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Culture
This Week in the Business: ‘We’ll be able to squeeze more from Xbox 360.’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “We’ll be able to squeeze more from Xbox 360.” – Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski notes that if Epic ships another 360 title this generation they should still be able to extract even more power from the console QUOTE | “We’ve learned…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published September 23, 2011 -
Culture
We may Never Play the Aliens RPG, but we can Look at its Concept Art
There once was a time Obsidian was making an RPG based on the Aliens universe. That game has since been cancelled, but today we’re looking at some art done for the project by Charles Lee. We’ll also be looking at some of his other stuff, as he’s also recently been involved in the production of…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 23, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
It’s the end of the World as This Game Knew it (and Nobody Felt Fine)
Our younger readers won’t have lived through it, but the 1980s were in in many ways a bleak time, the spectre of nuclear holocaust hanging over the world for much of the decade. For such a dominant political topic, however, few games chose to address the subject head-on. Ground Zero was one of the few.…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 23, 2011 -
Culture
This Video Game Art Is Entirely Off-Topic (Sorry, Darksiders Fans!)
Thought I’d try something a little different with today’s Fine Art. Instead of showing the art of a video game, I thought I’d show off some of the art of video game artists. Which aren’t always the same thing! On the night of Friday, Sept. 23, Vigil Games—developers of the Darksiders series—will be hosting a…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 22, 2011 -
CultureThe Beautiful Blizzard Paintings of Mathias Verhasselt
Mathias Verhasselt works at Blizzard. As a concept artist, yes, but he also does one of my favourite things in both cinema and games: Matte paintings. These are the exquisitely-detailed images that movies use for static, artificial backdrops and scenery, but you may not know that game trailers and cinematics use them as well (though…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 20, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThis Star Wars Game Was So Bad They Should Have Made More Of Them
Over the past thirty years there have been plenty of memorable Star Wars games, from the Super Star Wars series to X-Wing to Jedi Knight to Battlefront. They’re all classics, not just awesome adaptations of a movie franchise but awesome games in their own right. Star Wars: Yoda Stories is not one of those games.…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 20, 2011 -
Culture
What do Rez and Space Channel 5 Have In Common? This Guy.
Artist Jake Kazdal has been working in the video game industry for around 15 years now, for companies like Electronic Arts, Zombie VR and Big Boss. Perhaps of more interest to readers of this site, though, is that between 1999 and 2003 he worked at Sega. In Tokyo. Where he got to design stuff for…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 19, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Year E3 Went to Japan and Tried to Kill the Tokyo Game Show
With the Tokyo Game Show having just wound up, I thought today would be a good time to look back to 1996, when for the first and only time it wasn’t the only major gaming event held in Tokyo. For one year, and one year only, it had competition in the form of E3. An…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 19, 2011 -
Culture
Gears Up
The conclusion to Epic Games’ Gears of War trilogy arrives only on Xbox 360 this weel, joined by the HD remake of Resident Evil 4, another DLC extension for Fallout: New Vegas, the Rezurrection map pack for Call of Duty players on PS3 and PC, and the controversial fighter Supremacy MMA Monday • Dragon Quest…
By Owen Good Published September 18, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: A Fraction of the Price
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. 12.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Sept. 14.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good Published September 18, 2011 -
Culture
This Week in the Business: ‘Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo.’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo.” – Satoru Iwata once again says, despite mounting pressure, that his company will “absolutely not consider” smartphone development, which goes against Nintendo’s philosophy. QUOTE | “Gears 3 is better on every level.” – Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published September 16, 2011 -
Culture
Age of Empires’ Art is Like Free-to-Play Ice Cream
When opting for “cartoon” graphics, there’s a fine line between looking stylish and looking childish. Age of Empires Online, I think, gets it just right. The fact the recently-released online game doesn’t look like the old Age of Empires has upset some fans, and that’s unavoidable. Still, it’s a shame, as the new game looks…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 13, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Giant Plastic Alien Heads, Badass Fantasy Art & Video Games
Fans of classic rock and fantasy art will no doubt be familiar with the name Roger Dean. The British artist is as synonymous with 1970’s prog rock (especially the band Yes) as epic guitar tracks, and his bold, unique art style means you’ve probably seen and remembered his work, even if you’ve never remembered his…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 12, 2011 -
Culture
The Best Game You Can Name
The good old hockey game NHL 12 headlines a robust week of releases, joined by Call of Juarez: The Cartel and The Gunstringer for Kinect. PC exclusive Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad also joins the party. Monday • Dungeons & Dragons Online: Secrets of the Artificers (PC) Tuesday • Call of Juarez: The Cartel…
By Owen Good Published September 11, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Deus XXX
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. You can contact Owen Good, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page. Awkward…
By Owen Good Published September 11, 2011 -
Culture
This Week in the Business: “Xbox 360’s Massive Lead”
QUOTE | “Xbox 360’s massive lead.” – SCEA SVP of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer acknowledges Microsoft’s big lead in hardware but asserts that software sells better on PS3 relative to the installed base STAT | 27% – The reduction in the number of games rated 80 or higher so far in 2011, as EEDAR notes…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published September 9, 2011 -
Culture
The Art of BioShock 2, and Dead Space 2, and Dragon Age, and Silent Hill, and…
You may know artist Jason Chan as the chap who helped design us a lovely t-shirt. Or who drew rad pictures of kids fighting zombies You should know him, though, as a video game concept artist who’s worked on games like BioShock 2, Dead Space 2, and Dragon Age: Origins Chan works at Massive Black,…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 9, 2011 -
Culture
This Concept Art Features X-Men, Jedi Knights (and Jedi Outcasts!)
Most of the time on Fine Art I look at new stuff, or at least somewhat contemporary art. Sometimes, though, I like to look a little further back. Today is one of those days, and it’s a real treat. Today we look at the art of Jeffrey Moy, who among other things did concept art…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 8, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
When Nintendo Wanted to Bring Gambling Into American Homes
In 1988, Nintendo released a modem for its Famicom system in Japan. A crude device, it didn’t allow for online play; just some downloadable stuff and access to basic news and information services. The device was never released in the United States, but it wasn’t for want of trying. Indeed, Nintendo figured at the time…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 8, 2011