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  Follicle Follies, From The Atari Age Until Now

  There are approximately 100,000 hair follicles on the human head. Over the past three decades, video game developers have valiantly attempted to render them all. We’ve charted those attempts in one massively hairy infographic. Hair is one of the most difficult features of the human body to render accurately. Not only are there 100,000 pieces…

  By Mike Fahey Published February 9, 2011
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  This is the official Kotaku forum, a place for you to discuss video games. Today’s image comes from OrbitofGlass who bravely defied our 640×360 image size requirements. OrbitofGlass also bravely submitted an image even though we currently don’t support image uploads (only link-sharing) over at #TAYpics. Tech tells me image uploading will be back at…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 9, 2011
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  Pick Up The Original, Pick Up The Pace

  Headed over to Costco in Hyogo Prefecture to get Pace Picante sauce. Mmmmmmm. Costco is really popular in Japan, and folks seem to dig buying large jars of mayonaise. As they should! Really love Pace Picante sauce. It’s so great. Sony Doesn’t Know Who It’s Taking To Court As part of its crusade to crush…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  Sing Like Low-Life Thugs

  Never one to shy away from real world cross promotions, Japanese crime game Yakuza: Of The End lets gamers belt out tunes that feature two of the game’s characters in the cheesy sing-a-long music video. Main character Kiryu Kazuma will appear and sing along to MachineGun Kiss, a tune he sang in Yakuza 4 as…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  Make Quick Cash On The Nintendo 3DS By Unloading It

  On February 26, the Nintendo 3DS is going on sale in Japan. Demand for the product is reaching close to the fever pitch that the DS Lite experienced when it released in Japan in 2006. So those looking to turn a quick buck, er yen, can. A photo snapped apparently outside Japanese retail chain Mandai…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  So Many Japanese People Desire The NGP

  Sony’s upcoming portable, codenamed Next Generation Portable or NGP, looks great and seems to play great, too. Japanese gamers were asked if they want it, and, oh yes, they do. In a reader poll in the latest issue of game mag Famitsu, 76.2 percent of Japanese gamers stated that they wanted the NGP. Only 7.9…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  This Man Wants Violent Games (And Halloween!) Banned In Panama

  Panamanian politician Alcibiades Vasquez Velasquez is a man on a mission. A mission to save the children of Panama from the horrors of the modern world. Velasquez has put his name on a bill – Proposal 111 – in Panama’s National Assembly that wants to ban the sale and distribution of all violent video games.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  Is The End Of Gaming Handhelds Near?

  Video game handhelds are getting a run for their money, and they’re getting it from smartphones. But are they good enough as dedicated handheld game machines? Most serious games would offer a curt “no”. As Doom programmer John Carmack points, it is possible to create game for platforms like the iPhone that look as good…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  Germany Cuts Bulletstorm’s Legs Off

  Upcoming shooter Bulletstorm, which is revelling in its violent trimmings, has had to face a reckoning of sorts in Germany, with much of the game’s trademark content cut just so it could be released. In order to get even a USK18+ rating — one which prohibits sale of the game to those under the age…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  The World’s Most Delicious StarCraft II Player Offers You Tasty Fruit

  Twenty-five year-old StarCraft II player Kim Won Gi took the South Korean gaming world by storm last year. Some might know him by his pro-gaming handle “Cool”, but to many, he’s “FruitDealer”, one of the best StarCraft II players there is. Kim earned the “FruitDealer” moniker because he helps his mother run a food stall.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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  Let Me Count The Ways (You Can Kill Mario)

  Poor Mario. It seems the older he gets, the more ways Nintendo finds to maim, crush and kill him. By TheBourgyman

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  Could This Be The Future Of Typing On A Control Pad?

  Having to enter letters and numbers via a control pad sucks, as anyone typing out credit card numbers or download codes on an Xbox 360 or PS3 will attest. If only there was a way to make this necessary evil easier… Maybe there us! This is called the “Circboard”, and going by the explanation provided…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  This Child Sleeps In A Mario Paradise

  Casey Fleser and his wife thought it would be cool to paint their son’s room in a Super Mario Bros. theme. So they did. And the end result makes the word “theme” sell it a little short. The room doesn’t just have a few bits of Mario-related stuff thrown up on the wall. No, this…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2011
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  Can Somebody Please Help This Lady Find Her Monsters?

  This past weekend, collectible figurine event Wonder Festival was held in Chiba, Japan. Collectors and cosplayers gathered for the festivities. Voice actress Haruna Ikezawa was in attendance, and she ended up having a rotten time. Haruna Ikezawa lost her PSP. Known for her roles voicing Athena in The King of Fighters games and Momoka in…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2011
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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