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  Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor Had Game Design Dreams Once Upon A Time

  Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor doesn’t have much of a video game pedigree—he contributed to id Software’s Quake and Doom 3—but the man is no stranger to games. He even pitched one, long ago. Reznor tells Digg founder Kevin Rose that he and Nine Inch Nails art director Rob Sheridan once pitched a game…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  Nintendo: We Need To Re-Energize Japanese Market

  The Wall Street Journal, following news of slowing sales for the Wii and Nintendo DS and a boost in “hardcore” games sales in Japan, says Nintendo is “beginning to look vulnerable” after years of success. The Journal is referring, of course, to the most recent sales data from Japan, courtesy of sales trackers Enterbrain and…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  How Fighting Robots Helped Wright Quit EA

  Will Wright may be leaving Maxis and Electronic Arts, but that doesn’t mean he’s leaving gaming. In fact some of his biggest ideas are for future games, he told us today. When asked if he felt like he was leaving his gaming fanbase behind, he said no. “That’s definitely not the case, some of the…

  By Brian Crecente Published April 8, 2009
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  Left 4 Dead Gets Fan Art Photo Shoot

  The creative team responsible for Night Zero, a post-apocalyptic photographic novel that follows the survivors of a deadly viral outbreak, have found inspiration in Valve’s Left 4 Dead, which they photographically pay homage to. The Night Zero team’s project is called Left 5 Dead, an attempt to photorealistically recreate the iconic Survivors from Valve and…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  X-Men Origins: Wolverine Preview: Claws of War

  X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn’t a movie game – it’s a God of War clone. Surprised? So was I. After the boss’s brief look at the game, I was hopeful that Wolverine would be an amazing character-driven action game. It’s made by the Marvel Ultimate Alliance team; and even if it’s not relying on the movie…

  By AJ Glasser Published April 8, 2009
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  The World is Shrinking

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Soup? That’s No Lunch. Forget It. Isn’t it amazing that Kotaku can be written by writers on three continents and that we can work together and share ideas all without delay or the cost of high phone bills? I remember when I was a kid living in Thailand, the only…

  By Brian Crecente Published April 8, 2009
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  Analyst Cautions Wii Investment May Be “Fool’s Gold”

  Investors looking to score some easy green on Nintendo’s little white console may be left blue, particularly if they fall for the “red herring” that is the console’s massive install base, says one analyst. Cowen & Company’s Doug Creutz says the Wii may represent “fool’s gold for someone looking to invest in video game development”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  A Eulogy For The Game Boy Advance

  The arrival of the Nintendo DSi in North America, Europe and Australia brings about the first Nintendo handheld in nearly eight years that doesn’t support Game Boy Advance games. Who wants to reflect? MTV Multiplayer’s Stephen Totilo does, lamenting the symbolic passing of the Game Boy Advance. He calls it “the first portable I cared…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  New Space Invaders Extreme Screens: Minter In Package

  Taito will release Space Invaders Extreme on Xbox Live Arcade later this month, a high-definition remake of one 2008’s best portable games. Xbox owners get more than just extra pixels—they also get extra Jeff Minter. Minter and Llama Soft are responsible for the “colorful and synthetically organic visualizer backgrounds” in the XBLA version of Space…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  The Godfather II Gambles On PlayStation Home

  EA joins the ranks of companies with a PlayStation Home presence a bit earlier than anticipated with The Godfather II space, complete with Texas Hold’Em table. EA’s PlayStation Home space for The Godfather II arrives tomorrow, well before the highly anticipated EA Sports Complex launches later this spring. Where there are mobsters there’s bound to…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 8, 2009
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  The Mystery of the Stupid Fun Club

  Maybe the website for Will Wright‘s entertainment think tank is just a website. But given that it has three games of sorts hidden on it, I’d like to think there’s more to it than that. I’ve been messing around with all three for a bit now and am most intrigued by the one you can…

  By Brian Crecente Published April 8, 2009
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  So Long Three Speech, Hello PlayStation Blog

  Europeans with a hankering for PlayStation news tailored to their continent of choice should say their goodbyes to the officially unofficial Three Speech blog. It’s going the way of the dinosaur. Three Speech will be replaced by a new, shiny European PlayStation blog, one we presume will be a lot like the one we’ve been…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  The 2009 Pokémon Video Game Championships

  Do you want to be the very best, like no one ever was? Now is your chance, as Pokémon USA delivers the details on the 2009 Pokémon Video Game Championships. An excellent way to sell their newest title, the U.S. leg of the 2009 Pokémon Championships requires that players participate using the newly-released Pokémon Platinum.…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 8, 2009
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  Stalin Vs. Martians With Bonus Smoooooth Moves

  Nothing can top Stalin dancing to retro techno, nothing. But seeing a teen in pink spandex groove to All Hail Stalinator gets pretty close. Oh, and there’s some gameplay clips in this Stalin Vs. Martians video as well. The pc game is coming out later this moth from Mezmer Games and better include at least…

  By Brian Crecente Published April 8, 2009
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  New Valkyria Chronicles Content Coming Soon To PSN

  Sega’s PlayStation 3 exclusive role-playing game Valkyria Chronicles is deploying new downloadable content to the front lines of the PlayStation Store April 16th. It’s a perfect reminder that you should buy this game. Given that Valkyria Chronicles is also ludicrously value priced at GameStop right now, should you be spending U.S. dollars, we’d think that…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  Snowbound Mini Ninja Screens

  A ninja is at home in any environment, as evidenced by these frosty screens for Eidos’ Mini Ninjas for the Nintendo Wii, DS, and Xbox 360. The screens truly show the full range of Mini Ninjas, both graphically and size-wise. Mini Ninja Hiro and his companions, the giant Futo and the musical female ninjette Suzume,…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 8, 2009
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  Nintendo DSi Review: Not Quite Yet

  Nintendo has been on a winning streak since the original Nintendo DS hit stores in 2004. That was followed by the redesigned DS Lite and then the insanely popular Wii. The new Nintendo DSi, sporting two cameras and the ability to download games, has quite a lot to live up to. But it’s not such…

  By Brian Crecente Published April 8, 2009
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  Will Wright Leaves EA, Does Something Stupid

  The designer behind The Sims and Spore has left Electronic Arts, the publisher announced today, starting a new “think tank” known as Stupid Fun Club, a venture that has EA’s backing. “The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change,” said Will Wright. “Stupid Fun Club will explore new possibilities that are…

  By Michael McWhertor Published April 8, 2009
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  Black Prophecy, The Other Online Space Shooter

  For your viewing pleasure, here’s seven minutes of gameplay footage from Black Prophecy, Reakktor Media‘s answer to the massively multiplayer online space shooter. Black Prophecy is a 3D real-time combat space MMO that takes place in a dark universe crafted by German science fiction author Michael Marrak. The game premiered during the 2007 Game Convention…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 8, 2009
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  THQ Enters Chinese Import Scene With Dragonica Online

  THQ kicks off their joint venture with Chinese online game operator ICE with Dragonica Online, with a new website and new screens filled with near-fatal cuteness. First announced in September of last year, Dragonica Online is to be the first game released on the THQ*ICE online gaming platform. Originally released in China as Dream Dragon,…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 8, 2009