-
CultureTotal RecallA Super-Spy Intro Worthy of Solid Snake
Since I had not played Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater until recently, I had also not seen its introductory credits sequence and accompanying movie. How? I ask you. How had I not seen this? This song, performed by Cynthia Harrell, was a classic almost from the moment the game was released. When the song…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThis Video Digs Into Our Love Affair With 8-Bit Art
You don’t have to be a regular Kotaku reader to know that “8-bit” has become one a hugely popular aesthetic. 8-bit art, 8-bit music, 8-bit everything. This terrific mini-documentary at PBS goes in-depth into the origins for the trend, pulling together all manner of artists familiar with the movement, from Dr. Octoroc to Anamanaguchi to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
Culture
Time for More Terrific Korean Game Art!
I don’t know what, specifically, it is in the water in South Korea that makes so many of its artists so damn talented, but if they ever feel like bottling it, they could make a fortune. Latest example: Sang-heun Nam, who works at Korean developer Nvius, and whose cheery style is brightening up my dreary…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 15, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Sega, You Can’t Show Hairy Balls in an Advertisement
Sega earned itself quite the reputation during the 1990s for its bold advertising, especially in the European market. Sometimes, though, the company went a little too far. Like these British ads from 1992. Which had dick jokes, masturbation jokes, pissing, enormous breasts and, well, pictures of a guy either rubbing his junk on the back…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 14, 2012 -
CultureThis One’s For Fans of Blizzard’s Cinematic Trailers
David Luong is an artist who, aside from helping out on a number of big-budget Hollywood movies, has also been involved with several Blizzard titles, including Diablo III, World of Warcraft and StarCraft II While he’s done visual FX work as a compositor on some of Blizzard’s best cinematic trailers, he also does matte paintings,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
An Evolving History of Old Video Games For Girls
Think back to the video games of the 80s and 90s and most characters, let alone protagonists, were dudes. But not all of them. Which is where the delightfully-named Femicom comes in. It’s a website that’s looking to “collect information about 20th century electronic games and toys, especially video games and computer software, that feature…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Secrets, and Threats, Lurking Behind Pokémon Games
This is the first episode of Did You Know Gaming?, a new series close to my heart because it does exactly what I try to do here with Total Recall: not necessarily dwell on the known history of games, but the more interesting stuff hiding in the background. It’s off to a good start, with…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2012 -
Culture
Thundercats, and Concept Art, Ho!
Tyler Breon is an artist who has previously worked on properties such as Spider Man, Uncharted and God of War, including the most recent title in the series, the upcoming Ascension He’s currently employed at Big Red Button Entertainment, who are working on unannounced projects. If you like what you see here, you can check…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallSee How Tron’s Original Arcade Looks Today
In the 1982 film Tron, nearly everything takes place, in one way or another, inside a joint called Flynn’s Arcade. While at E3 last week, video game historian Scott Patterson decided to skip the noise and light and go and see how the building used for filming is looking today. It’s…not bad! It’s still clearly…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Nintendo’s Early DRM Was Simple (And Didn’t Work)
DRM, or Digital Rights Management, is in many ways the great scourge of modern gaming. Designed to limit the effects of piracy, it’s often more of a pain in the ass for paying customers than it is a hindrance to pirates. It’s usually associated with PC games, but Nintendo is no stranger to it either.…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Culture
The Beautiful Final Fantasy Art of Yoshitaka Amano
Say the name “Yoshitaka Amano” to a longtime Final Fantasy fan and they may well go all weird behind the eyes, before telling you how much better the games were when he was designing things. I don’t know about that – the current “buckles on EVERYTHING” aesthetic has its fans as well – but there’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
How Well do You Know Your 90s Video Games?
Reader Saybox has made this terrific timewaster of a browser game, which tests your 90s game knowledge by asking you to “name that tune”. There are 93 games in total listed, and if you’re stuck, there are a limited number of hints you can get. I have little shame in saying I could get less…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Wii U’s Awesome Zombie Shooter is (Sort of) a Reboot of a 1986 PC Game
ZombiU was one of the surprises of E3, taking the boring old zombie shooter idea and using the Wii U’s controller to make something new. The thing is, ZombiU might not be as new as you think. While Ubisoft didn’t trumpet the fact (only mentioning it briefly to attendees waiting for their E3 press conference…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Culture
From StarCraft to WarCraft, This Concept Art Certainly Knows its Crafts
Concept artist Graven Tung has, in over a decade working in the field, provided pieces for clients such as Blizzard, where he worked on both StarCraft II – right down to Gabriel Tosh concert posters – and World of Warcraft’s three major expansions. He also did some work on SOCOM II, as well as driving…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
Culture
Chainsaw Reaction
Racy themes and racing games lead the lineup of the coming week of retail releases. Reissues of Metal Gear Solid and Pikmin 2 also come to stores. Today • Nintendo Selects: Pikmin 2 (Wii) Tuesday • Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, 360) • DiRT Showdown (PS3, 360) • Gravity Rush (PS Vita) • Krater (PC) • Metal…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: What’s My Motivation?
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. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik published June 6.—Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published June 3.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 -
Culture
From Sci-Fi’s Future to Japan’s Past
Mitchell Mohrhauser works as an artist at CCP, the developers of EVE Online and the upcoming Dust 514. Which means, yeah, there’ll be art from their dark sci-fi future in this gallery, but also other stuff of a more bright and cheerful nature. Well, maybe just bright. Men with guns, samurai and epic sci-fi vistas…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 8, 2012 -
Culture
At Least Final Fantasy XIV’s Art Isn’t Drowning in Buttons
Final Fantasy XIV as a game certainly looks nice, but it’s also – like most MMOs – a little too cluttered with buttons and bars for my liking. Which is why I like its concept art a little more. It’s all the pretty, none of the buttons. To see the larger pics in all their…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 6, 2012 -
Culture
The Art (and Guns) of Halo 4
Fine Art doesn’t stop just because E3 is going down. It just gets a little more poignant. Today we’ve got some official art from Microsoft’s Halo 4, some of it previously seen but much of it brand new. It’s a mix of content, some of it concept art, some of it in-game objects, others character…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 5, 2012