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  Splinter Cell Conviction Demo Out This Week

  It’s a bit hard to believe the long-delayed Splinter Cell: Conviction will actually be out soon. If you needed something tangible as proof, you could always try the Xbox Live demo of the game, due out this week. It’ll be released on March 18, which is this Thursday. Two levels from the game are playable,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2010
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  But Can You Buy Michael Jackson’s Arcade Cabinets Now?

  In early 2009, popstar Michael Jackson was facing financial ruin. Part ownership of his Neverland Ranch was sold off, and 1,4000 personal artifacts were slated to be auctioned off. That auction never happened. A new one is, however. Michael Jackson’s expansive arcade cabinet collection was included in the 2009 Michael Jackson Collection catalogue from Julien’s…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 16, 2010
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  A Week In Comments

  The Difference Between Scary and Horror Comment by: Gouki4u Nominated by: 天 H.P. Lovecraft famously stated, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the old and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Games I find creepy place more emphasis on dread of the unknown than jump out scares. Fatal…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 16, 2010
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  Publisher: PSP Is A “Bollocking Useless Waste Of Space”

  Gavin Cheshire, VP of Codemasters (DiRT, Operation Flashpoint), owns a PlayStation Portable. Which may explain why he’s slagged the handheld off in the latest issue of Edge Magazine. “Well, speaking as a person who bought a PSP, the problem was that I always thought – because it was a better screen than iPod’s – that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2010
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  Kotaku Census 2010: The Consoles You Own

  All week long, we’ll be running Kotaku Census 2010, where we ask you a ton of questions, and you answer them. Our first polls are now up, and want to know all about the consoles you own. Consoles, handhelds, whatever you own and in whatever combination you own them in, the ones that work and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2010
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  Custom God Of War III Console Has Its Eye On You

  There’s a televised God of War trivia competition on Spike tonight. What fun. There is one bright spot emerging from the charade, though: the winner’s prize, which is this custom God of War III PlayStation 3 console. It’s laser-etched, and only one has been made. So you won’t be getting one. Makes you wonder why,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2010
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  Wakeboarding HD, A Rare Wakeboarding Game, Goes To PSN

  How many games have been based on the water sport of wakeboarding? One? Two?! No, three, now that Creat Studios is bringing Wakeboarding HD to the PlayStation Network this week, perhaps the most shark-jumping of the bunch. Creat’s Wakeboarding HD takes some seriously over-the-top liberties with the extreme sport, promising “crazy, high-speed racing and obstacle…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  Kotaku Off Topic: Uninterrupted

  After giving Kotaku Off Topic a few days off, let’s get back into the week with some conversation that doesn’t have to be about video games if you don’t want it to be. Movies, music, toys, fashion, politics. Cut loose. Even if you want to tell us about the excursions or events of your weekend,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  Someone’s Gonna Buy a R.O.B. for Four Grand

  This display case, containing a pristine, never-played Nintendo Entertainment System, and a never-used Robotic Operating Buddy (we like to be formal on first reference here) fetched $4,150 in an eBay auction that just closed. For those who remember when the console first came out, this would be the Deluxe Set, which included the console and…

  By Owen Good Published March 15, 2010
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  Mafia II Hands-On: The Scenic Route Is Full Of Centerfolds

  What differentiates Mafia II from other open world gangster games, especially Take-Two’s other popular driving and delinquency-filled Grand Theft Auto series? For one, Mafia II runs things at a slower, simpler place. It also has Playboy Playmates. You may already know about 2K Games’ partnership with Playboy, but unless you have already played Mafia II,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  A New Marathon Trademark? What’s That Pfhor?

  One week ago Bungie filed a new trademark application for Marathon, the FPS superstar of Mac gaming’s brief apogee during the mid- to late-1990s. There are few details beyond that but the paperwork’s enough to stoke fantasies of a reboot. It’s definitely Bungie filing it, though the application notes the first use in commerce was…

  By Owen Good Published March 15, 2010
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  Sony: Passing On Demon’s Souls “A Mistake”

  Sony Computer Entertainment published From Software’s brilliant Demon’s Souls in its native Japan, but when it came time to take it westward, it was up to publisher Atlus to step forward and localize the PS3 game. “That was a mistake.” So says Sony Computer Entertainment VP of international software Yeonkyung Kim, according to 1UP’s account…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  Multiplayer Fix for MLB 2K10 Could Arrive This Week

  A fix correcting a debilitating dead-end bug for players connecting to random ranked matches in MLB 2K10 could go live as early as this week. The patch addressing the error contains a multitude of other fixes as well. On its forums, 2K Sports has published the patch notes. There are a lot of cosmetic changes…

  By Owen Good Published March 15, 2010
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  Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HD First Look At The Inevitable Re-purchase

  Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, the Nintendo DS strategy-RPG that went under-appreciated—and under-purchased—by too many last year, is getting a second chance on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in 2010. How’s it looking? Damn good, based on our hands-off preview of developer Capy’s high-definition upgrade to Clash of Heroes. The game’s hand animated…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  Raise a Toast to Toast Mario

  Mario, represented by several dozen slices of toasted bread and some plain hamburger buns. Seen via Epic Win FTW. You know what’s coming next: Bacon Luigi.

  By Owen Good Published March 15, 2010
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  Joanna Dark Returns, GTA: San Andreas Goes Cheap On XBLA This Week

  Perfect Dark keeps Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade Block Party going, with the re-release of Rare’s 10-year-old first-person shooter hitting the Xbox 360 this Wednesday. Also, available, damn good deals on Xbox Originals. If you’re looking to spend exactly 800 Microsoft Points on downloadable video games this week, you have four new choices: Perfect Dark in…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  Backstage Access with Kotaku, Ko, Ko, Ko-taku

  To: Ash From: Crecente Last week was insane and things don’t show any signs of letting up anytime soon. Our GDC coverage marched right through the weekend and will continue well into the week with plenty of big stories including interviews with some huge names like Reggie Fils-Aime. We also had some interesting news out…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 15, 2010
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  What Are Halo Creators Making With ‘Bungie Aerospace’?

  Halo creators Bungie are cooking up something new, something that, despite its new name, may not actually follow in the trail blazed by id Software’s John Carmack and involve shooting rockets into space. So what is Bungie Aerospace? Well, it’s not much more than a trademark spotted by Attack of the Fanboy while many of…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 15, 2010
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  NCAA Video Game Picks Kentucky, but Trouble Lies Beneath

  A tournament simulation I did with NCAA Basketball 10 returns a believable national championship – Kentucky 88, Kansas 82 – but the rest reads like 3/4ths of the brackets in your average pool: Lots of chalk, and several WTF upsets. Yesterday, after suffering with plugging in this year’s 64 teams (the sim does not include…

  By Owen Good Published March 15, 2010
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  An Extra Life In The Dying Light

  Photographer Jon Beard discovered an extra life in the dying light of an unprotected light bulb filament. Ghostly and gorgeous, as seen (appropriately enough) on Flickr, via Digg

  By Mike Fahey Published March 15, 2010