Culture

2013’s Best Video Game Art Is Beautiful (And Occasionally Bloody)

Into the Pixel is an annual competition which seeks to award and highlight the best video game art in the business. This year’s winners have been announced, and each piece will be showcased during E3 next week. It’s a prestigious competition, one that not only puts the artist and their work on the mantelpiece just…

The Week in Games: It’s Clobberin’ Time

Gazillion’s Diablo-esque Marvel Heroes MMO highlights this week’s typically quiet run-up to E3, accompanied by the all-new, dystopian Remember Me on consoles and PC, and a retail edition of Minecraft for the Xbox 360. Tuesday • Remember Me (360, PS3, PC) • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition (360, PS3, PC) • Crysis 3:…

Sunday Comics: Can’t Touch This

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. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published May 27. Read more of Corpse Run Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published…

Joining last year’s miracle Half-Life 3 onion ring, @joshpav just found this Borderlands logo/Vault symbol in his meal. (As retweeted by Gearbox Software president and CEO Randy Pitchford.)

This Week in the Business: A Billion-Dollar Underestimate

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “I think, candidly, people are way, way under-indexing how hard we’re punching.”—Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft’s Entertainment Division, talking about how Microsoft is ready to invest $1 billion in exclusive Xbox One titles QUOTE | “The optimistic part of me is…

This Japanese KFC Website Might Make You Feel Sick

Nothing like creating fast food websites that can make your customers feel ill! Warning: this post contains imagery that actually might make you dizzy or sick. Are you ready? Here we go: These illustrations are the work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who is a psychology professor at Ritsumeikan University that studies visual perception. Above, you can…

Blurring The Lines Between Video Game Concept Art & Cosplay

Justin Murray, a concept artist who worked on Injustice: Gods Among Us, sent us some pics of his contribution to the game. But he didn’t just send the art. He brought it to life. With cosplay. Teaming up with his girlfriend Jia Jem, Murray went down to the same Chicago locations they shot scenes from…

When A Spartan Meets A Wildling

Jan Ditlev Christensen is a Danish concept artist who works at IO Interactive, the developers behind games like the Hitman series. Prior to that, he worked at Deadline, where he worked on games like the Watchmen prequel and the cancelled Faith & A .45 You can see more of Jan’s work at his personal site…

NatureBox Healthy Snack Delivery: The Snacktaku Review

In response to my readers’ desperate cries for healthy things to eat while playing video games, three weeks ago I reviewed theofferings of Graze.com, a UK-based natural food delivery service that’s slowly moving into U.S. territory with their tiny boxes of natural foods. Well that was it. Now I’m on the radar of every healthy…

Far Cry 3’s Jason Brody, Standing Sadly In The Rain

Herve Groussin is a senior concept artist at Eidos Montreal, the developers behind Deus Ex and the upcoming Thief reboot. He had until recently, however, been working at Ubisoft for a very long time, during which time he contributed on everything from Assassin’s Creed (where we’ve briefly featured him previously) to Far Cry 3. Before…

Building Sony Monsters, One Polygon At A Time

Bryan Wynia works as a senior character artist at Sony Computer Entertainment America, where he most recently worked on God Of War: Ascension. Prior to that, he was a character artist Naughty Dog, and contributed to the look of both Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. You can see more of Bryan’s work at his personal…

Halo: Reach Sure Was Pretty Before The Covenant Blew Everything Up

Alex Chin Yu Chu is a Taiwanese-born concept artist living in the US who has worked for companies like Bungie, Firaxis, LEGO and Eidos. In that time he’s lent his talents to the production of Halo:Reach, Destiny, XCOM and Tomb Raider Anniversary. You can see more of Alex’s work at his personal site and CGHub…

The Week in Games: Light That Fuse

No longer making shooters exclusively for PlayStation 3, Insomniac is now making … a shooter for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The former Overstrike arrives on Tuesday as the reconstituted Fuse. Other highlights include Crusader Kings II DLC and The Warriors coming to PSN. Tuesday • GRID 2 (PC) • Crusader Kings II: The…

Sunday Comics: With Friends Like These …

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. Nerd Rage by Andy Kluthe. Published May 24. Read more of Nerd Rage Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published May…

This Week in the Business: ‘I Would Say, Hang on to Your 360.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “I would say, hang on to your 360.”—Albert Penello, product planning boss for the Xbox One, talking about the genesis of the Xbox One and its lack of backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games QUOTE | “There has to be some…

Some Of The Best Video Game Concept Art On The Planet. Enjoy.

There are very few artists working in video games who I’d label truly “top shelf” without a moment’s hesitation. There’s Craig Mullins. Sparth. Jaime Jones. Daniel Dociu. Oh, and today’s subject, Jesse van Dijk. Formerly of Guerilla Games, the studio behind the Killzone series, van Dijk is now working on Bungie’s Destiny, and is behind…

I For One Welcome The Return Of Our Cyberpunk Overlords

Today’s Fine Art is all about the work of Robin Chyo. An artist who’s mostly worked in the games business, Chyo has either worked for or contracted with clients such as Activision, Fantasy Flight, Microsoft and Universal Pictures. If you remember we actually featured his Modern Warfare 3 work a few years ago. You can…

Ever Wonder Who Does The Art For Game Posters, Ads And Boxes?

Sometimes, the art behind a video game is done by the people making the game. Other times, some of the creative process is handled by an external party, like Massive Black, or Atomhawk Two Dots are another such company, a team of artists who help behind the scenes on everything from a game’s world design…

“It’s Like EVE Online, With Guns!”

Jeff Miller is a 3D artist who works for CCP, the developers behind EVE Online and its FPS spinoff, Dust 514. Previous to that, he’s worked at places like Lucasarts and Ensemble, the Age of Empires and Halo Wars studio closed by Microsoft a few years back. Jeff has also done freelance work for stuff…

Iron Man? More Like Golden Man

This morning we’re looking at the art of Justin Fields, who over the last few years has worked at some of Hollywood’s best concept and effects studios, such as The Aaron Sims Company, Amalgamated Dynamics and Halon Entertainment. If you’ve been to the movies lately you’ve probably seen his stuff; Fields got the chance to…