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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

CultureTotal Recall

Why 1990s SNES Games Were so Damn Expensive

It’s easy to forget now, but back in the 1990s, many video games had the same price on the sticker they do today, which when you account for inflation reminds you that they were super expensive But just why did games cost so much? This infographic from a 1995 issue of British magazine Super Play…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 23, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Old Game Company Intro Screens Were The Best

“Saaaayyyyy-gggaaahhhhh” and Lucasarts’ efforts might be the most memorable, but a ton of console games of the 1990’s had great little intro screens, not for the games themselves, but for the publishers releasing them. Sometimes they were clever, sometimes they were funny and sometimes, in the case of EA, they’ve barely changed at all. Console…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 23, 2012

Culture

How to Kill a Dragon (Hint: Stab it in the Head)

Chinese concept artist Yun Ling works at Volta, the same design studio that employs Ruan Jia, an artist we featured here last week Having previously worked for Electronic Arts, he’s got a great eye for both fantasy and sci-fi pieces, as you’ll see in the gallery below. You can see more of Ling’s work at…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Sonic Doesn’t Just Run, He Also SLICES, And DICES

Sega ran some pretty awful commercials during the early 1990s, but that doesn’t mean everything you saw on TV with the Sega logo on it was dreadful. Take this 1993 Genesis ad, which…well, it’s great. Really great. [via Albotas]

By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Remembering Nintendo’s Other 1980’s Magazine, The Nintendo Fun Club

Today brought reports that, after a publishing run of 24 years, the famous Nintendo Power magazine is no more. If true, it’s a sadder day than most involving the closing of a game publication, because for many Nintendo Power was more than just a magazine. It was a piece of their childhood. Those who are…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2012

Culture

Tonight, You Dine on Incredible Concept Art

Today is a finer day than usual here on Fine Art, because we’re looking at not just one of my favourite concept artists in the world, but one of my favourite artists Thomas Pringle has worked for some of the biggest companies in video games, including the likes of Sony, 2K, Capcom, Eidos, Sledgehammer and…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2012

Culture

The Art of Paul Chadeisson

Frenchman Paul Chadeisson is a concept artist who has worked on games like Shootmania, card games like Star Wars Galaxies and cartoons like Tron: Uprising. You might have seen his name last week, though, for the work he’s done for Dontnod on Capcom’s upcoming Remember Me, which we once knew as Adrift You can see…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 21, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Racism, Violence & Madness Make This Awful Hong Kong Game One to Remember

Sleeping Dogs has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. Part of the game’s appeal is the fact it’s set in Hong Kong, which raises the question: why aren’t more games based around one of the world’s most iconic and populous cities? The answer may well be that this old thing scared…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 21, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Not All Sega Mega Drives Were Made Equally

While these days the release of a new model of hardware is kind of a big deal, signifying as it does important changes in components, capabilities or even a complete redesign, back in the day some companies used to be able to flood the market with different versions of their console and nobody even noticed.…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 21, 2012

Culture

The People Making the Trailers That Make You Go “Whoah”

Whenever somebody sees a fancy cinematic trailer or intro sequence to a game these days, if they don’t just assume it’s the work of the game’s developers, they assume it’s the work of Blur Studios But Blur isn’t the only team in the field. Another outfit is Plastic Wax, who are based in Sydney, Australia.…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 20, 2012

Culture

The Week in Games: Worlds in Conflict

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive arrives on PC/Mac and the PS3 and Xbox 360 this week, along with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, from High Moon Studios. New Super Mario Bros. 2 hit shelves today. Today •New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) Tuesday • Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (pS3, 360, PC) • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PC, PSN) •…

By Owen Good Published August 19, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Death Be Not Proud

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

By Owen Good Published August 19, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Sony Will Drop Its Hardware Prices This Autumn, Because It Must.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Sony will drop its hardware prices this autumn, because it must.”—Rob Fahey, veteran game journalist, talking about why Sony needs to cut the price of both the PS3 and Vita in order to boost sales QUOTE | “If you make a…

By Steve Peterson Published August 18, 2012