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  Portal Becomes Required Reading At Wabash College

  Freshmen at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana this year will be required to read Gilgamesh, Aristotle’s Politics, the poetry of John Donne, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Valve’s Portal. Michael Abbott, the proprietor of video game blog The Brainy Gamer and a teacher at the small liberal arts college found himself part of a committee last year…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2010
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  Examining the Multiplayer Maps of Crysis 2

  I spent some time last week playing through two maps and two modes of multiplayer in Crysis 2 during GamesCom, here’s a closer look at those levels. The art here includes the tactical maps for the maps Impact and Rooftop Garden. There’s also a look at the pod that drops during the multiplayer mode Crash…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2010
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  Brink Heralds “The End Of Genre As We Know It”

  More lofty claims from developer Splash Damage, as the latest developer diary for Brink boasts that the game blurs the lines of genre beyond definition. The game certainly blurs the line between single-player and multiplayer at least. As a bad online shooter player, I appreciate being able to advance offline as well as online. It…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2010
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  Kinect Controls Work Great… in a Bubble

  The idea of controlling your console with gestures in a neat concept, but it also comes with a slew of technical challenges. At the top of the list of issues that Microsoft’s Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 faces is the problem of interference from people not in the virtual driver’s seat of the console.…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2010
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  Saw II: Flesh & Blood Features More Devious Traps and Deaths

  Saw II: Flesh & Blood will be delivering a new story line that takes place between the first and second movie when the game hits the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on Oct. 19. Gamers will be taking on the role of Detective Tapp’s estranged son Michael, who is trying to understand his father’s death.…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2010
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  Reviews

  Top Gun Review: Minus Tom, Minus Loving Feeling, Plus DualShock, Plus Multiplayer

  There are two things to know about the new Top Gun jet combat game: 1) Its creators have changed lines from its ’80s Tom Cruise inspiration for the worse and 2) it’d be better if it wasn’t about Top Gun. In 1986 everyone went to see the movie Top Gun, a movie about a fighter…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2010
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Let’s talk about video games today. Your turn. And thank you to Dedwan/Deadpool for today’s image riff. Submit yours to #TAYpics and see your name thanked in a future edition of Talk Amongst Yourselves.

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2010
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  Playstation Flips Out At GamesCom

  I walked in on this bit of performance dance taking place at Playstation’s GamesCom booth. What game is it for? Who knows, who cares? Sorry I couldn’t get a higher angle on the video… I’m short.

  By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2010
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  So I Am In The Market For An Air Purifier

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Beware The Ghost Writer I guess it’s a strange thing to be in the market for, but we’ve been looking at a couple of them: Sharp’s Plasmacluster and Panasonic’s Nanoe. The Nanoe seems like a better designed product (from a functional point of view), but I think I’ll hold any…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010
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  Atlus Is Making Catherine As Suggestive As Possible

  Catherine is the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game from Japanese developer Atlus. It is a spin-off of the Persona series of role-playing games. An adult one. As evident by the game’s launch trailer and now the promotional poster, Atlus wasn’t kidding when it said it was making a game for adult players. It is…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010
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  EA Standing Up To Medal Of Honor Pressure

  The UK’s Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox called for the ban of Medal of Honor for being “tasteless”. He later defended his remarks. EA, the game’s publisher, has now retorted. EA Games president Frank Gibeau tells website Develop that Medal of Honor will not be altered due to the outcry of politicians or…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010
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  Call of Duty: Black Ops On PC Will Have Mod Tools

  Perhaps seeking to undo some of the damage done to the Call of Duty franchise on the PC wrought by Modern Warfare 2, Treyarch has revealed that Black Ops will feature mod tools. What these will be, we don’t know. How they’ll work, we don’t know. When they’ll be out, well, we don’t know that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2010
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  What Do You Get When You Cross Mirror’s Edge and Half-Life 2?

  You get The Jacknife Chronicles, a piece of machinima that uses Source Engine editor Garry’s Mod and makes a gripping little short film out of it. Set (loosely) in the Half-Life universe and running for an impressive 12 minutes, The Jacknife Chronicles blends assets from Half-Life and Mirror’s Edge into something entirely different. And very…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2010
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  Mona Lisa, Made Cuter

  Mysterious. Enigmatic. Mona Lisa might called a lot of things, but cute isn’t one of them. Until now. A Japanese morning program showed off recent trends in sticker picture machines. Sticker picture machines were originally developed by Persona developer Atlus in 1996 with the help of Sega. The machines were an arcade smash hit with…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010
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  How To Improve 1989 Nintendo Commercial “The Wizard”

  The Wizard was pretty awful. Too much Nintendo advertising, not enough Sega CD and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don’t know what’s happening here either. But I like it It’s the work of Docfuture, who also made probably the best Sonic rap ever. [via Tiny Cartridge]

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2010
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  Who Does This Guy Look Like?

  Spotted at JFK by reader Marco.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010
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  Lich King Cleared For Chinese Release [Update]

  The obstacles standing in the way of a Chinese release of World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King have been overcome, with the title due for release at the end of the month. The game had been held up due to its depiction of “questionable content” like skeletons. A localised version was submitted…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2010
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  George Lucas Suing Mind-Control Tech Company

  The creator of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas, is suing the creators of the Jedi Mind thought technology tech. Jedi Mind, Inc. makes a handful of thought-controlled software and a brainwave detecting headset. Jedi Mind’s “Master Mind” is, according to the official website, “the revolutionary gaming application that allows users to play their favorite…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010
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  THQ: Buying Used Games Is “Cheating”

  THQ’s Cory Ledesma has delivered a blunt message to consumers buying used copies of his company’s games: they’re cheating the publisher out of money. “I don’t think we really care whether used game buyers are upset because new game buyers get everything”, THQ’s creative director for wrestling titles told Gamasutra. “So if used game buyers…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2010
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  There Could Be Another Valkyria Game

  PlayStation 3 game Valkyria Chronicles, Sega’s fictional version of World War II, got a sequel on the PSP. It might be getting another sequel. A website Valkryia3.jp has apparently be registered by Sega Japan on March 31. Previously, Valkyria.jp and Valkyria2.jp were registered. Valkyria Chronicles 3 has not yet been officially revealed. The series has…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2010