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  Let’s Check Out the Resident Evil Restaurant

  To mark Resident Evil‘s 15th anniversary, Capcom turned Tokyo airsoft gun shooting bar EA into a S.T.A.R.S.. It’s kind of pricey! The bar is decked out in elaborate Resident Evil style. The guns are cool, the crows a nice touch, but those zombie wall stickers are mood killers. Ditto for the expensive eats. Besides the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 18, 2011
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  Fable’s Creators Reckon Pre-Owned Sales are Worse Than Piracy

  With experience on both the PC and Xbox 360, Fable studio Lionhead is well aware of the pitfalls of both platforms. And feels one pitfall is deeper than the other. “Piracy these days on PC is probably less problematic than second-hand sales on the Xbox,” Lionhead’s Mike West told Eurogamer. “I’ve been working on PC…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 18, 2011
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  Chinese Toymaker Forced to Apologize for Gundam Ripoffs

  China loves Gundam. But China doesn’t always love copyright law. That can be a problem! Bandai Namco, owner of the Gundam toy license, took China’s Hongli All Toys to court in 2009 for knocking off the famed Japanese mechs. Even before the lawsuit’s final ruling, Gundam clones continued to pop up in the Mainland. Copyright…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 18, 2011
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  So, Netflix On Consoles Is Hogging Up the Internet

  One has to wonder when Netflix decided to offer its streaming movie service on video game consoles whether it would have such a drastic effect on American internet usage. I mean, look at this report: it states that almost 20% of total internet bandwidth usage in the United States is from people watching movies and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 18, 2011
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  The First PlayStation Phone Will be Out In The US Next Week

  The Xperia Play, Sony Ericsson’s first PlayStation-certified phone, has been out in Europe for a little while now. Americans wanting in on the action? Your wait is almost over. The phone will be released in the US on May 26, and will be available exclusively through Verizon. It’ll be priced at $199, with an additional…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 18, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  When Mario Had a Best-Selling…Book?

  Mario has gone through three distinct phases of super popularity. One in the early 90’s. One is seemingly just on the wane, born of the success of his games on the DS and Wii. The other, though, was in the mid-80’s. The fat plumber was so popular then that he didn’t just have a best-selling…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 18, 2011
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  Portal 2: The Final Hours Makes the Leap from iPad to Steam

  Geoff Keighley’s interactive app on the development of Portal 2 is no longer an iPad exclusive. Portal 2: The Final Hours is now available for Mac and PC via Valve’s Steam service for $1.99 USD.

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  What Are You Eating?

  Wow, is it Tuesday already? Just kidding, I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday! At least we have our semi-nightly open thread to ease the pain. And it’s one of those delicious Themed Tuesday open threads! Mmmm. Threads. So, what have you been eating? I’ve been chowing down on fruit like it’s going out of style…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  Does The Xbox 360’s New Disc Format Not Work With Some Older Consoles? [Update]

  We’ve just had a look at a verified email, sent from Xbox LIVE customer support, claiming that a recent update provided to Xbox LIVE beta testers is preventing “a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail discs”. The email, which was verified via this twitter post from Xbox Support, offered the user…

  Mark Serrels Published May 17, 2011
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  Portal 2 Finds A Unique Way to Offend

  What could one possibly find offensive about the critically lauded Portal 2, an inventive, all ages-friendly game? Are those turrets too violent? Is the jazz too smooth? No, it’s the jokes about adoption that have one Portal fan (and one local news team) riled up. So says a report today from Charlotte, North Carolina’s CBS…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  ‘Human Tetris’ Coming To Kinect?

  Looks like Microsoft is turning game show Hole in the Wall, the Western take on Japan’s Nōkabe (aka Brain Wall or colloquially “Human Tetris”), into an Xbox 360 game. And, yes, that does seem like a very natural fit for Kinect… Microsoft is listed as the publisher of heretofore unannounced Xbox 360 game Hole in…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  You May Not Get That Wet Sequel You’ve Been Wanting

  The revelation that Artificial Mind and Movement’s Wet and Naughty Bear were both getting sequels—despite some mixed reception—was something of a surprise. Less surprising was developer A2M’s name change to the less giggle-inducing Behaviour. Now it appears that Wet 2 may not happen after all. Siliconera spotted potential evidence that shoot ‘n’ slice ’em up…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  It’s Oh So Quiet

  MK ULTRA | Previously unpublished photograph from Mortal Kombat’s launch party in Los Angeles.(Photo by Michael McWhertor) First In-Game Teaser for Dead Island Still Playing the Emotion Card While it’s certainly not the game-changing first trailer for Dead Island, today’s just-released trailer attempts to give a tug to those same heartstrings with music right out…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  Sony Boss Defends Week-long Wait in Notifying PlayStation Network Customers of Breach

  Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, sounded less apologetic and more prickly when asked today about the PlayStation maker’s slowness in informing PlayStation Network and Qriocity subscribers of an attack on the company’s network. Reuters reports that Stringer fired back at critics who questioned Sony’s promptness after the April attack on the company’s PlayStation Network.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  Atari Dumps City of Heroes, Star Trek Online Devs Cryptic

  Publisher Atari is “divesting” itself of MMO specialists Cryptic Studios, which it snapped up in 2008. It’s trying to sell the creators of Star Trek Online and Champions Online after losing Atari millions. [Atari Results (PDF)]

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  Link and Ganon and Power and Courage

  The monster Ganon and courageous warrior Link face off for a duel to the death! Hunter Bonyun went all out when creating this masterpiece. Power and Courage by Hunter Bonyun (Blog) (deviantART) (Note: This print will be available at Canada’s upcoming Otafest and Anime North cons, if you’re a neighbor to the north.) Need your…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  Mortal Kombat: Legacy Puts the Thunder God Through Hell on Earth

  In the latest episode of director Kevin Tancharoen’s live-action Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series, the Thunder God Raiden choose a particularly inconvenient place to make his first appearance in the realm of mortals. No one is ever going to believe you when you tell them you are a god. You could be decked out in…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 17, 2011
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  Rockstar’s Better ‘Eye of Sauron’ Joke is Unmissable in L.A. Noire

  Rockstar Games has always said that they take complaints about work-place stress seriously. But they’ve always had a good chuckle about complaints that their New York headquarters is an all-seeing, all-scrutinizing “Eye of Sauron.” That’s what they’re referencing in the gag that closes L.A. Noire‘s title credits (as seen above). If you don’t get it,…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 17, 2011
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  Sonic Generations May Not Be Just a PS3 and Xbox 360 Game

  The Sonic game with two Sonic the Hedgehogs may be coming to the PC and Nintendo 3DS, at least according to a recent Sega financial report. Sonic Generations is officially only for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 right now.

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011
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  Chinese street racing is the closest you’ll get to a real-life video game

  Street racers dart in-an-out of oncoming traffic at night, hitting triple digit speeds across multiple stages. This isn’t a video game. Or, well, it is a video game. But it’s also what these Chinese street racers did in this incredible video series. In posting this we must point out how despicable, awful, terrible, unconscionable, and…

  By Matt Hardigree Published May 17, 2011