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As much as I lovekooky import titles, for some reason I never expect the next one coming around the corner to out-weird the previous. It’s as if I learned absolutely nothing from theCho AnikisandRhythmTengokusof the world. Anyway, enterDS Wantame Uranai Channel, where you apparently play minigames in the style ofWario Ware,but with small dogs that are dressed up in various costumes. I am convinced that somewhere in Tokyo, there are a cluster of Japanese game designers who are making these games because there is astrongmarket for them....

Readers and people onReddithave found some vague connections in the indie games that make up thePotato Sackpack on Steam. Connections that may or may not be part of a Valve alternate reality game (ARG). These supposed connections that people are theorizing about have been collected on awiki, where people are going over all the changes that were patched into games for the ‘PotatoFoolsDay’ madness, in order to find hints of Valve projects like Portal 2 or possibly ‘part 3 of a game that shall not be named to maintain sanity....

If you didn’t know, Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. That’s why this week’s downloadable content update forLittleBigPlanetis far more odd than usual. As a gift to their fans, Media Molecule has developed a slick-looking turkey helmet for your Sackboy. The content is completely free and available via the PlayStation Store this afternoon. We wonder if Sackboy enjoys the splendor of getting first-hand knowledge of turkey anatomy. The second piece of content is slightly cooler, but will cost you some change....

[Update: Contest closed! Winners were Mark Griffiths, Gaidenrider, Zanyruki, Tron and Masterledz!]

The upcoming gameGuitar Hero: Smash Hits, a best-of track collection from previousGuitar Herogames, comes with a smashing set of…drumsticks. That’s right: crap drumsticks with the game’s logo on them. Can’t wait. This comes as anexclusive pre-order item at GameStop. Online customers will have the sticks shipped with the game, while in-store customers can pick them up on the way out. The game drops on June 16th, so you’ll need to get your game pre-ordered before then....

Itwasrumored yesterdaythat Microsoft was working on an overhauled Xbox 360 with a new D-Pad, and now the company has confirmed that yes, the ratty little squirt of plastic shite that we currently have (in my opinion) is getting a bit of an improvement. Only slightly, though. “The Xbox 360 Wireless Controller with Play & Charge Kit — with Transforming D-pad will be available beginning early 2011 in the UK,” a spokesman toldCVG....

sings PvZ song You love this game, and you probably already have it on two or more platforms, but get it again this week at a nice discount for your Xbox 360. PopCap’s brilliant lawn defense game wants your brains this week for only 800 Microsoft Points, down from 1,200. That’s 33 percent off for this Xbox LiveDeal of the Week, now at $10. Xbox Live Gold members can nab this deal onPlants vs....

In case you suffered memory loss between the time you read this post’s headline to the moment you starting reading this sentence, allow me to reiterate: The 12th Annual Independent Games Festival isnow taking submissionsfor the main and student showcase competitions. With upwards of $40,000 in cold hard cash up for grabs and the opportunity to stand out in the indie game scene, we can expect to see another IGF packed full of neat-looking games that’ll have us saying “ooohh,” and possibly even “ahhhhh” if we’re lucky....

Yes, you read that ludicrous number correctly. 28,981,249,043 zombies have been shot, battered, exploded and otherwise massacred sinceLeft 4 Dead 2launched last November. If you’re not very good at numbers, that’s over 28 billion zombies. It’s a zombie apocalypse alright. Valve officially put that into perspective, if you’re still struggling to cope with the magnitude: Let mealsoput this in perspective by saying that thatLeft 4 Dead 2has seen more death than the Holocaust, with 28,975,249,043 more kills under its belt....

What is the official name? Beats me. We’ll likely have to wait until E3 to hear that. But a recent financial call with Satoru Iwata let us know that “3DS” is not the name of their upcoming 3D enabled portable game system. “We’ve said that it will be released during this term, so the announcement of the formal name will not be too far off,” the Nintendo president told investors....

We all have a pretty good idea of how the upcoming Nintendo 3DS is going to work, but I’m sure many of us have more detailed technical questions that go beyond the basic functionality. IGN rounded up a bunch of questions and sent them along to Nintendo for answers. Not all of the questions got great answers (typical Nintendo), but there’s some interesting details in this list. MP3: One of the most interesting facts is that developers are free to use the 3DS MP3 playback functionality as they wish....

[Editor’s note: SurplusGamer talks about his attempt at making a videogame at the young age of seven for hisA Time to BuildMonthly Musing topic. — CTZ] This topic had me stumped for a couple of hours, not because I couldn’t think of anything to write, but because there are toomanythings I could say on this subject. Gaming has been a part of my life for as long as I remember. Not only that, but as soon as I began to think about the fact that games are things actually made by real people, rather than materializing out of thin air, that whole process of creation has fascinated me....

Evil publisher Activision has laid outits nefarious planto makeModern Warfare 2the best selling game of all time. Since Activision routinely sacrifices lambs and children to satisfy bargains with the Old Gods, it will likely get what it wants, too. “Each year theCall of Dutyfranchise goes from strength-to-strength,” said brand manager and thrall Simon Wells. “We want to propel this year’s title to be the biggest selling video game of all time....