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CultureOdds and Ends14 Years Ago Rockstar Ran Weird TV Ads Of Just A Clock Counting Down
Back in 2007, Rockstar Games teased Grand Theft Auto IV with a series of late-night ads that appeared on channels like FX. All the ads amounted to were 30 minutes of watching a clock tick down, with every second punctuated by a gunshot. Young Zack, ever the sucker, fell for the hype hard. Yes, cast…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureOdds and EndsPeeled Pokémon Are Disturbing, But I Can’t Stop Looking
Nothing really prepares you for stumbling upon a Lopunny that has had parts of its fur and flesh peeled off it, leaving a smooth monstrosity. And yet, that happened to me one day on Twitter. Now I can’t stop looking at all the other peeled Pokémon. (Peeled Pokémon gave me permission to share their artwork…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureOdds and EndsThe Division 2, Two Years Later
The Division 2 was released on March 12, 2019, making it just over two years old this week. In that time a lot has happened. Multiple updates, changes, bugs, controversies, teasers, puzzles, and more. Here’s what happened since The Division 2 came out. Even before The Division 2′s 2019 release, it started to stir up…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureOdds and EndsThe Amazing Astro’s Playroom Soundtrack Is Now Streaming Everywhere, Bringing Joy To All
You can now easily listen to “I’m Your GPU” all day, every day. One of the best things about the PS5 wasn’t raytracing graphics or fast loading times. It was Astro’s Playroom, the short, free, and amazing platformer included in every console. And one of the best parts of that game was the killer soundtrack.…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureOdds and EndsMario Kart Speedrunners Are Racing To Blow Themselves Up With Blue Shells
Do you know you can hit yourself with a Blue Shell in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Speedrunners do, and they’re going all out to blow themselves up with the first place-targeting item as quickly as possible. Skilloz, the current world record-holder for the hilariously named “Blue Yourself” category, uploaded a video yesterday (h/t Polygon) showing…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsBloodborne’s Doll Used To Have A Lot More To Say
Everyone’s favorite video game archaeologist Lance McDonald is back with a new Bloodborne video. This time around, he’s exploring unused dialogue for the Doll, the 2015 game’s level up-granting NPC. And while the alternate voice acting is neat, it’s what she used to say that really piqued my interest. Bloodborne, like most From Software games,…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsAstro’s Playroom Composer Shares How That GPU Love Song Became Such A Bop
PlayStation 5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom is full of amazing tracks, but the standout is most definitely its ode to the console’s powerful graphics processing unit (“GPU” to friends). In celebration of the game’s official soundtrack coming out on March 12, composer Kenneth C. M. Young recently shared behind-the-scenes details about the process of bringing his…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsThis Totally Random Guy’s Hollow Knight Cover Is Pretty Good
When you think of terrific musical covers, you probably think of “All Along the Watchtower” or that one screamo cover of Britney’s “Toxic” you heard in high school. A tune that maybe doesn’t come to mind: “Greenpath,” from Hollow Knight’s original soundtrack. Guitarist, bassist, ukulelist, pianist, flautist, clarinetist, saxophonist, wine…glass…ist, drummer, vocalist, shaker player, percussionist,…
By Ari Notis -
CultureOdds and EndsDestiny 2 Players Stomp Alien Ship To Death
The Fallen Skiff never saw it coming. Destiny 2 players have been dodging laser cannon fire from Fallen ships since the series launched. But unlike every other alien thing in the game, they’re not meant to be destroyed, appearing only briefly in-between hyperspace jumps to drop off fresh fodder for the Destiny loot grind. A…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureOdds and EndsSpongeBob Players Discover Filthy Game Discs Make Speedrunning Tricks Easier
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom may be one of the most improbable video games of all time, a licensed project that turned out to be both a great game and a worthwhile challenge for the speedrunning community. But the absurdity doesn’t stop there: SpongeBob speedrunners recently discovered that smudging their Xbox discs could result…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsCrunchy Dreamcast Loading Noises Make For A Charmingly Retro Twitch Stream
Twitch streamers go to great lengths to make their channels unique and interesting, but sometimes separating yourself from the pack is as simple as miking up your console to capture the sounds it makes while loading data from its disc drive. Hungry Goriya is a retro video game collector who regularly showcases her collection on…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsAssassin’s Creed Syndicate Has The Best Ending Of The Series
When I think of Assassin’s Creed games, I often remember big cities, cool assassinations, climbing tall towers, and maybe some sea shanties. Rarely do I remember how these games end because they often have forgettable or boring endings, sometimes with bad boss fights. So Assassin’s Creed Syndicate stands out as an exception with its fantastic…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CultureOdds and EndsMorrowind Mod Lets You Buy Argonian McNuggets
McDonald’s is a massive fast-food empire with 38,695 locations spanning 122 countries. It’s become so ubiquitous in the real world that I’m sure the corporation would investigate franchising opportunities in fictional worlds if it could, even the famously chaotic realm of Tamriel. A recent The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind mod imagines such a scenario, placing…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsSakurai Hides Figures Of Unreleased Smash Bros. Fighters In His Desk At Work
In his latest episode of “Mr. Sakurai Presents”, Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that he often keeps figures of upcoming fighters locked away in a drawer at work while developing them. Not just Amiibo either, but the good stuff. After giving a detailed look at Xenoblade Chronicles 2‘s Pyra and Mythra, who are…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureOdds and EndsAn Ode To My Favorite Flavor Texts
More than the set piece battle or the final showdown between hero and villain, it’s the quieter, smaller moments in video games that get me. In some games, those tiny moments can be a sudden expression on a character’s face or a short piece of dialogue from an inconsequential scene. But more often than not,…
By Ash Parrish
