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  SimAnimals Bless The Rains Down In Africa

  The wild dogs cry out in the night, as they grow restless looking for some solitary company in SimAnimals Africa, EA’s follow-up to their charming animal simulator for the Nintendo Wii and DS. If you want compelling animal drama, you go to Africa. Natsume knows this, as does Majesco. Now EA is getting in on…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 7, 2009
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  Who Needs Nintendo Chiptunes When You’ve Got Sega Rock?

  Music inspired directly by video games tends to be fairly limited in scope. Chiptunes, hip-hop, some electronica, and the odd piece of folk. Sludgefeast are none of those things. They are instead a good, old-fashioned rock band. I picked up their album “Virtua Rock” a few weeks back in a second-hand record store purely because…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  The day has arrived when it is once again safe to comment about video games. And this is the place to do it. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 7, 2009
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  What Is This?

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Summer Daze What did I end up doing during the weekend? Micro-Bash got sick for the first time — he barfed at the doctor’s office, so much so that Mrs. Bashcraft had to go home and get me a new pair of clothes. Shirt, pants and even all the way…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  So, How Many iPhone Games Are There?

  The iPhone (and iPod Touch) are selling like hot scones! And they play games! Problem being, unlike the PSP and DS, there’s very little in the way of quality control on Apple’s platform. So we get a lot of games. You could even say we get too many games, because it’s been revealed that there…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  New Lost Planet 2 Screens

  While there were giant bugs in the first Lost Planet, all I remember are snowstorms and robot suits. Looking at these new screens of Lost Planet 2, it’s OK, Capcom, I get it: in the sequel, there are giant bugs.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  The King of Fighters XII Gets A New Release Date For Japan

  SNK delayed 100 percent hand-drawn fighting game The King of Fighters XII. The game was originally slated for a July 16 launch, then moved to a vague “July release”. The new street date for the multi-platform game is July 30. The reason for the delay was so SNK could polish the title before finally releasing…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Demo Play Coming To Nintendo Handhelds

  Earlier this year, a Nintendo patent came to light that described a function that would allow players to “skip” parts of the game they found difficult. This system eases the pain of completing a difficult game, without watering it down so much that it turns hardcore gamers off. The new system, described in a patent…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Is This How A Jaleco Poll Backfires?

  Japanese game company Jaleco has started a new poll regarding an upcoming project. Users are able to submit designs of non-playable-characters, and other folks can vote for their favorites. The most popular designs will be included in this upcoming title. Good idea, right? Right? Have a look at the top five favorite monsters. The poll…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  PSP2 In Development, As Powerful As Xbox

  Eurogamer’s Spanish outpost reckon they’re in possession of some specs for an all-new PlayStation Portable, currently in the planning stages at Sony HQ. This isn’t the PSPgo. It’s a true successor to the PSP. They claim that the new handheld could output games on the same level as the original Xbox, and is built around…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  New Demo Format For Team Fortress 2 Nearing Beta

  Via email, Valve mentioned that it was developing a new demo type format — for Team Fortress 2 or perhaps all Steam Games. This comes as players have been breaking demo files after downloading new updates. Tell us about that Robin Walker! The Valve developer explains, “It’s getting close to being releasable in a beta…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Redrawn PC Erotic Game Looks Like This

  Remember this? Sure, you do! This image must have been burned into your brain. Erotic game Sengoku Hime is infamous for its crummy game art. That art has been re-drawn for the PS2/PSP ports. Compare the new art (below) with the original PC art (above). Have a preference? Sengoku Hime is out this September on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Miyamoto: “Wait, Please” For Kid Icarus

  Hey, there wasn’t a big Kid Icarus announcement at E3. Nintendo Power asked Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto about Kid Icarus and recently published his response: Wait, please. I’m really surprised how popular that is. But you are the first person to ask at this E3! The original Kid Icarus was released on the Nintendo Entertainment system…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  This Is A Newish PS3 Tales of Vesperia Trailer

  This September, the PS3 version of former Xbox 360 exclusive RPG Tales of Vesperia will be released in Japan. The game features a new pirate girl character named Patty Fleur. The following month in October, Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, an animated prequel to the PS3 version, hits Japanese movie theaters. Check out other…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Get Your Katamari Forever Soundtrack

  From what we’ve seen of Katamari Forever, it’s looking good! But from what we’ve heard, it’s also sounding good, courtesy of its remixed soundtrack. As someone who owns the soundtracks to the first two games, I’ll be taking a good, long look at the soundtrack to this one (known as Katamari Tribute in Japan), which…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  Wii Graffiti Mod Wins A Design Prize

  We thought WiiSpray – a Wii mod put together by a couple of German design students – was pretty neat. We’re not the only ones, as the judges of the iF Communication Design Awards are equally impressed. Held by German firm International Forum Design, WiiSpray was one of 377 finalists in the prestigious awards, from…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  Shadow of the Colossus Designer On GTAIV, Super Mario Galaxy [Update]

  Fumito Ueda is an armchair critic. “I play a lot of games,” he says, “and I look from a very critical view of the games I play.” So what does he think about, say, Grand Theft Auto IV and Super Mario Galaxy? Meh! In an interview with LEVEL magazine, the Shadow of the Colossus designer…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Do Special Effects Make A Difference?

  Kudo-san works at PlatinumGames. What does he do? “When I introduce myself to people outside the industry,” he blogs, “I explain by keeping things simple, saying, ‘I add the fire and smoke, etc. inside a game.'” “However,” he adds, “it doesn’t seem like very many people ‘get it.'” To help illustrate the point, there are…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 7, 2009
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  Moto-Nueral Demyelination Sufferer Speaks Out

  This is Gene Simpkins. Every day is a struggle for Gene, because he is one of only a handful of people in the world suffering from Moto-Nueral Demyelination. Otherwise known as Duke Nukem‘s Disease. [via Bitmob]

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009
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  College Professor Trolls For Science, Finds People Hate Him

  Media professor David Myers, from Loyola University, has been studying how people interact in online games. Of interest to us is his account of what happened when he started trolling people. Myers has been studying human interaction in City of Heroes since it first launched all the way back in 2004, and with his character…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2009