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Culture
The Most Delicious Hardware Is Deep Fried Hardware
Can’t get enough food porn? Want more gadget porn? Well then, munch on this. This is “Deep Fried Gadgets”, a series of photos by photographer Henry Hargreaves. The series was inspired by Japanese kids who fried a PSP—and then ate it. Hargreaves, however, didn’t fry the actual devices, but rather, made foam models and fried…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 4, 2012 -
Culture
New Games Up Against the Next Games
E3 is always a tough week for anything to release, which is why we’re probably seeing the likes of Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats and an old-school six-platform movie adaptation. Inversion is the week’s big name. Tuesday • Inversion (PC, 360, PS3) • Rayman Origins (3DS) • Bang Bang Racing (PSN) • Virtua Fighter 5 Final…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Quit Staring at My Chest
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. Brawl In The Family by Matthew Taranto published June 1.—Read more of Brawl In The Family Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published May 28.—Read more of Awkward…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Falling-Out and Heartwarming Reunion of the Guys Who Made Space Quest
Plenty of adventure game developers have recently reunited to create new games, usually funded via Kickstarter. At first glance, Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe are no different. The two men created the classic Space Quest PC games, and eventually parted ways. Now, they’re on Kickstarter raising money for a new game called Two Guys from…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 2, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallI Watched This Kingdom Hearts Lore-Primer And I Still Have No Idea What The Hell is Going On in Kingdom Hearts
I’m a fan of Lore in a Minute!, a site that breaks down a game’s lore and story in easily digestible, humorous movies. It’s great for if you want to hop into a series midway through without going back and slogging through long, older games. I headed over there to check out their fun new…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 1, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallBefore He Fought Dominatrix Nuns, Agent 47 Took On Mardi Gras
Purposefully vulgar marketing isn’t the only thing controversial about the new Hitman game Hitman: Absolution; plenty of folks are worried that the game itself will be a big departure from the slow-paced, careful gameplay of the first games. The Splinter Cell: Conviction to Blood Money‘s Chaos Theory, if you will. Reading Stephen’s hands-on preview from…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 1, 2012 -
Culture
Tonight’s Helping of Giant Robots and Exploding Spaceships
William Smith works at Timegate Studios, who have previously been responsible for titles like Section 8 and who are now helping Gearbox out on Aliens: Colonial Marines He’d previously worked in advertising, for respected international firm Saatchi & Saatchi X. And his artwork is just lovely Enormous killing machines are normally shown as being dreary,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 1, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallUnboxing an Atari Computer From 1983
Continuing my dust-covered crusade against modern unboxings, here’s another vintage unboxing, in which an Atari 800XL from 1983 is transferred lovingly from the packaging to the outside world. The 800XL was essentially a cheaper and nastier version of the Atari 800, albeit with fancier packaging. It couldn’t even run some Atari 800 programs natively, requiring…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThis Man Stole $318,000 From Namco Before the Cops Caught Him
In 1985, Namco America employee Steven Drake was arrested by police and found with $32,000 cash on him, with even more hidden in the trunk of a car parked at San Francisco airport. Turns out he’d been buying up gold coins from South Africa and Canada using Namco’s money. The scoundrel. In total, Drake siphoned…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012 -
Culture
Beautiful Video Game Art, All the Way From China
Tonight, we’re checking out the portfolio of Chinese artist Ming zhu Yang, who works for Gameloft’s pre-production studio Redsteam. Specialising mostly in character art, you can see more of her stuff at her personal site. To see the larger pics in all their glory (or so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on them…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallA Fascinating Look at the Factories Where Old Video Games Were Made
Mommy, where do video games come from? They come from factories, dear, factories like these, from the 1980s. This awesome video shows the factory floor at companies such as Midway, Atari and Taito, where vintage arcade classics like Pac-Man were put together, while also giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of Nintendo circa 1988.…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 31, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
All I Ever Wanted, Konami, Was a Little Congraturations
It’s perhaps not as famous as other hatchet jobs on the English language perpetrated by Japanese developers in the 1980s, but it’s one of my favourites nonetheless. This is from the MSX version of Salamander, which you may know as Life Force, a shmup first released in 1986. He just…he just doesn’t look that happy…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 30, 2012 -
Culture
Sculpting Assassin’s Creed, Hitman & GI Joe’s Snake Eyes
Former Ubisoft artist David Giraud has, in nearly 15 years in the business, worked on games such as Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia: Sand of Time, Assassin’s Creed and Hitman: Blood Money He’s now at THQ’s Montreal studio, the one being run by former Assassin’s Creed boss Patrice Desilets Warner Bros. In addition to his…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 30, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallIn a Previous Life, This Video Game Executive Made Awesome Movies
If all you do is sit around reading video game news all day, and not much else, when someone mentions the name “Danny Bilson”, you probably think “Oh, the guy who’s captained THQ to the bottom of the ocean“. And you’d be right! You’d also be talking about the most boring thing he’s ever done,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 29, 2012 -
Culture
This Terrific Art Goes From Mega Man to a Dead Future
Korean concept artist Kang Donghwa works for NeoWiz, one of the region’s biggest game companies. Meaning you’re not only going to see some Mega Man Online (the Capcom/NeoWiz MMO project, known locally as Rockman Online) concept art, but some other amazing pieces as well, some for Korean games, others for personal work. You can see…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 29, 2012 -
Culture
Harry Potter, Batman Will Kick Your Ass All Over This Concept Art
British artist Ross Dearsley has over the years done everything from comic art for Marvel to concept work for the video game business. In this gallery you’ll see stuff like his Harry Potter video game work, comic covers, Batman: Arkham City pieces and even some Judge Dredd You can see more of Ross’ art at…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2012 -
Culture
This Summer, Drink Up Salty Watermelon Pepsi in Japan
It’s quickly becoming an annual summer tradition: Pepsi Japan releases truly interesting flavors to help the country cool down. This summer, the flavor is “Salty Watermelon”. Above, you can see what the drink’s packaging and color will look like. Watermelon is very much a summer food in Japan, where people are known to sprinkle some…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2012 -
Culture
Memorial DLC
Slow action in North America as the United States takes a break for cookouts on Monday. Mass Effect, Prototype and Arkham City all have notable content drops. Resistance: Burning Skies arrives on PS Vita. Monday • The Binding of Isaac: The Wrath of the Lamb (PC) Tuesday • Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (XBLA, PC)…
By Owen Good Published May 27, 2012