Katanas meet Kalashnikovs for PC gamers in this Thursday's release of Shadow Warrior 2. We're just a few days out from its launch, but new rounds of Steam key deals are surfacing, some as high as 27% off.

Shadow Warrior 2 Pre-Order Deals

• Shadow Warrior 2 (Steam) — $29.25 at GMG  (list price $40)
  Must login and use coupon: VIP5
• Shadow Warrior 2 (Steam) — $31.99 at DLGamer  (list price $40)
• Shadow Warrior 2 - Deluxe Edition (Steam) — $39.97 at DLGamer  (list price $50)

There are two retailers most prominently promoting discounts on Shadow Warrior 2: Green Man Gaming and DLGamer. GMG is only selling the Standard Edition but has the best discount. At GMG, after logging in and using coupon code VIP5, you'll drop to the price from $40 to $29.25 for a 27% price break -- an uncommonly high discount for a pre-order.

If you want the more expensive Deluxe Edition of Shadow Warrior 2, check out DLGamer. There you'll see a 22% drop to $39.97, which is the best price online from an authorized retailer.

The Deluxe Edition of the game is entirely meant for big fans of the Shadow Warrior experience. In the Deluxe, you'll get a digital art book, soundtrack, and a pack of three gold skins: Gold Ninja Skin, Gold Katana, and Gold MP7. We're not sure if that's worth an extra $10, but if you want to bling it out in the game, the option is there.

PC gamers get first dibs on Shadow Warrior 2 with Thursday's impending launch date. The console versions will go live in early 2017.

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Last week we held the first ever Kotaku + io9 Cosplay Ball in New York. It was great. Loads of cool people, loads of amazing outfits. Here are some photos to make you wish you were there (unless you were there, in which case, thanks for coming!).

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In recent years, we've been trained not to expect to be able to just "play a game."

There's a whole process involved between the various installs and content patches and system updates, one that can sometimes but not always be helped by buying digitally and pre-loading. I need to remind myself of that, and to remain patient, in light of this week's PlayStation VR launch.

Sony has put out a setup guide for the device, and it's spread across three videos. The narrator has some personality, at least! And if you don't need to know what's in the box, you can skip the first one.

In his PlayStation VR hardware review, Chris clocked the cord wrangling, curtain closing, cleaning up, and general setup as taking about half an hour, or "roughly the same amount of time as the Oculus (which was the easiest to setup in my experience), and less time than the HTC Vive."

We'll have more coverage of the launch lineup later in the week week as Chris recharges and I get my kit in. In the meantime, I have made it my mission to win a headset for Brett through Taco Bell without actually eating at Taco Bell. It... isn't going great so far. Perhaps you'll have better luck.

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This live-action comedy short by Corridor Digital has a very special co-star: Steven Ogg, the guy who voiced Trevor in Grand Theft Auto V, plays a live-action version of the same character.

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Most of the board games I play with my crew are fairly recent, but on the weekend we dove into our pile of shame and played our first round of Battlestar Galactica. It either went very badly or very well, depending on how much hate and mistrust you like in your board games.

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StarCraft II's third and final expansion, the Protoss-themed Legacy of the Void, came out a little less than a year ago. Since then, players looking to freshen up their game could play a Nova-centric side story, but that's about it. 

Since Legacy came out, Carbot Animations has been hard at work on a total conversion that cartoonifies all StarCraft II units and buildings, making them look like something you might see in a Behemoth game. It doesn't change the gameplay at all, just the visuals and audio. Called the Star Crafts Mod, it's harder to describe than you'd think, so have a look at the video.

The Star Crafts Mod is intended to inject a little humor into StarCraft II, including a dedicated button you can use to literally throw hunks of cheese at your opponent. The team got their start making animated videos set in the StarCraft universe. The videos' popularity led them to begin experimenting with converting the game's appearance, and they set up an Indiegogo page to fund work on the mod over a year ago.

This mod won't work in Ladder games, but you can play it by yourself or against friends. If you'd like to try it out before it officially releases, you can do so here. The mod will be freely available to all StarCraft II players starting tomorrow, and does not require the base game to play. If you'd prefer to wait, you'll be able to find it in StarCraft II's Arcade mode by typing "Star Crafts Mod" into the search browser.

This mod makes Starcraft 2 look like an awesome cartoon [DSOGaming]
The Star Crafts Mod [Indiegogo] 

(Thanks to Robert for the tip!)

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Two Elite: Dangerous players have managed to reach the top of the galaxy. “It is the very top,” said one, who goes by the name Dr Kaii. “There are no stars above at all.”

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Election Day is coming up on November 8, 2016. And in many states, the deadline to register to vote is soon. As in, today or tomorrow. If you’re not registered yet, you can go to Vote.org which will help guide you through the process. Or you can take a look at our list below and find your state.

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Players purchasing the physical copy of Mafia III’s PC Deluxe Edition through retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are not receiving activation codes for the game, leaving them unable to play.

