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  EGM Relaunches In March 2010

  Magazine racks will be falling over with joy next March when video game print publication Electronic Gaming Monthly officially returns to bookstores and beyond. The all-new but still familiar EGM has inked a deal with Time/Warner to handle marketing and sales. Announced last year, the new Electronic Gaming Monthly will be lead by publisher Steve…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 21, 2009
• Reviews

  2009 In Review: The Controversies

  Looking back on 2009’s many kerfuffles and foofaraws, it may not have been the most contentious year the gaming industry has ever seen. But it certainly was among the most entertaining. Kicking off Kotaku’s review of 2009 are the headlines that generated the most heat, if not light, from the preceding year. The conflicts fracture…

  By Owen Good Published December 21, 2009
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  Bayonetta Sneaks Out Early At Retail For Some

  Sega’s official street date for the PlatinumGames-developed action game Bayonetta isn’t until January for North America and Europe, but some gamers have found the game already sitting on store shelves. We’ve heard from tipsters here in the U.S. and in Europe—Switzerland, specifically—that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game have already shipped…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 21, 2009
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  Happy Holidays From Fallen Earth

  There might not be any snow in the post-apocalyptic world of the MMO Fallen Earth, but that won’t stop the Wastelanders from building Dirtmen while waiting for the Seasonal Arctic Network of Toy-based Altruism to arrive. The Archivist Coalition has finally determined the date for the New Year, and they’re sponsoring a First Night festival…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  Kotaku Tekken Contest Winners Announced Right Here

  Earlier this month we announced a Tekken cosplay/haiku contest, and readers did not disappoint with their submissions. We have winners to announce! The lucky five need to send me their contact info. Details below. The three winners of the PS3 part of the contest are: Arex, posing as Jin Kazama Bigbadpenguinmaster, also posing as Jin…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 21, 2009
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  Fat Princess Gets Fifth Finger, Release Date For Japan

  After suffering a short delay, it appears that PlayStation Network game Fat Princess will be released in Japan on Christmas Day. And the reason for that delay? Previous speculation about a lack of fingers may have been accurate. In newly released artwork for the PlayStation 3 game, the Fat Princess cast is now playing with…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 21, 2009
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  5th Cell’s Jeremiah Slaczka Draws Your Questions During This Week’s Podcast

  The very creative creative director behind Scribblenauts and the Drawn to Life is hanging with our own Stephen Totilo this week, taking your calls and answering your queries with a vocabulary of more than 22,800 individual words. Mr. Slaczka will help us ring in the holidays with discussion on 5th Cell‘s line of creative and…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  One Man’s Year Making Assassin’s Creed II

  If you made Assassin’s Creed II this year, it was a good year — even if you had to trim the game, even if things didn’t click until August, even if, for five minutes, you had to suppress your accent. Patrice Desilets, creative director of Assassin’s Creed II at Ubisoft Montreal, believes that “2009 was…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 21, 2009
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  Final Fantasy XIII Gives PS3 Its Biggest Week In Japan, Passes 1.5 Million

  Looks like Square Enix‘s newest numbered Final Fantasy is off to a good start, giving the PlayStation 3 a not-too-surprising surge in sales in Japan, according to early figures from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain. Enterbrain puts Final Fantasy XIII sales at over 1.5 million over the course of the game’s first four days on Japanese store…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 21, 2009
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  Create Your Army Of Two: The 40th Day Mask Online Right Now

  Why wait until the 12th to design your mask and armor for Army of Two: The 40th Day, when you can create them right now via EA’s online Army of Two mask and armor creator? Salem and Rios don’t go anywhere without their masks, so they need top-quality designs in order to make sure the…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  Divinity II Demo Out Now

  Between now and Friday, I’m loading up on every free or borrowed video game-related thing I can to keep me from going out and buying anything before Christmas. The Divinity II demo fills the bill nicely. The demo of Divinity II: Ego Draconis is on Xbox Live and out for PC download today. It gives…

  By AJ Glasser Published December 21, 2009
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  Demon’s Souls’ Pure White Christmas Starts Today

  Adventuring in the kingdom of Boletaria is going to be just a little bit easier this week, as PlayStation 3 role-playing game Demon’s Souls switches to “Pure White World Tendency” today in recognition of the Winter Solstice. Wuzzat, you say? Well, if you play Demon’s Souls casually, oblivious or indifferent to the game world’s “tendency,”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 21, 2009
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  GOG.com Puts Good Old Games On Sale For The Holidays

  DRM-free classic PC game store GOG.com is rolling out deals for the holiday season, with up to 40% off 171 titles, including Duke Nukem 3D, Freespace 2, Fallout, and Beyond Good & Evil, with free Tex Murphy for everyone. That’s right, the post-apocalyptic detective adventures of Access Games’ Tex Murphy 1 & 2 are free…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  The 2009 Video Game Year In Review Starts Here… Now

  Don’t get dizzy now, but fresh off of previewing Gaming In 2010, Kotaku will spend much of this week looking back at Gaming in 2009. How will you remember 2009? We’ve got some plans to reminisce of our own. Throughout the week on Kotaku, you’ll find posts that cover the biggest trends — good and…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 21, 2009
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  Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Overwatch DLC Deployed

  Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising gets its second helping of downloadable content today with the Overwatch pack, bringing two new multiplayer modes and two new fire team engagements to the battle for Skira. Xbox 360 players get first dibs on the new OP:DR DLC, dropping today on Xbox Live for 400 Microsoft points with PlayStation 3…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  Vault Boy Cookies Activate Cannibal Perk

  Forget gingerbread men this Christmas — you know you want tasty Vault Boys instead. Spotted on Bethesda’s blog, these delicious-looking treats were crafted using a “tortured” gingerbread man cookie cutter and the Joy of Cooking‘s “Rich Rolled Cookie” recipe. Thanks for the heads-up, Caryn!

  By AJ Glasser Published December 21, 2009
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  Pretty Pictures From BioShock 2

  Totilo’s shining BioShock 2 preview was big on words, but where were the images? Here are the images, and they are just as lovely and enthralling as the experience Mr. Totlio describes. I’m getting chills already, and these are merely still images from 2K’s upcoming sequel. I can only imagine what stumbling across these scenes…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  MAG Open Beta Is Just Around The Corner

  Zipper Interactive has announced a massive multiplayer open beta for the PlayStation 3’s massive multiplayer shooter MAG. MAG has gone gold, and all is on course for its January 26th North American release. Now all Zipper Interactive and Sony have to do is make sure the game doesn’t explode on launch day, so they’re holding…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009
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  BioShock 2 Preview: Maybe It Was Needed After All

  It’s hard not to start playing BioShock 2 without thinking about it as one of the most unnecessary sequels in gaming. It is easy, however, once playing has begun to recognize it as a very promising game. Lop the boss battle off of the original BioShock and the 2007 game would seem to be just…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 21, 2009
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  iPhone Chart Toppers: N.O.V.A. Takes Down Waldo

  Gameloft wins big in our weekly look at the top grossing games on iTunes for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Gameloft’s first-person shooter storms onto the charts, , with Battleship adding to the displacingment. Cartoon Wars-Gunner jumps into the fray as well, with last week’s new entry Dragon’s Lair nowhere to be seen. Which do…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2009