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Soak in The Beauty of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII‘s Concept Art

Final Fantasy XIII heroine returns with, well, Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The game is set in the world of Nobus Partus, 13 days from its demise. Here is a first look—a first good look—at the game’s stunning concept art. The urban setting of Luxerion looks very intriguing. Check it out in the gallery above.…

By Brian Ashcraft Published August 31, 2012

Culture

A Backpacker’s Guide to Warhammer 40K, Part 7: Churches

You’re about to see some of the work of Carlo Balassu, an artist who spent over six years at RTS masters Relic before moving onto a freelance career that spans both games and film. In addition to undisclosed projects on both side of that fence, he’s worked on pretty much everything Relic has released in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Life, and Death, of PC Gaming’s Most Famous Cover Star

You might not have played the game, but if you’ve ever walked into a video game store in your life, you’ll recognise the face: that of the Chessmaster, star of 1986 game The Chessmaster 2000. That first game, developed by The Software Toolworks, would lead to a series that would span decades, with the last…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Namco’s Badass Retro Arcade Game Logos

I do love me some arcade marquees. The colours, the hand-drawn art, it’s all so very Roger Dean. This set are from Namco, before the company merged with Bandai, and could just as easily have worked as the logos for mid-80s thrash bands. Which is equally awesome. Namco Arcade Logos [VGJunk] Total Recall is a…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012

Culture

The Art Of Dishonored

It’s not every day you get to look forward to a game featuring the work of, among others, Half-Life 2 legend Viktor Antonov Developed by Arkane and published by Bethesda, Dishonored will be out on PC, 360 and PS3 in October. To see the larger pics in all their glory (or so you can save…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Super Nintendo’s Greatest Weapon Was Its Secret Spinning Tech

While in most areas the SNES and Mega Drive were similar enough, Nintendo’s one secret weapon – that Sega couldn’t match – was its Mode 7 technology. Allowing different “layers” on the screen to be rotated, it was usually used to move the “ground” separately from the background, and is perhaps most famously employed in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

You Are Getting Old. Street Fighter Just Turned 25.

On August 30, 1987, the very first Street Fighter game was released by Capcom. Making today the series’ 25th birthday. My God. How depressing. Not for Capcom or Street Fighter, of course. For them, it’s party time. But for most of us who grew up button-smashing our way through combos, it’s a stark reminder that…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Your NES Could Have Had a Keyboard And Wireless Controllers

In the mid-80s, thanks to the success of platforms like the C64 and MSX, video game machines that could double as personal computers were hot. So it’s understandable that, ahead of Nintendo’s entry into the North American console market, the company was thinking that its first US machine might need to be more than just…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 29, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

World of Warcraft’s 2001 Reveal Feels Like a Different Age

The year was 2001. Rather than battling evil computers on white-washed spaceships, we were instead still living on Earth playing PC games, and stuck in that awkward phase between the pre-WoW Blizzard and its post-StarCraft efforts. That phase is perfectly illustrated here in this cover feature in the sadly now-defunct CGW magazine, giving the world…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 29, 2012

Culture

Cancelled Crytek Game Looked More Alan Wake Than Crysis

French artist Eric Cochonneau, formerly of Killzone developers Guerilla and Electronic Arts, has also worked at Crytek, where around 2008 he helped out on a game called Redemption which was ultimately never released. Or even seen publicly. Until today. NeoGAF user miladesn was digging around Cochonneau’s portfolio when they discovered the artwork, intended for an…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

Culture

And Suddenly I Wish The Next Assassin’s Creed Was a Western

If you can be bothered going back through the Fine Art archives, you’ll see that artists either currently or formerly employed at Ubisoft make up a disproportionate number of those showcased. The simple explanation for that is that Ubisoft hires a lot of talented artists, but there’s a little more to it than that. For…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How Assassin’s Creed Was Made

Assassin’s Creed is easily one of the most successful and genuinely new properties to emerge from this console generation. But were it not for a few key changes here and there, things could have ended up entirely differently. Edge has a great feature up detailing the story behind the making of the first game in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

One Man’s Journey From Warehouse Worker to Nintendo Legend

Howard Phillips might not be as big a name in Nintendo history as men like Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Gunpei Yokoi. But his story is just as interesting, and the story of his role in the company’s American invasion of the 1980s is one all Nintendo fans should enjoy. Speaking with Phillips – who…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

Culture

Because You Need to See More Bums & Strippers From the Star Wars Universe

That old Ben Kenobi really was a damn fool. Mos Eisley wasn’t the galaxy’s most wretched hive of scum and villainy. It wasn’t even Tatooine’s (um, Jabba’s Palace?)! No, you want scummy villains, you head to the planet where all the action is: Coruscant. This concept art from the upcoming Star Wars 1313 revels in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 26, 2012

Culture

The Week in Games: The August Wind is a Raider

It’s an unusually robust week considering it’s one dominated by two huge names—Guild Wars 2, which becomes available to everyone on Tuesday, and Madden NFL 13, on shelves the same day. There are three collections available for PlayStation 3, plus downloadable content and downloadable titles on all major services. Tuesday • Madden NFL 13 (Xbox…

By Owen Good Published August 26, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Bone-Headed

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik published Aug. 20.—Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Aug. 20.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…

By Owen Good Published August 26, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Consoles May Quickly Go the Way of the Dinosaurs.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Consoles may quickly go the way of the dinosaurs.”—Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim, talking about console developers and how they need to go free-to-play QUOTE | “I don’t believe an Xbox 360 price cut is imminent.”—Jesse Divnich, game analyst for EEDAR,…

By Steve Peterson Published August 25, 2012

Culture

Art That Brings The Mass Effect Universe (And Beyond) To Life

Adding to the ranks of people who worked on the Mass Effect series that we’ve featured here on Fine Art, tonight we turn the spotlight on Finnish artist Mikko Kinnunen. Though focusing solely on his Mass Effect work, amazing as it is, would be selling him short. Having also worked for companies like Paramount Pictures…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Ten of the Best/Worst Examples of Retro PC Box Art

I’m not normally one to indulge in “TOP TEN THINGS OF THIS THING” lists, but when they involve badass box art from 1980s and 90s PC games, I can’t help it. Topless Robot put together their list of “10 Insanely Badass DOS Game Boxes”, and it’s good reading, mostly because they know the worth of…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How Nintendo Got The Prettiest Zelda Game of All Looking So Damn Pretty

If you’ve got the capability right now, whether on GameCube, Wii or even PC, go put Wind Waker on. And just look at it. Soak up how a video game released almost a decade ago still looks like it could have come out yesterday. Once you’re done, ask yourself “how did Nintendo do that?”. Then…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2012