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  ReviewsPC

  Total War: Shogun 2 Shows You Can Go Home Again

  Kotaku's review of the latest Total War game, Shogun 2

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2011
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  First Peek At NCAA Football 12 And Its Amazing Dreadlock Tech

  EA Sports is teasing an impending reveal of its next college football game, NCAA Football 12. What’s new? ESPN’s Jon Robinson spies new Nike Pro Combat uniforms, better looking grass (really!) and even more realistic dreadlock rendering. More details due tomorrow. [ESPN]

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  ‘Beautiful’ Video Game Violence, Perpetrated With Giant Scissors, Toaster And Squirt-gun

  “I think it’s beautiful,” indie game developer James Silva says of the scenes of bloody violence he has hand-drawn for his upcoming video game, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile. Can you see the beauty amid the crimson and cutting here? The game, which features co-op story and arcade beat-em-up action, will be out on April 6…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 14, 2011
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  3.14159265

  Happy pi day. Well, “happy” might be a stretch, because the fallout from Japan’s earthquake(s) and tsunami are leaving us all pretty down here at Kotaku Towers. Fortunately, there’s some good news today to help offset some of the bad. I’ll leave you with a few links to start off the conversation. They start off…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  The New Prey Sure Looks… Different

  There’s so much we don’t yet know about Prey 2. We know, officially, that the game is coming from Human Head Studios and Bethesda Softworks, and that it’s bound for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year. But who’s that guy on the left? That guy on the left, who doesn’t look too…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  Entertainment That Changes Based On Your Biological Response

  You’re slowly creeping along the darkened halls of a haunted mansion, waiting for the next zombie to come shambling around the corner. It’s a familiar situation, and you’re not afraid. Sensors convey this information to your game console, and suddenly an ear-piercing shriek fills the air behind you. Your heartbeat elevates, your fingertips sweat. Your…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 14, 2011
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  Mario And Luigi, Mushroom Hunting In Their Element

  Mario and Luigi enjoy a day out in the real world thanks to this killer photo taken by Rob Sheridan and his iPhone 4 Related Rampages: Yoda Fountain | Cereal Mascot Reunion (More) Mushroom Kingdom (iPhone 4 photo) by Rob Sheridan (Flickr) (Twitter) Via: gamefreaksnz | codywalton Need your daily fill of geek eye candy?…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  You Are Going To Be Responsible For Making The Dreaded Dark Souls Even Harder

  Dark Souls, the spiritual successor to notoriously difficult role-playing game Demon’s Souls, is guaranteed to be even more punishing. So says Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki, who also reveals that players—not just giant wolves and zombie dragons—will be inflicting more pain on each other. Miyazaki explains in the new issue of Edge magazine that the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  FarmVille, Mafia Wars & CityVille Get Their Own Currency

  Social games maker Zynga moves one step closer to world domination, minting its own currency, the zCoin. In short, play games like FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker and more, earn zPoints, cash those in for zCoins and grab exclusive items from RewardVille. The move comes months ahead of Facebook’s requirement that all social games…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  Is The Zune Gone For Good?

  Microsoft’s attempt to dethrone the iPod, its music, movie and video game-playing hardware known as the Zune, may have just been put out to pasture. Bloomberg reports the Zune HD, introduced in 2009, will be the last of its kind. Microsoft will reportedly continue to sell existing versions of the Zune, but won’t introduce new…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  Motorstorm In a Can

  SNAPSHOT | Motorstorm: Apocalypse’s review code press mailing. (Photo by me) Bedtime Stories Notorious Illegal Immigration iPhone Game Tweaks Critics With Legal Immigration Mode If turning the plight of illegal immigrants risking their lives to sneak into the U.S. into a goofy iPhone racing game didn’t amuse critics of Smuggle Truck: More » The Joker And…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 14, 2011
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  The Beautiful And Bold Concept Art of Batman: Arkham City

  How can Batman: Arkham City look so much better than its unexpectedly great predecessor, Batman: Arkham Asylum? Handsome concept art of Gotham’s streets and skylines, both gritty and gorgeous, may provide clues to developer Rocksteady’s talent for making Batman look so good. The developer released a batch of concept art for the this October‘s Batman:…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  Prototype 2 Will, At The Very Least, Have Nice Corpse Throwing Physics

  Prototype 2 isn’t due out until sometime in 2012, so early video of Radical Entertainment’s game can easily be forgiven for being light on substance. If you’re looking forward to next year’s Prototype sequel or simply enjoy video game trailers featuring harpsichord, give this one—”Heller Throws Down”—some eyeball time.

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  Land-A Panda Is A Cannon-Based Cure For The Common Sad Panda

  Any zoologist will tell you that panda breeding is a delicate operation. It requires setting the right mood, making sure the two pandas are a good match, and shooting one of them out of multiple cannons until he lands next to his mate. Big Pixel Studios may have just cost me a job at the…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 14, 2011
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  El Shaddai, If Nothing Else, Is One Gorgeous Video Game

  The makers of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron don’t clutter their game with health bars and point-counters.* They don’t put anything in the way of the beautiful game they’re creating, one of the head-turners at PAX East in Boston this past weekend. I hadn’t followed the game closely. Its name is alphabet soup, its…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 14, 2011
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  The Ultimate Anti-Bullying PSA: Kid Fights Back With Devastating Body Slam [video]

  Here’s a PSA for bullies: That tubby kid you’re taking pot shots at? He might be Zangief’s nephew. [Deadspin]

  Barry Petchesky Published March 14, 2011
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  The Infamous 2 Beta Needs Mission Designers Badly

  PlayStation 3 owners can get their hands on this summer’s Infamous 2 early with the game’s newly announced beta. Developer Sucker Punch is desperately seeking beta testers, passionate people who can bang away at the game’s user generated mission design component Interested parties (based in the U.S.) can sign up for Infamous 2’s “limited release…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  45 Minutes With Star Wars: The Old Republic, My First MMO In Four Years

  I haven’t played a massively multiplayer online game since the single Saturday afternoon I spent four years ago raising a World of Warcraft Tauren Druid to level 12. I expected to break my MMO fast some time this year, either by trying WoW again or by giving in to the appeal of one of these…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 14, 2011
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  Kinect’s Most Dangerous Hack Is ‘The Evil Genius Simulator’

  It may not be the most useful of creative Kinect hacks, but for underlining a point about your plans to conquer the world with a pair of Tesla coils, Bright Arcs’ Evil Genius Simulator can’t be beat. The concept is simple in this hack on display at Maker Faire UK: throw your hands in the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 14, 2011
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  An Assassin Infiltrates The Killzone

  Events like last weekend’s PAX East lend themselves to video game crossovers you’d never see outside of real life. Gameface is a photographic celebration of the people who make, play and love video games.

  By Mike Fahey Published March 14, 2011