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Death Race, the World’s First Scandalous Video Game

What is it with cars and killing people that gets the mainstream media so upset? Decades before series like Grand Theft Auto and Carmageddon were earning tut tuts and disapproving looks, an arcade game called Death Race ended up squarely in the sights of TV networks, newspapers and magazines. Taking more than a few cues…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 28, 2012

Culture

The Oreo Will Be 100 Years Old in March

Famous foodstuffs frequently double-stuffed, Oreos tun 100 next month. The Pac-Man-inspired ad on the right of the image above is just part of the campaign for the very old cookies. Here’s the most startling fact about Oreos in today’s New York Times story about the upcoming March 6 birthday: Worldwide sales for Oreo rose to…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 28, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Prepare for a Good…Sponking? Spanking? Oh Sega.

Going by the old adage “it’s not racist if it’s France”, this Dreamcast commercial plays on one of Europe’s oldest rivalries in an attempt to sell the Brits on the console’s pioneering online play. And if the French can’t rouse them? Germans stuffing their faces with sausages should do the trick Total Recall is a…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 28, 2012

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Chris Rock Could Have Been in Jak and Daxter

It is the year 2000. Comedian and actor Chris Rock is nearing the height of his powers. Sony’s stable of video games, on the other hand, was not. Sure, the PlayStation had been a breakthrough, but the world-devouring juggernaut that was the PlayStation 2 was in its infancy. So you can maybe understand why, when…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 27, 2012

Culture

Someday the Mountain Might Get ‘Em

The franchise restart of SSX carves this week’s fresh powder, joined by the North American release of Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor 2 and WAKFU‘s arrival on PC. Monday •PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond (Wii) Tuesday •Binary Domain (PS3, 360) •Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition (PS3, 360) •The Lord of the Rings Online: Mithril Edition (PC) •SSX…

By Owen Good Published February 26, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Kicked on the Curb

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. ActionTrip by Borislav Grabovic and Ure Paul published Feb. 20.—Read more of ActionTrip Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Feb. 20.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!!…

By Owen Good Published February 26, 2012

Culture

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

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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