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CultureTotal Recall
Um, It’s Not Really Atari’s 40th Birthday
There was much fanfare today as Atari celebrated its 40th birthday. Only, it’s not really Atari’s 40th birthday. I hate to be that guy, but the Atari of 2012 has about as much in common with Nolan Bushnell’s original company as my beard trimmings do. Maybe even less, since Nolan has a killer beard. The…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 28, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
What’s the Deal With All These German Cyborgs?
One game featuring a German with extendable robot arms is a thing. Two is a coincidence. But three? All starring in games developed by Japanese studios? OK, three is a pattern. This post over on GameWTFs, highlighting ten cyborgs starring in Super Nintendo games, contains not one, not two, but three Germans with robot arms.…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 27, 2012 -
Culture
Concept Art From The Last of Us, Prey 2, Tomb Raider…
James Paick is a freelance concept artist who has worked on more big games recently than I could fit in that headline. Since I’ve got more room down here, here’s a continued selection: The Last of Us, Uncharted 2, Prey 2, Infamous 2, Medal of Honor, Tomb Raider, Lost Planet 3… ...Resistance 3, Tron, City…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 27, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Q: Why the Sega Saturn Never Really Took Off in the West
A: Because this ad, and this console, never appeared outside Japan. Many people blame the Dreamcast for Sega’s exit from the console market, but that’s a harsh point for both the console and the company. Really, it was the Saturn that marked the beginning of the end. The market share the Saturn ceded to Nintendo…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 26, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Nintendo Made a Poker Machine. That You Shot At.
Regular Kotaku readers will of course know that Nintendo hasn’t always made video games. The company has dabbled in everything from love hotels to badass “LEGO” sets. It also, in the early 1970s, tried its hand at electronic card games. In about the most bizarre way imaginable. This is Electro Poker, released in 1971. It…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 26, 2012 -
Culture
From Hawken to…Totoro, the Art of Khang Le
Khang Le is the boss of Adhesive games, the studio behind the promising Hawken, a multiplayer mech shooter on PC. But he’s not just the boss. He’s also the game’s creative director. There’s a few Hawken pieces here, as well as some other mechs and robots. But there’s also some beautiful environment pieces featuring fantasy…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 26, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallCaptain Waffle, Video Gaming’s Unsung Hero
Don’t try and make sense of Spinal Breakers, a 1990 coin-op game. It’s got a story that centres around nuclear war, something called “hildroids” (which look a lot like Nazis to me) and the alteration of the Earth’s axis. What’s important is that you play as a man (and walking Michael Biehn tribute) called Captain…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 25, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThat Time a Porn Star Appeared in a Video Game About Giant Space Cats
Like anyone else who played PC games in the early 1990s, I was, and still am, madly in love with Wing Commander III, perhaps the finest moment of the period’s fixation with using real actors. One thing always seemed a little weird to me though: why was there a porn star on the ship? Yes,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 25, 2012 -
Culture
Kids Build Their Own Tiny Worlds of Warcraft
Last year, World of Warcraft developers Blizzard asked university students to “submit an original 3D environment piece fit for World of Warcraft”. Basically, a digital diorama of a new WoW setting. After compiling entries for a few months, Blizzard has now revealed the Grand Prize winners, who each receive one hell of a prize package.…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 25, 2012 -
Culture
Action is His Reward
The adaptation of the new Amazing Spider-Man movie swings onto shelves this week, joined by the brooding military drama Spec Ops: The Line In downloadables, Skyrim‘s first expansion debuts on the Xbox 360. Monday • Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 (360) • Dungeons & Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark (PC)…
By Owen Good Published June 24, 2012 -
Culture
New Skylanders “Sidekicks” Arriving in Frito Bags in Two Weeks?
This rumor has bubbled on enthusiast sites and message boards since about April, but an official-looking PowerPoint floating out there in the wild suggests a promotion this July will combine Mike Fahey’s two greatest loves: Skylanders and snack foods. The four Sidekicks, pictured above, appear to be in-game characters only (no figurines). They’ll be claimed…
By Owen Good Published June 24, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Honoris Causa
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 June 18.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published June 22.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published June 24, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallHave You Ever Broken A Controller In Anger? I Have.
It’s OK to get frustrated by a video game. They’re often designed to do just that. But there’s a line you cross once you get past frustration, and once you get to the other side, you’re in angytown. That’s usually not OK. It’s a sign you should maybe put the controller down, take a step…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012 -
Culture
Now This is How You Design Aliens: Actually Make Them Look Alien
Aussie artist Alex Ries used to work for THQ, until THQ decided it couldn’t afford an Australian studio anymore. Since then, he’s been doing other stuff. What’s great about Alex’s work is that, unlike most other artists we feature here, he has an interest in zoology and biology, and an ability to create new species…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallSuch a Pretty Video, Such a Terrible Game
Ah, Bleeping Relics, we meet again. The Beligan retro crew with a taste for rad hardware (and a very nice camera) are this episode sitting down with Puck Monster, a rather crude Pac-Man clone. Which should be a recipe for five minutes of boredom, but this isn’t about game reviews, or judging companies who choose…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 20, 2012 -
Culture
One Does Not Simply Draw Into Mordor
Ilya Nazarov works as an artist and illustrator at Bethesda. Before that, he’s worked at places like Warner Bros. and Nintendo, and has provided art for series like Metroid Prime, Donkey Kong, Tribes and, as you may have guessed by that headline, Lord of the Rings (in this case, War in the North). Ilya’s fantasy…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 20, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall1981 Video Explains Activision’s “Overnight Success”
Activision may be heralded/hated as one of the world’s biggest video game companies today, but in 1981, it was a much smaller company. A very different company, in a very different time. Which is the only reason I can think of to explain this bizarrely wonderful promo video the company put together in 1981, which…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 19, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Serve the Public Trust. Protect the Innocent. Smash up Old Arcade Games.
Hey, RoboCop, you’ve got mechanical arms and a gun in your leg. Why’d you have to go and smash a perfectly good arcade game? And it was pretty good. If you couldn’t make it out beneath all the broken glass and criminal hair, it’s Sly Spy, Data East’s 1989 side-scroller that took more than a…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 19, 2012