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  Front Mission Evolved Trailer Evolves

  Square Enix announced a spring European release for third-person giant-robot shooter Front Mission Evolved, releasing a new trailer that adds some personality to the teaser seen at last year’s Tokyo Game Show. Front Mission Evolved, developed for Square Enix by Double Helix Games, is a new take on the traditionally turn-based strategy series, serving up…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 20, 2010
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  Ratchet And Clank Goes Vinyl

  For someone who doesn’t really collect action figures I sure have a lot. Mostly they’re presents, leftovers from my childhood or product sent to me from game companies. When I received one of the Ratchet and Clank Future sets in the mail the other day from Sony I had to introduce them to the rest…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 20, 2010
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  How Cover Shaped Gaming’s Last Decade

  It’s January 2010. The last decade has drawn to a close, and more than anything else in the past ten years, there is one single-player gameplay mechanic that has done more to revolutionize video games. That mechanic is “cover.” Cover: cov-er 1a: to guard from attack b(1): to have within the range of one’s guns…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  If you have something to say about video games today, say it here. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 20, 2010
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  Will Blizzard Shock and Awe During Next Month’s Financials?

  Activision Blizzard are holding a lot of cards and I want to see all of them. It probably won’t show em all during next month’s conference call, but it still promises to be very interesting. The company said this morning that it intend to release its fourth quarter and calendar year 2009 results on Feb.…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 20, 2010
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  Time to Buy Angel Wings

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Fly Away, Fly Away, Fly Away Home Mini-Bash enters FIRST GRADE this spring. And when Japanese kids enter first grade, they get shiny, hard leather backpacks called “land-cell”. They’re priced at anywhere from $200 to $700. (The average price is probably closer to $300 or $400). Kids use the bags…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
• Reviews

  Dark Void Review: Innovation In A Void

  Cargo pilot turned jet-pack jockey William Grey finds himself teaming up with Nikola Tesla to save humanity from aliens and fascism after crashing in the Bermuda Triangle in Capcom’s sci-fi shooter Dark Void. But it’s not the unlikely plot that is the biggest selling point for Capcom’s new franchise, it’s the developer’s game lineage. Dark…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 20, 2010
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  The Japanese Heavy Rain Box Art Stinks

  Europe gets a striking origami cover for upcoming thriller Heavy Rain. America gets wet boobs. Japan? Japan gets a nose. A wet nose. Let’s review: Europe, origami; America, wet boobs; Japan, wet nose. Somehow this all seems mixed up. And you thought Japanese box art was always better. Ha! PS3『ヘビーレイン -心の軋むとき-』の日本版のパッケージデザインがあまりにも酷い [はちま起稿]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  Some WiiWare Developers Not Exactly Thrilled With Nintendo

  Of all the major platforms and services out there, Nintendo’s WiiWare is probably the most under-promoted and under-utilised (PSP mini’s aside). Something developers are not happy about. “We feel that Nintendo is not doing enough to promote the service at all,” JV Games’ Jag Jaege (Pong Toss) tells GI.biz. “We feel that the vast majority…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2010
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  Yup, Crackdown 2 Will Have A Demo

  The first Crackdown had one of the best demos of all time. So it stands to reason that its sequel will also let players get their hands on it prior to the full game’s release. “You can definitely expect a demo to hit Live before the game is out but I can’t say when that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2010
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  Rumor: “Leaked” Halo: Reach Beta Boot-Up Clip Introduces “Murder Mode” [Update]

  Halo: Reach is forthcoming. It will be out later this year. One individual is already leaking beta footage onto the internet. The footage is of the game booting up. There is no game play footage. The screen carries a message which reads: Welcome to the Halo: Reach Public Beta, the experience you are about to…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  Please Silent Hill Cosplayer, Don’t Kill The Vacuum Cleaner

  As seen on Hawty McBloggy.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  Heavy Rain Stars In European Console Bundle

  Looks like Europe isn’t just getting a collector’s edition of PS3 adventure Heavy Rain; the Old World will also be seeing some hardware bundles, in which the game is packed in with a 250GB PlayStation 3 console. A listing, complete with box art, has appeared on Amazon’s French portal. That pic up there is it.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2010
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  Let’s Check Out These Blurry DoA Bathing Suits

  Dead or Alive is laying off the fighting and heading back to the beach for upcoming PSP game Dead or Alive Paradise. Like previous Dead or Alive poolside titles, Paradise focuses on volleyball, gambling, ridiculous swimsuits and taking pictures of girls wearing said ridiculous swimsuits. Besides Kasumi, characters Risa, Hitomi, Rio and their breasts will…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  Number Of New Intellectual Properties On The Rise

  According to a study performed by Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR), more and more publishers are betting their cash on new intellectual property. Since 2006, the percentage of games hitting the market based on new, original IP (so not a sequel or a licensed game) has grown from 16% to 22%. Which is…nice, but…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2010
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  The Best-Selling Games In Australia For 2009 Were…

  While we’re still up to our armpits in 2009 flashbacks, we may as well take a look down under, and see what the twenty best-selling games in Australia were last year. These figures were released today by chart trackers GfK, who sadly do not provide individual unit sales. Warning: prepare for Nintendomania. 1. Wii Fit…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2010
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  Some Halo: Reach Screen Shots

  Game retailer EB Games has uploaded the first direct feed Halo: Reach screens onto the game’s product page. Anyone with the most recent issue of Game Informer magazine has seen these screens — not everyone has the latest GI, though! That, and these are some of the first proper screens for the game. Halo: Reach…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  MGS: Peace Walker Voice Actress Tops The Japanese Single Charts

  Nana Mizuki, who voices Costa Rican girl Paz Ortega Andrade in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, has become the first Japanese voice actress to reach number one on the Japanese pop single charts. Her latest single “Phantom Minds” moved 54,000 copies last week during its first week on sale. This is the first…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010
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  Yakuza 3 Gets A New Box For Its Trip Stateside

  As you’re no doubt aware, American publishers sometimes like to mess around with a foreign game’s box art before releasing it in the US. Yakuza 3 is the latest target of this practice. Gone is the stark white background of the Japanese cover, perhaps because – since it’s a trademark of a series people in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2010
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  Report: Final Fantasy XIII Composer Leaves Square Enix

  Masashi Hamauzu, FFXIII composer, has left game company Square Enix, reports website Square Enix Music Online. He was an employee at Square Enix for the past 15 year. During that time, Hamauzu worked on titles such as SaGa Frontier II, Unlimited SaGa, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII. The official FFXIII soundtrack will be…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010