Culture Archives - Page 1543 of 1555

Iron Chef’s Secret Ingredient Was…Pokémon!

Iron Chef, a Japanese cooking show that began in 1992, has quite the cult following in certain Western countries thanks to years of dubbed episodes and re-runs. It wound up in 1999, however, leaving talismanic host Takeshi Kaga needing a new gig. And he found one in Pokémon If you’ve never seen it, Iron Chef…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 15, 2011

Culture

Would This Have Been a Better Duke Nukem Forever?

While my review is forthcoming, it’s no spoiler that Duke Nukem Forever isn’t a Game of the Year contender. Question is, though, what game are we judging? Because the one we are playing clearly isn’t finished. Leaving us to wonder, what game might we have been left with were 3D Realms able to actually complete…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 14, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Arcades Don’t Make for Good TV (But Starcades do)

Video games and TV just do not mix. Aside from a few brave attempts coming out of the UK, I’m yet to see a show about games that doesn’t come off as juvenile, stale and boring as hell. There will always, however, be a soft spot in my heart for Starcade Running from 1982 to…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 14, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Before Duke Nukem Was An Asshole, He Was a Simple Man

In the latest Duke Nukem game, the titular star is an offensive asshole, much of his macho charm having given way over the past decade to dick jokes even young boys would struggle to find funny. It wasn’t always this way. Duke Nukem was once just your regular video game action hero. Before the over-use…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2011

Culture

Duke Nukem, At Last

Well, we’re not impressed by what we’ve seen so far of Duke Nukem: Forever, but there is something to be said for this game finally hitting shelves after a torturous 14-year development. Other titles out this week include Child of Eden and Alice: Madness Returns. Seven days from now, Ocarina of Time‘s long awaited remake…

By Owen Good Published June 12, 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 6. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published June 9. – Read more of Nerf…

By Owen Good Published June 12, 2011

CultureShop Contest

Smackdown vs. 3DS Winners

The strange appearance of an Aqua Blue 3DS capturing the action at a pro rasslin’ event provided the grist for our latest Kotaku ‘Shop Contest, in which the Nintendo handheld makes 20 cameos just as bizarre. Getting things started, Bet@ (2) calls back to our L.A. Noire contest with a shifty-eyed Sheamus. BigMike McCarthy’s joke…

By Owen Good Published June 11, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Electronic Entertainment Expo

E3 is almost upon us! It’s a time of great excitement for video game fans the world over, but yet, it is also a time to be wary. Because not everything you’re about to see is going to be awesome. Some of it will suck. Worse, some of it will suck so bad it’ll be…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 6, 2011

Culture

E3 Musketeers

While everyone is in Los Angeles talking about next year’s games, three big ones will drop this week: Red Faction: Armageddon, the PS3-exclusive inFamous 2 and the tactical shooter Operation Flashpoint: Red River. Should the 3DS eShop come online as planned, goodies are in store there, too. Monday • 3D Classics: Excitebike (3DS eShop) •…

By Owen Good Published June 5, 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 May 30. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published June 3. – Read more of Nerf…

By Owen Good Published June 5, 2011

Culture

This Week in the Business: “These attacks will continue to happen.”

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “These attacks will continue to happen.” – Security expert and former hacker Gregory Evans makes his case for why PlayStation Network (as well as all of Sony and other companies) is still not secure QUOTE | “Sometimes it’s emotional.” – THQ CEO…

James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published June 3, 2011

Culture

The Desolate Video Game Art of Nicolas Ferrand

Nicolas Ferrand is a French concept artist currently working on Thief 4 at Eidos Montreal. Previously, while at Ubisoft, he contributed to franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia Today we’re looking at his pieces from Far Cry 2, Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed II, all of which are great It’s a…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

The Great Gaming Franchises Locked In EA’s Dungeon

A common complaint levelled against big publishers like Activision and Electronic Arts is that they milk their franchises for all they’re worth. It’s an easy allegation to make, but in EA’s case, it (sadly!) doesn’t hold much water. Because if EA really wanted to milk its franchises for all they’re worth, we’d be drowning in…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2011

Culture

Before They Were Heroes: the Art of Team Fortress 2

Unlike perhaps any game since the 16-bit era, Team Fortress 2 has a look that is almost timeless. To get characters looking that good takes not only years of development, but years of concept art as well. The pieces in this gallery are all taken from those years of art and development, some of them…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Warhammer Games Have Rarely Been Darker, or Better, Than This

The Warhammer 40K universe has been a happy hunting ground for game developers over the years, with over a dozen games having been released based on the storied sci-fi franchise. For all their technical and story-telling advances, though, one remains as many people’s favourite 40K game of all. And it was also one of the…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011

Culture

These Fighting Game Ladies Will Kick Your Face In [NSFW]

Dan Howard is an artist who has worked with both role-playing game companies and, a little closer to home, Udon Entertainment, they who turn Capcom artworks into coffee table books. While he does all kinds of work on all kinds of subjects, today I’m only interested in one thing: Dan’s amazing paintings of video game…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 1, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Behind the Scenes of The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

For the past few years, Nintendo has run a series of interviews on its website called “Iwata Asks”, giving us behind-the-scenes looks at some of the company’s most important games and pieces of hardware. This interview, though, does not involve Iwata. And was never on Nintendo’s website. Because it was conducted in 1991, and involved…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 1, 2011

Culture

The Forgotten Art of the Video Game Title Screen

Back before games had cinematic intros, and many of the biggest titles were still in arcades, the video game title screen was often one of the most important “lures” for a customer. Featuring big artwork and even bigger titles, it had to capture everything the game stood for. Everything it was about. Everything it was…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

Remembering Capcom’s Great Nintendo Promise / Betrayal

Capcom and Nintendo have always had a rather close relationship. In 2002, though, the pair became blood brothers. Or so people thought. That was the year the infamous “Capcom Five” were announced by the Osaka-based publisher, a range of titles seemingly designed to give Nintendo’s fledgling GameCube a shot in the arm, and which ended…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2011

CultureTotal Recall

The Origins Of Pokémon

As the creator of Nintendo’s Pokémon series, Satoshi Tajiri is one of the most important (if not well-known) developers working in video games today. Like another Nintendo legend, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Tajiri’s most popular work has been directly inspired by his childhood experiences and hobbies. While Miyamoto’s Zelda was the product of boyhood explorations,…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 30, 2011