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  Epic: Unreal The “Unofficial Engine” Of Project Natal

  Epic Games, makers of things Unreal and Gears of War, are fully on board with this Project Natal thing that Microsoft has cooked up. VP Mark Rein calls the company’s popular Unreal tech “the unofficial engine of Natal.” In an interview with OXM UK, Rein says he also considers Unreal the “economic engine of Natal,”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  Borderlands Goes Gold, and There Was Much Rejoicing

  With two weeks to go before its release, I suppose it would be more newsworthy if Borderlands had not gone to gold master by now. But it has, and so Gearbox has announced is officially on schedule to deliver you postapocalyptic offworld role-playing shooter action on Oct. 20. Considering the fourth-quarter triple-A delays we’ve seen…

  By Owen Good Published October 9, 2009
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  On The Future Of Home: If You Ask For It, They’ll Build It

  Home Director Jack Buser delivered a state-of-the-software address while walking me through the new Home spaces announced this morning. Far from being concerned by the fact that not all PlayStation 3 owners make use of Home, Buser was excited that so many people have even tried it at all. “We came so close to setting…

  By AJ Glasser Published October 9, 2009
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  Nintendo Delivers Latest Pokemon Via Airmail

  Nintendo sent me a bouquet of flowers this morning with an empty case for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky attached. But where was the game? And there’s something in EVERY balloon. First chipping away at stone, now popping balloons. I’m happy Activision hasn’t started doing this. I don’t even want to know how they…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 9, 2009
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  Notebook Dump: The Lack Of Zelda

  There comes a time in the week to reflect on what got into my reporter’s notebook but didn’t turn into Kotaku blog posts. Shall we? I pretty much got to everything I wanted to this week, though we’ve entered the time of the year when it’s less a matter of reporting not getting done but…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 9, 2009
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  Tangled Up In Blues

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: My Favorite Former News Lady Trash Talked On TV Hey, do you like Bob Dylan? I’m a huge fan myself. In fact from the day the original Rock Band was released until they finally released Dylan on the game, I would pester Harmonix about it every time I saw them.…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 9, 2009
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  And The Oscar Nominated Writer Goes To… Dante’s Inferno?

  Dante Alighieri will have to share writing credit with screenwriter Will Rokos, should the game win any awards for its screenplay. The Academy Award nominated Rokos has been pegged as responsible for the story line for Dante’s Inferno. That means that Visceral Games‘ action game could be as good (or even better!) than Monster’s Ball,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  In An “End Of An Era,” Listen Up Podcast Bids Its Host Farewell

  It may have been two years ago when a friend told me I needed to be listening to the main podcast on 1Up.com. Dirt was being spilled on it. In part because the wrong people weren’t listening. I’ve been behind on listening to what used to be called 1Up Yours and, more recently, Listen Up,…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 9, 2009
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  Scribblenauts Dev Moves On To Consoles, “Pretty Big” XBLA Game

  Having sufficiently conquered the handheld platform with clever games like Drawn To Life and Scribblenauts, developer 5th Cell is moving onward and upward to console platforms. That includes a “pretty big” unannounced Xbox Live Arcade game. 5th Cell co-founder Jeremiah Slaczka teases his studio’s XBLA game in a new interview with Gamasutra, one that goes…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  First Rocket Knight Remake Trailer Is Go!

  Konami’s modern-day revival of the Rocket Knight Adventures series was formally announced this week. Good news, for those of us who remember Sparkster’s 16-bit outings. Today, we get another taste, now in trailer form. GameVideos has the first HD clip of Sparkster in motion, sporting sharp new polygons and more pixels than all other Rocket…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  When the Going Gets Tough… Let the Game Play Itself

  Like many younger brothers I had a contentious relationship with my older brother. We butted heads, fought, lied, accused each other of unimaginable atrocities and genuinely despised one another — while secretly caring deeply what the other thought. But there was one thing that always brought us together: Difficult video games. In the 70s and…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 9, 2009
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  Left 4 Dead Map Recreates Zombie Film Fest Theater For Zombie Film Fest

  Skilled modder “ZapWizard” is going above and beyond for a project tied to the “Dismember the Alamo” zombie film festival ambling to Alamo Draft House later this month. He’s recreated the theater in great detail in Left 4 Dead. What’s more, Mr. Wizard is aiming to have the Alamo Draft House-gone-horribly-wrong playable at said film…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  Jak And Daxter Find That Frontier In November

  Jak and Daxter make their triumphant return after a three-year hiatus next month, as Sony announces a November release date for Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier for the PSP and PlayStation 2. They’re back, and they look mighty pissed, at least in that screenshot above, posted on the PlayStation Blog along with news of…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 9, 2009
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  A Light-Gun Shooter Built For Romance

  While we’ve misplaced the video evidence, senior editor Michael McWhertor and I recently pretended to go on a date. For work purposes. We were in Tokyo. We were at an arcade. He wielded a blue, plastic gun. I used a pink one. We were playing House of the Dead EX, which is the only light-gun…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 9, 2009
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  See The Road Rash HD That May Never Be

  While we were certain that Electronic Arts was going to revisit classic racer Road Rash last year—we trust ex-Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach without reservation—the publisher denied it was in development. Well it was at one point. An early, pre-vis clip from the seemingly canceled Road Rash was sniffed out by blog superannuation, a game…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
• Reviews

  Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Review: Crisis Hearts

  Our time with the Nobody Roxas in Kingdom Hearts II was far too short. Square Enix rectifies this oversight with Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS. 358/2 Days tells the tale of Sora’s Nobody Roxas from the time he first came into being up until he finds himself among friends at the beginning…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 9, 2009
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  What Are You Playing This Weekend?

  The fourth quarter game release onslaught has begun, meaning there’s no lack of games to play at Kotaku Towers West this weekend. What will make the cut? Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection for one. Forza Motorsport 3 for another. And, time willing, I’ll get a little Left 4 Dead “Crash Course” DLC time…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  Clash of the Titans Hits U.S. Shores In Spring 2010

  Erasing any doubt that the video game based on the Clash of the Titans remake wouldn’t, for some strange reason, come to these United States, Namco Bandai has reassured us today that it will. Whew! That was a close one. Officially announced at Gamescom to be in development by developer Game Republic—known for its work…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 9, 2009
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  Command & Conquer Red Alert On Your iPhone

  EA Mobile sure has a busy Facebook page. First they reveal iPhone Rock Band, and now they drop details on the iPhone version of Command & Conquer Red Alert. Due out later this month, Command & Conquer Red Alert for the iPhone and iPod Touch puts you in the boots of either to Soviets or…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 9, 2009
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  Your Amazing, Disturbing Wii Play Times

  Kotaku readers, you never let me down. I asked you yesterday to share your Wii playing history — as determined in the Nintendo Channel — and you provided the disturbing details. Stunned by the intense workouts some of you give your Wiis (you weren’t making these up, were you?) I had to highlight a few…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 9, 2009