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CultureTotal RecallBefore They Were Superstars: BioWare
Canadian developers BioWare are known today for blockbuster series like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic We don’t care about those today. Today, for our younger/newer readers that may only know them for those franchises, we’re going back to 1995, where it all began. Unlike most (I’d be tempted…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 3, 2011 -
Culture
Rage With Your Machine
A jampacked Tuesday gives the core gamer Rage and Dark Souls. Sports fans get NBA 2K12 and loyal webheads will see Spider-Man: Edge of Time Today • Tetris Axis (3DS) Tuesday • Dark Souls (PS3, 360)—The successor to From Software’s uncompromisingly challenging Demon’s Souls sends Xbox 360 gamers to hell and back for the first…
By Owen Good Published October 2, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: A White Belt in Yoga
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. Also, remember to vote for our newest feature. Voting is open until Thursday. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Sept. 26.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!!…
By Owen Good Published October 2, 2011 -
Culture
Vote on Sunday Comics‘ Newest Strip
Last week we took nominations for a new feature to take Rooster Teeth‘s place in Sunday Comics. After reading through all of your suggestions, we’ve come up with a list of eight candidates for your vote. This is your decision. Please make it carefully. The eight candidates are in that gallery above, published in alphabetical…
By Owen Good Published October 1, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics Poll
Vote here for your choice for the newest feature in Sunday Comics. The candidates are listed in random order there, so be sure you know the name of the feature you prefer. Voting is open until noon on Thursday. We will try to have a new 10th comic in place by next Sunday. Thanks again…
By Owen Good Published October 1, 2011 -
Culture
This Week in the Business: ‘PSN is an Almost Complete Failure’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “PSN is an almost complete failure.” – Indie developer Guillaume Boucher-Vidal, Studio Manager at Nine Dots Studio, reacts to PSN having “low standards” and he calls out Team Meat as “loud crybabies.” QUOTE | “Consoles will continue to be gold standard.” –…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published September 30, 2011 -
CultureHostess Chocwave and Snoballimus Prime Light Our Darkest Snacktime
With the third installment of Michael Bay’s Transformers movie saga on store shelves, can anything wash the taste of frustrated disappointment from the mouths of hardcore fans? Rise, Snoballimus Prime. Just in time for the DVD/Blu-ray release of Dark of the Moon, Hostess and the Baybots combine to form a pair of snack cakes colored…
By Mike Fahey Published September 30, 2011 -
Culture
Some Concept Art From The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
If you buy the expensive collector’s edition of the new Elder Scrolls game, you’ll get a 200-page art book full of designs and sketches showing how a video game world was born. If you’re cheap and just want to see some of the art, well, you’d better look here then. There are four excerpts from…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Four Stages of Reboot Grief
Today’s Total Recall won’t be about video game history. It’s about dealing with what happens when video game history is dredged back to the present and coated in bright pink lipstick. EA’s Syndicate is but the latest in an ever-growing list of games that are reboots of old franchises. And they’re reboots in the strictest…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
CultureThe Dark, Moody Metal Gear Art of Ashley Wood
If you like Metal Gear, chances are you’ve heard the name Ashley Wood before. While these days the Australian artist is kept busy with things like comics, art books, toys, TV and movies, he’s also had a long-running and very successful stint as an artist for Konami’s blockbuster stealth franchise. What’s cool about Wood’s Metal…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
CultureMy Favorite Japanese Commercial of 2011 Has a Plastic Fist
Toriko is a Japanese manga that follows a “Gourmet Hunter” named Toriko who is on the hunt for rare food. This is an ad for a “Toriko Snack Pulverizer”. You put snacks in it, pulverize them, and then sprinkles them on food. It’s totally awesome. This summer, Bandai Namco released a new Toriko game, which…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 29, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallGoing to War Like Only Nintendo Can
Even though Zelda has killing and even Mario has head-stomping, when you think about it, nearly all of Nintendo’s first-party properties are harmless affairs. Bright colours, innocent storylines, big-eyed cartoon mascots and candy-coloured fantasy worlds where everything turns out just fine With one exception: the “Wars” series, Nintendo’s only foray into, well, war. In the…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Culture
More of Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Amazing Concept Art
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game that’s art direction was so memorable, and so well-loved, that I figured it was worth a second round of concept art. Whereas last time we looked at a little bit of everything from a whole bunch of the game’s artists, today we’re looking at some new stuff from…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 28, 2011 -
Culture
The Sexy, Colourful Art of DMC, Enslaved and Heavenly Sword
From the first time I saw Heavenly Sword concept art in an old copy of Edge, right through to their work today, I’ve been a big, big fan of the art team over at Ninja Theory. So it’s a pleasure today to present the work of the studio’s visual art director, Alessandro Taini. Born in…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 27, 2011 -
Culture
Doritos Creator Arch West Takes His Cheesy Legacy to the Grave
Orange-stained fingers around the world were clenched in grief last week, when the legendary marketing man credited with the creation of Doritos passed away. But take heart, snack fans; Arch West is taking his cheese powder-infused tortilla chips with him on his eternal journey. That’s right, West is being buried with Doritos. A marketing executive…
By Mike Fahey Published September 26, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Delightful Home-Made Maps of the Zork Series
Zork is one of the oldest adventure game franchises there is. The series is so old, in fact, that aside from a few rare instances you can only play the games using, and seeing, text. No graphics, no icons, no heads-up display, nothing. So how did you get around? How did you use a map?…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 26, 2011 -
Culture
We’re Taking Nominations for Sunday Comics’ Newest Strip
As you may have noticed, we’ve been down a comic in our Sunday Comics lineup ever since Rooster Teeth closed in August. I could have just filled it in with any of the submissions we frequently get from webcomic authors, but remembering how this feature was conceived, and given that everyone has such strong opinions…
By Owen Good Published September 25, 2011 -
Culture
Ready for Some Football
EA Sports’ FIFA 12 highlights this release week (Tuesday in North America, Thursday and Friday in Europe) along with Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2011. Not diggin’ sports? X-Men: Destiny, the quasi-action-RPG by Silicon Knights, arrives on shelves, too. Monday • FIFA Soccer 12 (Wii) Tuesday • FIFA Soccer 12 (PC, PS2, PSP, PS3, 360) —A…
By Owen Good Published September 25, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Elitism Isn’t Free
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 Sept. 19.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Sept. 24.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published September 25, 2011 -
Culture
Elk Strips: The $35 Snack That Made a Great Nation Great
Funyuns, Doritos, Chikin-on-a-Biskit. They conjure images of stoners and the unemployed, but no one consumes those snacks to affect said lifestyle. Jerky, well, c’mon. It’s like a meat Marlboro. If you’ve ever torn off hunks of dried flesh, wrung them out on your molars, and not once narrowed your eyes and internally complimented this great…
By Owen Good Published September 23, 2011