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  Civilization V Hexes PCs This Fall

  Sid Meier’s Civilization franchise returns this fall with a fifth installment, featuring hexagon tile maps, a new combat system, deeper diplomatic options, and a community hub where players can share content and compete without leaving the game. Civilization marches on relentlessly in the fifth installment of the classic strategy series, published by 2K Games and…

  By Mike Fahey Published February 18, 2010
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  Alan Wake Preview: The First Full Episode

  The first two words of Alan Wake are “Stephen King.” The next big Xbox 360 exclusive game is an interactive thriller played in the shadows of America’s Pacific Northwest. I recently played the game’s impressive first full “episode.” Remedy Entertainment’s May-dated game comes on a disc but is divided into episodes. These chapters are sometimes…

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010
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  Mile Marker 21: Owlboy

  Tired of stodgy corporate games made by The Man and his minions? We’re playing the 31 best indie games for a change of pace —- and so we can judge them. Today, Owlboy! In A Sentence Mute Owlboy communicates with facial expressions and takes on enemies by clutching friends with weapons and flying around with…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 18, 2010
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Be careful what you yell at people. With hushed voices, please comment here about video games. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

  By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010
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  Bungie Explains If Halo Reach Is More of an ODST or a Halo 3 Game

  When Halo 3 hit in the fall of 2007 there were celebrations, sick days and sales records broken. Two years later, when Halo sequel ODST made it into stores it couldn’t match its predecessor’s first day sales in two weeks. So I asked the Bungie folks, is Halo Reach going to be more like a…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 18, 2010
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  Watch Out, Don’t Stop Me Now, I Will See YOU Tomorrow

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Ouch Man, I’m feeling ROUGH. Just sick and tired and fevery, but watch out! Because I’ll tell you what, I’ll be back here tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel. Know why? THIS JOB IS FUN. Seeya tomorrow Kotaku people! What you missed last night Race And Nationality: More Than…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  So How’s The Haruhi Suzumiya Movie Doing?

  Pretty darn good. In its debut week, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya hit the box office top ten. Depending on which chart you look at, the film, the first Haruhi Suzumiya animated feature, hung around in the top ten. Animated by Uji-based Kyoto Animation, the film is based on the fourth Haruhi Suzumiya light novel…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  Don’t Worry About Final Fantasy XI Just Yet

  There have been rumors swirling on the Japanese internet that Square Enix’s MMORPG Final Fantasy XI will be ending this year. Time for Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada to fire up his Twitter account. You know, the one with the fluffy dog avatar. Online role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV will be hitting the PS3 and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  Capcom’s PSN Range Going For A Song

  Capcom announced yesterday that for the next five weeks, the publisher’s range of PlayStation Network titles will see their prices clashed by 50%. Starting tomorrow, Marvel vs Capcom will be down to $7.50 until February 25. Then Street Fighter II HD will go on sale for the same price, and so on and so on,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2010
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  Sony: Wii’s Loss Is Our Gain

  Over the past few months, a number of big third-party publishers like EA & Capcom have distanced themselves from the Wii. Ah well. There’s always the PS3! “What publishers have said is they’re not going to spend the resources on Wii… In my job, we compete against Microsoft and Nintendo, and we’re competing for resources”,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2010
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  NSFW: One Thing About This Pillow Is Different. What? Dunno.

  Japan’s D3 Puplisher, sorry, Publisher released its bar girl hostess simulator Dream Club in Japan last August. Since then, people on the Japanese internet are claiming that blond pigtailed character Mian has changed, it seems. At the recent Wonder Festival event, website Akiba Hobby noticed something at the Hobby Stock booth about these Mian hug…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  It’s Dangerous To Go Alone, Drink This

  As seen on deviantART via Albotas.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  Naughty Dog Helping Naughty Dogs

  Reader Christopher was down at his local animal shelter in Long Beach, California recently when he noticed something a little odd. The kennels there are mostly sponsored by companies to help keep things running, and most of those companies are pet-related. Dog food, cat grooming, that sort of thing. Except this one, which is sponsored…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2010
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  How Australia Rates Video Games

  The Classification Board is the body responsible for rating video games (and other stuff!) in Australia, and as such, is often blamed for the mess our system currently finds itself in. Thing is, it’s not their fault. The Board’s job is to look at a game, assess its content, then award it a rating. That’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2010
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  Capcom Wrestles With Xbox 360 Disc Restrictions

  The PS3’s Blu-ray format offers developers plenty of space to fill. But the Xbox 360 doesn’t use Blu-ray, it uses DVD. That makes things tricky if a studio is planning to release a multi-platform title like Lost Planet 2. In a recent interview, Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi said Capcom had to cut a…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  Marvel vs Capcom vs…Disney’s Lady Villains?

  As seen on deviantArt, via GameSetWatch.

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2010
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  Metal Gear Arcade Is So Not Dead, 3D Goggles Are…Interesting

  When Konami announced what games it would be bringing to the arcade AOU expo, there was one glaring omission: Metal Gear Arcade. That looks like it will change. The original list of games Konami announced for AOU were largely bemani, mahjong and card-type arcade games. Metal Gear Arcade was announced at last year’s E3 in…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  Meet The Voices, And Faces, Behind Heavy Rain

  Rather than hire Nolan North, or the three guys that do all of Bethesda’s voice work, Heavy Rain did the smart thing and went and got some proper actors. Best part is, they didn’t stop at using just their voices. Like Half-Life 2 and Mass Effect 2 have done previously with great success, Quanitc Dream…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2010
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  Video Game Namesake Wins Olympic Gold

  “Shaun White” isn’t just some name on some snowboarding game called Shaun White Snowboarding. He’s an actual person! And he’s won Olympic gold. Again. After taking Olympic gold for halfpipe at the 2006 Torino competition, White has won gold yet again at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. White did so well on his first run…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010
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  Dante’s Inferno’s Japanese Marketing Includes a Racial Twist

  “Look how EA is promoting its game Dante’s Inferno in Japan,” a tipster wrote. If only it was that simple. The gentleman in the Dante outfit is named…Dante. Dante Carver, actually. EA Japan roping in Dante Carver, a well known TV “talent”, to appear at this promotional event for Dante’s Inferno is quite clever. In…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2010