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  Muscle March Seems A Little More Than E10+ Described This Way

  When the bizarre, oiled-up bodybuilders of Namco Bandai‘s WiiWare racing-puzzler Muscle March meet the in-depth, often clinical descriptions of the ESRB, sometimes we see games in a whole new light. And maybe it’s just the exposed flesh to “super-tight Speedos” ratio, but Muscle March seems somehow a little more deserving of something beyond an E10+…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  EA Sticks with Tiger Woods Online; Mum on Console Games

  Announcing an open beta of EA Sports‘ browser-based PGA Tour game later this month, Peter Moore says EA Sports is sticking with embattled golfer Tiger Woods “on the masthead of this game.” “Our relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf,” Moore wrote on his official blog late Monday. “We didn’t form a relationship…

  By Owen Good Published January 4, 2010
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  Sony Adds ‘Cloudsurf’ To Cloud Of Trademarks

  Just before 2009 came to a close, the Sony Corporation sought trademark protection for something cloudy, but something likely not Final Fantasy VII related, the service “Cloudsurf.” That’s one of a few “cloud” themed products hinted at by Sony. Early last year, Sony filed a mark for PS Cloud. Specifically, Sony Computer Entertainment did, the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  High-School Farce: 360 Puts Celeb Couple on the Rocks

  Another celebrity couple is said to be on the road to splitsville because of a console. This time, it’s “High School Musical’s” Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, and the “other woman” is an Xbox 360. Contactmusic.com, quoting unnamed sources (but inevitably stripping out the “likes,” and “so he’s/she’s all”) says Hudgens gave her squeeze a…

  By Owen Good Published January 4, 2010
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  James Cameron: Today’s Online Gamers Are The Future’s Smokers

  According to the New York Times, someone out there thinks that James Cameron’s Avatar is big budget mental poison because of its on-screen tobacco use. Let’s start there, as we walk the winding path toward Avatar’s video game association. The someone who thinks that Avatar showing a fictional character smoke is “like someone just put…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty Comes With Protoss “Mini-campaign”

  Fans of StarCraft’s Protoss may not have to wait until 2011—or later—to get their hands on the teleporting, psionic blade-wielding alien race. The Protoss will apparently get their own mini-campaign in the first part of StarCraft II’s trilogy. While we weren’t expecting to take control of the Protoss in anything but multiplayer until StarCraft II:…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  Rumor: NBA Jam Returning — to Wii

  Were you unenthused by the rumor that EA Sports new title would be an NFL-branded trainer for the Wii? You’ll like this one better. ESPN.com says the game will be an updated NBA Jam, for the Wii. Citing “unnamed sources,” ESPN.com says EA Sports got the rights from the NBA to deliver an updated version…

  By Owen Good Published January 4, 2010
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  Adventures in Zoonosis

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: When The Jonas Bros. Came To the Shopping Mall It’s been a stressful past week or so at the house. Last week we had to put our 15-year-old Border Collie to sleep. Days later our 12-year-old greyhound stopped eating. Then she stopped getting up. Then she stopped walking. We took…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 4, 2010
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  Report: Apple’s Game-Playing Tablet Unveils This Month, Ships March

  Apple is set to unveil its take on the tablet computer, the touchscreen bigger brother to the iPhone rumored to be branded the iSlate, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The Journal’s report cites “people briefed by the company” who say the multimedia device will “let people watch movies and television…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  Cheevers Try One Last Time for NBA Live Mark

  Achievement boosters failed back in October to claim the 100-point bounty for being signed in with 1,000 others to NBA Live 07. With servers for the game deactivating Feb. 2, they’ll take another crack at it on Jan. 31. Xbox360Achievements.org is once again staging the final run at this damn-near-impossible mark, which appeared in the…

  By Owen Good Published January 4, 2010
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  There Are Responsible Parents Out There

  I’ve often criticized parents for not taking enough responsibility for the gaming habits of their children, but an experience I had over the weekend gives me hope that there are indeed responsible parents out there. I was at a GameStop off of Dallas Highway in Marietta, Georgia on New Year’s Day, looking through the used…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
• Reviews

  Darksiders Review: Harbinger Of The Apocopylypse

  There are many games you will play in 2010 that will be unique, original creatures. Titles that truly innovate, and for years will be remembered for the trail they’ve blazed. Darksiders is not one of those games. Instead, it’s an action/role-playing game hybrid where you play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010
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  George Costanza’s Frogger Record Shattered

  The one shining achievement in the life of Seinfeld’s George Costanza is no more, as a Connecticut man shatters the fictional Frogger record previously thought unattainable by real people. In the 1998 Seinfeld episode “The Frogger,” George Costanza tries desperately to save the Frogger machine that holds his greatest achievement – the fictional world record…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Amazon’s Kindle Offers Refunds For Digital Downloads, Why Don’t Game Companies?

  Ever download a video game to a console or handheld and want a refund? Tough. Can’t do it. But in the world of Amazon’s Kindle, you can download books digitally — and return them. A workable idea for gaming? I don’t have a Kindle nor have I found anyone yet who has returned a book…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010
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  Bayonetta, Madworld Makers Start Countdown To What’s Next

  Now that Sega has shipped Platinum Games‘ infinite climax action game Bayonetta to stores, the third release from the developer after Madworld and Infinite Space, what’s next for the developer? Countdown clock teasers! The Platinum Games official web site is now putting CPUs through their paces with a lovely looking teaser for… something. Something Platinum…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  PSP Porn Ruins Christmas

  Ten-year-old Kade Goodman’s holiday dreams were shattered on Christmas Day, when it was discovered that someone had left a penis on his used PSP. The PSP-nis was uncovered by Kade’s thirteen-year-old brother shortly after the gift was unwrapped, as thirteen-year-old boys have an uncanny knack for uncovering porn no matter how hard my father tried…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Tiger Woods Xbox Game, Broken Hand Converts Boxer To Golfer

  The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reports that an amateur boxer has become a promising golfer, and he owes some of that to a Tiger Woods‘ video game. Usually, stories about people getting inspired by video games aren’t this… positive. The newspaper tells the story of Joshua Anglin, who went 115-15 as an amateur boxer, but…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010
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  Japan Celebrates Christmas By Buying Many, Many Wiis, DSis

  After taking a backseat to Final Fantasy XIII and the PlayStation 3, Nintendo had a very merry Christmas week in Japan, another 215,000 Wiis in Japanese gamers’ waggle-hungry, Mushroom Kingdom-platforming hands. With a little help from Mario, Luigi and two Toads, the Wii scored first place on Media Create‘s weekly hardware chart, nearly doubling PS3s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 4, 2010
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  MAG Beta Off To A Rocky Start

  Zipper Interactive has launched the promised open beta test for the PlayStation 3’s MAG, but early server issues are causing frustration for players unable to connect. Judging by the comments posted in the PlayStation blog entry by Zipper’s senior community manager Jeremy Dunham, many players have already had a chance to log in and go…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 4, 2010
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  Think Of It As James Cameron’s Beyond Good & Evil

  Who is that lady who appears in the new Avatar video game from Ubisoft? Why, it’s Kendra Midori who just may have starred in another Ubisoft game under a different name. If I drank while playing games, I would have done a spit take when I first laid eyes on Ms. Kendra Midori, nature-loving scientist…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 4, 2010