Cryogenecist Victor Fries dedicates his life to saving his wife Nora from a rare disease, keeping her body frozen in suspended animation as he conducts experiments to try and cure his love. One day an experiment backfires, turning him into the freakish Mr. Freeze, forever confined to temperatures as frigid as his own heart. Like I said, tragic, and even more so when you read through the comics and realize that his poor ice block of a wife might as well have a giant target painted on her chest once everyone figures out what his deal is.

"Put down the freeze gun sir, we've got your wife and a blow-dryer!"
"Noooo!"

Mr Fries does not want a Snuggie for Christmas, incidentally. Such is his tragedy,.

I'm glad the DCU folks have decided to go Patrick Stewart with Fries instead of governor of California-style bad catch-phrase machine. Kill da heroes!

Richard Diamant, ND's lead character artist, was joined by Darcy Korch, Bryan Wynia, Nichol Norman, Behrooz Roozbeh and many others showcasing their work in Zbrush's community forums. You can get a look at the wireframes, textures, environments, matcaps, and, of course, character models forming the source material for this game.

The thread began with Diamant posting some samples, and then his colleagues quickly followed with theirs, to the delight of forum readers. And now, you. Great community outreach by Naughty Dog, even if it wasn't the intent.

Clarification: Calling these assets concepts is inaccurate. Most if not all were actually used for the game or the public promotion of it.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Art Work [Zbrush Central, thanks to reader Anugrah Adams]

Over on the Interplay website, the development team posted that some of the concept art for the still-in-work MMO have been released due to the lawsuit. So they decided to post them in their forums.

"Keep in mind that this is concept art. It's not finalized art, but it will give you a feel for what we are aiming for with V13," Interplay's Chris Taylor wrote.

Welcome to the Concept Art Forum! [Interplay via Duck and Cover]

Sure the game is out in 12 days, but it's Majesco's title and they can set aside a whole month if they want to. Each week they'll be showing off new screens, trailers, and concept art for the game, kicking things off with some concept art showing off the title's lovely hand-drawn art style, along with the official box art. Stay tuned for more A Boy and His Blob as Blob Month continues.

Ensemble of course was the muscle behind a Halo MMO that was greenlighted and then scrapped sometime last year. Cole's pictures (two are on his site) are titled "Halo Universe City," and in his description, Cole capitalizes "Halo Universe" a second time. Could have been a working title of the game. Joystiq also points out it could have been "Universe City." Which itself could have been a placeholder name. Who knows.

Of course it all doesn't matter. The project is kaput. But the pictures are pretty, and tell us a little more about an evolution of this franchise not meant to be. For now.

Halo Project - City Designs [Dylan Cole, via Joystiq]

Saboteur protagonist Sean Devlin may have been inspired by real-life Grand Prix motor racing driver and special agent William Grover-Williams, but Grover-Williams' look didn't quite fit what Pandemic was looking for in terms of a rugged, good-looking main character. Lead designer Tom French and Hunt explored the difficulty they had finding the right look for Sean Devlin during their "Rethinking The WWII Gaming Genre" panel at the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

After the original concept of Tom French wailing on an electric guitar was vetoed, the team tried for something a bit more period appropriate. A nice look, but it was a bit too fragile for their liking.

Then, inspiration struck. Chris Hunt found their hero at a concept artist convention, but it wasn't a piece of art that caught his eye. It was this guy:

"Then we ran into this guy. He had the hat, he had the hair...even him walking around...he was the embodiment of what we wanted, so we approached him, got permission to use his likeness, and now we had the hero we were looking for."

The moral of this story? Always wear a kick-ass hat. You never know when you'll be asked to be the main character in a video game.

The images, especially the one of a hulking Alien, sorta make me glad the project isn't moving forward.

RPG Codex Forums [Via Polygamia]

These concept art shots appeared yesterday on The Cult of Rapture BioShock website, they were presented as a way to sort of get into the heads of the developers at 2K Marin, seeing what they kept and what they scrapped in coming up with the final design for the game's protagonist.

Between the first BioShock and the sequel, you've seen a lot of concept art for Big Daddies. The logic behind this concept art went beyond different designs and suit combinations. The artists had to imagine what the very first Big Daddy would have on him — this Big Daddy had to feel like he was a rough draft or a work-in-progress, an amalgam of Big Daddies to come. The first Big Daddy was a test case, and in making the perfect prototype, 2K Marin drafted many, many prototypes themselves.

Okay, so this one is just a guy in a suit.

You can see the influence of this design a bit in the Big Sister.

Drill? Check. Slouching? Check.

Underwater Mutant Big Daddy Turtles

Almost perfect.

"There was also a slightly larger faction that wanted them to be sexy and wearing skin-tight leather outfits," Long says. That faction might include a sizable percentage of the millions who've played the game since Return to Castle Wolfenstein introduced the Elite Guard.

Wolfenstein will bring back the ladies and give them the standard S/M arsenal - whips, chains, throwing stars - and also give their hooker-y evildoing an additional dimension.

