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Our Lady of the Mushroom Kingdom Turns Mario Into Religious Iconography
French artist Soasig Chamaillard has taken some standard images of Catholic worship – statues of Mary – and jazzed them up a little, adding a pop culture focus to something that was once purely spiritual. While some may rightly find these a little offensive (you have been warned), others will find them oddly charming. Except…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Star Wars Meets Total Recall in the Crossover of my Dreams
Oh man. You know that Skyrim x Star Wars fantasy helmet from yesterday? The one for a charity drive? Take a look at this one, from the same showcase. It’s the same premise: take Boba Fett’s helmet and do something else with it. Only this one’s gone a little more left-field and has blended the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Culture
The Beautiful Final Fantasy Art of Yoshitaka Amano
Say the name “Yoshitaka Amano” to a longtime Final Fantasy fan and they may well go all weird behind the eyes, before telling you how much better the games were when he was designing things. I don’t know about that – the current “buckles on EVERYTHING” aesthetic has its fans as well – but there’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Everything You Need to Know About the Wii U, at a Glance
Need to know the fundamentals of Nintendo’s upcoming console but don’t like, I don’t know, scrolling? Or looking at tables? This infographic, listing all the Wii U’s publicly-released specs, has you covered. It comes courtesy of Nintendo Europe, and breaks down both exterior components as well as some of the console’s internal specs. Wii U…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Awful Things Happen When You Try to Make a Video About Video Game Stereotypes
Anita Sarkeesian thought it would be a good idea to make a video series called Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. It would be about, well, the tropes developers resort to when portraying women in video games. Stuff like armour that doesn’t actually cover anything To help market the idea, she set up a Kickstarter…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
How Well do You Know Your 90s Video Games?
Reader Saybox has made this terrific timewaster of a browser game, which tests your 90s game knowledge by asking you to “name that tune”. There are 93 games in total listed, and if you’re stuck, there are a limited number of hints you can get. I have little shame in saying I could get less…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Wii U’s Awesome Zombie Shooter is (Sort of) a Reboot of a 1986 PC Game
ZombiU was one of the surprises of E3, taking the boring old zombie shooter idea and using the Wii U’s controller to make something new. The thing is, ZombiU might not be as new as you think. While Ubisoft didn’t trumpet the fact (only mentioning it briefly to attendees waiting for their E3 press conference…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Comparing Assassin’s Creed III on PS3 and Wii U
That might seem an odd thing to ask given we’re still months away from the game’s release, but thanks to the fact Ubisoft showed the same level at E3 on the two consoles, we can actually get a good (if early, and imperfect) look at how the Wii U is shaping up as far as…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Half-Life’s Agonising Remake Still On, New Screens Released
In development for around eight years now, the fan-made remake of the original Half-Life, known as Black Mesa, is almost a punchline for the torment followers of the series as a whole are feeling at its lack of updates. The developers of the project are still plugging away, though, and have this morning released a…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Why Does a Game About a Little Kid Need to be Scary? Can’t it be Fun, Like This?
Among the Sleep got people talking last month when it was first shown off, because it was about a horror game starring a toddler. Interesting premise, but as the parent of a toddler myself, it also got me thinking. My daughter is just shy of two years old, and while she’s had the odd nightmare…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Dudes, Pokémon and a Ginger Superstar Headline This Week’s Cosplay Roundup
Look at that Lizardman, from Soulcalibur III. Just look at him. That’s not a statue. That’s cosplay. Is there a word we can use that goes beyond cosplay? Because that’s what this would be. Apparently, the right arm on the thing was “fake”; instead, the wearer’s actual right arm was inside the suit, and was…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Culture
From StarCraft to WarCraft, This Concept Art Certainly Knows its Crafts
Concept artist Graven Tung has, in over a decade working in the field, provided pieces for clients such as Blizzard, where he worked on both StarCraft II – right down to Gabriel Tosh concert posters – and World of Warcraft’s three major expansions. He also did some work on SOCOM II, as well as driving…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Sega’s Game Gear is EATING ALL THE BATTERIES
Slightly away from the chaos of E3, but still in LA, last week Giant Robot held another of its Game Over exhibitions, showcasing video game-themed pieces from some of the world’s (well, internet’s) favourite artists. Many of the originals, which you can see in the gallery below, are still available for sale if you’ve got…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
Street Fighter’s Characters Take a Punch (or Three) to the Face
There was a silver lining to the dark, black clouds of defeat after you lost a Street Fighter II round: the post-game chit-chat. While the after-match quotes and character portraits are a fighting game staple, Street Fighter’s really went to town by showing the loser with a face that looked like a side of chopped…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
Because Portal 2 Always Needed to Look More Like Ren & Stimpy
There’s already at least one Portal cartoon in production. That one, however, looks like something Dreamworks would come up with. If you’d rather a Portal cartoon look more like something Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi would dream up, though, you might want to take a look at these. These pieces are the work of…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
As Close to a LEGO Inception Game as We’re Ever Going to Get
We’ll never see LEGO and Traveller’s Tales team up to do an official game based on Inception. Which is a pity. Still, this fan-made clip has all the humour (and quality) you’d expect if they ever came to their senses and did Put together by a team of students, the video took 12 weeks to…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
God of War’s Bronzed Edition is Not For American (or European) Eyes
Gamers in Latin America often get the shaft, either in terms of availability or price (or sometimes both!), so it’s nice to see Sony working with the market to give them something nice This is the God of War: Omega Edition, and includes all three God of War console games in the one box, alongside…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
This Star Wars x Skyrim Crossover Turns Boba Fett Into the Dragonborn
In lieu of a Star Wars vs Skyrim comics series, ala Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator, I’m more than happy to call this boutique helmet project the finest idea for a crossover between the two franchises. It’s a helmet designed and built by master craftsman Harrison Krix, and is designed around a simple…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
League of Legends Hacked, Names & Emails Stolen
League of Legends developers Riot Games have issued a statement detailing a recent breach of some of the company’s servers, resulting in the theft of player information. The EU West and EU Nordic & East databases were accessed in the intrusion, and Riot says that while no payment or billing info was taken, what was…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
Meet the Next Generation of Graphics: Unreal Engine 4
Epic tonight gave the world its first look at Unreal Engine 4, the skeleton that – if this generation of hardware is anything to go by – a lot of your next-gen games are going to be built around. Company president Mike Capps has told Spike that Epic has a “couple” of next gen games…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 8, 2012
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