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Tonight’s Helping of Giant Robots and Exploding Spaceships

William Smith works at Timegate Studios, who have previously been responsible for titles like Section 8 and who are now helping Gearbox out on Aliens: Colonial Marines He’d previously worked in advertising, for respected international firm Saatchi & Saatchi X. And his artwork is just lovely Enormous killing machines are normally shown as being dreary,…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 1, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Unboxing an Atari Computer From 1983

Continuing my dust-covered crusade against modern unboxings, here’s another vintage unboxing, in which an Atari 800XL from 1983 is transferred lovingly from the packaging to the outside world. The 800XL was essentially a cheaper and nastier version of the Atari 800, albeit with fancier packaging. It couldn’t even run some Atari 800 programs natively, requiring…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

This Man Stole $318,000 From Namco Before the Cops Caught Him

In 1985, Namco America employee Steven Drake was arrested by police and found with $32,000 cash on him, with even more hidden in the trunk of a car parked at San Francisco airport. Turns out he’d been buying up gold coins from South Africa and Canada using Namco’s money. The scoundrel. In total, Drake siphoned…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012

Culture

Beautiful Video Game Art, All the Way From China

Tonight, we’re checking out the portfolio of Chinese artist Ming zhu Yang, who works for Gameloft’s pre-production studio Redsteam. Specialising mostly in character art, you can see more of her stuff at her personal site. To see the larger pics in all their glory (or so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on them…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

A Fascinating Look at the Factories Where Old Video Games Were Made

Mommy, where do video games come from? They come from factories, dear, factories like these, from the 1980s. This awesome video shows the factory floor at companies such as Midway, Atari and Taito, where vintage arcade classics like Pac-Man were put together, while also giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of Nintendo circa 1988.…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

All I Ever Wanted, Konami, Was a Little Congraturations

It’s perhaps not as famous as other hatchet jobs on the English language perpetrated by Japanese developers in the 1980s, but it’s one of my favourites nonetheless. This is from the MSX version of Salamander, which you may know as Life Force, a shmup first released in 1986. He just…he just doesn’t look that happy…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 30, 2012

Culture

Sculpting Assassin’s Creed, Hitman & GI Joe’s Snake Eyes

Former Ubisoft artist David Giraud has, in nearly 15 years in the business, worked on games such as Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia: Sand of Time, Assassin’s Creed and Hitman: Blood Money He’s now at THQ’s Montreal studio, the one being run by former Assassin’s Creed boss Patrice Desilets Warner Bros. In addition to his…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Suikoden Gets All Chop Choppy

From Suikoden II. Which I don’t think I’ve ever actually played. Maybe I should, because this looks great. [via VGJunk]

By Luke Plunkett Published May 29, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

In a Previous Life, This Video Game Executive Made Awesome Movies

If all you do is sit around reading video game news all day, and not much else, when someone mentions the name “Danny Bilson”, you probably think “Oh, the guy who’s captained THQ to the bottom of the ocean“. And you’d be right! You’d also be talking about the most boring thing he’s ever done,…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 29, 2012

Culture

This Terrific Art Goes From Mega Man to a Dead Future

Korean concept artist Kang Donghwa works for NeoWiz, one of the region’s biggest game companies. Meaning you’re not only going to see some Mega Man Online (the Capcom/NeoWiz MMO project, known locally as Rockman Online) concept art, but some other amazing pieces as well, some for Korean games, others for personal work. You can see…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 29, 2012

Culture

Harry Potter, Batman Will Kick Your Ass All Over This Concept Art

British artist Ross Dearsley has over the years done everything from comic art for Marvel to concept work for the video game business. In this gallery you’ll see stuff like his Harry Potter video game work, comic covers, Batman: Arkham City pieces and even some Judge Dredd You can see more of Ross’ art at…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012

Culture

This Summer, Drink Up Salty Watermelon Pepsi in Japan

It’s quickly becoming an annual summer tradition: Pepsi Japan releases truly interesting flavors to help the country cool down. This summer, the flavor is “Salty Watermelon”. Above, you can see what the drink’s packaging and color will look like. Watermelon is very much a summer food in Japan, where people are known to sprinkle some…

By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012

Culture

Memorial DLC

Slow action in North America as the United States takes a break for cookouts on Monday. Mass Effect, Prototype and Arkham City all have notable content drops. Resistance: Burning Skies arrives on PS Vita. Monday • The Binding of Isaac: The Wrath of the Lamb (PC) Tuesday • Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (XBLA, PC)…

By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Dead Island

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. Virtual Shackles by Jeremy Vinar and Mike Fahmie published May 25.—Read more of Virtual Shackles Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published May 21.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…

By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘The Reputation Activision has Acquired is Unfair’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “The reputation Activision has acquired is unfair.”—Dee Brown, head of Spider-Man developer Beenox (a studio acquired by Activision in 2005), talks about the relationship his team has with the publisher and how supportive Activision has been QUOTE | “E3 is a…

Steve Peterson Published May 26, 2012

Culture

I Don’t Know What the Hell is Going on With These Guys, But I Like it

Chinese artist Xi Zhang works for online gaming powerhouse Tencent. He’s been in the video game business for nearly ten years now. Some concept artist’s work is shooting for realism. Others aim for mood. Zhang’s looks like something I would dip in honey and serve at a party, it looks that tasty You can see…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 26, 2012

Culture

We Can Only Hope Next-Gen Street Fighter Looks This Good

Loraine Howard III doesn’t just have the best name of any artist we’ve featured here on our concept art spotlight, he also has some of the most impressive 3D work, headlined by the incredible Balrog you see up top. If next-gen pants don’t look that good I’ll be very disappointed. Loraine has previously worked with…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 25, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How to Beat the Worst Video Game Ever Made

While that’s a subjective boast, has any other game been so terrible that copies of it were taken out into the middle of the desert and buried? No. So I’m sticking with it. ET, released in 1982, was so terrible that marketing material had to be produced helping players get through it. If what’s written…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Internet Has Never Been More Awkward Than Julia Stiles in 1994

As awful as this is, I can’t stop watching. This is Julia Stiles circa 1994, guest-starring on Ghostwriter, and introducing kids to the wonders – and perils – of the internet. Such an idealist, she was! Shame she never saw the porn, cat pictures and Facebook coming. She might have lingered a little less longingly…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 24, 2012

Culture

What is This, Video Games or a Fashion Show?

Jace Wallace is a concept artist currently employed by Electronic Arts. Some of his more recent works include The Sims 3. But don’t let that put you off what you’re about to see. Because what you’re about to see is some beautiful art. You can see a lot more stuff at Jace’s personal site To…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 24, 2012