We incorporated the idea of them using the power of the Veil as a weapon to attack BJ and his Faction allies. Along with those deadly Veil powers, the Elite Guard can also create nefarious monsters that they control. When the Elite Guards use the power of the Veil, an evil looking skeletal glow shines through their skin and grows denser as they attack.

You can check out some concept art and get advance word on these enemies' AI through the Wolfenstein blog on IGN. And if you are fortunate to be at E3, the Wolfenstein booth babes will be modeling the Elite Guard look.

Wolfenstein - The Elite Guard [IGN via VE3D]

Deus Ex 3 is a prequel to the other two Deus Ex games. In it, you're Adam Jensen, a private security officer working at a company that develops biomechanical augmentations for the human body, just one stepping stone towards the nanotech augmentations of the other games. Jensen witnesses an attack on his company, and has to investigate. Besides Shanghai, the game will take you to future versions of Detroit, Montreal and two other cities.

Here are some more bitchin images:

[EIDOS Forums]

It's been quite awhile since we've seen anything new from Pandemic's free-roaming World War II adventure game, which is quite obviously looking rather lovely, and I'm not just talking about that top shot. I love the visual style, and don't mind the fact that the game's restoring color to Paris by liberating it from an oppressive regime and giving the citizens hope mechanic makes it a grown-up version of THQ's de Blob for the Nintendo Wii. Besides, you'd never find anything even remotely resembling the scene in the concept art above in de Blob.

L.A.W., or Living After War, takes place after a 2350, after the Earth "Earth has undergone a nuclear war, diastrophism, and 200 years of ice age". Humans fled into space, placing themselves in cryogenic sleep. Upon waking up they return to the planet to rebuild, only to fall into conflict with the mutant 'Niks' who evolved while they were gone.

However, 'Niks' realize their dignity with the emergence of Leader 'Babitus' and escape from humans for freedom and survival. Then, they found a state in the jungle and enter the era of conflict and war against humans over Power Stone, which are the essential materials for survival.

Yes, it's pretty much all that well-written.

Of course the most exciting thing about L.A.W. is that Nitrogen CEO and former lead artist for Diablo II Jang Wook Lee designed it, with help from "A well-known movie director from the Star Wars." What?

The biggest characteristic of L.A.W. is that CEO Lee, who designed 'Diablo,' and a famous director who has worked on many hit movies, including the Star Wars have jointly worked on the conceptual design to use their imaginations to design very unique future scenes.

Wait, he designed Diablo now? I thought he was the lead artist for the second game?

You know what? Normally we don't do this, but I'm going to just go ahead and drop the full press release in here after the concept gallery so you folks can try and piece it together for yourself. Mind you I really do like the concept art they've provided. Just a little confused as to everything else.

Nitrogen releases L.A.W, a stylish action MMORPG for adults!

- CEO Jang Wook Lee, former member of Blizzard USA, challenges the market with L.A.W, MMORPG for adults!

- A well-known movie director from the Star Wars participates in designing concepts for L.A.W!

- L.A.W (Living After War), MMORPG for adults on life in 2350 after a nuclear war!

CEO Jang Wook Lee, who was the lead artist for 'Diablo 2' at Blizzard Entertainment USA, released a stylish action MMORPG for adults on life in 2340 after a nuclear war.

Online game developer Nitrogen (CEO Jang Wook Lee) announced on March 27 that they have completed the alpha test for 'L.A.W (Living After War)', the MMORPG currently in the development process.

L.A.W. has two tribes: humans and mutant 'Niks.' Each tribe has three occupations: 'warrior' that boasts high attack and defense skills and techniques to handle blades, axes, and batons; 'assassin' that specializes in hidden combats using daggers, archery, and long-distance attacks; and 'esper' that can use elemental energy to destroy a certain area, summon combat robots, heal colleagues, and control enemies.

The biggest characteristic of L.A.W. is that CEO Lee, who designed 'Diablo,' and a famous director who has worked on many hit movies, including the Star Wars have jointly worked on the conceptual design to use their imaginations to design very unique future scenes.

Inside the game, players can enjoy combats using flying objects, vehicles, and defensive towers to plunder and attack the other tribe and to defend themselves; hundreds of dungeons, boss monsters, and hunting with parties and guilds; and a new resource stock market system where they can trade futures and engage in spot trading. In particular, the game offers a strong Action Skill Rage System that enables combats with higher levels and a betting system where individuals or groups can place bets through PvP.

CEO Lee of Nitrogen says, "L.A.W. is the real game that is developed for adults, shows a fusion view of the future based on the Earth and the world culture, and invites any adult gamer from all around the world."

L.A.W. BACKGROUND Story
In 2350, the Earth has undergone a nuclear war, diastrophism, and 200 years of ice age. The humans that had fled to the outer space in a spaceship wake up from freeze-sleep and return to the Earth to found a state called "Delka" to rebuild the human civilization. They find that Niks, the mutants that have been created by radioactivity, destroy the authenticity of mankind, and keep them isolated.

However, 'Niks' realize their dignity with the emergence of Leader 'Babitus' and escape from humans for freedom and survival. Then, they found a state in the jungle and enter the era of conflict and war against humans over Power Stone, which are the essential materials for survival.

What' this, a wall full of Brutal Legend concept art? Don't mind if I do!

