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CultureTotal RecallThis Might be the Weirdest Game Boy Game Ever Made
Over the decades, there were plenty of kooky Game Boy games released in both Japan and the West. Plenty of strange accessories, too, from cameras to printers to blood glucose monitors. But 2001’s Mario Family was especially kooky. Why? Because it was a cartridge designed not to be played, but to be plugged into a…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 11, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Old Consoles: The Illustrated Edition
We’ve looked at the design of old consoles a few times lately here on Total Recall, in particular my fetish for those with faux wood panelling, but today we’re looking at something a little different. These illustrations, by German artist Sebastian Koch, show a variety of old consoles from the 1970’s. Specifically, those built just…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Behind the Scenes of the Most Disappointing Game Movie Ever Made
Considering its budget, the popularity of the franchise and its accomplished cast, 1993’s Super Mario Bros. is—relatively—surely the most disappointing video game movie of all time. Still, train wreck that it is, we can’t help but keep on looking at it, even after all these years. And today we’re getting a real good look, with…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 9, 2011 -
Culture
Brought to the Brink
The long-awaited futuristic FPS Brink highlights this week of releases, promising quadrillions of unique characters – no really. If that hurts your brain, try MX vs. ATV, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean or Virtua Tennis. Tuesday Brink (360, PC, PS3)-The free-running FPS pits two factions in a battle for control of The Ark, a once-utopic…
By Owen Good Published May 8, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics
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. Another Videogame Webcomic did not publish this week Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published May 1. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira…
By Owen Good Published May 8, 2011 -
Culture
This Week In The Business: “Difficult to Excuse.”
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Peaked in some respects.” – M2 Research’s Billy Pidgeon on the status of Xbox 360 in the market and the chances that Microsoft announces new hardware at E3 2012 QUOTE | “The market opportunity is there.” – THQ boss Brian Farrell talks…
By Drew Cohen Published May 6, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThank You, Star Wars, For All These Awesome Games
May 4 is Star Wars Day, in honour of, well, the fact “May the 4th” sounds a bit like “May the force…”. Silly, I know, but it also gives us a chance to look back on the amazing video games the sci-fi franchise has given us over the years. And by years, I should really…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 5, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Father Of Video Games Fled The Nazis, Fought Them Then Took All Their Guns
Ralph Baer is widely acknowledged to be the “father of video games”, thanks to his work in the 1960’s pioneering the device that would become the Magnavox Odyssey, the world’s first ever video game console. Unlike most men and women in the industry today, though, his background is not that of a comfortable middle-class kid.…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 3, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallMetal Gear Was Born On Microsoft’s Great Japanese Success
Microsoft and video games are a bit of a running joke in Japan these days. After a decade of trying (and failing) with the Xbox, the company just can’t seem to win the Japanese public over. It wasn’t always that way, however. Indeed, in the 1980’s, Microsoft produced a surprisingly successful games platform, one that…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2011 -
Culture
Apocalypse Now
The zombie fad shows no signs of dying – hah, get it? – as Treyarch delivers the Escalation Map Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The week’s biggest retail drop is Motorstorm: Apocalypse for PS3, but all your racing will be offline if the PSN Apocalypse hasn’t abated by Tuesday. Monday Fate: The Cursed…
By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011 -
CultureShop Contest
AR Games in Real Life
Headline’s kind of a misnomer because, the deal with the augmented reality games on the 3DS is, they are kinda-sorta played in real life. But not the way we’re gonna play them. See, I have this silly belief that the AR characters are real, and they’re all around us, we just can’t see them. Only…
By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics
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 April 18. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published April 18. – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011 -
Culture
This Week In The Business: “A Nightmare.”
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Definitely affects our bottom line.” – PixelJunk developer Dylan Cuthbert on the financial impact the PSN outage is having on developers QUOTE | “PS3 sales won’t be impacted at all.” – Belief of analyst Michael Pachter that Sony’s PSN fiasco actually won’t…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published April 29, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Sony Hasn’t Always Hated Homebrew Development
Sony’s recent run of legal and now technical issues with hackers can be traced back to a single decision: that of removing the ability to run the Linux operating system on the PlayStation 3. While Sony cut Linux out of piracy fears, fans were upset that it brought to an end over a decade of…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 29, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Kids Who Grew Up In Arcades
In their heyday, arcades weren’t just about the games. They were about the experience of leaving the house and going to a public space to play games, hanging out with friends and meeting new people who would then kick your ass. It’s a scene that today is sadly long gone. All we’ve got left, then,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 28, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallWhen Halo was on the Mac, and was a Totally Different Game
It seems an age since the world first saw Halo. It was the 20th century. Back when it was introduced by…Steve Jobs. And was a…third-person shooter. The series has come a long way since then, but sometimes it’s fun to look back. At blocky space marines and a major game being announced in Comic Sans…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 27, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Town That Banned Pac-Man
Arcade games may have been a source of great joy and entertainment for millions across the world in the 1980s, but for the small town of Marshfield, Massachusetts they were nothing but trouble. Fearful of the effects arcade video games would have on Marshfield and its inhabitants, in 1982 the town outlawed the use of…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Weird And Wonderful World Of The Sega Genesis
One of the great things about the Genesis (or Mega Drive, depending on where you’re from) is the fact that, unlike most other major consoles, Sega licensed out its technology, meaning a range of companies could , along with Sega itself, come up with their own wacky versions of the console. While some of these…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 25, 2011 -
Culture
Sunday Comics
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 April 18. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published April 18. – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published April 24, 2011
