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Pokemon is a strange franchise in that it's constantly leapfrogging itself. Earlier games in the series can connect to later games, allowing you to transfer pokemon you've already captured. From a player perspective, it's nice to know that all of that work getting your Gyarados up to level 50 didn't go to waste. Unfortunately, playing with leveled-up pokemon from previous games has taken a lot of the spirit out of recent releases.

Why even bother hunting for new pokemon when you've already got a squad of all-stars? This thought probably occurred to the developers of "Pokemon Black" and "White," as, for the first time in a long while, players won't be able to transfer old pokemon to the new game. At least, not until they reach a certain milestone.

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Tags nintendo, Pokemon, pokemon black, pokemon white

If you're one of the many people who have been enjoying "Dead Space 2" in the past week, you've probably had the thought cross your mind at one moment or another that it would make a great sci-fi/horror movie. The game's creepy atmosphere, abundance of jump scares and overly convoluted narrative make it perfect fodder for a genre film. You're not alone in this thinking; Ian Milham, the game's co-creator, is actively thinking about it right now.

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Tags dead space, dead space 2, ea, electronic arts, visceral games

The long, slow march to the release of NGP -- hell, the proper naming of NGP -- continues with drips and drabs of information. The latest comes from two sources out of Japan, and both speak to the device itself and how it will play nice (or not) with Sony's back catalog of PlayStation Portable UMD releases.

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Tags kaz hirai, sony

Imagine for a moment a world where "Grand Theft Auto" never existed. Would Rockstar Games still be the force that they are today? Would "Call of Duty: Black Ops" have been named 2010's Game of the Year? Hell, would Jack Thompson still be lawyering? We'll never know for sure, but former DMA Design (the original "GTA" dev) programmer Gary Penn told Gamasutra in a recent interview that the release of the series' first game almost didn't happen.

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Tags grand theft auto

The first of what is supposed to be many upcoming DLC offerings for "Call of Duty: Black Ops" arrives on Xbox Live Marketplace sometime after midnight tonight, the "First Strike" Map Pack, which includes three new competitive multiplayer maps and a new co-op map for the game's zombie mode, called "Ascension." A bunch of new details about the zombie map emerged over the weekend and there's some exciting stuff you'll want to hear more about. Especially... SPACE MONKEYS!!

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Tags activision, call of duty: black ops, first strike map pack, treyarch

People like "Angry Birds." People have bought many copies of "Angry Birds." But up until now, "Angry Birds" has been a strictly "Angry Birds"-only affair. That is to say, other companies haven't really gotten in on the "Angry Birds" phenomenon. It's a bit surprising, given how easy it would be to toss in a Coke-branded bird or a Boar's Head Ham-themed pig. Apparently someone realized that there's money to be made, though, as Rovio is working on a new installment to the franchise, titled "Angry Birds Rio," which is tied in to the upcoming animated film, "Rio."

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Tags angry birds, angry birds rio, roviomobile

If you play "World of Warcraft" then you probably know that grinding out tens of hours in the game isn't the only way to find fame and fortune in Azeroth. There are shady entrepreneurs out there who will accept actual money from players in exchange for in-game gold. Not only is the practice illegal, it also leads to headaches for players when they find an inbox full of spam. Now Blizzard is striking back.

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Tags activision, blizzard, paypal, world of warcraft

Over the years, several ridiculous Monty Python games have been released, with varied quality. The latest attempt, "Monty Python's Cow Tossing," latches onto the seemingly unstoppable machine that is "Angry Birds," albeit with more of a focus on humor and cows. Incredibly, the concept actually makes slightly more sense than the premise of "Angry Birds": You're a French knight battling back English forces attempting to sack your castle. The good news? You've got a catapult. The bad news? Your only ammunition appears to be farm animals.

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Tags monty python, monty python's cow tossing

Developer Pop Quiz is a weekly interview series in which we ask developers from around the industry the same 10 questions and post their responses.

Amateur game development may have never payed off as well as it did for Wright Bagwell, the Creative Director at Visceral Games, developer of this week's biggest release, "Dead Space 2." The release of "Quake" overtook Bagwell's life, forcing him to leave a promising career in neuroscience behind, setting him on a path that would eventually end up on the USG Ishimura.

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Tags dead space, dead space 2, ea, visceral games

You might remember a week or so back when a flood of information cascaded across the Internet about Nintendo's upcoming new handheld gaming platform, the 3DS. You read it, you thought about it, you probably commented on it, and now you've moved on to acquainting yourself with Sony's NPG. Right? Well hold up: there's more to be learned about the 3DS and its features, as Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed during a recent investors briefing.

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Tags nintendo, Satoru Iwata