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CultureShop Contest
Up on the Roof
This week’s challenge comes again from Kotaku’s travels, but fear not, we’re not doing cosplay exploitables again. We’ll shelve that idea for a while. This time, we’re gonna throw a roof party for Nintendo of America’s super-duper green headquarters That is one of the few images we were authorized to show of Nintendo’s home turf—get…
By Owen Good Published August 28, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Hello, Hello Kitty
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 Aug. 22. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Aug. 26. – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published August 28, 2011 -
Culture
This Week in the Business
QUOTE | “Henry Ford of the personal computer industry.” – Following the sudden resignation of Steve Jobs, analysts weigh in on the legacy of the Apple CEO and what’s in store for Apple’s future. QUOTE | “Kevin Butler’s new upstart career.” – Say what? Sony’s humorous PlayStation promoter now lists himself as President of Economy…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published August 26, 2011 -
Culture
The Luscious Art of Trine 2
Normally here on Fine Art, we showcase the fruits of video game artists working on titles that are already out. That’s not the case today. Instead, we’re getting a look at the art of an upcoming title, and a beautiful one to boot: that of Trine 2, sequel to the wonderful 2009 co-op platformer Trine…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 26, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
When Pokémon Got a Little Too Nazi Germany
Pokémon. It’s a card (and video) game for kids. You capture monsters, they faint a lot, it’s all good, clean, harmless fun. Right? Well, mostly. Except for a few occasions where the series has been in trouble in the West for allegedly using Nazi imagery. Since the franchise debuted in the 1990s, there have been…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 26, 2011 -
Culture
Guild Wars 2’s Art Just Won’t Stop Pleasing Our Eyeballs
We’ve featured the concept art of Guild Wars 2 here twice before, showcasing the talents of concept artists Levi Hopkins and Kekai Kotaki. Today, then, let’s do it a third and final time. Think of it as a trilogy, with the final act the contributions of the series’ Creative Director, Daniel Dociu. Dociu, born in…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 25, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Strange, Sad Case of the North American Super Nintendo
This week is the, believe it or not, 20th anniversary of the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. It’s a cause for celebration, of course, but also makes me wonder why Nintendo decided to bless America with its own “unique” version of the console. When Nintendo released the Famicom in Japan…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 25, 2011 -
Culture
Body Modification
Deus Ex: Human Revolution leads us back to the land of big release weeks, serving up the third game in the Deus Ex series and, canonically, the prequel to the first. Other names of note include another map pack from Call of Duty: Black Ops and Street Fighter III‘s “Third Strike” Online Edition. Tuesday •…
By Owen Good Published August 21, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: The Best of Burdened
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 Aug. 15. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Aug. 19. – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published August 21, 2011 -
Culture
Adrift Makes a Dirty Future Look Beautiful
Look out! It’s a special Gamescom edition of Fine Art! And when we’re talking about Dontnod’s Adrift, fine is the optimal word. As we saw in the game’s debut trailer, all that’s been released so far of Adrift’s vision of a future Paris is concept art. Which for a feature about concept art is fine…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 20, 2011 -
Culture
This Week in the Business: ‘We’re not pulling out.’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Second best console ever.” – id Software’s John Carmack is a fan of the current-gen consoles, but in terms of development tools and technology, Sony’s PS3 falls short of Xbox 360, which is the “best ever.” QUOTE | “PS3 has been struggling.”…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published August 19, 2011 -
Culture
Dealings with the Devil
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron releases this week, along with the free-to-play launch of Age of Empires Online. Toy Soldiers: The Cold War rounds out Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade, and From Dust comes to PC. Tuesday • Age of Empires Online (PC)—At a time when real-time strategy games are slinking away to the…
By Owen Good Published August 14, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics: With Useless Powers Come …
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 Aug. 8. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Aug. 8. – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published August 14, 2011 -
Culture
This Week in the Business: ‘Graphics will always matter.’
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Graphics will always matter.” – id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead reinforces the motto started by John Carmack, noting that games are nowhere near reality and id still makes graphical trade-offs QUOTE | “Total exaggeration.” – Sega West boss Mike Hayes says that…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published August 12, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallWhat do Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings Have In Common?
Rockstar North is a video game developer known and respected the world over as the creators and continued custodians of the core Grand Theft Auto series. That’s earned it a reputation as a specialist in the field of mature, cinematic video games. Games where drugs are dealt, prostitutes killed and people say fuck with a…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 12, 2011 -
Culture
The Destructive Video Game Art of Coro Kaufman
We’ve got another Massive Black artist for you today, which is always a treat. Coro Kaufman is one of the studio’s co-founders, and also serves as its art director. Needless to say, his stuff is great In this gallery you’ll see examples from many of the games he’s worked on over the past few years,…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 11, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Secret of the Secret Nintendo Song
When you talk about music in Nintendo games, the first person that pops into most people’s minds is the work of legendary composer Koji Kondo, the man behind the iconic scores for games like Zelda and Mario. We’re not talking about Koji Kondo today. Instead, we’re going to talk about Kazumi Totaka, who in addition…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 11, 2011 -
Culture
You Can Thank This Man for the Look of Gears of War
Epic Games has a common visual style running through all its games. Gears of War looks like Unreal Tournament which looks like Bulletstorm. If you’ve ever wondered why that is, well, wonder no more. It’s because of artist James “Hawkprey” Hawkins. Hawkins is a concept artist employed at Epic who is responsible for that trademark…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 10, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallDon’t Blame Grand Theft Auto for the London Riots
So, a London cop says something about Grand Theft Auto and suddenly a British newspaper sees fit to blame the series for the riots that have plagued the English city all week long. Idiots. They’re blaming the wrong Rockstar game! If the unnamed London police officer who made the statement, or anyone at the London…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 10, 2011 -
CultureFrom The Witcher to Mass Effect, This Game Art Has Seen It All
Brazilian artist Rafael Grassetti is a talented kid. We’ve already seen his amazing work on the Mass Effect universe, from sculptures to fan art, but today we’re looking at his more professional output. Grassetti has been working as a video game artist for a few years now, mostly as a freelancer on games such as…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 9, 2011