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  Are These Dark Souls Screens Hard Enough for You?

  Dark Souls, the spiritual successor to tough-as-nails Demon’s Souls, looks to be wonderfully difficult game—if not more difficult. Set in a dark fantasy world, the game’s got dudes in armor and griefing! What else do you need? Developed by From Software of Armored Core fame, Dark Souls will be released on the PS3 and Xbox…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  Toyota Continues to Chase Nerds (Now With Less Awkwardness)

  The Nagoya-based auto maker is already going after Western otaku with its bizarro take on virtual idol Miku Hatsune. Next up? Japanese otaku. The result isn’t nearly as awkward. To help promote its new plug-in Prius hybrid the Prius PHV, Toyota is teaming with the iconic sci-fi yarn Neon Genesis Evangelion At the junior high…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  Expos Bring Out the Best In Cosplayers

  Anime Expo 2011 isn’t just about anime. It’s an excuse to dress up as all kinds of characters, and at this year’s event, the video game cosplayers were out in force. Most of the shots in this week’s cosplay roundup were taken at the event, held in Los Angeles at the same venue E3 is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  Dust 514 Isn’t Really Free-to-Play [Update]

  Dust 514, the first-person shooter spinoff from PC MMO EVE Online, is free-to-play. Sort of. It’s been revealed that the PS3 game won’t actually be free to download, as players will have to stump up a “cover charge” of $10-20 (the final price hasn’t been decided) just to get access to the game, which will…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  Is Battlefield 3 Skipping Steam?

  Over the weekend, EA published a list of all the digital retailers you’d be able to preorder Battlefield 3 from. There were dozens of stores. Yet Steam wasn’t one of them. That’s led to speculation that, in the wake of the recent, ahem, change in relationship between EA and Steam owners Valve, you won’t be…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  A Museum for Kick Ass Plastic

  Over the weekend, famed model figure and kit maker Kaiyodo opened a its Kaiyodo Hobby Museum Shimanto in the city of Kochi. The museum houses model kits and figures from yesteryear as well as newer ones. The museum houses the inevitable Ultraman and Neon Genesis Evangelion models; it also has more off-the-wall stuff like mummy…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  Enough People Sucked at This Game That It Doesn’t Work Any More

  It’s a mechanic as old as games themselves: perform poorly and you lose a “life”. Experimental Dutch title GlitchHiker went a little further, though: perform poorly and the whole game died. An entrant in the Dutch Global Game Jam 2011 earlier this year, GlitchHiker was tied to a central server which was programmed to literally…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  You Can Now Buy Play for Japan

  In the wake of the March 11 earthquake in Japan, Grasshopper Manufacture’s Akira Yamaoka put together a charity album. That album is now available in selected territories on iTunes.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  These Zelda Cards Are the Queens of My Heart

  Artist Nelde has created these designs for a deck of Legend of Zelda playing cards. Pretty neat, yes? Not only do the Zelda images fit the traditional playing card style, but he’s even drawn some intricate new details: the ace of Triforce is a nice touch. You can see the images in greater detail in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  What Happens When a Stupid Person Burns a DS Lite?

  We’ve already seen some idiots deep fry a PSP and then try to eat it. Now, let’s look at photos taken by—I assume—a less stupid person. Less stupid, only because he doesn’t try to actually eat the burnt DS Lite, but still pretty stupid! Burning electronics is never a good idea, considering the toxins released…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  The Great Arcade Extravaganza Went Down Over the Weekend

  It may not have the pulling power of bigger shows, but California Extreme remains one of the best arcade events on the gaming calendar, luring in attendees from the Bay Area (and beyond!) to play hundreds of great old coin-op machines. Held over the weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California, the 2011…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  Besides Exercises, This Game Has Breast Physics and a Sexy Voice

  When Shape Boxing 2 originally went on sale, giant boob idol and former Sega arcade spokesgirl Megumi appeared in the game’s commercials. At the time, I thought this was because she’d lost a lot of weight after having a child. But as this gameplay footage reveals, I could be wrong. Just maybe. As Japanese YouTube…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  Yes, But Can Your PC Run Battlefield 3?

  Over the weekend, hardware specifications for one of the PC’s most anticipated games of 2011 appeared on GameStop’s website. They’ve since been removed, but the internet never forgets. The specifications, which may or may not be final, read as follows: Minimum Hard Drive Space: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  The End of Analog TV as I Know It

  From an early age, I watched a lot of television: The Lone Ranger, The Dukes of Hazard, and Hee Haw (hey, I grew up in Texas) were all piped in to our living room’s Curtis Mathes television set. I don’t live in Texas anymore, but I do watch a lot of analog television. The two…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 11, 2011
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  Valve Comic Book Due Out This November

  For a while now, Valve has been releasing comics on its own websites in order to promote games like Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. If, however, you’d rather read them on the can or in bed, this November, you’ll be able to. Dark Horse Comics will soon be releasing Valve Presents: The Sacrifice…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  The Medal of Honor Cat Needs His Own Video Game

  Courtesy of Freddie Wong comes another special-effects laden internet video, this time about the horrors of war. Oh, and cats. I sometimes fear that our age will be remembered in history not for its achievements in science or the arts but for…internet videos about cats.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  In 1983, Donkey Kong Nearly Died

  As we celebrate what’s (probably? maybe?) Donkey Kong’s 30th birthday, let’s today take a look at the 1983 court case which nearly brought a premature end to Nintendo’s big ape. Our story begins in 1982, with the first of many idiotic decisions made by Universal Studios. The studio’s president at the time, Sid Sheinberg, had…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011
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  A live reenactment of RoboCop, with cardboard sets and explosions

  Darren Aronofsky no longer needs to remake the Paul Verhoeven masterpiece, RoboCop, a movie so entrenched in our collective subconscious that its dystopian future may have influenced the downfall of Detroit more than the collapse of the auto industry. Instead, we can all be satisfied with this strange monster: a live production based on the…

  By Keith Veronese Published July 10, 2011
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  Take This … Shot of Booze?

  It’s Dangerous to Go Alone | The Seattle bar Atlantic Crossing makes a familiar appeal to thirsty patrons. (Photo: So Seattle h/t Holly) Namco Sues Over European Distribution, DRM Removal from Witcher 2 Namco Bandai is suing the parent company of the maker of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, the acclaimed PC role-playing game…

  By Owen Good Published July 10, 2011
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  Glitchers Brought in to Test Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer

  A group of Call of Duty glitchers has been called back to Infinity Ward to help the studio test and shore up the game’s multiplayer, according to the gang’s leader. This isn’t the first time mapMonkeys have assisted on a Call of Duty project, according to founder Rezzzo. He says members had been flown to…

  By Owen Good Published July 10, 2011