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“Sexist” Commentator Dumped From This Year’s FIFA
Earlier this year, British commentator Andy Gray found himself in hot water over some sexist remarks he made on-air. That normally wouldn’t be that big a deal for us, were it not for the fact he was half the commentary team for top-selling series FIFA At the time, asked whether the controversy would affect his…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 30, 2011 -
World Champion Chess Program Banned For Cheating
The engine which has emerged victorious from the past four World Computer Chess Championships, Rybka, has been banned for cheating. But, uh, how can a computer cheat unless it’s programmed to? The answer lies not in its programming, but in its construction. The International Computer Games Association, which has both an awesome name and which…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 30, 2011 -
Get Your First Look at Resident Evil 4 Running In High Definition
We’ve seen a few screenshots of the upcoming HD re-releases of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Now let’s see a trailer! It’s…yeah, it’s Resident Evil 4. Again.
By Luke Plunkett Published June 30, 2011 -
Kinect is Better Than it Was a Year ago
At E3 in 2009 (and 2010), Microsoft’s Kinect camera was promising, but also glitchy. At E3 2011, it looked more responsive. And there’s a reason for that. Xbox senior product manager David Dennis has said in an interview with Eurogamer “I think like we showed at E3, like Kudo showed with Kinect Fun Labs –…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 30, 2011 -
Some Star Wars Galaxies Players Aren’t Taking the End of their Galaxy Very Well
Star Wars Galaxies, a game that’s probably more notable for how disappointing it was rather than its moderate success, is closing down later this year. For most, it elicits a shrug, but for some fans, it’s grounds for a lawsuit. According to a report on VentureBeat, a band of long-time players is putting together a…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 30, 2011 -
Culture
Tony Holmsten’s Video Game Art Is a Final Fantasy
Tony Holmsten, formerly of Sweden now living in Japan, has been working as a video game artist since 2002 at two of Sweden’s biggest studio’s, Battlefield developers DICE and the now-defunct Grin. In that time, he’s done concept art, level art, promo art and lighting for games like Battlefield 2142, Bionic Commando and Fortress, the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
What If Bayonetta Was More “Western”?
As far as video game characters go, Bayonetta was built with one thing in mind. The suit, the heels, the librarian glasses, all there for sex appeal. But would she have been sexier if she was less “Japanese”? I mean, let’s face it, accent aside (at least in the Western version) she’s still a very…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
Grand Theft Auto IV Really Is a Giant Toybox
Reader forsinain42 has put together this beautiful tilt-shift video showing a day in the life of Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City. Adorable, no? Also makes you appreciate the technical work that went into the game, as it focuses on the things that you may never even realise were even in Liberty City if all…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
Blue Skies, Great Tunes and a Little Metroidvania
Metroidvania. It’s a sub-genre of gaming made famous by, well, Metroid and Castlevania, games renowned for their 2D exploration and backtracking. It’s made a bit of a comeback in recent years, with games like Shadow Complex, but it usually doesn’t look this pretty This is indie game Celestial Mechanica, available now for $5. Made by…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
Europe’s Fancy Big Box of Xenoblade Chronicles
Not to rub salt in the wounds of American fans still fighting for a US release of the game, but really, you should check out the bundle deal that’s being offered in Europe for Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles. It’s great. It includes a copy of the game and a red classic controller. Not the world’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
But WHY is Portal 2’s Music so Great?
One of the highlights of Portal 2, like it was with the first game, is its music. Most will agree that it’s a wonderful soundtrack, perfect to accompany the on-screen action, but just why is that the case? Dan Bruno has an idea, and it uses sound editor Walter Murch’s theory of the “aural spectrum”.…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
LA Noire’s Studio Under Investigation Over Alleged Shonky Work Practices
Brendan McNamara, boss of LA Noire developers Team Bondi, thinks it’s totally reasonable for his staff to be “killing themselves” with long hours because that’s what this business is about. The International Game Developers Association begs to differ. The IGDA, which can serve as a watchdog of sorts for developers, has launched an investigation into…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The PlayStation Controller You Never Got to Use
Yesterday, we looked at the PlayStation controllers that Sony has released (or in the Boomerang’s case seriously intended to release) to the public. Today, we’re looking at one that never made it. Before the PlayStation was released in 1994, development kits had to be sent to studios to ensure games would be ready for the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2011 -
Culture
The inFamous Video Game Art of Wesley Burt
Wesley Burt is a professional concept artist who works for Massive Black, one of the world’s biggest and most successful concept art studios. In his time there he’s worked on games like inFamous, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Borderlands, Red Faction: Guerilla, inFamous 2 and Kane & Lynch 2 This gallery showcases some of his…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 28, 2011 -
Man Behind Marvel Movies Now Behind Angry Birds
The executive producer of blockbuster Marvel movies like Iron Man and Thor is now the executive producer of…any and all upcoming Angry Birds movies. Trading heroes for birds, David Maisel says of his move from Marvel Entertainment to Rovio, developers of the hit mobile game, “The business model, intellectual properties, and the franchise potential of…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 28, 2011 -
Xenoblade Chronicles Suddenly Sounds Very English
This video, of Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles running in English, will be cause for both joy and consternation, depending on where you live. For those in Europe, particularly the British Isles, joy, as you not only see the game with English text, but can hear the English voice-over work as well. And it is very…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 28, 2011
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