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I have only watched this 15-minute video of the beginning of Shadow Warrior 2, and I am already emotionally invested. That's because some dickhead picked up a bunny mid-hump and chucked him at a car. Now that bunny is dead and I am sad. I'm a sucker for the cute and cuddly type.

The only acceptable revenge will be for protagonist Lo Wang to kill everything that's not cute and cuddly. I'm not sure those are his exact motivations, but they're my motivations. I can ignore the entirety of the narrative and commit demon genocide in honor of the fallen Bunnicula if I want. That's how video games work.

We'll soon learn how Wang's next murder spree turned out. Reviews will be posted early on the morning of Shadow Warrior 2's October 13 release. However, there's no restriction on streams, videos, or other kinds of footage which is how we end up with this grisly gameplay clip.

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Today on Highlight Reel we have Mafia III glitches galore, good Tracer taunt timing, Totally Accurate Battle Simulations, deeply depressing gameplay, and much more.

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So here's one hell of a weird game coming to PS4's virtual reality headset: Polybius

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As part of Bethesda's QuakeCon festivities in early August, we were treated to a new trailer for Prey. It kind of had gameplay, but it moreso had exposition. Whatever. Anything that gets us closer to figuring out what Prey is will always be welcomed.

Today, we have a rehash of that very trailer. Bethesda released "Official Gameplay Trailer -- Version 2, Another Yu." It's the same trailer, shot for shot and line for line, but with a woman's voice.

Prey's protagonist is Morgan Yu, a person with an intentionally androgynous name. That's because Prey affords the opportunity to choose whether to play as a man or a woman. For those who select the latter, this is what she sounds like.

Regardless of who you choose and how these trailers are framed, it's time we learn something more about Prey. A lot of this game still seems to be shrouded in mystery and 2017 isn't nearly as far away as it feels.

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I’m still working my way through Mafia III for our review, but I can tell you this much: It’s glitchy. Damn glitchy.

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_{[Images credits]}

One of the two most famous politicians in the world is largely defined by their capacity for anger and arrogance. The other is defined by their strength and confidence. Which is which? The answer there probably depends on who you ask. More specifically, it depends on which of the two candidates you more closely relate with. 

I see the current presidential candidates as polar opposites, each the culmination of two separate parallel paths our society has taken in the past 20 years. On one hand, you have the first woman candidate for the president of the United States. On the other, you have the first presidential candidate since the dawn of modern politics who has never held an elected office in his lifetime. One is a lifetime feminist, working to influence the powers that be to meet that philosophy's ends. The other is a lifetime businessman, working at every turn to amass as much power and wealth for himself as possible, all for no greater purpose beyond self-fulfillment. 

Hillary Clinton made it to where she is today thanks to society's continued march to understanding that women are just as worthy of stardom, leadership, and responsibility as men. Conversely, Donald Trump could not have made it this far if it weren't for popular culture's long-building fascination and glorification of stories about powerful men behaving like sociopaths. From one angle, the conflict between these two forces looks like a stern, no-fun Grandma scolding a precocious, rascally bad boy for his "locker room talk." From another angle, it looks like an atrocious, entitled narcissist is threatening to put a woman in jail because she dared to stand up to him and his endless pursuit for power.

The only thing these two perspectives have in common is they allow little to no room for any sort of collaboration between the players at hand. Seeing this all play out in 90 minutes of television gave me sad flashbacks to what it's been like to write for a video game blog for the past two or so years.

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Marvel gave a lucky few fans (and the odd journalist) a 15 minute preview of Doctor Strange today in London, and as the first people in the world to see anything more than the trailers, the reactions to come out of the preview are a good indication of what we can expect

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PlayStation VR is easier to get up and running than much of its competition, but that doesn't mean it's a simple process

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The hunt for info on Overwatch’s next hero, a stealthy hacker named Sombra, has brought over 7,000 fans into Blizzard’s alternate reality game (ARG). But some bystanders have become unwilling participants in the ARG as well, as players hungry for Overwatch’s hacker have partaken in some hacking of their own.

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Some leaked Battlefield 1 gameplay of "The Runner" mission found its way onto YouTube (from a streamer, to VG247's Turkey outlet , to another YouTuber who gave it some minor edits for length) and now EA has pulled it down

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I recently spoke to Dishonored 2's level designer Christophe carrier who interestingly talked quite a lot about VR, saying that "we’re thinking about it" in reference to Arkane's supernatural stealth-em-up

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Devil's Third wasn't everything I hoped it would be, but I saw the skeleton of a great action game underneath all that muck. Maybe with a remaster on another console that fixed the technical issues and the plodding pacing of the campaign, it would have fared much better critically (I know what you're thinking, there is a PC edition, but it's a free-to-play multiplayer-only joint).

Yet, even with its poor sales worldwide (it didn't even hit the top 40 UK chart at launch), Valhalla Game Studios is still kicking. They're not only trying to salvage their IP on PC, but they've also trademarked "Fog of War," which could be an entirely new project.

As much as Itagaki's name has been dragged through the mud, I hope he bounces back from this and comes out with something great -- the world could use more action games. A lot of eastern developers are working with Sony on the PS4 because of the obvious installbase, and much like Kojima, he could leverage that.

