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  This Might Be The Best Indie Bargain Of 2011

  The Humble Indie Bundles – compilations of indie games that not only help charity but let indie devs get paid – will be back tomorrow with a third deal. And it might be the best of the bunch. Teaming up with developers Frozenbyte, anyone purchasing the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle will get a copy of 2D…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Remembering The First Console To Use Cartridges

  Today’s video game news was tinged with sadness, as the world learned of the death of Jerry Lawson, the man who led the team behind the creation of the video game cartridge. Those cartridges were used in the Fairchild Channel F, the console Lawson helped develop along with Ron Smith and Nick Talesfore. While it…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2011
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  See The New SSX In Action, Feel A Little Better

  After a less than thrilling debut, EA appears to have taken the new SSX in the direction many of us were originally hoping for—by making it look like an SSX game. Yes, this is one of those “developer diary” type videos, but there’s some good stuff buried within. We get to see some of the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  Disco Ball Sonya Blade

  Greetings, Kotaku readers, and welcome to another week of pure work fun. My week started off alright with a trip to Beverly Hills to talk to the key players in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. More about that tomorrow, so let’s talk tonight. Seven of Nine was nice enough to do some posing with me at the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  Get Your Brain Trained For Free If You Buy A Kinect This Week At GameStop

  Hey, you buying a Kinect this week? Maybe do so at GameStop, because the video game megastore is giving away a freebie if you pick one up soon. Now, before you beat feet to your local GameStop, that game is Body and Brain Connection. That’s the brain and body fitness game that Namco Bandai released…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  Fan-Made Streets Of Rage Remake Pulled After Request From Sega

  Streets of Rage Remake, the exhaustive, fan-made homage to the classic Sega Genesis beat ’em up series, looks to have finally gotten the attention of Sega. The creators of that freely distributed Streets of Rage title have pulled the game after a request from Sega. Released last week after some eight years in development, creators…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  Japanese Nuclear Crisis Upgraded to Chernobyl Level

  The badly damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has been upgraded from 5 to 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. That’s, in case you were wondering, out of seven—the only other nuclear crisis to reach the same level is Chernobyl. Authorities still believe “the cumulative amount [of radiation] from the Fukushima plant…

  By Max Read Published April 11, 2011
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  Welcome to the RPG Burlesque Show

  Say hello to D20 Burlesque, a New York-based Burlesque troupe with a very specific niche. I’d say more, but the video speaks for itself. Even if you don’t watch the whole thing, at least stick with it ’til you see the 20-sided die. [D20 Burlesque]

  By Mike Epstein Published April 11, 2011
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  Check Out an Orchestral Bioshock Concert in LA on May 9th

  If you’re going to be in LA on May 9th, you might want to swing by UC Northridge and check out the Media Composition and Studio Ensemble. They’ll be playing the music of Bioshock composer Gary Schyman. [

  By Mike Epstein Published April 11, 2011
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  Our First Look At The New Backbreaker

  Backbreaker developer NaturalMotion offered fans of the series a sneak peek at the next installment in the unlicensed football video game, one that takes a different approach that EA Sports’ dominant and NFL backed Madden game. What is it? The developer isn’t talking just yet, but Backbreaker fans are kicking around theories in the game’s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  The Happy Distraction Of A Good Video Game

  VIRTUAL COMFORT | FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN: Two boys find a welcome video game distraction this past weekend in a gymnasium being used as a shelter for some of the victims of the nation’s earthquake disaster. (Photo by the AP) The Creator Of The Video Game Cartridge Has Died Jerry Lawson, the engineer that lead the Fairchild…

  By Stephen Totilo Published April 11, 2011
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  A New Look At The Dark And Lovely Armored Core V

  Do you like your giant mech games dark, grainy and gorgeously lit? Then you may want to eyeball these new screens of FromSoftware’s Armored Core V, the next entry in the long-running and prolific series of mech-versus-mech games. And if you’re just realizing now that there is such a thing as Armored Core V—this one’s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  The ridiculous way one of the 1980s’ biggest comic events was named

  In the 1980s, the bestselling Secret Wars miniseries was an antecedent to today’s comic book mega-events, as it featured almost all of Marvel’s marquee heroes and villains beating the tar out of each other. But how was it named? Over at his blog, Secret Wars scribe Jim Shooter, who was the editor-in-chief at Marvel at…

  By Cyriaque Lamar Published April 11, 2011
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  The Creator Of The Video Game Cartridge Has Died

  Jerry Lawson, the engineer that lead the Fairchild Channel F development team, has died, reports Vintage Computing and Gaming. The Fairchild Channel F became the first cartridge-based video game console when it was released in 1976 and Lawson was instrumental in its design. Lawson, pictured at left, joined Fairchild Semiconductor in 1970, going on to…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  Guess What Tablets Are Mainly Being Used For

  Tablet devices are on the rise, giving tech savvy consumers a convenient way to check their email, search the web, read the news, and shop online, after they’ve finished playing games. A recent survey shows tablet owners are using their high-tech toys to play games more than any other activity. Google’s AdMob subsidiary polled tablet…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 11, 2011
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  Quite Cute Pinball, a Facebook Ad Masquerading as a Totally Decent Free Pinball Game

  While it might be tempting to poke fun at M.A.C. for making a saccharine “Quite Cute Pinball” game to market their cosmetics to women on Facebook, truth is that it’s a totally decent little timewaster. It’s generous with the number of balls, the advertising doesn’t get in the way of the gameplay, and excepting the…

  By Joel Johnson Published April 11, 2011
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  And Now, The Conclusion Of Portal 2: Lab Rat, Valve’s New Digital Comic

  The second part of Portal 2‘s digital comic, Lab Rat, is now live at IGN. The comic, which fills in some gaps between Portal and its sequel, shines new light on protagonist Chell and the mysterious Rat Man, and may have some clues for those partaking in Valve’s ongoing ARG

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011
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  The Pokemon Marriage Proposal

  How do you get a Pokemon fan to marry you? Catch her with a Pokeball, of course. [Buzzfeed] See, it’s Super Effective!

  By Mike Epstein Published April 11, 2011
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  Pinball FX2 Goes To Mars

  Zen Studios is launching a new table into their Xbox 360 pinball platform on April 20, when Mars comes into orbit around Pinball FX2. Pinball FX2 isn’t a pinball game. It’s a pinball platform, freely downloadable by anyone that can access the Xbox Live Marketplace. Once downloaded, players can pick and choose which tables they…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 11, 2011
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  Two Hours Worth Of Video Game Fatalities Spills Blood 500 Ways

  In advance of the release of the new Mortal Kombat, one YouTube user with some free time on his hands stitched together nearly two hours worth of fatalities and finishing moves from more than two dozen video games for your viewing pleasure. The hits are all here, from many Mortal Kombats to Killer Instinct to…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 11, 2011