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  Kotaku’s Game of the Year Finalists

  I went through yesterday’s list of nominations for our annual Game of the Year awards and tallied the games to come up with a short list of finalists for us to vote on. Three categories had ties, so I went back and polled Kotaku Tower to select which of those games should make the list.…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 31, 2008
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  Megaten Online Open Beta Is Open

  Time to put on some skinny clothes, land wrangle yourself up a choice demon as Aeria announces the open beta for Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online. The online version of the Shin Megami Tensei series is open to all comers, with gameplay just three short steps away. Just create an account on AeriaGames.com, download the…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 31, 2008
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  Jaffe: Gears of War 2 Versus God of War 3, PS3 Versus Wii

  Famed Playstation developer David Jaffe may seem like an odd choice for guest developer for our in-game podcast about the Xbox 360’s Gears of War 2. We actually did invite Gears developer Cliff Bleszinski, but his handlers said he was too busy. But Jaffe certainly wasn’t some sort of alternate or sub, as the head…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 31, 2008
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  Oh, 2009, Hi

  To: Crecente From: Luke Re: The Goaties Gonna keep this brief, because I’m drunk, drunk, drunk. Anyway, it’s 2009 here already. Ticked over a few hours ago. So…happy new year! What’s 2008 like, still kickin’ it? Here’s what you missed: An In-Depth Resident Evil 5 Demo Graphical Comparison DIY Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming On The…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 31, 2008
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  These Are The 20 Best Street Fighter IV Players In Japan

  Street Fighter IV records player’s points totals, as well as their overall win/loss ratio. Which means people can compare their skills from a distance. It also means we can compile “best of” charts! Which is exactly what this list is, courtesy of the fanatics over at fighting board Shoryuken. These twenty guys are, according to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 31, 2008
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  American Consoles Use Enough Power In A Year To Run San Diego

  This year, the National Resources Defense Council took a look at how much power is consumed running America’s gaming consoles. Their findings? That America’s gaming consoles suck up a whole lotta juice. In total, consoles used up an estimated 16 billion kilowatthours per year. Which equates to around $1 billion worth of power. Which is…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 31, 2008
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  Pirate Baby’s Energy Drink Commercial

  Paul Robertson can do no wrong. As evidenced by his latest work, this commercial for Syke, an energy drink that may or may not be real. Way marketing is these days, its hard to tell. [via Offworld]

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 31, 2008
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  Getting Slayer In GH: Metallica Was Tough, Tough, Tough

  Perhaps the most promising thing about Guitar Hero Metallica isn’t Metallica themselves, but the slew of accompanying artists that are also appearing in the game. One of those is Slayer. And getting Slayer was tough. Despite “Raining Blood” already making an appearance in the series, courtesy of Guitar Hero III, Metallica drummer/public spokeshole Lars Ulrich…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 31, 2008
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  Alone With The Darth

  New Year’s is around the corner, and what better way to spend it with Darth. Love the glasses. This entry is from reader Chris. Thanks for this, Chris! We’re giving away a copy of Alone in the Dark to one of you reader people. Here’s the contest: Make your own Alone in the Dark boxart.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 31, 2008
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  Square Enix Says Future Unreal Engine Use Will be “Case-By-Case”

  Instead of using an in-house engine Square Enix used the Unreal Engine for The Last Remnant. This was a first for the company, and how was that? The game’s art director Yusuke Naora said it was “certainly slow going at first,” but the team got the hang of using the engine. “We were able to…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 31, 2008
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  This Was The First Zelda-Free Year In a Decade

  Feeling left out by Nintendo’s mad dash for cash, but can’t quite work out why? How about this: 2008 will be the first year in a decade that a new Zelda game wasn’t released. Amazing, no? Yet it’s true, as evidenced by this handy chart thrown together by the team at TGR: 1998 – Legend…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 30, 2008
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  Door to Door Salesman Nabs DS

  A thief pretending to be a door-to-door salesman peddling make-up was able to enter a UK resident’s home and swipe a Nintendo DS reports the Clacton and Frinton Gazette. The newspaper advises: “To guard themselves against distraction burglars residents should make sure front and back doors are locked at all times, look for logos on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 30, 2008
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  Who’s Asking If Games Are Art Now?

  The London Review of Books! John Lanchester questions whether the medium is “art” for the literary publication, now three decades old, and comes away conflicted, if positive about the present and future of games. Lanchester, writing in a way that eases the typical London Review of Books reader into the scary world of video games,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008
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  More Like LittleBugPlanet (Sorry, Sorry)

  According to some upset posters over on the official LittleBigPlanet forums, the Metal Gear Solid DLC released for the game last week didn’t just bring good times. It brought bad, content-erasing times as well. Some users are complaining that, after purchasing the Metal Gear content, their singleplayer progress through the pack was erased. Sucky, but…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 30, 2008
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  GameStop Crime Spree Sweeps Sacramento

  We’re not sure what technically quantifies a “spree” but five armed robberies at video game stores in Sacramento, four of them GameStops, makes us think we’ve got a full blown spree on our hands. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, a pair of armed robbers, one sporting a shot gun, has been hitting area…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008
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  Hot Hachi Koi Lotion Application Gameplay

  Electronic Arts (of Japan!) wants to get its mitts on that naughty, forbidden flesh-flirting gameplay previously explored in games like Doki Doki Majo Shinpan, expanding the “Touch! Generation” with some “Touch Yourself! Generation” tactics. The game is Hachi Koi, a romantic adventure sim that requires the wooing, and occasional touching, of girls who are totally…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008
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  Japan’s Best Selling Games Of 2008 Are…

  …dominated by Nintendo. Even though it didn’t claim the best selling game in Japan this year—Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G did—it published more than half of the games in the top thirty. Additionally, over twenty of them were created for either the Wii or Nintendo DS, a fact that will probably ease Nintendo’s pain…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008
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  A LBP Level Your Mother Wouldn’t Approve Of

  Click to viewHere’s a video of an unpublished, user-created level from LittleBigPlanet. And there’s a reason why it continues to go unpublished. The level contains images of penises, semen, people defecating, and, among other things, a penis-shaped rocket car. So enjoy, and yes, this is very NSFW. LittleBigPlanet Reviews

  By Jim Reilly Published December 30, 2008
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  Lara Croft Downloadable Wet Suit Alert!

  Clearly, Eidos does not “get” the business of microtransactions, because it’s giving away a downloadable wet suit pack for Tomb Raider Underworld for free. Insanity! This won’t make investors happy. But giving them away for free they are, seemingly as a promotion to light a fire under Xbox 360 owners to pick up the latest…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008
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  DIY Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming On The Cheap

  If you’re the proud new owner of an Xbox 360, you might have come to the realization that Microsoft is hornswaggling you on wireless connectivity. No wi-fi built in, no $99 wireless adapter, no problem. Popular Science points us to a quick and dirty DIY option for unwiring your Xbox 360, using the freeware DD-WRT…

  By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008