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CultureTotal Recall
That Game Where “Hulk Hogan’s” Chest Nearly Exploded
Wrestle War is a Japanese wrestling game that was released in arcades in 1989 (and on Japanese and PAL Mega Drives a couple of years later). Despite not carrying a single official license, it decided to rip off a number of high-profile wrestlers of the time, like Hulk Hogan (who was awesomely renamed “Titan Morgan”)…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
A History of Video Game Movies That Haven’t Been Made (And Probably Won’t)
As video game fans, it’s easy to get excited about movie adaptation news because, as video game fans, you expect this means the movie will one day actually get made. It doesn’t. That might be how video games work, but it’s certainly not how Hollywood works. This week has seen three big announcements in the…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012 -
Culture
The Art of a Rockstar Games Legend
Scottish artist Ian McQue has worked at Rockstar North since, oh, the dawn of time. Over the years he’s contributed art to games like the Grand Theft Auto series, Bully, Manhunt, Agent and even Body Harvest, the studio’s cult N64 game Currently lead concept artist at Rockstar North, the home of the core Grand Theft…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Poor Godzilla, a Game Boy is Too Tiny For His Giant Fingers
When he’s not crushing major Japanese cities, Godzilla likes nothing more than to kick back and play his own video game on the original Game Boy. Only, because his giant claws can’t hit the buttons properly, he’s always dying, which pisses him off, causing him to stomp around crushing cities. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s a…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 10, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallHistory is Littered With the Corpses of Failed Consoles
So, you’re excited about this weird new Ouya console? Having made over $1 million from Kickstarter backers in a single day, you probably are! So now’s the time I’m going to tell you to cool your jets, if only a little. Why? Because there’s a lot more to making a video game console than just…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 10, 2012 -
Culture
Gorgeous Tera Concept Art, Fresh From Korea
If you’re a fan of Tera, the new MMO on the block, you might want to take a look at this gallery, because it features the work of Kim Hyeong Seung, a concept artist who has worked on the game. Almost everything here is from the game, with the exception of the obvious. Like the…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 10, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Sega Console That Was Just For Girls
Chances are the Sega consoles you played, or at least saw growing up, were actually made by Sega. But not everyone was afforded that luxury. In some territories, the hardware had to be manufactured and sold by third-party vendors, resulting in some bizarre systems like this: The Master System Girl. Note that this is not…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 9, 2012 -
Culture
The Word is Fight, Fight, Fight
NCAA Football 13 is the week’s biggest console release, bringing with it roleplaying enhancements to the game’s career mode and the chance to relive the glory days of more than a dozen Heisman Trophy winners. Downloadable titles round out the remainder of the week. Tuesday • NCAA Football 13 (PS3, 360) • Quantum Conundrum (PSN)…
By Owen Good Published July 8, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Cold Dead Hand
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. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published July 2.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published July 4.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published July 8, 2012 -
CultureTreat Yourself to a 1990s NBA Jam Session While We Await Word of 2K’s Major Announcement
2K Sports has told us to keep on the lookout for a huge announcement—biggest ever in the label’s history—and so far we haven’t heard anything. The reveal of details for the “Dynasty Edition” of NBA 2K13 was not it—that much was confirmed by a 2K Sports representative to me, earlier this week. Whatever they have…
By Owen Good Published July 6, 2012 -
Culture
Art That Gets to the Heart of Star Wars (and Tomb Raider, and Resistance)
Concept artist Christian Piccolo works at BioWare’s Austin studio. Before that, he’s worked on a number of cool game franchises (and other projects) like Tomb Raider, Resistance and Marvel Ultimate Alliance My favourite stuff, though, comes not from a game, but from a book. Piccolo managed to get a gig on DK’s amazing Star Wars…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallX-Men’s Giant Six-Player Cabinet Was an Arcade Marvel
While many arcade games can accommodate two players, and some even four, there aren’t many that can crowd six around a single cabinet like the incredible X-Men arcade game could. Released in 1992, and developed by Konami, the game came out at the height of the studio’s arcade power, during which similar side-scrolling games (all…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 5, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
The History of Blizzard Entertainment, in One Very Pretty Timeline
In 1991, a small development studio called Silicon & Synapse was founded. It would make a name for itself with cult driving games like RPM Racing and Rock N’ Roll Racing. Fast forward to 2012, and that small studio is now known as Blizzard Entertainment. The entertainment juggernaut, behind such blockbusters as World of Warcraft,…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 5, 2012 -
Culture
Frito-Lay’s Handling the Skylanders Freebie Like It’s 1980 or Something
Thirty-two years ago, Dad came home with what could only be described as the Holy Grail of my childhood—Boba Fett. Dad was the kind of guy who once called Kenner, under the auspices of a local newspaperman, to ask if they were making a Yoda action figure and when it would arrive. In secret, he…
By Owen Good Published July 5, 2012 -
Culture
Crytek Concept Art Includes More Battlefront III Images
Chris Matthews is a senior artist at Crytek UK, the studio formerly known as Free Radical (Timesplitters). The art you’re about to see, then, has not only some Crytek stuff such as Crysis, but also some art from the developer’s cancelled Battlefront III project. Just to tug at the heartstrings a little more Having been…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 5, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThe One Game To Play on the Fourth of July
Not being American, I have no personal affinity towards 4th of July celebrations. If I were, though, you can bet your ass I’d be spending the day playing Sid Meier’s Colonization over and over and over again. First released in 1994, Colonization remains something of a cult favourite amongst PC gamers, never reaching the heights…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012 -
Culture
Bikini Cowgirls, Heavy Rain and British Zombies Lead This Concept Art Parade
Over the years French artist Morgan Yon has worked on games such as Heavy Rain and Zombi U, and movies like Prince of Persia and GI Joe. His work is incredible. We featured some of it a while back, back when Heavy Rain was in the news, but that was then (when we only showed…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Dragon Ball’s Creator Takes on Street Fighter
Akira Toriyama is famous as being the creator of Dragonball, though he’s also worked on video games, most notably doing character design for the Dragon Quest series of RPGs (as well as Xbox 360 RPG Blue Dragon). This antique image, from what looks like an old Japanese magazine, has the legend giving his take on…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 3, 2012
