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  The Xbox 360 Experiences A Mid-Life Crisis In Japan

  The Wii is easy to peg — family-friendly and fun. The PS3 is also easy to categorize — slick and high-tech. But in Japan, the Xbox 360 has a category of its own. And that’s starting to change. It was former Dead or Alive designer Tomonobu Itagaki who is quoted as saying that nobody buys…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  The Best Free Video Game Album You’ll Listen To Today Is…

  The wizards at OCRemix have a new album out, pitting the theme songs for our greatest heroes against those of their villainous foes. The Monkey Island ones are amazing

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  These Guys Are Trying To Turn S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Into Crysis

  S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was an ambitious, if somewhat crude first-person game released in 2007. For all its quirks, it has a devoted fanbase, and some of those fans are now endeavouring to give the game a major facelift. While visual mods for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series are common, this goes way beyond that: a team of Russians is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  Sony Doesn’t Know Who It’s Taking To Court

  As part of its crusade to crush those responsible for breaking the PS3’s copy protection, Sony is targeting two parties: famed hacker George Hotz and the fail0verflow team. Only problem is, Sony has no idea who fail0verflow is. Well, it knows they’re the group responsible for kicking this whole thing off when they found the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Don’t Touch This Horror Of A NES Controller

  This is the U-Force. It’s a motion-control peripheral released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the late 1980’s. In some ways, it’s an amazing piece of technology. In most other ways, it was an absolute disaster. Unlike Sega’s rival Activator peripheral, which we looked at the other day, the U-Force was not a full-body motion-sensing…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  PlayStation Store Update: A Chance To Stack And Do The Hump

  It’s a big week for the North American version of the PlayStation Store, with new additions like Stacking and Explodemon, plus old favorites like Plants Vs. Zombies and Pocket Fighter, new to PSN today. Plenty of demos complement the new downloadable games, including trial versions of Hoard and Tetris. PlayStation Plus subscribers get a single-player…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  What Have You Been Watching?

  Tonight’s open thread falls on a Tuesday. And Tuesdays now carry revolving themes. In tonight’s open thread, let’s talk about what we’ve been watching, whether on TV, at the local cineplex or on stage at an off off off Broadway show. Have a buried Netflix streaming gem you’d like to share? Some network broadcast favorite…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  Reviews

  The Best Russian-Themed Stacking Game Since Tetris

  Stacking is a game about Russian stacking dolls. Matryoshka dolls. You know, the dolls that fit within shells of shells of other dolls. It has no guns, no cars and almost no explosions. Its characters have no arms, no feet. This is a game that stars the son of a chimney sweep. It’s a humble…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 8, 2011
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  Play Super Smash Bros. Brawl Like It Was Melee Now

  Project M, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl hack that injects more of what you loved about Super Smash Bros. Melee into its Wii sequel, has been released in demo form. This is your opportunity to answer the question “Why not just play Melee?” for yourself. The demo release of Project M packs in just 14…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  Gears Of War For Kinect An On-Rails Shooter, Says Source

  Microsoft’s Kinect may get its first taste of hardcore flavor—made a little bit softer—in the form of an on-rails Gears of War shooter, pictured above, said to be in development for the Xbox 360. According to sources claiming to be familiar with the project, the previously rumored Gears of War Kinect project is indeed real.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  NBA Jam On The iPhone Looks Like A Slam Dunk

  A former Wii exclusive, EA’s NBA Jam is coming to the iPhone (and soon). Based on a brief peek at gameplay, via Touch Arcade, it’s looking on par with its console counterparts.

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  The Day’s Big Stories

  Consider it the calm between two storms of news and stories. I spent today writing up my thoughts on Duke Nuke Forever and preparing for the kick off of the Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (DICE) summit. Duke stuff hits tomorrow morning. It’s going to be a busy rest of the week. Lego Video Games Should…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 8, 2011
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  Mega Man Gets Genzo Powered

  GENZOMAN throws down a rock solid Mega Man piece for UDON’s Mega Man Tribute Contest. More great Mega Man entries can be found HERE! Related Rampages: Thor | Fantasy Street Fighter | Zelda – Midna and Link Mega Man by Gonzalo Ordonez Arias / GENZOMAN (Art Book) Need your daily fill of geek eye candy?…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  An Anarchy Reigns Four-Way

  See the four revealed contenders in Platinum Games’ Anarchy Reigns—aka Max Anarchy—go at it chainsaw on katana on ice blade action. Miss a character reveal? See Sasha, Zero, Big Bull and Madworld’s Jack in individual action.

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  The Nintendo 3DS Launch Lineup For Europe

  Japan knows what Nintendo 3DS games it will get on day one, but Americans don’t yet know for sure. Europeans, as of today, can enjoy the peace of mind of a locked-down 3DS launch line-up, thanks to Nintendo of Europe. Not too many surprises in the European launch line-up, scheduled to drop on March 25.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  Which Character Class Will You Play In Dragon Age II?

  BioWare’s Champions trailer for Dragon Age II asks players a very fundamental question: Which combat style will your version of the hero Hawke embrace? Dragon Age II may have done away with the three different races of the original game, but there’s still the question of class. The game’s hero, Hawke, can be a warrior,…

  By Mike Fahey Published February 8, 2011
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  You Can Bail Out Of Plummeting Halo Reach Vehicles And Live

  Myth: You can kill an opposing player in Halo Reach by shooting their helmet attachments. Busted. Myth: You can survive a fatal Reach vehicle crash by bailing out. Confirmed. DefendTheHouse offers another fun round-up of Halo Reach myths, some busted, some confirmed. I don’t even play Reach anymore, but I love watching these. Episode 6…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 8, 2011
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  Hudson U.S. Shutting Down, Bloody Roar Revival Not Happening

  The U.S. wing of the Hudson video game company, a group responsible for January’s clever Lost In Shadow, is shutting down, as explained in a blog post by a former employee who’d been pushing for a Bloody Roar revival.

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 8, 2011
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  New Details On Dark Souls Reveal Changes, Some Embarrassing Facts

  Dark Souls, the Demon’s Souls spiritual sequel coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this year, will be longer—nearly 60 hours long, says its creator—more globally friendly and thankfully free of cameos from Dig Dug. Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Dark Souls, tells 4gamer in a new interview (translated by Andriasang) that we’ll see a clean…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2011
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  Why I Let Nintendo Beat A Video Game For Me

  A couple of weeks ago, I finished Donkey Kong Country Returns. I was warned that it would be tough. I was told I could get assistance. I resisted, until the end when I let Nintendo finish a game for me. I have no regrets. Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii is a difficult side-scrolling…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 8, 2011