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  Report: Air Jordan on Cover, Possibly Playable in NBA 2K11

  ESPN, citing multiple unnamed sources, says 2K Sports is pursuing basketball’s greatest player ever, Michael Jordan, for the cover of NBA 2K11 and may have plans to feature him as a playable character in the game. Jon Robinson, ESPN’s sports gaming columnist, adds that he’s “heard whispers” that 2K has been in negotiations with Jordan’s…

  By Owen Good Published May 26, 2010
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  This Is More Likely How The World Ends

  We can daydream about alien invasion, killer robots, and rampaging genetic mutations, but the world is more likely to go on until something like this happens: the death of a star. Sure, we’ll all be long-dead by the time it happens, but it’s nice to image that our sun will look nearly as pretty as…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  There’s a New Mario in Town

  Super Mario Galaxy 2 is now the highest rated video game in history… at least according to Game Rankings and its penchant for number crunching and outliers-inclusive averaging. It was a good run 1998’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, don’t let the door hit you in the ass.

  By Brian Crecente Published May 26, 2010
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  ModNation Racers Creator Talks Playing, Creating, And Sharing Beer

  Find out how cake and beer helped one studio produce the massive creative racing engine that is ModNation Racers in this week’s Kotaku Talk Radio Podcast, now available for download. United Front Games’ Dan Sochan took your calls today about ModNation Racers, the newly-released create-your-own racing game for the PlayStation 3. Hell, he even took…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  Let’s Discuss Alan Wake Episode Five – Now

  We are up to Alan Wake’s fifth episode and a well-lit room. Time to talk about a few things. -How’s the gameplay holding up for everyone? Enough variety? I’d already played a preview version of the game, which included the spotlight moment on the dam. So that was spoiled for me. There is just enough…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 26, 2010
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  You Apparently Have Something Against Puppets

  Thanks to all who voted in our Split/Second Faux Destructo Contest. Basically, you released a lot of pent-up aggression by envisioning a Split/Second-esque race car slamming through various otherwise serene TV show sets. All 5 winners below! Fifth Place/Fourth Place (Tie): Little House on the Prairie and A PBS Fundraiser Rolling through an unoccupied lean-to…

  By Gawkercreative Published May 26, 2010
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  Half-Life 2 Comes To Mac, Gets New Graphics, New Achievements

  As promised, Half-Life 2 has come to the Mac as part of Valve’s weekly updates to the Steam library. PC gamers are also in for an update, as the classic first-person shooter gets a few new tweaks. Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two are now available via Steam on Mac,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 26, 2010
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  How Many Free PSP Go Games Does Europe Need?

  Europe has been on the receiving end of great PSP Go game bundles since the device launched in October of last year, and they’re only getting better, with Sony soon offering ten free big-name titles to Euro Go purchasers. It seems like Sony has always pushed the PSP Go stronger in Europe than it has…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  Video Games, I’ve Let You Down

  It’s hard to explain your favorite games to people who don’t play them, isn’t it? Well, if you think that’s tough, wait ‘til you hear about the time I played Fallout 3 with my parents. Around the time the game launched, they came down to visit me in Brooklyn from Massachusetts. As my dad had…

  Leigh Alexander Published May 26, 2010
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  Report: Project Natal To Cost Too Much Money

  Would you pay $149 USD for Project Natal? According to a report from Edge, that’s what current Xbox 360 owners should expect to pay when the much-hyped motion sensing camera from Microsoft launches later this year. Edge, citing a “trusted source,” the same individual who fed the outlet details on Gears of War 3’s coming…

  By Michael McWhertor Published May 26, 2010
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  Game Design as Make-Believe: Depiction vs Narration

  Based upon part six of the Mimesis as Make-Believe serial. In Walton’s make-believe theory of representation, there are in effect two different ways in which representations can be constructed: they may be perceptual in nature i.e. making use of one or more of our senses, in which case they are considered a depiction, or they…

  By Lauren Orsini Published May 26, 2010
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  Guild Wars 2 Character Creation Asks Personal Questions

  Selecting your race, class, and look is just the beginning of character creation in Guild Wars 2, with a series of biographical follow-up questions that determine how your personal story unfolds. ArenaNet wants to make Guild Wars 2 unlike any other massively-multiplayer online role-playing game out there, and that all starts with character creation. Borrowing…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  Xbox Boss Has A Very Excellent House

  Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, lives in this house. I think this qualifies as a Gold-tier home. Definitely not Silver. I came across this aerial view of Mattrick’s Vancouver abode during some reporting and researching involving yesterday’s Microsoft executive shake-up. Mattrick’s still at Microsoft. In fact, he now not only runs the Xbox…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 26, 2010
• Reviews

  ModNation Racers Review: Where The Vinyl Meets The Road

  The PlayStation 3 Play Create Share initiative takes to the streets with ModNation Racers, the urban vinyl-fueled kart racer from United Front Games. Let’s take it for a spin. ModNation Racer takes the same creative spirit found in the PlayStation 3’s LittleBigPlanet and applies it to the kart racing genre, providing players with the tools…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  History of Social Games

  Social games aren’t new–they’re just games you play with other people. Social games began about 5000 years ago. With some help from the team at Disruptor Beam, we’ve put together a little chart that traces the history of social games from its origins in Ancient Egypt all the way to the present. I’m using the…

  By Lauren Orsini Published May 26, 2010
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  Get Your ModNation Racers On Live with Game’s Creators

  Our review of the Playstation 3’s ModNation Racers won’t be hitting for another hour or so, so why not take the time to talk to the folks behind the game on Kotaku Talk Radio? United Front’s Dan Sochan will hang out with us for one hour, taking your calls about anything you want to know…

  By Brian Crecente Published May 26, 2010
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  Sony Still Teasing North America With Final Fantasy IX

  Garnet wants to be kidnapped right away, and while that’s all fine and good in Europe, where Final Fantasy IX is now available for purchase on the PlayStation Network, here in North America we must ignore her desperate pleas. Japan got a PlayStation Network version of Final Fantasy IX on May 20, and now the…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  Mafia II Collector’s Edition

  2K Games reveals the Mafia II Collector’s Edition, a Steelbook case filled with the game, a hardcover art book, a soundtrack CD, and a tear-resistant map of Empire Bay, as well as free access to the Made Man DLC, with two new cars and matching outfits for Vito. Check out the Mafia II preorder page…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010
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  BioShock, Zelda and Left 4 Dead Never Looked This Cute

  shysuiko enjoys drawing little Chibi versions of video game characters in her spare time. The style normally isn’t my favourite, but when it’s applied to Andrew Ryan and a Hunter from Left 4 Dead, I can come around. She’s drawn series of characters from Left 4 Dead, BioShock, Zelda, Silent Hill, Odin Sphere and even…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 26, 2010
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  Kane & Lynch Play Cops And Robbers

  Following up the original game’s Fragile Alliance, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days makes some Cops and Robbers action. You have and five cohorts have four minutes to steal four million dollars. You’d best hustle. Cops and Robbers is a 12-person team-based multiplayer mode that sounds a lot like the first game’s Fragile Alliance, which…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 26, 2010