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  Mother Accused of Beating Son to Death After Wii Game Breaks TV

  A 21-year old Bronx woman has been charged with murder and manslaughter after the death of her five year-old son, killed after he “broke the television while playing Nintendo Wii”. Kim Crawford stands accused of murdering Jamar Johnson after telling police she struck him on the chest and back “harder than I’ve ever hit him”…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 22, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  A Look at Decades of Nintendo Controller Innovation

  The upcoming Wii U is hoping to change the way we think of controllers forever. Whether it does that or not is anybody’s guess, but if it does, it won’t be the first time Nintendo has pulled off that coup. While Nintendo’s franchises and consoles often get all the praise for the company’s success, let’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 22, 2011
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  What Are You Reading?

  Good evening and good Tuesday, Kotaku readers. Tonight’s open thread is of a themed variety, in which I might ask you a question, you might want to answer. Tonight’s recurring question is “What are you reading?” Me, I’m still bearing down on Don DeLillo’s Underworld, an activity that I don’t seem to have much time…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  What If The PlayStation Vita is Just Another PSP?

  I worry about Sony’s new PSP. After the shock of the impressive visuals of Sony’s next-generation portable, the PlayStation Vita, had become familiar, after the pleasant surprise of the new handheld’s price settled in ($249 USD, the launch price of a PSPgo), I started thinking about the harsher realities of the Vita. Is it just…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  Team Fortress 2‘s Next Update Unsheathes Its Swords

  The “biggest, most ambitious update” for Team Fortress 2 is detailed further today with a not so big, not so ambitious update for the multiplayer game’s Sniper and Demoman, both of which will be rattling all-new sabers soon. Following on yesterday’s Heayy and Spy update, the Team Fortress 2 blog did not release “Meet the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  What’s in the New Call of Duty: Black Ops Limited Edition Re-release?

  The Call of Duty: Black Ops Limited Edition hits Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next week at North American retailers, packing in one game and one token for “First Strike” downloadable content that originally hit in February. Cost? $59.99 USD.

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  BioShock Infinite, Uncharted 3 Lead Game Critics’ Best of E3 2011 Nominations

  The nominees for the Game Critics Awards’ “Best of E3 2011” are in, with two games vying for Best of Show, Irrational Games’ BioShock Infinite and Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Those two games lead the E3 2011 pack with four category nominations each, also battling for Best Action/Adventure Game and Best Console game.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  The Fall of Arthas, A Warcraft Visual Tale Fit For A Storybook

  The World of Warcraft fan art of Chinese artist Jian Guo lies somewhere between medieval storybook art and stained glass window, telling visual stories of Warcraft lore in gorgeous, highly-detailed works. Below is Guo’s “Fall of Arthas,” one of a handful of lovely art pieces inspired by World of Warcraft. Other must-see storybook murals from…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  The Game Master

  RGM | Retro Game Master fridge magnets. (Photo by Brian Crecente) Great Ads, If Not Great Games, Coming to the Xbox 360 Kinect Soon Xbox 360 gamers will be able to get some use out of their Kinect: Interacting with a new suite of multimedia advertising set to hit the console and its $150 peripheral…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 21, 2011
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  PopCap’s Viciously Addictive Bejeweled 3 Coming To Everything, Part I

  The makers of great, time-stealing games like Peggle and Plants Vs. Zombies are bringing one of their biggest successes to consoles and handhelds later this year, with Bejeweled 3 making the leap to five platforms (or three, depending on your point of view). PopCap Games will bring the latest and greatest Bejeweled to PlayStation 3,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  The Duke Nukem Forever Demo is Ready to Offend More People Today

  Judge a small portion of Duke Nukem Forever for yourself. The game’s demo has been widely released on Xbox Live Marketplace and Steam, with a PS3 version due “ASAP.” Read Kotaku’s take to see if Duke’s worth the bandwidth.

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  In Cow ClickARG, the Cowpocalypse is Nigh

  The Cow Clicker-ing community has been sent on a mission; discover the secrets of Cow ClickARG before the secrets discover you. Ian Bogost, evil mastermind behind this whole damn cowpie, has let little slip regarding the alternate reality game for his massively popular satire of massively popular Facebook games, Cow Clicker: Some months ago, evil…

  By Jen Schiller Published June 21, 2011
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  You Don’t Have to Pay for City of Heroes Anymore, Thanks to Freedom

  Superhero MMO City of Heroes is killing its monthly fee with the advent of City of Heroes Freedom as the game transitions from subscription-based model to a new, free to play one. Publisher NCsoft and developer Paragon Studios detail the plan to bring City of Heroes to a larger, pay-what-you-want audience today, explaining that the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  Maybe 3D Isn’t Essential for the 3DS After All, Nintendo Hints

  Nintendo has never required users of the Nintendo 3DS to play their games with the system’s glasses-free 3D visuals activated. But 3D has been the machine’s selling point, one baked into the machine’s name. There are signs, however, that game creators, Nintendo included, are discovering that the 3DS’ 3D isn’t always a useful technological perk…

  By Stephen Totilo Published June 21, 2011
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  PlayStation Store Update: New Killzone, Castlevania & Kombat Content

  The North American PlayStation Store gets a dose of downloadable content from some very big games today, starting with the latest map pack for Guerrilla Games’ Killzone 3 Joining the new “From the Ashes” map pack is new add-on content for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, L.A. Noire and Mortal Kombat. Those digital goods help pump…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  This Rise of Nightmares Trailer is Like an Ax to the Head

  Rise of Nightmares is shaping up to be, if nothing else, the most adult video game coming to the Xbox 360’s motion-sensing Kinect peripheral. In the game, you air-chainsaw, air-ax, air-rusty pole zombies to death all while trying to get your Kinect to notice that you’re trying to move forward in the game. Great concept…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 21, 2011
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  Get iOS Indie Hit Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Super Cheap Today

  So, you’re a little late to the game in getting the beautiful iPhone and iPad adventure Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP? Worry not! For now you look smart, frugal even, for waiting until Sword & Sworcery went cheap. The cheapness of Sword & Sworcery is fleeting, however. Today only—June 21, the advent of the summer…

  By Michael McWhertor Published June 21, 2011
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  Man Ships Himself Across the Country in a Box While Gaming Online

  Jordan Wayne Long is preparing for his summer vacation- seven days, locked in a crate, traveling from Bald Knob, Arkansas to Portland, Oregon. Yes, you read that right. Long, a “performance and video artist” according to his website, plans to travel by crate for a week with no connection to the outside world, except for…

  By Jen Schiller Published June 21, 2011
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  This Thursday Sees the U.S. Premiere of Japan’s Cult-Hit Retro Game Master

  The U.S. premiere of Retro Game Master, the Japanese TV series that forces “middle management” comedian Shinya Arino to play Japan’s most popular and difficult video games often in a single marathon session, hits Kotaku this week. The weekly series kicks off with an airing of a classic hour-long episode from season four of the…

  By Brian Crecente Published June 21, 2011
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  Do a Barrel Ro…ah, Forget it

  He’s not rolling anywhere in that. Though it does look like a hoot By れ と る と

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2011