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CultureTotal Recall
Blowing on Cartridges Didn’t Help Them, It Hurt Them
Millions of people grew up worldwide convinced the way to get a busted Nintendo cartridge working was to blow on it. It may have worked sometimes, temporarily, but experts say you were actually doing a lot more harm than good. How? Well, as Mental_Floss writes, the common theory as to the cause (and success) of…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 25, 2012 -
Culture
A Closer Look at Meet the Pyro’s Psychotic Fantasy Land
Laura Dubuk is an artist and designer employed at Valve, where her most recent public work was her contribution to the studio’s terrific Meet the Pyro trailer She’s also worked on games like Portal 2, and in this gallery you’ll see a collection of some of her best stuff, both from personal projects and from…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
This Statement Nails What Was Great about the Super Nintendo’s Best Games
The above quote, from Mark MacDonald, of the Tokyo-based game localization company 8-4, sums up what felt so special about the best games on the SNES. It rings true for all-time greats such as Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, which emerged within a year of the system’s…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 24, 2012 -
Culture
The Week in Game: Kick a Panda
Only Warcraft could survive a matchup with both FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer, and that’s what you get this week, along with Dead Or Alive 5 Tuesday • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC) • FIFA 13 (PS3, PC, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, PSP, Wii) • Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 (360, PS3, PC) •…
By Owen Good Published September 23, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Champion Troll
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. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Sept. 21.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Sept. 17.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published September 23, 2012 -
Culture
This Week in the Business ‘PS3 Superslim Could Be a Super Stumble’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “PS3 superslim could be a super stumble.” —Veteran games journalist Chris Morris writes that Sony is shooting itself in the foot by announcing the new design and not dropping prices QUOTE | “They love games. We need more of that. A…
By Steve Peterson Published September 22, 2012 -
Culture
Some Valve Art From Portal & DOTA 2
Realm Lovejoy is an artist currently working at Half-Life and Team Fortress developers Valve Software. Having helped create student title Narbacular Drop, which later evolved into what we now know as Portal, she’s also interned at Nintendo. So, yeah, dream career path right there. Among her current projects is Valve’s DOTA 2, for which she’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2012 -
CultureE…A…Sports…These Guys Made the Parts That Say “It’s in the Game”
Even if you’ve never played a sports game in your life, EA’s intro catchphrase has become one of the most ubiquitous in all of gaming. So for Fine Art tody, we’re going to take a break from castles and giant robots to look at the people who are now in charge of the slogan (or…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 20, 2012 -
Culture
All of Guild Wars 2’s Incredible Art, Together in One Place
Having been in development for so long, the artists behind Guild Wars 2 had literally years to put together an immense volume of images detailing the game’s world and inhabitants. It’s all impressive stuff – so impressive it’s been featured here on Fine Art multiple times – but tonight we’re going to put it all…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 18, 2012 -
Culture
Candy Corn Oreos and Pumpkin Spice Kisses: It’s the Snacktaku Halloween Variety Spooktacular!
For the children and children-at-heart that don fancy costumes for a night of fun and frolicking, Halloween is October 31. For the certified snack professional, the spooky festivities begin in September, when Cadbury, Mars, Hershey and Nabisco roll out their holiday-themed candy. Hold out your bags, boys and girls. Some snack manufacturers play it safe…
By Mike Fahey Published September 17, 2012 -
Culture
The Week In Games: Run for the Border
The overwhelming top release this week is the highly anticipated Borderlands 2, on all three core platforms. Torchlight II at week’s end also is not to be missed. Tuesday • Borderlands 2 (360. PS3, PC) • F1 2012 (PS3, 360, PC) • Kinect Sports: Ultimate Collection (360) • Jet Set Radio (PSN) • Street Fighter…
By Owen Good Published September 16, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: That’s Justifiable
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. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Sept. 15.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Sept. 10.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published September 16, 2012 -
Culture
You’re Never Too Old For Giant Mechanical Death Machines
Galan Pang works as an artist at CCP’s Shanghai studio, where he’s done some amazing stuff for upcoming shooter Dust 514. The gallery below contains images both from that game and his personal works, in which killer giant mechs feature prominently You can see more of Galan’s work at his personal site and his CGHub…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Getting to the Bottom of the Akira Game That Might Not Have Sucked
For such a beloved manga and animated film, poor Akira hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to video games. Amidst the wreckage of the awful NES and Amiga adaptations of the movie, though, there always lingered the promise that a cancelled Akira project – one destined for the SNES, Genesis and Mega…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThe History of Video Games Gets, Uh, Weirdly Sexual Towards The End
This bizarre little piece of animation was originally intended to serve as the intro to a German documentary about video games. The idea was to take existing characters from the history of games and “reinterpret” them, to match the series’ brief to present the everyday lives of MMO addicts. I can kind of see that,…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
A Tribute to One of PC Gaming’s All-Time Greats
Sensible Software. If you know what that means you’re probably smiling already. If you don’t, well, you sure missed out. A British studio most prolific – and successful – in the late 80s and early 90s, Sensible developed for platforms like the Spectrum, Amiga and PC, and became famous for two things: adorable little pixel…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 13, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThey Really Don’t Make Games Like This Anymore
You hear that sentence a lot, about all kinds of things, but in the case of video games – and in particular 1991 adventure game Heart of China – it’s true! The 1990s were a bizarre time for PC gaming. As the format embraced the CD-ROM, and began to hit truly mass-market levels of awareness,…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 12, 2012 -
Culture
Good Evening. Here’s Some Terrific Concept Art.
Simon Goinard has been doing freelance work for the past decade, with his art featuring for clients as diverse as Disney, Exxon, Camel and Aston Martin. He’s also done quite a bit of video game work, with an equally-impressive list of employers like Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and Guild Wars developers ArenaNet. You can see…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 12, 2012 -
Culture
The Agony And Ecstasy Of The Pepperidge Farm Cookie
Over at Slate, a writer has gone ahead and eaten every kind of Pepperidge Farm cookie. He begins his article thusly: People think I’m weird because I like Chessmen. But they’re my favorite cookies, and I defend them with vigor whenever I encounter a Milano-lover who wants to fight me about it. And with that,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published September 11, 2012