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Halo 3: Pre-Order Halo 3 At ... 7-11?
My heart trilled a little bit at this slightly blurry, but you get the point image that Al Yang took and gave us the heads up about, mostly because it would be nice if US 7-11s were as much of 'one stop shops' as their Asian counterparts (I don't foresee the Hello Kitty/Doraemon magnet trend making the leap any time soon, but stranger things have happened). You can also catch a glimpse of the Halo-themed cup over at his blog.

AFAS: Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Aliens
Konami produced the Aliens game for arcades in 1990, nearly four years after the James Cameron directed movie of the same name. The game was loosely based on the film and players could choose between two different player characters, Lieutenant Ripley or Corporal Hicks although there was no difference between the two except for the graphics. It could be played with up to two people and was controlled with a joystick and two buttons. It was mainly a side scrolling shooter although a few levels had a switched perspective with the characters moving forward down long hallways. The controls were pretty simple with one button letting you fire while standing and the other button allowing you to fire while crouching. Players worked their way through six different levels such as the Factory, the Queen Alien's den and the Battle Ship Sulaco. Different Aliens would try and impede your progress each with it's own attacks. Extra weapons could be collected throughout the different levels as...

Bioshocked: 'The Mechanics of Choice' - BioShock, Little Sisters, and Gameplay
In the wake of BioShock has come more than a few thought-provoking posts from various corners - I've become more interested since my boyfriend picked up a copy and I've been watching to see what happens next (any game that uses Django Reinhardt in the soundtrack gets mega-bonus points from me) - and some of the most interesting takes have been coming from Leigh Alexander (the writer behind the Aberrant Gamer column at GameSetWatch, Sexy Videogameland and Worlds In Motion). Most recently? Some musings on the 'mechanics of choice' in games - plenty of people have clamored for more choice, more options, more chances to control a character's destiny in games. But as Alexander points out, most of the choices are superficial, cost-benefit decisions at best, not making a huge difference in what happens, but (perhaps more importantly) in a well-planned and well-designed games, they can seriously impact how it feels to play the game.Could it be though, that we as players have been...

The Sims: The 'Ghostly Eroticism' of the Sims
While the heyday of the Sims has passed, Kieron Gillen has posted a (lengthy) piece on 'Sex and the Sims' over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun - an essay that was supposed to be included in a project that was cancelled a while back. It's a meditation on (of course) sex and the Sims, but more broadly about connection and interaction with games. Well worth a read if you have the time, even if you're one of those people who never quite got the appeal ...The magic of The Sims is that you are both in control and not in control. You can live out your fantasies, imprinting on these fictional characters, deciding what they'll do next, but you can't be sure if it'll all turn out okay. In the moment between ordering a Sim to kiss and seeing the response... that's where the erotic sparks. It's not the animation that's the pay-off - but that you were accepted, the seduction worked, they wanted you after all. And it's not that you've kissed someone, but you know who that person is due to having...

It's Expanded!: Guild Wars: Eye of the North Goes Live
Guild Wars: Eye of the North, the first expansion for the Guild Wars franchise has officially gone live. The popular subscription-free title has been around for a few years now and this new expansion has loads of new material. 18 multi-level dungeons 50 new skills across all 10 Guild Wars professions 10 new Heroes 40 new armor sets New items, weapons, and titles.With Guild Wars 2 right around the corner, NCSoft and AreaNet have promised that players will be able to transfer the characters they've been working on smoothly from the previous incarnations to the new version with all their accomplishments in tact. I have to commend NCSoft and AreaNet for creating all this new content and continuing to keep it subscription free. After all, you paid for the game, why should you have to pay a monthly fee to actually play it? All of the Guild Wars games, including Eye of the North can be purchased at your local game store or downloaded from the NCSoft Website.

Investment: Game Outsourcing in China Could Reach $2.5 Billion By 2011
It's no secret that companies from all over the world are dumping money into China, both by setting up their own offices and studios, and by partnering up with local Chinese companies to get work done and games made. The promise of lower production costs and a foothold into the quickly growing, potentially extremely lucrative Chinese market are drawing firms and venture capitalists. Now that art and design elements coming out of China are reaching "world-class levels," the fact that Chinese companies have a better handle on Chinese culture (my favorite recently seen job posting for a game planner included the requirement of a degree in Chines history, literature, or related fields) and local markets means that many companies are formidable competitors and partners indeed. [Winking Entertainment CEO Gary Zhang] remembers that even three years ago foreign companies had their online games outsourced in China because of its low production costs. But now it is not only about...

