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  Kotaku Originals: DS-Hi!

  Ninty’s two-dot-oh of the two-dot-screens handheld got a North Am release date this week, and there was much rejoicing. The news partially stole thunder from the SFIV release (OMG) and GTA DLC (ORLY) drops. Elsewhere in the news from Kotakopolis: Reviews, Impressions and Previews Street Fighter IV Review: Seth’s Soliloquy F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Review:…

  By Owen Good Published February 21, 2009
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  Wall Street Fighter

  Street Fighter is fun, economics, not fun. But turning Street Fighter into Wall Street Fighter? With M. Lynch vs Fannie Mae? Bravo, CBFresh, you’ve somehow pulled this off.

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 21, 2009
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  What Are Your Votes For 2008?

  It’s Friday. Know what that means? It’s Friday. That’s not all, it’s also time for Tell Us Dammit. Here’s how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn’t some marketing survey or whatever. It’s an emotional investment in you. Yes, we’re interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 21, 2009
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  How That Awesome Half-Life Movie Was Made

  About a week ago, we showed you part one of “Escape From City 17”, a short, fan-made Half-Life movie put together by the Purchase Brothers. Let’s all today see how they made it. In an interview with NewTeeVee, the brothers – David and Ian – reveal that the movie didn’t, as first believed, cost $500…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 21, 2009
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  F.E.A.R. Mask Contest Reminder

  Time is running out! Reader Alymew sends this, making us very, very afraid. Look at that Gloomy Bear stuffed animal! SO SCARY. We’re giving away a copy of multi-plat horror shooter FEAR 2: Project Origin. Here’s the contest: Masks are scary, so make a mask. You can make it out mask out of anything –…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 21, 2009
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  Heavy Rain Creator: Hollywood Actors Don’t Care About Games

  Been some big(ish) names doing video game voice work of late. Robert Downey Jr. Ron Perlman. Kristen Bell. But are they really doing the work? Heavy Rain creator David Cage doesn’t think so. In an interview with NOW Gamer, Cage says: Actors (and their agents) often have so little consideration for games that the only…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 20, 2009
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  World Of Goo Coming To Japan

  Indie puzzle physics game World of Goo is going to be released in Japan via Nintendo’s WiiWare in second quarter 2009. Nintendo of America’s senior director of project development Tom Prata, who spoke today at DICE, disclosed the Japanese release. The game has already been released via WiiWare in North America in October 2008 and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 20, 2009
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  NPD Says PC Retail Sales Down 50%

  Speaking at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas today, Anita Frazier of the NPD Group has revealed an interesting little piece of information regarding the PC market, saying retail sales are down by over 50%. That’s over the past seven years. Grim reading, then? Not really. Although NPD “has been having trouble with is digital…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 20, 2009
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  A Week In Comments

  PlayStation Store Update: Noby Noby Noby Comment by: RoboticSpacePenguin Nominated by: phinehas Noby Noby Boy is awesome so far. In the first 10 minutes I grew a little and explored. Then I ate some stuff, but didn’t realize I could fart it out. I guess I stored up so much stuff that when it came…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 20, 2009
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  Overlord Does the DS

  Overlord: Minions for the DS reminds me of a certain game where you have four different-colored playable characters that you guide with a stylus to work together to solve puzzles. Any guesses? If you said The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, you’re wrong. The developer drew inspiration for Minions from an old Blizzard game…

  By AJ Glasser Published February 20, 2009
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  Sony: We Have Sold 21 Million PS3’s

  Sales update time! Sony announced today that the company has sold 21.3 million PlayStation 3 consoles worldwide, a figure that by February is probably a bit higher, as their tally only runs until December 31, 2008. But 21.3 million is the number they gave, so it’s the number we’re running with. Not disclosed was a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 20, 2009
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  Overlord Wii Lacks Wee

  Overlord: Dark Legend had me at sombrero-wearing minions, but I was still worried. I was worried there for a second because it’s a Wii game, so surely they had to tone down the humor a little. I was even more worried to hear that Dark Legend is scheduled to hit the Wii the same day…

  By AJ Glasser Published February 20, 2009
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  U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Schwarzenegger’s Game Law Unconstitutional

  The California law passed in 2005 that would have restricted the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18 has been ruled unconstitutional in a U.S. Court of Appeals. Since the law went into effect under California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, we’re obligated to let you know that the law has essentially…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 20, 2009
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  What’s New in Overlord II

  Brace yourself: Overlord wasn’t a great game. It was a good game—and it had a good idea—but style choices and control options and myriad technical flaws kept it from being the best evil experience ever. Overlord II aims to change that in two major ways. First, the technical flaws are being aggressively addressed by the…

  By AJ Glasser Published February 20, 2009
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  Team Fortress 2 Scout Update Sends Us To Egypt

  There’s no dearth of content coming to the Team Fortress 2 Scout update. Expect new weapons, new maps, the game’s first energy drink, and, oh yeah, new maps! That includes one Egyptian-themed “Capture” gameplay addition. The newest revealed addition to TF2 is “cp_egypt,” a visually striking community made map designed by Sean ‘Heyo’ Cutino, creator…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 20, 2009
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  Mario & Luigi, Street Fighter Help Turn Japanese Hardware Sales Around

  Sales of consoles and portable hardware in Japan saw healthier sales this week, most likely due to strong sales of games like Street Fighter IV and Mario & Luigi RPG3!!!. It wasn’t exactly the kind of boost that will see console manufacturers and game publishers popping bottles of Cristal, but it was enough to turn…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 20, 2009
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  Kotaku Signs Syndication Deal

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Alright, Tea Or Coffee? As you may recall, back in November I started talking about creating a weekly column on Kotaku that could service multiple purposes. I wanted it to be something that touched on the big news of the week and expounded upon it to look at the bigger…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 20, 2009
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  Can the DSi Become the Portable Wii?

  Millions of people picked up a video game controller for the first time because of Nintendo’s Wii. Can the Japanese game developer now conquer the pockets of those same freshly minted gamers with its latest portable console? The Nintendo DSi, which hits North America on April 5 for $170, comes with a touch screen, two…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 20, 2009
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  GameStop COO: Used Game Sales Don’t Hurt New Ones

  J. Paul Raines bravely faced a roomful of video game developers at this year’s DICE Summit, letting them know that the used game sales that butter the retailers bread do not hurt new game sales. Raines, GameStop’s Chief Operating Officer, told DICE attendees that the company’s used game sales account for only 4% of sales…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 20, 2009
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  Your First (Brief) Look At Mass Effect 2

  EA has released the first video teaser for the multi-platform Mass Effect 2 from BioWare. No need to grab some popcorn, you’ll be in and out of the Mass Effect hype machine shortly. We shan’t spoil anything for you, should you choose to pick apart the Mass Effect 2 teaser for clues about the sequel…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 20, 2009