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  DVR Alert: Spike Televises Top 2009 Indie Developers Tonight

  Spike TV’s second-annual special celebrating indie games airs on Spike tonight. Host Geoff Keighley shared a copy of the show early with Kotaku and it does indeed feature visits with the makers of Osmos, ‘Splosion Man, Trials HD and Flower. The show even offers an early look at ‘Splosion Man developer Twisted Pixel’s next game,…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2009
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  The Age of Internetz

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: In Flight Movies Isn’t the Age of the Internet grand? I write these words to you as I sit on a rural train rocking and rumbling its way to Sydney, Australia from the Blue Mountains. I’ve spent the past hour tapping out my week’s column on my magazine-sized laptop while…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 10, 2009
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  NPD Instant Analysis: Things You Should Note

  What if someone asks you today to quickly sound smart about how video games sold in November? Here’s our monthly analysis cheat-sheet you can use in such desperate social situations. And this time, Kotaku gives you options. Just like BioWare. Before you read this analysis, open up some tabs or windows with McWhertor’s NPD November…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2009
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  Nintendo DS, Wii Top Nov. U.S. Console Sales; Xbox 360 Bests PS3

  Nintendo hardware once again dominates U.S. video game sales, with the Nintendo DS and Wii selling more than 2.96 million units combined in November, with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 settling for third and fourth, respectively. It would appear that Modern Warfare 2’s big software sales numbers on the Xbox 360 had a nice…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  NPD: Modern Warfare 2 Sells 6 Million, New Super Mario Bros. 1.39 Million In November

  As widely expected, Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 moved over 6 million copies in the U.S. last month on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, making the first-person shooter November’s best selling video game. Settling for third, behind the two versions of Modern Warfare 2, was Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  Left 4 Dead 2 PC Patched Up Real Good, Xbox 360 Update “Later This Month”

  Valve has put forth a new update for the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2, fixing up a long list of outstanding bugs, tweaking gameplay and much much more. Expect the same fixes “later this month,” Xbox 360 players. Most of the changes appear to be relatively small, somewhat reducing the effectiveness of the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  PlayStation Home Director Wants “Mini-MMOs” On The Service

  Having been presented for its first year of public existence as a social platform, PlayStation Home is about to be pushed in a new way: As a social gaming platform. “We have developed a forum for developers to come in and develop 3D social games,” Buser told Kotaku during a Sony Playstation 3 showcase in…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2009
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  PlayStation Store Update: Shooter

  PixelJunk fans and PSPgo owners have plenty to look forward to in this week’s North American PlayStation Store update. Warm up the wallets, kids! Perhaps most notable is Q Games newest, PixelJunk Shooter, a mere ten dollar download. The PlayStation Network game is joined by side-scrolling beat ’em up Revenge of the Wounded and top…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  Metacritic Names PS3 The Best Gaming Platform Of 2009

  Media review aggregator Metacritic has released a list of the top games and consoles of 2009, with the PlayStation 3 coming out on top of the site’s first annual Game Platform Power Ranking. The Game Platform Power Ranking isn’t just about the average review score of games across the various platforms. Metacritic takes into account…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2009
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  Rock Band Makers Harmonix Lays Off 39

  Thirty-nine of the approximately 300 employees at Harmonix, development studio of the Rock Band series, were laid off from the company today, in a move said to result from a shift in game-testing rather than a reflection on game sales. “We can confirm that 39 positions were eliminated today at Harmonix as part of re-structuring…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2009
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  Your Wish for Cash Back Granted Today

  Get $100 back when you spend $200 or more at Amazon.com, courtesy of AMEX Daily Wish. Think of all the holiday cheer you can purchase! Only 200 deals available, so click here to get yours.

  By Chrissie Lamond Published December 10, 2009
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  MAG Box Art Could Not Be More Explosive

  Zipper Interactive‘s upcoming game that is not another SOCOM has already racked up an impressive 18 million kills. And that’s before MAG even moves beyond its public beta, soon to be nestled in the massively action-filled box art revealed today. That’s got to be the most straightforward box art we’ve seen in years, loaded with…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  Looking For Group Expo: A Massively Multiplayer Offline Fan Event

  As much as they’d love to, not all MMO publishers can be a Blizzard or even Sony Online Entertainment, holding massive annual fan gatherings. That’s where the Looking for Group Expo comes in. The Looking for Group Expo is planned as a fan gathering for everyone who plays massively multiplayer online games, from the most…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2009
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  We Played A Wii Game Without A Wii Controller

  Picture tennis on the Wii, but without a Remote. You could say it’s like Microsoft’s Project Natal, but the surprise new Wii game that pulls this off is actually borrowing an approach from Sony’s EyeToy. Kotaku swung through it yesterday. The game is Ubisoft’s newly-announced Racquet Sports. It offers tennis, squash, table tennis, racquetball and…

  By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2009
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  New Super Mario Bros. Wii Leads The New Of The New

  Nintendo released New Super Mario Bros. Wii in Japan last week, giving the console its biggest first-week software sales in the country to date, more than 950,000 copies sold, according to Media Create. That puts it ahead of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, ahead of Mario Kart Wii, and ahead of everything else released in Japan…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  EA Reveals Profitable New Releases Of 2010

  Speaking at the 37th Annual Global Media Conference, EA CEO John Riccitiello detailed the games with the most profit potential in fiscal year 2011, with new Crysis, The Sims, and Need for Speed titles and paid DLC making the grade. Riccitiello’s presentation focused heavily on the profit potential of EA’s existing franchise and upcoming titles.…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2009
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  Kotaku Sydney Meet-Up Tonight

  As you may or may not have realized by now, I’m on vacation this month in Australia. But I couldn’t let the trip pass by without trying to chat with folks I rarely get to see. We won’t be having an open bar or anything fancy, but if you’re in the neighborhood of Central Station…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 10, 2009
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  Borderlands Expands Again With Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot [Update]

  Gearbox Software pumps out Borderlands’ second batch of downloadable content later this month (for the Xbox 360 at least), announcing Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot. What do you get for your ten bucks? According to official word, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot offers three new Riot Mode arenas, the option to store more of your loot in…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2009
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  Preorder Just Cause 2, Download Fabulous Toys

  Putting money down on Rico Rodriguez latest island-hopping adventure earns you exclusive in-game goodies, including a hovercraft with a turret-mounted grenade launcher. Everything should come with a hovercraft with a turret-mounted grenade launcher. Unfortunately not everyone else has caught on to the joys of launching grenades from a hovercraft, so we’ll have to settle for…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2009
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  League Of Legend’s Latest Champion Raised By Cougars

  Meet the latest Champion to join the ranks of the League of Legends, Nidalee, a young girl raised in the Kumungu Jungle by older women seeking the company of younger men. Or cats. One of those. Nidalee the Beast Mistress found herself alone in the jungle as a young girl after her fortune-seeking parents died…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2009