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Culture
Planters NUT-rition “Adult” Peanut Butter: The Evolutionary Snacktaku Review
There was a time that I’d spend at least a third of each week driving from grocery store to grocery store, hunting for the star of the next Snacktaku review. I’d walk the aisles for hours, making note of which items shoppers were putting in their carts. I’d measure stock density hour-by-hour. Sometimes I’d just…
By Mike Fahey Published August 6, 2012 -
Culture
One Man’s Terrific Art for Assassin’s Creed, Prometheus and More
Here’s another awesome Fine Art to get your week started on the right foot: a collection of works by David Levy, aka vyle, aka another of my very favourite concept artists in the whole wide world. David has worked on a number of big video games like Assassin’s Creed (we’ve actually shown some of his…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 6, 2012 -
Culture
The Week in Games: Short and to the Point
Persona 4 Arena arrives in the west this week, accompanied by the funky rhythm game Sound Shapes. On Xbox Live Arcade, the third-person multiplayer shooter Hybrid continues the Summer of Arcade. Tuesday • Sound Shapes (PS3, PS Vita) • Persona 4 Arena (PS3, 360) • Deponia (PC) Wednesday • Hybrid (XBLA) Friday • The Amazing…
By Owen Good Published August 5, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
This Stupid Controller That Looks Like a Sex Toy Helped My Brother Win a Silver Medal
Hurry! There are only two days left until this auction for “Le Stick” closes. You can have this hunk of junk for $29.99, but I warn you, it’s practically useless. Except for one video game, that is. Rewind: It’s 1983. My brother and I live next door to a guy who is an electronics buyer,…
By Owen Good Published August 5, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Friendship is Tragic
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 Aug. 4.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published July 30.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published August 5, 2012 -
Culture
This Week in the Business: ‘PS Vita is an Utter Flop.’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “PS Vita is an utter flop.”—Rob Fahey, veteran game journalist, talking about Sony’s losses with their games business QUOTE | “The Old Republic was sold as a story; very soon, it will have to double as a shop.”—Matthew Handrahan, staff writer…
By Steve Peterson Published August 4, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWelcome Back, Rise of the Triad, You’ve Been Missed
Perhaps the strangest news of the day, if not much longer, is that cult 90’s shooter Rise of the Triad is getting a remake Considering a whole generation of gamers has now grown up likely not having played the thing, they’re probably wondering, what’s all the fuss about? Here’s what all the fuss is about.…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 3, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Horror of Broken Old Nintendo Games
Old video games may have a certain charm to them when they’re working, but what about when they’re not? When they’re crashing and bugging out all over the place, no matter how many times you shake them or blow in the cartridge slot? Glitchee’s site is a wonderful catalogue of just such episodes, mostly of…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 3, 2012 -
Culture
The Stunning Concept Art of Sebastien Larroudé (Deus Ex, Tron, etc)
Sebastien Larroudé is one of my favourite concept artists working today. Formerly a senior concept artist at Eidos, where he worked on Thief 4 and Deus Ex (we actually featured some of his DE:HR work previously here), Larroudé – aka Rainart – now heads up Steambot Studios, a collection of brilliant artists that includes the…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 3, 2012 -
Culture
Uncharted’s Art Director Can Also Draw Cool Spaceships
Robh Ruppel is the art director at Naughty Dog, the developers of the Uncharted series. Before that, he spent over a decade working at Disney’s animation studio. This gallery of his work includes examples of both concept art and matte paintings from across that period, and features pieces from the Uncharted games, personal projects, Disney…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Destroy Satan and Escape From Hades? Sounds Simple Enough.
I remember Ghosts ‘N Goblins being about two things: underpants and skeletons. Mostly about underpants. It’s easy to forget amidst all the cheesy humour of the game, then, that it had a fairly brutal premise. I mean, it’s not like destroying Satan himself and then escaping the netherworld of Hades is tough enough. No, there…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Show Today’s Kids a 1980s Computer and, Well, Yeah
The Commodore 64 turned 30 this week. As the firs video game platform my family ever owned, it will always have a very special place in my heart. But I was born in 1980. What do kids born in the 21st century think of the machine? The BBC and C64 fan Mat Allen went to…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 2, 2012 -
Culture
Concept Art From Guild Wars, Halo and Beyond
Meet Thomas Scholes. Well, meet his art. An illustrator and concept artist who has worked at 343 Studios, ArenaNet and Disney, he’s now a freelancer who can draw some of the nicest pieces of environment art around. In the gallery below you’ll see examples of his work on games like Halo 4 and Guild Wars…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
GameStop’s Trade-In Program, the 1993 Edition
Here’s a flyer for Electronics Boutique’s (now part of GameStop) fledgling trade-in scheme, which not only warns you that the program could end at any time (oh no!), but demands you bring the instructions in. No manual, no trade-in. Compared to the “sure we’ll take any old piece of shit” policy the company has now,…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Only Game Where You’ll Find James Bond, Capcom and Rob Lowe in the One Place
You don’t need me to tell you how awful most FMV games from the 1990s were. But amidst the wreckage of bad racing games and even worse adventure games, I have a soft spot for Fox Hunt. Mostly because, over 15 years later, I can only now appreciate how batshit crazy the whole thing was.…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 1, 2012 -
Culture
The Art Of Jaime Jones
I’m in love. This is the art of Jaime Jones, an illustrator and concept artist who has worked for clients like Bungie, Blizzard, Wizards of the Coast and Warner Bros. It’s pretty damn special. Lovers of Fine Art may have already caught a glimpse of his work previously, in these Guild Wars 2 clips, but…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
How Video Game Development Has Changed Over the Past Twenty Years
The video game business isn’t what it used to be. You know that as a gamer, but what you my find even more interesting is the way it’s changed for those actually involved in making the games. Cory Bloyd is a veteran programmer who works at Munkyfun, and who had previously done stuff like helping…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Konami’s Cheat to Get Around a Silly Nintendo Rule
Did you know that, before 1993, Nintendo of America had a rule that limited the number of games a publisher could release on one of it systems? Yup. In a calendar year a publisher, or “licensee”, could only release five games. No more. It was a rule with its heart in the right place: the…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 31, 2012 -
CultureFrom Making Star Wars Scenes to Making His Own Animated Movie
Lance Myers has been working in the games industry for well over a decade now, mostly in the field of animation. While he’s currently at Spacetime helping on the upcoming Arcane Legends, his last role was at BioWare, where he worked as a storyboard artist for Old Republic’s cinematic sequences. Before that, though, he worked…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 30, 2012 -
Culture
The Week in Games: Say It Three Times Fast
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS headlines another light midsummer week. Other names arriving Tuesday include the Risen and Orcs Must Die! sequels. On Wednesday, Awesomenauts comes to Steam and Deadlight continues the Summer of Arcade on Xbox Live. Tuesday • Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (3DS) • Risen 2: Dark Waters (PS3,…
By Owen Good Published July 29, 2012