Culture

That’s Some Gorgeous Mononoke You’ve Got There, Son

James Zapata is an illustrator and concept artist who has worked on stuff like Magic: The gathering, Applibot’s mobile games and The Last Sleeper, a project we featured last year. That Mononoke image is just…ungh. So so good. You can see more of James’ art at his personal site and CGHub page To see the…

Track: I AM | Album: I AM | Artist: Nicholas Cheung Download I AM here Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Future Cop Loses Skittles, Faces Certain Death

Marek Okon was one of the first artists I ever showcased here on Fine Art. So it’s about time to circle back and see what he’s been up to since. Having previously worked on stuff like Crysis 2, Star Wars: Old Republic, Uncharted 3 and Napoleon Total War, he’s since been involved with The Last…

Kim & Kanye Must Be Destroyed, At All Costs

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s union, and subsequent procreation, is the subject of this video game, in which the pair have taken to space, and you have to shoot their faces until the world is saved. This is not games as art. It is games as catharsis. Kimye Invaders [Play]

Now This Is Extreme Trash-Talking

Hearing someone say your mother [verb] [noun] is pretty common in gaming, but this clip, of some in-person DOTA gloating, is on a whole other level. Insults? Not needed when you’re throwing up amassed, skull-crushing wall of noise The dude in the yellow shirt giving the rare lean-in double bird is the best DOTA Trash…

This Week in the Business: Dealing With Change

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “If you’re not scared, then you didn’t push yourself enough.” – Jordan Weisman of Harebrained Schemes, talking about their new Kickstarter for tabletop/video game hybrid Golem Arcana QUOTE | “We wanted everything that we did to be just crazy. We wanted…

Everything You Need To Survive The Apocalypse

Henrik Sahlström works as a concept artist at Battlefield developers DICE. But hey, that’s not all he does. Guy also did stuff for the gorgeous Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons. Previous to his job at DICE, Sahlström worked at Starbreeze, they of Riddick and Syndicate reboot fame. You can see some examples of his…

Pokemon, Ranked

Screw ‘gotta catch em all’—some Pokemon are clearly better than others, and I ain’t boutta carry around no lame-ass pocket monster around with me. You know? The things that make a Pokemon superior aren’t always cut and dry, though. Sometimes, it’s the design. Sometimes it’s the Pokemon’s combat usefulness. And sometimes, the Pokemon is just…

Steam Is 10 Today. Remember When It Sucked?

It wasn’t until 2005, when Valve began signing on external publishers, that the service really blew up

I Know Blood Is Rich In Iron, But This Is Ridiculous

Devon Cady-Lee, who has previously been at places like Tencent, Fantasy Flight and Wizards of the Coast, now works at MMO developers Turbine. You can see more of his work at his blog and CGHub page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save them…

Medieval Superheroes Fight For Truth, Justice And The English Way

John Staub works at mobile gaming powerhouse Gree. What you’re seeing here, though, aren’t work images. They’re from something way cooler. Staub’s drawn some of DC’s biggest heroes (and villains) as medieval superheroes. OK, so maybe Cheetah’s not so big. That Batman is damn perfect, though. You can see more of John’s work at his…

Go to Hell and Back in Under Seven Minutes with This Spelunky Speedrun

Speedruns on most games don’t particularly enthrall me though I do acknowledge the skill and knowledge it takes to pull off one in record time. This sub-7 minute dash through Spelunky is a different story—probably because of the element of luck involved in procedurally generated levels. And the fact Spelunky‘s damn hard. Spelunky is a…

Beyond: Two Souls Looks Very, Very Sad

Which shouldn’t surprise you. It’s not like Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain were a laugh-a-minute. But there’s something all this concept art from the game that just bums me out. Well, the parts with the children’s rooms and sad little girls, that part does. The rest reminds me that this game is really weird, because…

The Week in Games: The Good Old Hockey Game

EA Sports’ 20th revival of the NHL franchise hits shelves on Tuesday. The HD remake of Ducktales arrives on Xbox 360 on Wednesday. Peter Molyneux’s Godus arrives Friday. Monday • The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North (Mac) Tuesday • The Sims 3 Movie Stuff (PC, Mac) • The Elder Scrolls Anthology (PC)…

Sunday Comics Needs New Strips. Go Find Me Some Pledges.

Well, alright. The tree of video game webcomic humor must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of … new video game webcomics. Or something. This is the only democratically elected feature on Kotaku, and I’m calling new elections. If you haven’t noticed, we’re down two strips from our normal 10. Brentalfloss folded…

Sunday Comics: Fan Service

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics, chosen by our readership. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published Sept. 5. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published Sept.…

This Week in the Business: Show, Don’t Tell

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Games are not about being told things. If you want to tell people things, write a book or make a movie.”—Game designer Warren Spector on the commandments of game design he developed for Deus Ex STAT | 1 million—Number of copies…

Mission’s Over. Time To Hit The Pub.

Eliott Lilly is a concept artist who works as a freelancer in both the film and games industry. Most recently on the gaming side of things, he’s worked on RAGE, the next Doom game and FEAR 3. Sadly, his Doom stuff is under lock and key at id Software, but the art you’ll see below…

Famous Zelda Artist Returns With New Game

Japanese artist Katsuya Terada is a man whose work you should all be familiar with, mostly because he’s one of the main visionaries behindZelda’s aesthetic, but also because he worked on Hellboy and Pacific Rim. He’s returning to games this year with Alteil: Horizons. A card combat game, Alteil: Horizons is actually an all-stars kind…

The Dark Souls Art Book (Probably) Won’t Try And Kill You

Out in October, and published by the fanservice kings at Udon, Dark Souls: Design Works is a nice big hardcover book that collects a ton of concept and promotional art from the game. Most of its 128 pages are images, aside from a lengthy interview at the very end of the book, but hey, less…