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  Japan’s 2009 Xbox LIVE Download Stats

  Never mind that a mere 300,000 or so Xbox 360s were sold in Japan last year. Those who bought the console (hopefully!) enjoyed the console’s online capabilities. Note: data covers the 2009 calendar year, and overall ranking covers from 2005 to 2009. Launch dates are noted when appropriate. 2009 Xbox LIVE Arcade Top Ten Titles…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Nintendo Breaking Records, Taking Names In Europe

  Joining Nintendo of America today in their back-slapping and high-fiving are Nintendo of Europe, who have released a number of impressive tallies for sales of both hardware and software. Hardware first! The Wii has now sold 20 million units in Europe, with 9.6 million of those owning one of the two versions of Wii Fit.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  Why Mark Hamill Has Never Voiced Luke Skywalker

  Star Wars made actor Mark Hamill famous. And while he turned in strong performances in films such as Sam Fuller’s war opus The Big Red One, he was never quite able to move out of the shadow of Luke Skywalker. Yet, even after finding a career as a successful voice actor in cartoons and video…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Rest In Peace, Chromehounds

  In August 2009, Sega informed the eleven people still playing online mech shooter Chromehounds that one day soon, the game’s servers would be shut down, effectively “killing” the game. That day is today. Yes, sometime today, Sega and Microsoft will pull the plug on one of the early cult favourites of the Xbox 360. It…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  More Cosplayers To Poke Your Eyes Out

  Okay, this is it — promise. Well, for now. No more Comiket 77 cosplays! Comic Market, or Comiket, ended in late December, and the Japanese website Moeyo.com has been uploading pictures since then, day by day. The website looks like its about finished with its uploads, a subtle hint to us to get our hat…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Tatsunoko vs Capcom: A New Challenger!

  Capcom unveiled a brand new character for their Wii 2D fighter Tatsunoko vs Capcom yesterday. Sadly, that character is somebody only 2% of you will have ever heard of. It’s Ai-chan from Yatterman, otherwise known as Yatterman 2, who joins her partner Yatterman in the game to fight some crime and, where no crime is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  Fist of the North Star Dated Dated, Already Dead (And Dated)

  In early December Tecmo Koei announced that its Fist of the North Star game, Hokuto Musou, would be released in Japan on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in simply “March 2010”. Today the company announced the exact date. That’s annoying! Post-apocalyptic martial arts manga Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), which debuted in…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Darksiders Might Wage War On Hollywood, Comic Books

  Joe Madureira, creative director on Vigil’s freshly-released Darksiders, has revealed that already talks are underway to shift the franchise into things like movies and comic books. “We’ve gotten some interest from Hollywood, we’ve talked about doing a comic series,” Madureira told VG247. “We” being publishers THQ, of course, not Vigil. “At least a couple of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  Sony Increasing The Storage Capacity Of Blu-Ray Discs

  Sony and Panasonic have announced plans to increase the capacity of Blu-Ray discs (such as those used by PS3 games) from 25GB to 33.4GB. Hideo Kojima will be so pleased! According to a report from Nikkei, the increase comes courtesy of some new ways to evaluate content on the disc. Or, in more technical terms,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  Report: New Zelda Out By End of 2010, First DS Successor Details

  In an interview with Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun, Nintendo Co., Ltd. president Satoru Iwata discussed some of this year’s goals, which include releasing the newest Legend of Zelda game. High on the Japanese exec’s list was increasing the number of DS WiFi spots across the country. In Japan, the company has a deal with…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Five Ways Japan Can Stop Game Industry Shrinkage

  As the data indicates, the once robust Japanese game market is getting smaller each year. Surely, the Japanese gaming industry can figure out things that can be done to change this. Until then, Kotaku has taken upon itself (you’re welcome) to come up with a short list of sure-fire ways that the domestic Japanese game…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Modders Drag Half-Life 2’s Graphics Kicking & Screaming Into 2010

  Do you remember the awe you felt first firing up Half-Life 2 in 2004? Now fire it up in 2010. It’s more like “aawwww”. Flat textures, dull lighting. It’s a shame! What this game needs, then, is a makeover. A makeover like the one provided by Filip Victor. It adds HDR lighting, new models, new…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  GOD EATER Eats Up Over 1 Million Demo Downloads

  PSP game GOD EATER looks to be Namco Bandai’s take on the monstrously successful franchise Monster Hunter from Capcom. It also looks like it could be a hit for Namco Bandai. Besides custom clothing, GOD EATER allows players to customize their bullets with a “Bullet Edit” feature that allows for five different “Modules” with settings…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Nintendo President: Wii Not Out Of The Woods Yet

  As 2009 rolled on, it looked like Nintendo’s Wii was finally running out of steam. But then Black Friday came along, and the console broke records. Same with December. Despite this, however, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is still urging caution. In an interview with Reuters following a rebound in the company’s share prices, Iwata said…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010
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  This Is It, The Michael Jackson PS3 Bundle

  This is, ahem, it. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is releasing a new bundle with the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It. Don’t be that surprised — Sony Pictures is releasing This Is It on Blu-ray and DVD. Priced at ¥33,500 (US$366), the bundle includes a 120GB Hard Disk Drive “Charcoal Black” PS3, a Blu-ray copy…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2010
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  Kotaku Off Topic: Jigga Hirst

  Kotaku’s first night in Las Vegas for this week’s Consumer Electronics Show—aka CES—has delayed the second night of Kotaku Off Topic. But we are determined to make the nightly TAY alternative a success. Wait. What is Off Topic again? Well, it’s not really about video games, but it’s open to video game discussion. It’s an…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 5, 2010
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  Tennessean Plays GTA for 40 Hours Straight, Pees Three Times

  Barely four months after an Indian equity broker logged a world record by playing Grand Theft Auto IV for 40 hours and 20 minutes, a 19-year-old college kid in Tennessee has beaten it. David Scherer (pictured), an honors student at Austin Peay (student section chant: “Let’s Go Peay!” True story.) logged his 40th hour, 21st…

  By Owen Good Published January 5, 2010
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  Aion Players Hit Jackpot After Maintenance Goof

  Maintenance on an Aion server yesterday caused a glitch that delivered more than 34 trillion Kinah – that’s Aion cash – to “a small number of players.” NCsoft was forced to do a server data rollback to correct the mistake. “Havoc broke out as players spent their ill gotten gains, mailed around coin, and awaited…

  By Owen Good Published January 5, 2010
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  Is Google’s Nexus One A Gaming Contender?

  Google has officially unveiled its Nexus One Android Phone, and while it’s certainly an attractive device, does it have what it takes to be a portable gaming platform? The Nexus One is the first handset designed entirely by Google, and to some, particularly those with mobile service providers other than AT&T, it might seem like…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 5, 2010
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  Capcom’s France Boss: “The Future is on PS3 and 360”

  Capcom’s director general for France sounds very pessimistic about development for the Wii, feeling that its user base has “radically changed” into something that is no longer interested in core games such as the poor-selling Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. “The customer of [the Wii] has turned into something [of a] much broader audience. It…

  By Owen Good Published January 5, 2010