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  Old News ’97: Sony Forces Nintendo Game Prices Down

  What does every gamer have to thank Sony for? Let’s jump back a dozen years to recall a happy moment when games got cheaper. You are reading Kotaku’s once-weekly (except for QuakeCon weeks and Gamescom weeks – sorry!) journey back to yesteryear. This week, I wanted to find some old price drop news to tie…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 27, 2009
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  Introducing Halo 3: ODST Firefight’s Black Eye

  The latest video documentary from the folks at Bungie give us a look at Halo 3: ODST‘s multiplayer coop firefight mode. Chockful of alien bastards and achievement opportunity, the coop sessions include a number of modes such as the grenade-happy Catch mode and Black Eye, which forces you to melee an alien to get health.…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 27, 2009
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  Star Wars’ Tatooine DLC Now Available For Two Consoles

  Outer-space DLC week continues as Mass Effect’s Pinnacle Station release is followed by the release today of a new mission for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, playable on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The game’s new Tatooine mission is the second DLC level offered since last September. The original took…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 27, 2009
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  You Could Try To Turn Rock Band Into Rap Band (Or Klezmer Band)

  During the demo Harmonix gave me of its new Rock Band Network, I started imagining things: Lots of rap songs in Rock Band. Opera arias in Rock Band. Suddenly it all seems possible for those who want to try it. The Rock Band Network, which I described in detail earlier today, allows people to digitally…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 27, 2009
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  Wet’s “Sick and Sexy” Seventies Soundtrack

  Experimental, edgy, sick, face-melting, musical debauchery: And that’s just about the soundtrack. This short video gives us a taste of how and why the developers decided to go with seventies music for the soundtrack of Bethesda’s upcoming action shooter Wet. Don’t forget, you need to be at least 18 to click that play button or…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 27, 2009
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  Avatar PSP Boosts Avatar PS3

  According to the latest issue of PlayStation the Official Magazine, owners of the PlayStation 3 version of James Cameron’s Avatar game will be able to augment their characters using the PSP version. The PSP installment of James Cameron’s Avatar places the player in the role of one of the giant, blue-skinned Na’vi warriors after the…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 27, 2009
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  Rockstar Finally Shows Beaterator Played In Timbaland’s Hands

  For years Rockstar Games has been developing a PSP successor to Beaterator, its 2005 web-based beat-producing application. Beaterator finally emerges in September. But you can see it in action here on a PSPgo, with music producer Timbaland at the helm. I recently got an advance demo of Beaterator in action and will have coverage of…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 27, 2009
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  Get Action in Three Dimensions with Dissidia: Final Fantasy

  Do you self-identify as a Cosmos person, or are you more of a Chaos-type? Choose your allegiance and enter the endless battle between harmony and discord that is Dissidia: Final Fantasy. In Dissidia: Final Fantasy, the latest 3-D power game from Square Enix, all of your favorite Final Fantasy characters come together to duke it…

  By Chrissie Lamond Published August 27, 2009
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  Microsoft Taking Action Against Those Who Buy and Play Halo 3: ODST Early [Update]

  Microsoft is investigating how copies of next month’s Halo 3: ODST went up for sale at a French retail store, officials told Kotaku. “We are investigating a very small breach in our distribution process around the early delivery of ‘Halo 3: ODST’ units,” a Microsoft spokesman told Kotaku. “We are also investigating Xbox LIVE accounts…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 27, 2009
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  Serious Sam HD Contains “Digital Awesome”

  How are Croteam and Devolver Digital transforming Serious Sam into Serious Sam HD? By injecting it with "Digital Awesome" until it runs at "6,005 polygons per krundle." I have no earthly clue either.

  By Mike Fahey Published August 27, 2009
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  Mass Effect, Joker DLC Asterisks: Play Before You Play

  I had played 29 hours and 56 minutes of Mass Effect, but last night I could not reach the new content in the game’s add-on release, Pinnacle Station. I had forgotten one of the common complications of downloadable content. In this era of common downloadable content releases for big games, it’s worth remembering: You can’t…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 27, 2009
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  Is EA Holding Back PS3 Cross-Game Voice Chat?

  A post on the N4G forums has rumors swirling that PlayStation 3 cross-game voice chat was held back due to threats made by EA. Kotaku spoke to EA and Sony regarding this rumor. The post, written by N4G forum-goer Super_Secret who claims to be a Sony employee, explains that Cross-Game voice chat ran into a…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 27, 2009
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  Here’s What Bethesda Is Bringing To PAX 09

  Bethesda is gearing up for PAX 09 next week, packing up playable demos of upcoming titles and a healthy dose of Brink for the long cross-country trek to Seattle. Brink will be a highlight at Bethesda’s PAX booth this year, with live demonstrations of Splash Damage’s first-person action adventure title being held on an hourly…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 27, 2009
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  Brutal Legend Trophies and Achievements Deliver Heavy Metal Flu

  Brutal Legend is a metal game. So it’s achievements and trophies? Also metal. Take for instance the game’s version of Heavy Metal Flu: Six Degrees of Schafer. “The “Six Degrees of Schafer” Achievement/Trophy is rewarded when you play with or against Tim Schafer in Brutal Legend’s epic multiplayer mode. The achievement is also viral, meaning…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 27, 2009
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  Now You’re Playing With Power

  The Schackelford wedding, as seen on Go Nintendo [Via Bitmob]

  By Brian Crecente Published August 27, 2009
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  Frankenreview: Batman: Arkham Asylum

  Is this it? Do we finally have a Batman game less than a decade old that does the Caped Crusader justice? Excuse us for being skeptical, but after a long string of flops like Batman: The Rise of Sin-Tzu and Batman and Robin, we had pretty much given up hope of there ever being a…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 27, 2009
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  Power To The People: How Rock Band Network Expands The Game, Gets Any Song Online

  This November, the musically inclined among you will be able to turn any music into playable Rock Band music, for profit, in under a month. The game’s developers showed me how, unafraid their populist invention would cost them their jobs. Here comes Rock Band’s public option. Launching on the Xbox 360 in November and coming…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 27, 2009
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  More Level-5 Soccer Anime

  Like soccer cartoons? Good for you. Japanese game developer Level-5 (Dragon Quest VIII, Professor Layton franchise) has spun its soccer role-playing-game Inazuma Eleven into an anime. That anime has aired its first season, and according to Level-5, it will continue for a second season. There is also a manga based on the title. The DS…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 27, 2009
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  A First Look At Two of The PS3’s Newer, Funnier Ads

  As we mentioned yesterday, Sony is on the cusp of launching a brand new ad campaign for their brand new, slimmer, less expensive Playstation 3. What we didn’t mention is how funny they are. Could this be a return to commercials from Sony that not only make sense, but are fun to watch? Check out…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 27, 2009
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  Demo F.E.A.R. 2’s New Single Player Campaign

  PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners can get themselves an early look at the upcoming F.E.A.R. 2 single player DLC today, as Warner Bros. and Monolith release a playable demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn. While we aren’t in the habit of writing up a post every time a new demo hits Xbox Live or the…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 27, 2009