberbike finally hits North America for $199.99. The Wii has been…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 29, 2011
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  Playing Everything Sony Online Entertainment Has To Offer Just Got Cheaper

  With the impending demise of Star Wars Galaxies and perhaps the dawning realization that the best games it has to offer are free-to-play, Sony Online Entertainment ditches the Station Pass in favor of SOE All Access, allowing players to access nine online games starting at $19.99 a month. Sony Online Entertainment’s Station Pass used to…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 29, 2011
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  Gamestop Resurrects Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Trade-In Hopes

  It’s hard to describe used copies of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D as pre-owned when pre-played seems to fit the game so well. Despite the eternal save file, major U.S. retailers are still accepting Mercenaries trade-ins. Gamestop tested the waters before buying used copies, not accepting trades on release day. They released this statement explaining…

  By Sam Winstrom Published June 29, 2011
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  These New Final Fantasy XIII-2 Screenshots Could Use Your Captions

  Wouldn’t these new Final Fantasy XIII-2 screenshots be even better if you wrote captions for them? Yes, they would be better.

  By Stephen Totilo Published June 29, 2011
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  So That’s What Happened To Mario and Pauline

  At some point during his illustrious career Nintendo hero Mario swapped girlfriends, dumping Donkey Kong‘s Pauline for Super Mario‘s Princess Peach. How did that go? A little something like this. Mario and Princess Peach are one of video gaming’s premiere couples, but that wasn’t always the case. We often discuss the great success of Shigeru…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 29, 2011
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  I Waited a Decade for a Game that Moved Me Like Rez

  I’d played games avidly since I could manipulate keys on a keyboard, with the same ferocity of concentration that I’d read all the books in my parents’ house. I read everything from Agatha Christie’s endless novels to “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. The joy I felt buried in a book or a game was fierce, but it…

  Jane Pinckard Published June 29, 2011
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  Shangri-La’s Moving Walls, Nasty Monkeys and Pungee Traps

  Is it just me or are these zombie maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops getting increasingly complex with each new download pack? This time around map pack Annihilation gamers get a chance to take on the zombies of the fabled city of Shangri-La. That means angry little monkeys, some neat pungee traps and lots…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 29, 2011