At Cecil Kim's website you'll find tons of concept art for God of War and God of War II, along with a few choice pieces from the third game in the series, such as this one we have here, depicting the massive Fire Titan. The caption beneath the picture reads, "Fire Titan battles against Zeus and his allies," which really doesn't mean all that much. The really interesting bit is up in the top right corner of the picture, where we see the tiny silhouette of Kratos, displaying just how titanic the Titans really are. How Cecil's concept translates into the final game remains to be see, but it gives us a good indicator of what they're shooting for.

Be sure to check out Kim's other work, which includes a lovely bunch of artwork from Final Fantasy IX, my favorite of the PlayStation-era Final Fantasy games.

Fire Titan [Cecil Kim's Website via MTV Multiplayer]

Titan was, it appears, a game set to be in development by now defunct studio Stormfront. The Playstation 3 game appeared to be about a giant robot in space.

According to notes found in some of the art, it looks like the Titan Robot has different "physiques". The Atlas physique is described as "heroic yet squat and powerful". The Kong physique is an "ape-like design" with a "powerful upper body for mining work, short legs for low center of gravity, has the air of a useful pet." The Demon physique is a "distorted organic design, perhaps suggestive of alien influence."

Other images show off creatures found in the game's universe, like a Selenite worm, a cluster of crystals that can sprout a prehensile protrusion and attack people. The Electric Amathyst rolls around on crystal arms and attacks with electric sparks. The Rock Roller is a ball of spikes that can change shapes.

As we mentioned earlier, the site also has images from two dead-in-the-water Lionhead games.

Lionhead's Survivors looks to be about the people who survive some sort of catastrophic meteor shower or comet.

Justice, another set of concept art for Lionhead, features lots of images of someone shooting it out with futuristic police. My money is on a futuristic take on Prison Break or The Fugitive.

The fact that these images are all available for perusal and the ones for Killzone 2 aren't yet leads me to believe that these are all projects that will never be created. But they're still fun to check out.

Leading Light Design [Thanks Adem]

It's easy to forget the creativity involved in crafting something so involved and so immersive. Fortunately, a new book by one of the industry's most influential group of concept artists will be hitting in mid January to remind us that art is an integral part of video game development.

I just got my hands on an early copy of Massive Black Volume One. The 190-page art book is packed with oil paintings, 3D renderings, sketches and hand drawn concept art from the folks at Massive Black. The book will sell for $60 to $120, depending on whether you want it signed or to get a free piece of original art with it.

Inside my copy of the book I found art for a number of video games titles including Golden Axe : Beast Rider, Hellgate London, Dragon Age: Origins, Ironman, Maelstrom, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Ride to Hell, Dead Head Fred, Saboteur and Area 51. There are even a few bits of art from unreleased projects and some movie and graphic novel concept art.

But the art, as glorious and illuminated as it is, isn't the greatest thing about this book. What really makes this a must have is that it offers gamers a tantalizing glimpse into the world of what could have been.

You see, concept art, no matter how good, doesn't guarantee a successful game. Developers may ignore the art, may take a different direction, or maybe they follow it to a T, but the game itself, because of poor mechanics or bad design or uninspired writing, plain out sucks.

This book offers you a chance to visit a place free of commercial concerns. You can look at that first piece of art found between the black covers of this book and see a world of talking Polar Bears, of a sisterhood of witches, a frozen land of religious battles, and not even realize that it must surely be art used for Activision's take on Golden Compass, a game that was eventually developed by Shiny and published by Sega.

This book delivers to readers the gift of dreaming, imagining the games that could have been had they only relied solely on the vision of artists and never were waylaid by bean counters and schedule keepers.

Massive Black: Volume 1 Our Art Book is Done

As you may be aware, the studio I worked for (Free Radical) has just effectively gone bust. I had a great time working there and met some fantastic people along the way. Anyway, this is just to say that I'm currently looking for work. I've attached a bunch of images covering some of the things I've been up to recently. My skills include low and high poly modelling, texturing, digital sculpting and concepting.

Skills indeed. If you're a studio looking for talent, Nick's your guy. Now hit the jump and join with us in mourning what may never be.

Maybe we should do more of these resumes of sorts for those laid off in the industry.

Nick Carver [Thanks Ryan]

Five days ago, in an unexpected terrorist attack, the entire shipment of liquid-soap for Europe was hijacked - hundreds of lorries diverted towards Paris and their contents spilled over French capital. The scenes were horrifying - millions of Frenchmen who hadn't washed in decades screaming as they were forcibly cleansed.

That Videogame Blog points out that concept artist Ben Mauro recently put up a nice collection of concept images for a "proposed sequel to BioShock."

Mauro told the site that these are just personal images he created for an art class he was taking. The assignment, he says, was to design a sequel for a video game or movie.

Too bad, because it's some pretty amazing stuff. I liked it so much I sent a link to Ken Levine to see what he thought. Haven't heard back yet.

It almost looks as if Mauro was thinking prequel when he did this art. Perhaps this shows the making of Rapture? Check out the link for images of his tram system.

Mid-Term Update... [Perpetual Motion, via That Videogame Blog]