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  New Star Ocean 4 Screens, New Star Ocean 4 Character

  Xbox 360 title Star Ocean 4 is only a few days away from release. Perfect timing for some new Star Ocean 4 and a new character — the bird lady! And she wears glasses. Sarah Jeland (literally, “Sara Jerando” in Japanese katakana — not sure about the English romanization) hails from the in-game planet of…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2009
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  Some Sales Data For Left 4 Dead, Rock Band 2, Mirror’s Edge & Dead Space

  It wasn’t all bad news and leaky product announcements during yesterday’s EA conference call. Some good came of it. Like positive sales figures for some of EA’s riskier titles. Like Left 4 Dead, whose physical copies EA published, and which went on to sell 1.8 million copies. Or Rock Band 2, which sold 1.9 million…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2009
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  Atlus Bringing Persona And Growlanser To PSP

  Atlus is bringing two “new” PSP games to Japan: Persona and Growlanser. One is a remake, and the other is a port. Persona is a “complete remake” of the 13 year-old PlayStation game. It has more save points, difficulty options, new cutscenes and the game balance adjustments. It will be out in Japan on April…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2009
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  You Seem To Have Got GTAIV In My Google Earth

  Reader Sun Scramble was checking out Google Earth the other day and – on a whim, we’re sure – punched in 40°42’49.23″N, 73°59’51.44″W. Lo and behold, what did he see? A giant GTAIV ad. See for yourself, it’s right there, dominating the nearby streetscape in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Not a bad way to get some free,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2009
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  Musou OROCHI Z Screens Hack-And-Slash Out

  First announced last month, Musou OROCHI Z is a compilation of previous titles Musou OROCHI and Musou OROCHI The Devil King’s Second Coming. Announced for only the PS3, Musou OROCHI Z offers new costumes, new characters, new “dramatic” scenario mode. Musou OROCHI Z is slated for release March 12 in Japan and is priced at…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2009
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  Nintendo Customer Service Training, 80’s Style

  Confession: I used to work at EB Games. Helped people out with Nintendo stuff all the time. Nobody ever, ever offered to bring me a pie. [via Go Nintendo]

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2009
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  Koei Posts Record Sales

  Japanese game maker Koei has recorded record sales — it’s biggest quarterly earnings ever. For period starting April 1, 2008 and ending December 31, 2008, Koei sales were up ¥163 million over the previous period, racking up ¥20.1 billion total. Operating profit was up ¥968 million, posting ¥4.5 billion. Koei saw strong sales for multi-plat…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2009
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  Rocket Slimes Made Of Snow

  A few days London was blanketed in snow. It was the worst snowfall in 18 years. So Kotaku reader Anneka did what any good Kotaku reader would do: She made Rocket Slimes. And four hours later, the illustrator-by-trade had a stack of Slimes. Look at them! They’re terrific. Snow Slimes [The Creative Brainwaves of Anneka…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2009
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  Capcom Sign Up For The PC Gaming Alliance

  The PC Gaming Alliance today welcome two new members into the fold, as publisher Capcom and Southern Methodist University’s Guildhall program signed up to help defend the PC market against “oh, it’s dying” allegations. The Guildhall (already a member, but who are now joining the group’s board) is one of America’s biggest and best game…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2009
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  Let Pac-Man Describe Your Pain

  Spotted on Flickr, this handy chart asks folks to choose the Pac-Man face that best describes how they feel. I’m a little “BERRR-.” You? Pacman Pain [Flickr via technabob]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2009
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  So What’s EA’s Market Share Like These Days?

  EA ain’t what they used to be. Activision are top dogs now, and Nintendo aren’t kidding around either. So let’s see how much of the gaming market in the US & Europe EA still commands. The graph below is fairly self-explanatory. The percentage is the percentage of sales of EA games in relation to total…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2009
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  Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 Is Ready To Kick Your Ass

  Hostesses? Boring! Guys getting hit with a gas tank? So not boring. This batch of Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 images packs a walloping punch. PS3 exclusive Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 hits Japanese retailers February 26.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 3, 2009
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  Shacknews Bought By..GameFly?

  It’s a strange headline, yes, but that’s how the world goes sometimes. Shacknews founder Steve Gibson has revealed that his site has indeed been bought by games rental outlet GameFly. Gibson – who claims the move has nothing to do with money troubles for the site – says of the surprising deal: GameFly has demonstrated…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2009
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  Taito Arcade Hikes Prices 20 Percent [Update]

  Arcade games since the birth of Japanese arcades have been 1 play for ¥100 yen*. Starting this week, that has changed. Sure, players could enjoy older games for ¥50 and some new, deluxe titles charged ¥200 and up. But generally speaking, 1 play was and has been ¥100. Game center Taito Station in Shibuya is…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published February 3, 2009
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  Eric Nylund Writes Something Unrelated To Halo

  Tor Books announced today that they’d be publishing an original novel from Halo and Gears of War writer/story consultant Eric Nylund. Mortal Coils is the first book in a planned five-book series. I’m to understand Nylund did in fact write books before he adapted the Halo series — but this is the author’s first original…

  By AJ Glasser Published February 3, 2009
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  Escapism In The Time Of Layoffs

  The Wall Street Journal has a nice little article up about laid off employees getting into games and social media networks as a way to escape the grim reality that they’re out of a job. Internet games, gambling and other forms of online entertainment have seen significant surges in use in the several months since…

  By AJ Glasser Published February 3, 2009
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  More Battlefield: Bad Company On The Way

  Seems EA’s John Riccitiello didn’t get the memo that the “Battlefield Announcement Event” in the UK had been snowed out, because during this afternoon’s Q309 conference call, he went ahead and announced a new Battlefield game. Sadly for fans of the core series, it’s not one of those games. Instead, it’s a sequel to last…

  By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2009
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  N’Gai, Totilo Take on Howard, Levine at Comic Con

  If you’re going to be at the New York Comic Con later this week, you might want to check out the panel hosted by Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal and MTV’s Stephen Totilo. The two will be talking with Fallout 3’s Toff Howard and BioShock’s Ken Levine in what they’re calling Vs. Mode Live. The one hour…

  By Brian Crecente Published February 3, 2009
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  Major Minor’s Majestic March Brings The Wii Music

  Who could use some brightly colored screen shots to perk up their day? Well, how about some new Major Minor’s Majestic March media? Majesco has 16 new, nearly identical new shots of the game. While the new screens don’t, in any fashion, illustrate any variety in the NanaOn-Sha developed Wii title, they show that creators…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 3, 2009
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  The Godfather II Gets Last Minute Delay From EA

  Electronic Arts big day of delays and disastrous financial news has claimed one more victim: The Godfather II. The sequel won’t make its previously scheduled February ship date, moving to a post-April release. Why? EA’s John Riccitiello says that its moving to Q1 of the company’s 2010 fiscal year, which runs April to June, to…

  By Michael McWhertor Published February 3, 2009