Culture

The Apocalyptic Art Of The Last Of Us [Update]

A collection of concept art and illustrations from the game's development

The Week in Games: Ready Player Two

A modest week for new releases trails the end of E3. New Super Luigi U is the only console release, coming to the Wii U eShop on Thursday. Otherwise, there’s the Jak and Daxter Collection for PS Vita on Tuesday. Tuesday • Knights of Pen & Paper: +1 Edition (PC, Mac) • Jak and Daxter…

Sunday Comics: Smash Brothers

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics, chosen by our readership. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published June 12. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published June…

This Week in the Business: ‘One of Microsoft’s Best E3 Conferences’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “One of Microsoft’s best E3 press conferences to date.”—Analyst Jesse Divnich, talking about Microsoft’s press event at E3, which has been widely panned QUOTE | “[Xbox One has] the computational power of more than 10 Xbox 360 consoles.”—Xbox One engineering manager…

Sure, A Giant Floating Whale, Why Not

A skywhale flew near my house once. True story Xavier Etchepare is a senior concept artist at Ubisoft Montréal, where he’s done stuff like character art and storyboards. He’s worked on games like the Just Dance series, but most of the stuff you’ll see today is either personal or from old/abandoned projects. You can see…

Thief Looks About As Cheerful As A Funeral In The Rain

Not that we expected anything else. I mean, this is Thief. It’s hardly going to be about unicorns and puppies. But still, even by Thief’s standards, this artwork is grim. I’m not sure on who the artists responsible for this are, as like most corporate concept piece dumps prior to a game’s release no credit…

The Art Of Strike Vector

You’d be forgiven for looking at this stuff and thinking it was for a major project, something like Halo 5, or Destiny, or Titanfall. Nope. It’s for a game being made by four people. That game is Strike Vector, and holy shit, how have I never seen this before? It’s a multiplayer air combat game,…

From THQ To Bigger And Better Things

Gerhard Mozsi is an Australian concept artist who got his start working for THQ’s local studio, before moving onto companies like Acony Games and Koch Media (who recently made headlines for buying Saints Row). The last few years, however, Mozsi has been playing to a slightly bigger audience, shifting gears to work on movies like…

The Week in Games: Last and Leaf of All

Animal Crossing: New Leaf released for 3DS today and The Last of Us arrives on an unusual day in North America, on Friday, bracketing all of the hype you’ll see this week from E3. Zeno Clash II is coming to Xbox Live on Wednesday. Today • Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) Wednesday • The Golden…

Sunday Comics: The Original Kings of Comics

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics, chosen by our readership. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. Virtual Shackles by Jeremy Vinar and Mike Fahmie. Published June 5. Read more of Virtual Shackles Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike…

The Week in Games: At Least Someone’s Still Excited About Xbox

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Xbox is the only thing that has investors excited about Microsoft, so it makes little sense to divest.”—Analyst Asif Khan, talking about other analysts’ comments that Microsoft should sell its Xbox business QUOTE | “We could kill this industry if we…

In Destiny, Mars Is Dead (But Also Alive)

Dorje Bellbrook is a concept artist at Bungie, who has previously worked at FASA and Red Storm Entertainment. His Bungie work means he’s been one of the more public contributors to the art we’ve seen so far for Destiny, the studio’s first game since leaving the Halo franchise behind. Indeed, you might recognise the image…

One Thing’s For Sure About Remember Me: Its Art Is Beautiful

Remember Me is one of those rare – and wonderfully so – games thatdivides opinion. Yeah, it’s got some iffy combat, and the platforming’s not so great. But the world developers Dontnod created for it to exist in…just, wow. The Neo-Paris of 2084 is a remarkable place, taking design cues from the obvious – like…

Earthworm Jim, You’re Looking…Different

Emerson Tung is a concept artist who has worked on properties like League of Legends, Warhammer 40K and Transformers, while having also done some stuff with tabletop giants Fantasy Flight Games. He’s currently an artist at mobile gaming company TinyCo. You can see more of Emerson’s stuff at his personal site To see the larger…

2013’s Best Video Game Art Is Beautiful (And Occasionally Bloody)

Into the Pixel is an annual competition which seeks to award and highlight the best video game art in the business. This year’s winners have been announced, and each piece will be showcased during E3 next week. It’s a prestigious competition, one that not only puts the artist and their work on the mantelpiece just…

The Week in Games: It’s Clobberin’ Time

Gazillion’s Diablo-esque Marvel Heroes MMO highlights this week’s typically quiet run-up to E3, accompanied by the all-new, dystopian Remember Me on consoles and PC, and a retail edition of Minecraft for the Xbox 360. Tuesday • Remember Me (360, PS3, PC) • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition (360, PS3, PC) • Crysis 3:…

Sunday Comics: Can’t Touch This

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics, chosen by our readership. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published May 27. Read more of Corpse Run Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published…

Joining last year’s miracle Half-Life 3 onion ring, @joshpav just found this Borderlands logo/Vault symbol in his meal. (As retweeted by Gearbox Software president and CEO Randy Pitchford.)

This Week in the Business: A Billion-Dollar Underestimate

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “I think, candidly, people are way, way under-indexing how hard we’re punching.”—Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft’s Entertainment Division, talking about how Microsoft is ready to invest $1 billion in exclusive Xbox One titles QUOTE | “The optimistic part of me is…

This Japanese KFC Website Might Make You Feel Sick

Nothing like creating fast food websites that can make your customers feel ill! Warning: this post contains imagery that actually might make you dizzy or sick. Are you ready? Here we go: These illustrations are the work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who is a psychology professor at Ritsumeikan University that studies visual perception. Above, you can…