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Culture
This Week In The Business: “There’s no level of polish.”
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “There’s no level of polish.” – Former Apple games guru Graeme Devine on the biggest problem with iPhone games QUOTE | “Incompetent” – Infamous hacking group Anonymous, denying responsibility for the massive PSN outage. STAT | 533% – The amount that 3D…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published April 22, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Nintendo’s First Arcade Games Were, Well, Pretty Sucky
It’s one of those quirks of history that Nintendo, a company synonymous with colourful characters and fun video games, made its very first independent venture into the world of arcade gaming with…a board game adaptation. While 1981’s Donkey Kong and 1983’s Mario Bros. are most people’s introduction to Nintendo arcade games, the company’s first coin-op…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 21, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallHappy 65th Birthday Tim Curry, You Video Game Legend
Acclaimed British actor Tim Curry may be most famous to regular folk for his roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and…Muppet Treasure Island, but he’s most famous around here for his work in video games. You see, Tim Curry – who Infinite Lives reminds us turns 65 today – is Kotaku After Dark’s favourite…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 20, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallMeet The World’s First Flight Simulator
Depending on how old you are, if you’re a flight sim fan you probably cut your teeth on a series like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Falcon or Flight Unlimited. But did you know the world’s very first flight simulator was built all the way back in 1929? It was built by a man named Edwin Link,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 18, 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 11. – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published April 12. – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published April 17, 2011 -
CultureShop Contest
Adventures in Babysitting — For Sony
Some snippiness from Sony’s CEO provided the grist for last week’s ‘Shop Contest challenge, in which we explored the challenges of child rearing by those who gave us the PSP. We’ve got 20 hot and fresh ‘shops waiting for you inside! Let’s get things started with frequent flyer boopadoo (4), who racks up the Sony…
By Owen Good Published April 16, 2011 -
Culture
This Week In The Business: $11.76 million
SERIOUS | “Group of multi ethnic business people laughing and smiling” (Shutterstock) “Nintendo has to upgrade this Christmas.” The flurry of Wii 2 rumors this week have prompted analysts to comment and Sterne Agee’s Arvind Bhatia believes Nintendo must launch a new console this year, or else lose significant share to Microsoft and Sony. “Smartphones…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published April 15, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallNo Game Suffered From “Valve Time” More Than Team Fortress 2
You think you’ve been waiting a long time for a new Half-Life game? You haven’t, really. It’s “only” been three and a half years. Now, Team Fortress 2, that was a game long in the making. The staggered development of Valve’s iconic shooter took so long, and went through so many twists and turns, that…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 15, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of PlayStation Advertising
The Sony PlayStation was the first ever console to truly pitch itself at an adult market. This meant that the machine’s advertisements set a more mature, often strange tone that continues through to this day. The PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3, all have had their share of kooky advertisements, and all have had their share…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallCaptain Commando, Capcom’s Greatest Hero
Boy, Capcom really went to town today on the news and media, didn’t they? It’s a damn shame, then, that none of it involved the company’s original mascot – and my all-time favourite Capcom hero – Captain Commando. Just like Sega, in the 1980s Capcom felt the need to create a mascot for itself, to…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 13, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallRemembering The First Console To Use Cartridges
Today’s video game news was tinged with sadness, as the world learned of the death of Jerry Lawson, the man who led the team behind the creation of the video game cartridge. Those cartridges were used in the Fairchild Channel F, the console Lawson helped develop along with Ron Smith and Nick Talesfore. While it…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Video Game Console That Never Was
Some game machines are killed long before they enter production. Others at least make it to market before dying, whether of old age or lack of demand. And then there’s the Konix Multisystem. The history of console video gaming is one dominated by American (Atari, Microsoft) and Japanese (Sony, Nintendo, Sega) companies. When you think…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 11, 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 4 – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published April 8 – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published April 10, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Game Boy Creator’s Last Handheld Was A Wonderful Little Thing
Since Brian’s story earlier about the tragic death of former Nintendo great Gunpei Yokoi, I figured today would be a good time to take a look at the last thing he ever worked on: the WonderSwan handheld gaming device. While Yokoi will always be remembered as the man who created the Game & Watch, the…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 8, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThis Place Was Like A Breeding Program For Awesome Games And Famous Developers
Aside from perhaps Nintendo, there are few video game studios that have ever been home to so many of the industry’s best and brightest as Looking Glass managed. Founded in 1990, Looking Glass was not only responsible for some of that decade’s most innovative and memorable games, but was also a place where people like…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 7, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallRemembering Sega’s Exiled Mascot
Nintendo has Mario. Microsoft has Master Chief. And Sega, well, for a long time Sega has had Sonic the Hedgehog as its mascot. Thing is, Sonic is an usurper Before the blue, spiky hero with the red shoes burst onto the scene in 1991, Sega already had a mascot: Alex Kidd. A character we have…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
How A Company Went From Rocking Horses To Pac-Man
Continuing on from recent looks at the unlikely beginnings of companies like Nintendo and Sega, let’s today see where Namco – now part of Namco Bandai – got its start. Here’s a hint: it certainly wasn’t making video games. No, like Nintendo and Sega, Namco began long before the commercial electronic video game had been…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 5, 2011 -
CultureIs This The Greatest Super Mario Bros. Playthrough Ever?
It may not be the speediest of speed runs. It may not dazzle with its exploitation of glitches. But this Super Mario Bros. speed run is notable because the player is also simultaneously beating Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels. This is the work of Japanese…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 4, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
Meet The Four Americans Who Built Sega
Nintendo and Sega. Hardware rivals for decades, and even today they remain the archetype Japanese video game companies. Only, Sega isn’t entirely Japanese. It was founded by some American guys. While Nintendo, with its history in trading cards and love hotels, is as Japanese as they come, Sega’s history can actually be traced back to…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 4, 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 March 27 – Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published March 26 – Read more of Nerf…
By Owen Good Published April 3, 2011