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CultureTotal RecallThe Day a Sporting Legend Became an Unwitting Sonic the Hedgehog Icon
In the pouring rain on April 11, 1993, Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna raced into history with one of the greatest performances of his career. In treacherous conditions, he held off a spirited challenge from arch-rival Alain Prost to take a famous victory, one of the last he would savour before his tragic death…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 23, 2011 -
Culture
Why a 1995 PlayStation Game Still Looks Like It Came From The Future
You know why the PlayStation took off in the mid-90s? Because it was cool. And nothing on the PlayStation was cooler than WipeOut The futuristic racing series, created by Psygnosis, was fast and fun, but what really helps the franchise stand out is its unique approach to visual design. Rather than going cartoony or realistic,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 22, 2011 -
Culture
Game Industry All-Stars Making an Epic Sci-Fi Comic…Game…Thing
When Kendall Davis began work at 343 Industries, and got started on Halo 4, he probably didn’t think he’d end up quitting the studio and branching out to create an ambitious comic game with the help of an all-star game development ensemble. But that’s exactly what’s happened. Fine Art has the pleasure today of introducing…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 21, 2011 -
Culture
The Star Wars, Fallout & Neverwinter Art of Brian Menze
Brian Menze’s been around the video game art world for a long time now. If you’ve played, say, Fallout 2 (released in 1998), know that he’s the guy who designed all the Vault Boy images in the game. But that was the 20th century! Since then Menze has worked on games like Neverwinter Nights 2,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2011 -
Culture
Republic Service
Though many have plunged in with early access privileges, Tuesday is the official launch date for Star Wars: The Old Republic, one of the most anticipated MMOs in years. Other releases include Trine 2 on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and, yes, Postal III is still listed for release on Tuesday over Steam. Monday…
By Owen Good Published December 18, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: The Days are Just Packed
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 Dec. 12.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Dec. 13.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published December 18, 2011 -
Culture
The Incredible Video Game Art of Marek Okon
The Last of Us. Crysis 2. Star Wars: Old Republic. Uncharted 3. Some of the biggest games of the year, and beyond, and this man has done amazing art for the lot of them. Marek Okon is a Polish artist who primarily paints. The work you’ll know him for is of an incredibly polished state,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2011 -
Culture
The First Art From The Last Of Us
Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us, an upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive, only made its public debut over the weekend, and already we’ve got a look at its first concept art. Most of these pieces are by Maciej Kuciara, an artist who we’ve featured before here on Kotaku and who previously spent some time at Crytek,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 15, 2011 -
Culture
Video Game Art Doesn’t Get Much Slicker Than This
Aaron Richmond, part of the team at Cinco Design in Portland, doesn’t create concept art. He’s not a 3D modeller, and doesn’t come up with environments either. No, his work is more popular than that. He’s a marketing man. Richmond’s art appears on the promotional material for games. Mostly that means compositing other artist’s work—so…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 14, 2011 -
CultureA Video Game Made Me Come Clean About Infidelity
Catherine by Atlus is a surprisingly introspective game with fantastical elements
Patricia Hernandez, Nightmare Mode Published December 13, 2011 -
Culture
The Jarls, Jesters and Thieves of Skyrim
The last time we saw some concept art from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it was from Ray Lederer, and featured loads of colour and action shots. We’ve got some more art from the game today, and this time, it’s all about the design. The clothes, the weapons, the fine details. These pieces were drawn…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 13, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Street Fighter V? Contra 6? These Games Exist (In Russia).
Remember how last month we looked at some of the better examples of the unlicensed NES/Famicom clones that walked the earth during the 1980s and 1990s? One towered above all others like a colossus in terms of how successful it was, and that was Russia’s Dendy console. It’s my personal favourite of the bunch. Not…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 13, 2011 -
Culture
DLC Provides the TLC
Downloadable content for Battlefield, Assassin’s Creed, and Gears of War highlights an otherwise slow week for new releases. Don’t forget the Marvel Pinball: Vengeance and Virtue series coming to the PS3 and in Pinball FX2 on the 360. Tuesday • Assassin’s Creed: Revelations—Ancestors Character Pack (PS3, 360) • Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand (PC, 360)…
By Owen Good Published December 11, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Oddman Out
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 Dec. 5.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Dec. 9.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published December 11, 2011 -
Culture
The Dusty Concept Art of Red Dead Redemption
Hethe Srodawa is a concept artist who works at Trion Worlds on the developer’s long-coming collaboration with the SyFy channel. Which is cool! But it’s not why we’re here today. We’re here because Srodawa used to work for Rockstar, and contributed art to games like Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, LA Noire, Agent and…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 9, 2011 -
Culture
This Assassin’s Creed Art is a Revelation
Gilles Beloeil is a concept artist and digital matte painter at Ubisoft’s flagship Montreal studio. Know what that means? Yup. More awesome Assassin’s Creed art. While right now he’s working on an “unannonced (sic) AAA game”, he’s been involved in the Assassin’s Creed series, most recently on Revelations We looked at some art from this…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 8, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThank You, Shigeru Miyamoto, For These Awesome Games
Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto may not be leaving Nintendo or the games industry entirely, but the news that he’s soon to step down to a less prominent role on smaller games and with young developers has still sent a bit of a shock through the industry. UPDATE – Phew! Nintendo has denied he’s doing any…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 8, 2011 -
Culture
Who are you to Resist This God of War Art?
With over a decade’s experience in video game concept art, Carlo Arellano has worked on some of the industry’s biggest franchises, including World of Warcraft, Resistance and God of War More recently, he’s been involved in designing characters for Insomniac’s Overstrike, that sci-fi game from E3 that was announced and then promptly slid into the…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 7, 2011