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This “Model Railway” Took over 500,000 Hours to Build
This is the Miniatur Wunderland, in Hamburg, Germany. It sprawls across 1,300 m², filling an entire warehouse. It consists of over 1000 moving vehicles. It took over 500,000 hours to build. And it’s absolutely incredible I mean, come on. Look at those fire engines driving down the road! And the planes taking off and landing…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011 -
The PSP Has Put On a Little Weight
Despite the impending release of its successor, the PlayStation Vita, the PlayStation Portable is going out in Europe with one final model, the dirt-cheap PSP E-1000, priced at a ridiculous €99.99. The savings come at a cost, though, as according to a little review of the PSP’s swansong over at Eurogamer, it’s not exactly built…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011 -
This is the Worst Thing Nintendo Has Ever Done. Ever.
Nintendo has done some awesome things over the years, but it’s done some awful things too. But this, this is the worst. Nintendo of America has spent what’s probably a ton of money to get serious airtime in the video clip for a novelty Christmas single. A Justin Bieber Christmas single. To minimise civilian casualties,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Glory of Atari’s Original Logo
The original logo for the original Atari (as in, not the watered-down ghost we know today) is, for the history-conscious, about as close to a religious symbol as old-school arcade and console gamers are going to get. While the company didn’t invent the video game, it did do more than anyone else in the 1970s…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011 -
Cut Mass Effect 2 Mission Winds Up in Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 2 was meant to feature more Citadel missions than it ultimately wound up with. Rather than see good missions go to waste, developers BioWare will be bringing at least one of them to completion in the upcoming Mass Effect 3 The game’s lead writer Mac Walters told OXM, “There was a Mass Effect…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
Culture
The Killer Concept Art of François Baranger
François Baranger is an artist who works not just on video games, but on some of the biggest Hollywood franchises in recent years, like Harry Potter and GI Joe This being a look at gaming art, though, today we’ll be taking a gander at his work on games like the upcoming Black Death and the…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
Don’t Worry Link, Dragonborn’s Got Your Back
You can never be over-encumbered by a friend who’s got your back. A lovely piece of fan art done for commission by Dan Jones You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
Rock Some Portal Shower Curtains Like it was 1953
Portal’s Aperture Science got its start in 1953 producing shower curtains for the US Army. So it’s poignant that in 2011 the company goes back to its roots, and produces shower curtains for…your bathroom. These curtains don’t talk, don’t sing and don’t flash lights. They’re just curtains. Good, honest curtains. The kind of curtains Cave…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
This PC Developer Doesn’t See the Point in DRM
Marcin Iwinski, CEO of Witcher developers CD Projekt, utters a little common sense as a palette cleanser to Ubisoft’s increasingly farcical stance on PC gaming. Rather than punish legitimate consumers, like much of today’s DRM does, Iwinski instead sees added value as a means of combating piracy, luring customers in with things like collector’s editions…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
First Proper Look at the New Neverwinter Game
It’s no Neverwinter Nights, but the upcoming Neverwinter online game is still Dungeons & Dragons and it’s still Neverwinter. So a first decent look at the game’s engine since E3 (albeit via a rather cinematic trailer) is still in order. There are few things on Earth more agonising than Americans failing to pull off a…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
Germany Gets Around to Banning Dead Island
Zombie paradise action game Dead Island may have been out since early September, but it’s only now that the Germans at the wonderfully-named Federal Department of Media Harmful to Young Persons have got around to banning it. “This isn’t unexpected,” Techland, the developers of the game, told Eurogamer. “Germany has its unique regulations regarding video…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
Your PS3 Will Soon be Ready for the PlayStation Vita [UPDATE]
Later this week, the PS3 will update to a nice, clean, round number: v4.0. Those hoping for something drastic will be disappointed, but there’s still some important work being done under the hood. When it’s pushed live, the PS3 will be able to communicate with the PlayStation Vita, a mildly necessary function since the new…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
See Felicia Day Play As Herself
This must be weird. Nerd starlet Felicia Day, who stars in not just a Dragon Age web series but some Dragon Age II DLC, sits down here to play…Dragon Age II. As herself. Nice to see she has about as much trouble keeping a straight face over the premise as I did. Also nice to…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Inspiration Behind Ico’s Iconic Cover Art
Forget the woeful American cover for a minute, and instead let’s focus on the Japanese and European box art for PS2 classic Ico. It’s as memorable for many as the game itself, with its bold art style and rich colours. So I thought for today’s Total Recall we’d look back at the artist, and one…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2011 -
Wow, That Mario Kart Ad Used Real Mario Karts
The pretty damn amazing Mario Kart 7 ad currently showing looks pretty damn amazing. So amazing that it’d be easy to assume the entire thing, actors aside, was computer generated. But it’s not! As you can see here in these short making-of clips, the ad team built real karts for the action. And didn’t just…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2011 -
Culture
One Last Look at Deus Ex’s Brilliant Concept Art
We’ve looked at it not once, but twice here on Fine Art, but the art of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is so damn good I figured it was worth one more feature. Especially since we’ve got some all-new pieces to share. Good things come in threes, right? Richard Dumont, whose work on the game we…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2011 -
Iran, of all Places, Double-Bans Battlefield 3
To be clear, the legal sale of Battlefield 3 in Iran has never exactly been widespread. But as is the way of the world, “street vendors” had been selling the game anyway, and according to reports that’s resulted in a crackdown from Iranian authorities While many retailers never even bothered stocking the game (in which…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2011 -
Ezio Is Trolling Dating Sites. He’s Very Good.
It’s slightly cruel in a “Bart Simpson vs Ms. Krabappel” kinda way, but equally hilarious: someone has signed up to a dating site using the persona of Assassin’s Creed hero Ezio Auditore, and done what Ezio does best. Seduce the ladies. Some of them understand what’s going on, and are sports about it. Others actually…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2011 -
Gunpoint Looks Like one of 2012’s More Interesting PC Games
Last time we saw indie PC game Gunpoint, I said it looked like “Deus Ex meets Canabalt“. Which after seeing this clip seems a little unfair. It looks way more interesting than that. You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2011 -
Skyrim? There’s An App For That (No, Really)
Dragon Shout is an iPhone app that wants to be your digital journal for Skyrim. And from the sounds of it, may actually pull it off. Billed as an “interactive map”, it’s essentially a giant, zoomable map of the game’s province that lets you drop markers and notes on things like dropped loot, areas for…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2011
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