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CultureChocolate Creme Twinkies: The Snacktaku Review
Consider, if you will, the Twinkie—that classic combination of golden sponge cake and creamy filling. It’s a solid, dependable snack cake. You always know what you’re getting when you sink your teeth into one of Hostess’ legendary creations. But what if you don’t? What if, in the throes of an uncontrollable snack attack, you reach…
By Mike Fahey Published March 19, 2012 -
Culture
In the Gaiden of Good and Evil
Ninja Gaiden 3 and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City lead the list of console releases this week, joined by Armored Core V and the return of Kid Icarus at the end of the week. Tuesday • Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PS3, 360) • Ninja Gaiden 3 (PS3, 360) • Armored Core V (PS3, 360)…
By Owen Good Published March 18, 2012 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Get Well Soon
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. Special note: Please do keep Matthew Taranto, creator of Brawl in the Family, in your thoughts. You may have noticed his comic has not published for a…
By Owen Good Published March 18, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
I Have a Hard Time Believing This Duke Nukem 3D Map Was Drawn From Memory, But Okay
We’ve written about Mapstalgia a couple times before. On the tumblr, people submit maps of classic games that they’ve drawn from memory. This map of the Red Light District from Duke Nukem 3D, strains the whole “from memory” aspect of things, but it’s still impressive. (You can view the full version by expanding the image…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallBioWare’s Least Awkward Love Scene
But when it comes time to seal the romantic deal in a BioWare game, do things really need to be so awkward? Because damn, things have gotten weird. As Tom Bissell puts it in his Grantland critique of the game—”In fact, could we, as gamers, maybe politely band together to convince BioWare to can the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
Culture
The Boardroom Battlefields of the New Syndicate
Say what you will about the game’s departure from both the look and feel of the original, there were sections of the latest Syndicate that looked just great. Mostly anything involving an office from the future. Or anything that flew. Those looked awesome as well. This environment and vehicle art from the game is the…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWhy Kickstarter is Best For Old Games & Dead Genres
Not very long after adventure game legend Tim Schafer proposed resurrecting a long-dormant genre, and made a ton of money for doing it, another long-dormant kind of game – this time an 80’s RPG – did something similar. The amount of money Brian Fargo and his Wasteland team has already made is raising eyebrows. Where…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallIn Which Jennifer Aniston & Matthew Perry Teach us About Windows 95
An oldie, to be sure, even by this feature’s standards, but still a fun watch. Especially when you notice it was put together by GT Interactive, the company which would later try to pass itself off as Atari
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThere is a Fighting Game Based on Les Misérables
Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Misérables is a literary giant. You’re probably also familiar with its long-running theatrical adaptation, which has been treading the boards for over thirty years now. But have you ever played the Les Misérables video game? You really should. Especially since it’s a 2D fighting game. The game is called Arm…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallHell is a Dennis Hopper Video Game
Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller was a PC adventure game released in 1994. It’s OK if you’ve never heard of it, or can’t remember it. Actually, no, it’s not OK. Because you really should know as much as you can about a video game that didn’t just star Dennis Hopper, but Grace Jones as well. Hell,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 13, 2012 -
Culture
This Wonderful Mass Effect 3 Art is Full of GIANT SPOILERS
Matt Rhodes is one of my favourite concept artists in the business. Why? Because his style, using bright, colourful cartoon characters for games that are often very dark and serious in tone, is a breath of fresh air in an industry where a lot of art ends up looking exactly the same. We’ve featured his…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 13, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallGeorge Washington & Ben Franklin, as Seen by Video Games in 1993
Two of America’s founding fathers, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, will be starring in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed III. It’s not, you know, their first time in a video game. They’ve been in plenty, some serious, some less so, but my favourite in both cases is 1993 adventure game classic Day of the Tentacle, in…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 13, 2012 -
Culture
How to Look Like C-3PO. Or Mark Hamill. Or a Stormtrooper.
Collector Jason Liebig has uploaded six of the greatest Flickr images you’re likely to ever see: cereal box scans that include giant masks for some of the main characters from Star Wars From a Canadian cereal cash-in (the cereal itself branded C-3POs) dating all the way back to 1984, there were six in all, for…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 12, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Science Proves Old Video Games Were Super Hard
Sitting down with a bunch of old games in the Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon and Metroid franchises, Belgian scientists have proven beyond all doubt that those games are way hard. To showcase their work, they’ve written a scientific paper outlining their findings. Greg Aloupis from the Free University of Brussels…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 12, 2012 -
Culture
Street Smarts
Silent Hill: Downpour and the return of FIFA Street highlight a week kicked off today by Mario Party 9. Some decent downloadable titles hitting PSN and XBLA round out the lineup. Today • Mario Party 9 (Wii) Monday • All Zombies Must Die! (PC) Tuesday • FIFA Street (360, PS3) • Ridge Racer (PS Vita)…
By Owen Good Published March 11, 2012