Culture Archives - Page 1538 of 1552

The Mario Movie Could Have Been so Much Better

The Mario movie we ended up with in 1993 was nothing like the games it was based on. An earlier draft for the film, however, was a lot more faithful. It’s impossible to tell whether it would have been any good, of course, but in sticking to the basics of the Mushroom Kingdom it at…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 14, 2011

Culture

The Stunning Video Game Art of Thierry Doizon

Thierry “BARONTiERi” Doizon is something of a legend in the world of video game concept art, having been in the business since 1995. In that time, he’s worked for companies like Ubisoft, Eidos and Acclaim, while contributing to series and games such as Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia and Deus Ex: Human Revolution In addition…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Let’s Pour One Out for Westwood Studios, Creators of the Real-Time Strategy Genre

Of all the studios Electronic Arts has bought over the decades, few were as talented or important to the history of video games as Westwood Studios. Yet despite essentially pioneering the real-time strategy genre as we know it, creating one of the most popular franchises of all time and doing not one, not two, but…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011

Culture

The Double Fine Art of Lee Petty

As one of the most imaginative video game developers in the business, it’s a pleasure today to highlight the work of one of the artists at Double Fine, the studio behind games like Brutal Legend, Psychonauts and Trenched These images and paintings are the work of Lee Petty, who after serving on projects like 2005…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

The Real Story Behind Sim City’s Arcologies

Despite the fact they only appeared in one game (Sim City 2000), arcologies remain an iconic symbol of the Sim City series. But just what the hell are they? While appearing in the game as projects from the future, arcologies are very much real, the name deriving from “architecture” and “ecology”. An arcology is, in…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

In 1983, Donkey Kong Nearly Died

As we celebrate what’s (probably? maybe?) Donkey Kong’s 30th birthday, let’s today take a look at the 1983 court case which nearly brought a premature end to Nintendo’s big ape. Our story begins in 1982, with the first of many idiotic decisions made by Universal Studios. The studio’s president at the time, Sid Sheinberg, had…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2011

Culture

A New College Try

It seems like we just had graduation, but EA Sports returns to campus this week with NCAA Football 12. A new L.A. Noire case and Ms. ‘Splosion Man round out the highlights. Tuesday NCAA Football 12 (Xbox 360, PS3) — A raft of new features in the game’s Dynasty and singleplayer Road to Glory modes…

By Owen Good Published July 10, 2011

Culture

Sunday Comics

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. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published July 4. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published July 8. – Read more of Nerf…

By Owen Good Published July 10, 2011

Culture

This Week in the Business

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Unquestionable.” – id programming genius John Carmack states that “within a very short time” mobile devices should eclipse the current consoles QUOTE | “They’ll talk sh*t but they’ll buy it.” – Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski admits that he and everyone…

James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published July 8, 2011

Culture

The Manly Video Game Art of Ville-Valtteri Kinnunen

Barbarians. Knights. Tribal warriors. All very manly men with their armour and swords and scowls, all very much a speciality of Finnish concept artist Ville-Valtteri Kinnunen. Now employed at BioWare, Kinnunen has worked on games like Dragon Age 2, Age of Conan and the criminally under-appreciated Warhammer 40K: Squad Command Working on a Conan property…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 8, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Remembering the Great, Last Ninja

Today, we’re looking at The Last Ninja. The first “badass” game I ever played, and still one of my all-time favourites. The Last Ninja was first released in 1987 on the Commodore 64, and was developed by Hungarian outfit SoftView and legendary 80’s studio System 3. It was, and remains to this day, one of…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 8, 2011

Culture

The Undying Video Game Art of Toshiaki Takayama

Depending on your gaming tastes, you may not have seen much of the work of Toshiaki Takayama. Which is a shame, because his work is incredible. Takayama’s work in the video game field (he’s contributed to anime, trading card games and books as well) has turned up in Japanese arcade titles like Lord of Vermilion,…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

The Amazing 1979 Song About Computer Games

There have been plenty of songs written about video games over the years. You have your favourites, I have mine One that lingers in my memory, though, comes from a time before I was even born: 1979’s Computer Games, by the Australasian band Mi-Sex. What’s so memorable about this song isn’t the fact that it’s…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2011

Culture

The Fantastic Character Art of Akihiko Yoshida

Akihiko Yoshida has been at Final Fantasy developers Square Enix since 1995, when he joined Squaresoft, one of the companies (along with Enix) that merged to create the RPG powerhouse. In that time he’s worked on a ton of Final Fantasy games, the most prominent of them being Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Tactics and…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

When South Park Got an EA Sports Game Pulled off the Shelves

Long before golfer Tiger Woods thought it’d be a good idea to go sticking his dick in anything with a hole and a pulse, his video game franchise was embroiled in a scandal of a different kind. The harmless kind. Involving Jesus, Santa Claus and a cartoon. In 1998, a young Tiger Woods was bursting…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2011

Culture

The Renaissance Art of David Alvarez [Update]

David Alvarez is a 2D and 3D artist employed at Ubisoft, who has worked on games like Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Test Drive Unlimited Today, we’re looking at his work on the Assassin’s Creed series. Since Alvarez is able to work in both 2D and 3D, we get a…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 5, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

The Great Games of a Great American Hero

There have been plenty of video games made featuring American heroes. Day of the Tentacle, for example, is full of them. One that doesn’t get enough credit (at least as a gaming “character”), though, is legendary pilot Chuck Yeager. Born in 1923, Yeager enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces just two months prior…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2011

Culture

Welcome Our New Insect Overlords

There’s probably a reason everything and its brother went on sale this weekend. That’s because there are next to no new releases for the coming seven days. Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, on 360 and PS3, is your big highlight. Tuesday Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (Xbox 360, PS3) — The followup to Earth Defense…

By Owen Good Published July 3, 2011

CultureShop Contest

Board Game Box Art

This week we learned of World of Fourcraft, a game that turns New York into a giant game of real-life Risk. That got me to thinking about the box art that predated today’s video game packshots, and thus our latest Kotaku ‘Shop Contest challenge. Somewhat open-ended yet plainly straightforward: Take a video game and give…

By Owen Good Published July 3, 2011

Culture

Sunday Comics

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. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published June 27. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published June 27. – Read more of Nerf…

By Owen Good Published July 3, 2011