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  Michael Jackson, The Online Game

  Planet Michael is a massively multiplayer online game devoted to the music and life of the late Michael Jackson. No, this is not a joke. “We put a focus on something that will truly allow fans to immerse themselves in a Michael Jackson-like universe or music-video-like world and interact with each other and then go…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 21, 2010
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  This T-Shirt Is Making Me, Among Other Things, Hungry

  This is what happens when Paul Robertson, of Scott Pilgrim and Pirate Baby’s Cabana Battle Street Fight fame, sits down and designs something with Meat Bun, of rad gaming t-shirts game. The collaborative shirt is called “Snack Attack”, and features an “immoderate indulgence of tasty Japanese treats”, meat buns and some familiar video game ladies…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  Hey Nintendo Is A Japanese Company, You Know

  The Japanese game industry is dead. This week has been a flashback of last year’s Tokyo Game Show — complete with gloom and doom from Capcom’s Keiji Inafune. “I think Japanese gaming is dead,” Inafune told the New York Times. “When I say these things, I’m called a traitor. But I love Japan. I want…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 21, 2010
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  The Man Who Thought He Was In Crysis

  Normally, cosplay photos tend to focus on Japanese titles, or the really big games. Crysis is neither of those, so it’s nice to see the PC gaming crowd represented in the adult dress-ups scene. This is Anthony Le, doing a fine job of impersonating the star of the first Crysis, Nomad. He built the suit…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  Zune Pass Heading For European Xbox 360s

  For £9/€10 a month, Xbox 360 owners in the UK, Spain, France and Italy will later this year get access to the Zune Marketplace.

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  Monster Hunter Looks To China

  China might already have its own version of Monster Hunter. That isn’t stopping Capcom from moving forward with launching MonHun in China. Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto has revealed that Capcom is in talks with a “major” Chinese online game company to bring PC game “Monster Hunter Frontier Online” to China. The game launched in Taiwan…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 21, 2010
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  Is Bungie Really “The Last Remaining High Quality Independent Developer”?

  Corporate “he said, she said” can be a little boring at times, but Activision boss Bobby Kotick calling Halo creators Bungie “the last remaining high quality independent developer” is too good to pass up. Speaking at an investor’s meeting, Kotick said “Bungie are a very unusual company. They’re probably the last remaining high quality independent…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  Girls With Hardware Are Called Hardware Girls

  Arcade cabinets, retro game consoles and CPUs. “Hardware Girls” isn’t just photos of beautiful hardware, it’s also pics of beautiful girls. Photographer Julie Watai photographed 25 models for her latest photobook. Watai released a photobook called Samurai Girl in 2006. Last December, the multimedia artist shared her thoughts on East vs. West cosplay in a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 21, 2010
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  The Pokémon Movie For Grown-Ups

  That short, blurry, fan-made trailer for a live-action Pokémon movie didn’t do the thing justice. So let’s watch the thing, in full, in its original form. While the blurry shots from the first trailer helped hide the cracks in the special effects, it also robbed this fan project – called Pokémon Apokélypse – of much…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  Sony Doesn’t Think Buttons Are Replaceable

  Richard Marks has an impressive resume: He has created the EyeToy, the PlayStation Eye and the PlayStation Move. He also likes buttons. “Buttons are irreplaceable as an input device,” Marks tells Edge Magazine. “Too many buttons are overwhelming, but one single action button is very powerful feeling.” Continuing, Marks adds, “For core games you really…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 21, 2010
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  Street Fighter vs The Simpsons

  Dean Fraser’s Springfield Punx website – where the artist renders celebrities and famous characters as if they’d appeared in The Simpsons – has long been a favourite internet time-waster. Especially now there’s game characters on it. We’re surprised it’s taken Dean this long to start on the world of video games, but we’re not complaining,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  A Week In Comments

  More Colorful Than Your Game Room Comment by: Demonbird Nominated by: kyoshizen How dare you assume my game room is less colorful. Let me paint the picture for you, Every surface is covered in LED lights. Each one a different hue of a different color. The walls, floors, I have them sticking out of the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 21, 2010
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  Mario’s 25th Anniversary Commercial Gets An (Unfortunate) Extended Cut

  That delightful Japanese commercial celebrating Super Mario Bros’ 25th anniversary has received a surprise extended cut. Only thing is, there’s no new footage. Above is the old trailer. Short, and cute! Below is the updated version. Longer, and less cute. Wondering what’s being said? Basically, DON’T BLOW ON CARTRIDGES. EVEN DS ONES. IF THEY NEED…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  Do You Love Cars As Much As Gran Turismo 5 Loves Cars?

  With the final, actual release of Gran Turismo 5 less than two months away, it’s time to start ramping up the promotion for the game. In Japan, that involves hundreds of cars careening down a slide. It’s cute, it’s catchy, and between the song and the volume of vehicles on display pretty much sums up…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2010
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  PlayStation 3 Firmware Update Goes Live

  Your PlayStation 3 has just graduated to version 3.50, adding 3D Blu-ray support, more Facebook integration and better griefing reporting. More details at the official PlayStation.blog

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 20, 2010
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  Sayonara, Tokyo

  The Tokyo Game Show is over. We’re home. We’re extremely sleepy. And we’d like for you to take this post by the reins and take it where you want to go. If that means, talking about TGS, so be it! Seriously, the commute via Friendly Airport Limousine to Narita Airport to LAX to home has…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 20, 2010
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  PixelJunk Shooter 2’s New Fluids Include Bubbles, Bugs & Bullet Hell

  PixelJunk Shooter 2, the sequel to Q-Games’ inventive PlayStation Network game, adds more than just light and acid to the list of new fluidic matter the developer is playing with. Bugs, bubbles and bullet hell also join the updated liquid arsenal. We’ve already experienced how PixelJunk Shooter 2 plays with the corrosive acids that spew…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 20, 2010
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  MLB 10 The Show Tosses Up The Perfect No-Hitter

  Weekends we run “Box Scores,”, showcasing superlative games played by readers. This game from MLB 10 The Show was CPU-simulated, but looking at that linescore, baseball fans instantly understand how far beyond the pale it is. Reader Luke T. handed that to me yesterday. He’s playing in franchise mode on MLB 10 The Show, with…

  By Owen Good Published September 20, 2010
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  Skulls of the Shogun Hands-on: The Art of Advance War

  When indie developer Jake Kazdal told me his studio’s game, the still in development Skulls of the Shogun, was heavily inspired by his love of Nintendo’s Advance Wars series, I was already on the hook. I was pleasantly surprised “inspired by” didn’t mean “a clone of.” While elements of Advance Wars are apparent in Skulls…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 20, 2010
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  NBA Elite 11 Demo Arrives Late Tonight On PS3

  The demo for NBA Elite 11, teased in this video, will be available later tonight over the PlayStation Network, and early in the morning on Xbox Live. That’s per EA Sports in a post to the game’s official Facebook page. The deployment windows – since apparently we have to schedule this like Comcast hooking up…

  By Owen Good Published September 20, 2010