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  Is Standardized Video Game Pricing Bad For Business?

  In this Friday edition of Speak-Up on Kotaku, commenter YamiKarasu wonders if the standard $50 – $60 price for today’s video games is hurting the industry. Well is it? The standard price of a video game today is $50-60, is that too high or too low? I’ve got my opinion on the manner but I’m…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 25, 2011
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  Mortal Kombat‘s Tag Team Ninja Throwdown Is A Glorious Spectacle

  Scorpion and Sub-Zero square off against Cyrax and Sektor in the ultimate ninja-on-ninja battle. Come for the fighting, stay for the scenery! We’ve seen plenty of fighting footage from Netherrealm Studios’ next Mortal Kombat by now, but most of it has been against a backdrop of the treacherous hellscapes of the Netherrealm itself. It’s refreshing…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 25, 2011
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  Guitar Hero‘s Most Challenging Track Debuts In Rock Band 3

  With the death of Guitar Hero, the song that launched a thousand YouTube videos makes the leap to Rock Band 3. DragonForce’s “Through the Fire and Flames” hits on March 29, with Pro Guitar and Pro Bass support. Ouch.

  By Mike Fahey Published March 25, 2011
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Welcome to Friday’s Talk Amongst Yourselves, a place where you can talk about video games all you’d like to. Thanks to Mythos for today’s image. (And a happy birthday to Mythos, as well!) Submit your image to #TAYpics (Read this thread for directions on how to do a TAYpic.)

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 25, 2011
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  Sad World: An Entire Generation of Video Game Deaths

  My darling Robert “the” Beschizza of Boing Boing made this wonderful video compilation of deaths from 8- and 16-bit games. I can think of no finer way to start your morning while you re-rez over some coffee. [Boing Boing]

  By Joel Johnson Published March 25, 2011
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  Like Cherry Blossoms, The Force Is All Around Us

  No, Luke, I Am Your Gardener | Bought these a while ago on my honeymoon and only just got around to putting them up. Looking good! (Photo: Luke Plunkett) Wake Up, Kotaku Let’s Play Left 4 Dead 2 ‘Cold Stream,’ The New, Outdoorsy Zombie Campaign Earlier this week, Valve released the beta version of “Cold…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  Report: Amazon Screws Up British 3DS Deliveries

  There are some very unhappy Nintendo fans in the United Kingdom today, with mega-retailer Amazon reportedly failing to deliver 3DS consoles to many customers who paid extra for “expedited delivery”. It’s 11:30am in the UK at the time of posting, and Amazon’s forums are filled to the brim with customers complaining that not only had…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  The Monsters Of Minecraft Shed Their Blocks For Flesh And Bone

  Indie darling Minecraft is a scary game! Scary in tone, though, not appearance. In appearance it’s adorable. To help the tone match the look, then, some artists decided to paint Minecraft’s monsters as they’d actually appear. The results? Let’s just say I’m glad the game only deals in bright, colourful blocks. The artists featured here…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  Lady, Don’t Touch That Coin Block, Or You’ll…Oh, Never Mind

  You see a mysterious coin block from another realm floating around the streets of Germany, you don’t just touch it. You call the Landespolizei! They’d have told this lady, for example, that touching it would put the people of Offenburg in grave danger OK, so this university project takes more than a few cues from…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  Where Do Your Video Game Bad Guys Come From?

  Here’s a hint: they don’t come from countries where people speak English. Complex sat down with a number of recent shooters and plotted where on the map the game’s villains (or at least opposing force) came from. And, this may shock you, but they nearly all came from either former communist states, communist states or…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  StarCraft’s Developers Have Been More Influential Than You Might Realise!

  Want to see just how influential World of Warcraft developers Blizzard have been to other video games? Check out this chart which shows where a legion of ex-Blizzard employees have ended up. While, understandably, you can see a lot of employees leaving to go work on other MMO games – at least after the release…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  The 3DS Is Now Out In Europe

  As of midnight (at least in major markets), the Nintendo 3DS is now out in Europe. Did any of you brave the weather on a schoolnight to get one? If so, post some pics below!

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  The Colorful Concept Art Of Bulletstorm

  Gears of War is a very brown video game series. Bulletstorm, a new game that was co-developed by the same team, is a lot more colourful, something that began right back with the game’s early concept art. Polish artist Maciej Wojtala drew these pieces of environmental concept art for People Can Fly and Epic, and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  The Witcher Comes To iPhones, iPads

  The Witcher: Versus, a spin-off of the hardcore RPG series, has been available as a browser game for a while now. Well, it’s now also available for iPhones and iPads

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  Screw Madden 12, Go Back To Making Indie Games!

  Some men and women working for big-name developers got their start toiling away on indie games. Do you think they ever wish they could go back to those carefree days? Seeing what those carefree days involved, courtesy of comedy troupe Mega 64, the answer is “probably not”. Suck it up and get that next Call…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  The US Navy Has The Coolest Flight Simulator In The World

  This is the T-45C “visual simulator” at the Naval Air Station in Kingsville, Texas. It makes my 50″ plasma look like a Game & Watch. It’s part of a US Navy pilot’s earliest stages of training: this is a simulator not of something badass, but of the humble T-45 Goshawk, a small jet the US…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  So, How Much Does It Cost To Make A Nintendo 3DS?

  Unless you’re reading this from the accounts section of Nintendo, we may never know. But experts in the field can estimate, and they estimate that the 3DS costs Nintendo $101 to manufacture. If that’s correct – and even if it’s not, it’s likely to be damn close – there’s a big gap between the handheld’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  Nintendo’s First Console Is One You’ve Never Played

  So Nintendo’s first home console was the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom, right? Nope. The company’s first foray into home video gaming actually dates back to 1977, six whole years before the Famicom was released in Japan. That “home console” was actually a series of machines called “Color TV”, which were living room versions of popular arcade…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2011
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  Russian Devs Blame Antiseizure Requirements for Crummy Sturmovik

  IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover, bravely carrying the flag for the decimated flight combat genre, has released in Russia where its devoted following is complaining of crippled gameplay and terrible framerate issues. One of the game’s developers says anti-seizure controls mandated by Ubisoft, the game’s Western publisher, is the culprit. Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover is…

  By Owen Good Published March 24, 2011
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  Stay To The Right

  Please, Kotaku readership, won’t you join us for some late night off topic conversation? This is the place to do it, even if you’d prefer to talk about video games. Have at it. Mr. Crecente’s out at his fundraiser, so feel free to raid the Kotaku liquor cabinet. He won’t notice. Please, take a moment…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 24, 2011