Clips: Folklore: Capturing Id
The demo for Folklore came out while I was at PAX last weekend so and I haven't gotten a chance to sit down with it yet. Luckily on one of my early press arrival days I slipped over to the Sony booth to check it out and it is a really beautiful game. When I talked to the Sony rep about it he told me that they didn't have the same kind of advertising budget on all their games and that unfortunately, Folklore was flying under the radar a bit. It really is a shame because it seems (from the little bit that I played) to be a pretty cool game. This video shows off the capturing of the Id which is essentially stealing the powers from the Folk and using them for your own. The capturing is done using the Sixaxis to wrestle the Id out of the enemies with bigger creatures requiring a bit more tugging and pulling. Make the jump to check out a couple more videos including a comic book style cut scene and a battle using the Id in to bring a big boss down.

Crafts: Get Your Warhawk Papercraft On
Reader David S., knowing we here at Kotaku go through periods of fondness for papercraft, passed on the tidbit that the Warhawk website is now offering papercraft for your downloading and putting together pleasure. First up is the Eucadian Warhawk, with promises of more patterns and instructions in the coming weeks.I've always liked the little scale models of machinery and weaponry from games, but my crafting prowess is confined to embroidery and quilting. Perhaps if any Kotakuites make the effort to put this one together, you can let us know how it turns out.Official Warhawk website - under Media/Downloads

Arcade Flyers: TAFA September Update
The Arcade Flyer Archive update for September is in with tons of new flyers in all three archives. The video game section is especially exciting this time around because Dan went to a lot of trouble to get his hands on some amazing flyers from Japan including Out Run, Art of Fighting 2, Fatal Fury Special and Ikari Warriors. The Arcade & Amusement section is featuring some nice olde tyme shuffle and bowling type game flyers and the Pinball Archive has got some great new pieces with the likes of Buck Rogers, Judge Dredd and Q-Bert's Quest. Whether you're a long time fan of TAFA or a newcomer, there's plenty of stuff here to keep you occupied. Dig deep and you're sure to find some gems.The Arcade Flyer Archive September Update [TAFA]

Competitions: Even Mongolia Makes A Bid For E-Sports Glory
When I think of Mongolia, I think of rather extreme climate, grasslands, and really pretty scenery - not rising stars in the Asian game tournament world. But a couple of Mongolian gamers are hoping to challenge Korea and China for dominance, at least in East Asia (and, I would presume, not in the realm of StarCraft): Mongolia's fielding a gaming team for the 2nd Asian Indoor Games, taking place in Macau from 26 October to 3 November this year. And despite going up against the big guys, they really want to take home the gold - Mongolia's actual soccer team may fall flat in competition, but Lkhagvasuren Byambasuren is planning on taking home the gold when it comes to the game version.At a testing event in August, Byambasuren won gold, so he can lay some claim to being a front-runner. "I play for my country because the Mongolian real-life soccer team is not very successful," says Byambasuren. "I want to be the best player in Asia, or even in the world" ....This dream team will...

Free At Last, Free At Last: Command & Conquer Gold Free For Download
To celebrate the 12th Anniversary of the Command & Conquer franchise, Electronic Arts is offering a FREE download of the original game that started it all, Command and Conquer (Gold Edition). the game is Windows XP compatible and is the same version that came with the Command & Conquer: The First Decade collector's edition. Free downloads are always great but it sounds like there are a few steps to get the thing to actually work. But Kotaku readers are a clever lot and I'm sure you will be able to figure it all out with the help of EA's handy dandy instruction manual available on the site. They also hint at some surprises to come over the next few weeks, so if you are a C&C fan, it looks like September will be a banner month for you.Command & Conquer Free Download [EA][Thanks, thornado9]

Originals: Kotaku Originals: Return Of The Revenge Of The Cons
It was another week of cons here at Kotaku Originals! The boys drink their way through Leipzig, I struggle to keep up with PAX and Crecente gets a PSP2K.My New Elite 360The Mother Of All QuiltsPSP2K Playing Video and GamesPSP 2K Video WalkthroughSome Menu Differences on the PSP2KRock Band Vs. RealityPSP Slim in the HouseThe Wii Bar UnveiledWarhawk's Jabra HeadsetThe Snazzy Warhawk Book/Journal/ThingA Blackout!Splash Damage Talks Quake Wars and KarmaXbox 360 Repairs Slow to CrawlCall of Duty 4: DS Hands-OnA Wii Bar to Drink and PlayNerd Magazine Hands OnOrcs & Elves DS Hands-On ImpressionsThe Simpsons Game Co-op Hands On ImpressionsHideo, Igarashi, Doak GatherKillzone 2 Hands OnLeipzig Uber Round-UpGames For Windows Live Maybe, PhysX Not So MuchDavid Reeves Shows Off Go!Explore For The PSPPlay TV On PS3 ExplainedIGN Brings Hammer Down On BioShock Queue JumpersDaglow Defines Next-Gen (Hint: It's Wii, WoW & Guitar Hero)New 360 Core Coming to U.S. This HolidaySecond Life...