Fog of War [EUIPO via NeoGAF]

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A surprise feature buried in the new PlayStation 4 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider appears to show just how much of your real-life playing area can be tracked by Sony’s new PS VR set-up.

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We’ve all been positively salivating for an update about what happened between Negan’s baseball bat and our favourite band of morally-skewed survivors, and now AMC has answered our prayers and bestowed upon us a huge four-minute long sneak peek of the first scene from The Walking Dead season 7

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Nintendo was a bit confusing with their announcement of the Pokemon Volcanion distribution event in the US.

Although some literature had Volcanion datedfor "October 1," that was only for select GameStop locations, as the distribution cards hadn't been rolled out nationally yet -- plus, the codes themselves weren't even live until October 10. Now the day has come though, and you can go pick up your Volcanion, all the way after its leak in November of 2013.

I've spoken to multiple sources at GameStop that state if an employee requires you to pre-order to get Volcanion, that it's against store policy as there's nothing in the corporate memo that says that. Be firm and note that it's not the case, or better yet, just call your local stores until you find one that is willing to just give them out. If a store does run out, ask them to print the code on a receipt.

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Some games are universal -- Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto, for instance, are popular in almost every country despite being different from each other in nearly every way. Pokémon Go is also a hit everywhere except, not surprisingly, Russia. After checking game streams against regions, YouTube researchers found that many games are popular in some regions and a not at all in others, though. For instance, Madden NFL '16 is uniquely popular in the US, which is not a shocker for such a regional sport.

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The best price ever on Amazon’s Fire HD 6, pants for all, and a discounted carpet steamer lead off Monday’s best deals.

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The remastered version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has gone gold in advance of its October 28 release, and Bethesda has released the recommended PC specs for running the prettier version of the 2011 RPG.

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We're not sure how but Gears of War 4 kind of just crept up on us. Oh it's releasing tomorrow? One of the biggest Xbox exclusive title? No biggie.

"Sudden" appearance aside, fans thinking of picking up the latest fifth installment in the Gears of War series are in for a last chance deal as preload has been alive and well since late September. The early heads up is probably appreciated given the file size is a giant 54GB. If you're looking for that one last pre-purchase incentive, your last respite on a Gears of War 4 deal would be located at the Microsoft Store.

• Gears of War 4 + $10 Gift Code (Xbox One/PC Download) — $59.99
• Note: PC cross-buy/play is only for Windows 10 with "anniversary update"

At the official retailer, you can pick up a Gears of War 4 Xbox One digital code for list price with a bonus $10 gift code thrown in as an additional pre-order bonus. Those on Windows 10 PC who are interested in the title can also pick up the same deal, given Gears of War 4 is an Xbox Play Anywhere title that'll run on Windows 10 machine too.

Even if you're not into Windows 10, cross-buy is a good thing in our opinion so you don't need to pay multiple times for the same game. For those on a Windows 10 rig wondering about the game's system requirement, check here.

If you're still on the sideline and you're just now remembering about this game as we are - you can check the review here before you toss your cash at Microsoft.

The $10 gift code expires midnight when the game goes live and out of pre-order phase. Included in the deal is the "Brothers to the End" Elite Gear Pack pre-order bonus which features Old Man Marcus, Tomorrow Anya, Zombie Dom along with two weapon skins. Another pack included is the "Vintage Del" Pack which comes with Vintage Del, emblem, two related weapon skins plus a bounty.

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We've got an official title and villain for Wolverine 3 - my bad, it's Logan now - which means it's time to move on to more substantial teases

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Iron Fist, the next Marvel hero headed to Netflix, has a brand new, kung-fu-infused trailer

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The part of 2015 Xbox One game Rise of the Tomb Raider that will be new to all gamers this week is Blood Ties, an expansion being bundled with Tuesday’s PS4 release of the game and being offered as paid $10 DLC (or part of the season pass) for Xbox One and PC. It’s mostly a Tomb Raider version of Gone Home.

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Bandai Namco has finally given us a firm release date for Tales of Berseria, which was released this past August in Japan.

It'll be arriving on January 24 on PS4, and January 27 on Steam in the west. That's "2017" for all you calendar-challenged folks like me, who will be writing "2015" still on everything and hoping no one notices.

Naturally there's a special edition planned, which is limited to 10,000 copies and packs in all sorts of goodies like 8-bit keychains, cards, figures, an audio CD, strategy guide, a novel (!), and a steelbook case. You have to give it to these Japanese-minted special editions -- they're generally much better than western ones that sometimes don't even come with the game.

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Hold onto your horses because images of Sombra, the newest hero to be added to Overwatch, have been leaked online via Twitter

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World of Final Fantasy arrives later this month, bringing piles of pint-sized creatures to two different PlayStation platforms. Square Enix has put together a pair of videos showing off differences in graphics and loading times between the PS4 and Vita versions of the game.

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Eylerwain is a cosplayer from Belarus who has put together fantastic outfits for Dragon Age,  StarCraft and Skyrim.

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