Culture Archives - Page 1521 of 1552

This Week in the Business: ‘PS3 Skyrim is Not Nearly as Bad as It Seems’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “PS3 Skyrim is not nearly as bad as it seems.”—Todd Howard, Bethesda Softworks Game Director, saying that Skyrim hasn’t been a problem for all that many PS3 players QUOTE | “10 years out, we’ll be talking about retail as a museum…

Steve Peterson Published February 25, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The First Mass Effect‘s User Interface Sure Was Terrible

I still think fondly back on when I played the first Mass Effect. It had so much going for it, and I was so excited about the game—I remember tearing through the campaign, loving the story, and tolerating the somewhat janky combat and technical issues. I also remember the interface. It was something that I…

By Kirk Hamilton Published February 25, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

No Rage Quite Like Asteroids ‘Roid Rage

We’re back with a second episode of Retro Rumble, where guys compete to get high scores in olllld (really old!) video games. This time around, they’re playing Asteroids, which is a good deal more colorless than you may have thought. I know I’d have ‘roid rage if someone kept calling me “son” while I was…

By Kirk Hamilton Published February 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Want Some Rye?

Course ya do. This line, from 1993’s Return to Zork, gets me every time. Put a couple of beers in me and I’ll start asking it of people who have no idea what I’m talking about, but fuck ’em, because if they don’t want any rye then they’re not worth my time anyway.

By Luke Plunkett Published February 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How Some of the Best Adventure Games Ever Made…Were Made

If you’ve ever played an old adventure game from Sierra – so King’ Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory, etc – you need to see this old documentary showing how some of those titles were made. While the bulk of the clip is taken up with hyping the then-upcoming King’s Quest VI, there…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

A History of the Serious Sam Series

Call this a developer diary, call it a trailer, I don’t care. There’s facts beneath the bullshit, the bullshit is entertaining, and that guy has a great turtleneck on.

By Luke Plunkett Published February 23, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

A Beautiful Collection of Awesome Nintendo Logos

I like the games and the hardware, of course, but one of my favourite things about Japanese video games from the 1980s were the logos. And some of the best ones came out of Nintendo. I’m not talking about the company’s primary logo, either. I’m talking about the series of logos drawn up for the…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 23, 2012

Culture

The Ultimate Jeremy Lin Highlight Reel Arrives in the Nick of Time

Of all the tributes to the Knicks phenomenon Jeremy Lin, the best one on video might be stitched together from highlights in NBA 2K12, where Lin is currently rated a 75 and, who knows, may see the mid-80s before the end of the month. This video was cut by Operation Sports’ Shady 00018. Last night…

By Owen Good Published February 23, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Skeletor, Why Are Your Arms So Tiny?

From a very, very old advertisement for Mattel’s 1984 He-Man video game, taken from a very, very old copy of an X-Men comic. The He-Man video game [Four Colour Promises]

By Luke Plunkett Published February 23, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Who Needs The Wizard When You’ve Got Surf Ninjas?

The Wizard, a 1989 movie starring Fred Savage, was little more than a 100-minute commercial for Nintendo. Surf Ninjas, a 1993 movie starring Ernie Reyes, Jr., Rob Schneider, Leslie Nielsen (doing his best M. Bison impersonation) and Tone Loc, was much the same for Sega’s Game Gear handheld. Only it was way better. The film…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 22, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Sega Lost the Handheld Race Long Before it Lost the Console Race

People are still, a decade on, shedding tears over Sega’s last home console. We get it, it’s sad, but let’s not forget that other Sega gaming machine that was killed off by stronger competition. The Sega Game Gear. When Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989, arch-rivals Sega decided it had to have a dog…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 22, 2012

Culture

The BioShock, Dead Space & InFamous Art of Opus Artz

Opus Artz is a concept studio in London which specialises in production art for the video game industry. Among its artists are guys like Bjorn Hurri and Theo Stylianides, so yeah, we’re about to see some good stuff. The studio has worked with clients such as EA, 2K, Paradox and Square Enix, on games like…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 22, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How Sam & Max Hit The Road Taught Me To Love Words

People who know nothing about video games like to sling mud. They’ll say that games rot your brain, waste your time and distract from your studies. I’m here to tell you that that’s a lie, and I have proof. Be sure to click the video above to see how educational this game can really be.…

By Chris Person Published February 21, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Screw the Vita, Let’s Talk About the Other NGP

The PlayStation Vita is out today in the US. Before it was known as the Vita, you may remember it was called the NGP. Which was a little awkward, since there had already been a handheld gaming system called the NGP. And it sure wasn’t made by Sony. While Sony’s NGP stood for “Next Generation…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 21, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Sunset, Big City

You know, last week, I was so excited to be posting awesome Metal Slug art as part of our first Background Story that I forgot to say it was from Metal Slug. Which, turns out, only made it more fun. So let’s do it again. Guess the city and you’ll be halfway to guessing the…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 20, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Laziest Box Art in Video Game History

I have a fetish for old Sega Master System box art. If I could have that pattern made into a tablecloth, curtains and bedsheets, I would, and when my wife complained, I would just stare at her, like what is wrong this stuff is perfect. Some of my favourites from the system, though, are also…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 20, 2012

Culture

Syndicate-d Action

The reboot of Syndicate joins Capcom’s sci-fi/fantasy battler Asura’s Wrath as the top console releases this coming week. The rollout of the PlayStation Vita’s launch titles continues, in time for the device’s full North American release on Wednesday. Tuesday • Army Corps of Hell (PS Vita) • Asura’s Wrath (360, PS3) • Metal Gear Solid:…

By Owen Good Published February 19, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Waiting is the Hardest Part

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 Feb. 15.—Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Feb. 13.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…

By Owen Good Published February 19, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Xbox Live is Going to Lose Out’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Xbox Live is going to lose out.”—Tim Schafer, CEO of Double Fine, talking about what Microsoft should do to stem the migration of developers away from Xbox Live QUOTE | “You belong in a subset of human beings in a circle…

Steve Peterson Published February 18, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Half-Life 2‘s Most Magical Moment

Well, if we’re going to be doing more recent games for Total Recall, we’d better talk about Half-Life 2 sooner rather than later. As is true for so many people, HL2 is one of my favorite games of all time, an evergreen gem that I replay about once a year. It’s hard to put my…

By Kirk Hamilton Published February 18, 2012