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  Silly Excuses for Pikachu Ripoff

  Remember that city in Japan that created a Pikachu ripoff? Sure you do! Kotaku posted about it yesterday. The character Eco-chan opened an environmental center in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and was supposed to be used in green publicity campaigns. According to Japanese news reports, it was only after the character’s costume was complete that a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2011
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  The History of Nintendo in an Easy Timeline

  Sure, the timeline leaves out the gangsters and the love hotels (and even the Kamen Rider blocks), but it does hit Nintendo’s gaming high points from the late 19th century to 2011. In that time, Nintendo’s gone from a small company that made playing cards to a high tech international powerhouse. But one thing hasn’t…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2011
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  Culture

  The Sexy, Scribbly Art of Valkyria Chronicles

  You wouldn’t think a turn-based strategy game would be the type of thing you could call “beautiful”, but that’s exactly what cult 2008 PS3 title Valkyria Chronicles was. Every aspect of the game’s visual design, from intricate vehicles to a unique “pencilled” graphics filter to some wonderful costumes was a feast for the eyes, and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  Uncategorized

  This iPhone Game Makes Horse Armor Look Like a Great Deal

  Glu Mobile has a game on the iPhone called Gun Bros. It’s an arcade shooter, I’ve played it, it’s pretty fun. It’s also, sadly, one of a litany of games that are free to download then gimped so you have to pay/play for weeks for the upgrades necessary to advance. Which is fine if you…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  Your Xbox 360s Just Got a Lot Less Shiny

  The new Xbox 360 S model has always been available in two finishes: a glossy, reflective surface on the “big” consoles and a dull, matte finish on the smaller 4GB version. This Fall, that distinction gets a little less clear. You’ll soon be able to have the option of getting the larger 250GB version of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  PlayStation Vita Won’t Launch In the West Until 2012

  Sony warned you this might happen. That the PlayStation Vita would only begin its global release rollout in 2011, not that it would be out everywhere in 2011. Hope you kept that in mind! PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai has revealed today that the PlayStation Vita will only be released in Japan in 2011. It’ll be…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  Uncategorized

  So, Just What Is “Hype”?

  The word “hype”, in this business at least, in most cases refers to the buzz surrounding an upcoming video game. For fighting game fans, though, it has a very different and not-so-specific meaning. Which this classy little clip, put together at the weekend’s EVO 2011 tournament in Las Vegas, does a very good job of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  After Tragic Death, the Timing Couldn’t Be Worse for This Soccer Game

  Today, soccer player Naoki Matsuda died due to cardiac arrest complications. He was 34 years old. Also today, a PSP game he promoted went on sale in Japan. The game is Sega soccer title Make a J. League Pro Soccer Club! 7 Euro Plus for the PSP, and Matsuda even appeared as a special download.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2011
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  Uncategorized

  A Little Arrested Development Comes to Call of Duty

  It’ll take more than Facebook-with-guns for people to sign up for Activision’s Call of Duty: Elite service. Which is probably why the publisher is bringing original content from two of the stars of Arrested Development to the platform. Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, who played brothers Michael and Gob Bluth on the funny-as-hell TV show,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  The Girls Aren’t Real. But Neither Is the Camera.

  Former Xbox 360 exclusive The Idolmaster 2 is coming to the PS3. Players get a huge amount of what was paid DLC on the Xbox 360 free of charge. It doesn’t stop there. Namco Bandai is including a “Gravure 4 You” mini-game in the limited edition PS3 version that allows players to snap photos of…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2011
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  Team Fortress 2 Secretly Teams Up with Fallout, Quake & Elder Scrolls

  The latest update to multiplayer shooter brought with it a few secret surprises, in the form of unique items inspired by those used in games like Quake, Fallout, RAGE and Brink OK, so with QuakeCon this week it’s a Bethesda marketing stunt (having published the last two Fallout games and owning id Software, the creators…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  This Is a Very Large Controller

  This past spring, Japanese peripheral maker Hori said it would make a specialized Miku Hatsune rhythm game controller if enough people pre-ordered it. Enough people did, and Hori made the controller. And it’s huge. The controller is for the PS3 version of the Hatsune Miku arcade game. Just look at it! The controller isn’t exactly…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2011
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  World of Warcraft Still Losing Players

  World of Warcraft’s player numbers have been stalled since late 2008, and in decline for most of 2011. That’s the bad news for the game’s developers, Blizzard. The good news? It’s not a massive drop, as at June 30 the game still had 11.1 million players. The past quarter the game’s subscriber base had fallen…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  When Parents Let Their Kids Die

  It’s one of Japan’s dirty secrets. Summer after summer, parents get their gaming fix at pachinko parlors, leaving small children in the car. Alone. To die. Pachinko’s existed in Japan for decades, gaining popularity in the years following the war. In the last several decades, pachinko machines have become increasingly high tech. Game developers, like…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2011
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  You Won’t Know the Wii U’s Price or Release Date Until 2012

  Nintendo might have shown the Wii U off at this year’s E3, but that doesn’t mean the console is gearing up towards a launch in early 2012. All we know for now is Nintendo plans to release the Wii U sometime after April 1, 2012. With declining Wii and DS sales and the lacklustre performance…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  Nobody Wants to Work With LA Noire’s Developers, Boss In Buyout Talks

  With Rockstar reluctant to publish LA Noire developers Team Bondi’s next game, rumours are circulating that studio founder Brendan McNamara is in talks with George Miller’s KMM studio, with the aim of being absorbed into the Mad Max and Happy Feet creators. One verified source working at Dr D, George Miller’s Animation Studio, claimed that…

  Mark Serrels Published August 4, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Mark Wahlberg, Not Even You Could Save the Sega Mega CD

  Almost every gaming platform ever released has its oddball titles. The ones that weren’t quite games, the ones that weren’t quite there. For Sega’s Mega CD add-on in the early 1990’s, that oddball was the Make My Video series. Spanning three titles, all of them released in 1992 (the year the ill-fated CD expansion for…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2011
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  EA’s Disaster Plans Don’t Include Billion-Dollar Lawsuits or Giant Meteors

  A cocktail-napkin calculation about what’s at stake in former NCAA players’ lawsuit against EA Sports arrived at a potential cash-and-prizes value of $1 billion. But as apocalyptic as that total sounds, Electronic Arts doesn’t sound too worried. “We could lose billions more if a giant meteor hits the earth,” spokesman Jeff Brown told CNBC’s Darren…

  By Owen Good Published August 3, 2011
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  Um, Pretty Sure This Is An Open Thread, Guys

  Friends of Kotaku, you’re more than welcome to take this thread and make it your own, flavoring it with all the off topic conversation that you seem to like so much. So, have at it. Anyone going to QuakeCon this weekend? I’ve never been, but it seems like it’s going to be a good time.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published August 3, 2011
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  Nintendo: It’s For Dresses, Now

  Honey, if I bought this for you, would you wear it for me? This Game Boy-themed tube dress costs about as much as the original device did—$70. It’s made by HereandThereVintage and available on etsy. Nintendo Dress [Etsy via LikeCool] You can contact Owen Good, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also…

  By Owen Good Published August 3, 2011