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CultureTotal Recall
The History of Early Computer Games. In Iraq.
There’s a really interesting piece up on HG101 in which Iraqi gamer Salwan Asaad, now living in Egypt, recounts his experiences growing up in the 1980s with the region’s fledgling scene. Unlike the hell-in-a-handbasket Iraq has become in the last twenty years, Asaad remembers during the 1980s it was a (relatively) more prosperous state, and…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallLook How Awesome Old Video Games Were in Old Movies
Seeing video games in a movie these days, or even a movie based on a video game, is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s expected. But during the 1970s, it was something to be marvelled at. This clip collects cameo appearances on the silver screen by the arcade games and home consoles of the 70’s,…
Luke Plunkett & Chris Person Published March 28, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Nintendo’s Shameless 1970’s Advertising
Before Nintendo made home console titles and hardware, the company made, among other things, arcade games. Behold, then, the might and majesty of Nintendo’s advertising, circa the late 1970s. In which the company releases clones of other people’s games (in this case Space Invaders), and is damn proud of it to boot! Flyers out of…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 28, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallJapan’s Most Famous Foreigner in Today’s (Well, Yesterday’s) Best Game Trailer
UFO Kamen Yakisoban was a 1994 Super NES game that was basically one giant commercial for instant noodles. The star of the show? The dude in the black cape with the fork who ends up covered in giant noodles? That’s Dave Spector, probably the most famous foreigner working in Japan [via VGJunk]
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallJames Cameron, Why Didn’t You Shoot Anything?
The eyes of the world were on Hollywood director James Cameron this week as he became the first man in decades to reach the deepest point of the ocean floor, and the first man to ever achieve the feat by himself. Good for you, James Cameron. Me, all I could think of was, why can’t…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Star Warsploitation Film That Deserved a Crummy Atari Game
If you’ve never seen 1979’s Starcrash, boy are you missing out. It’s basically a collection of awful special effects, Flash Gordon-style pulp science fiction and a lot of attractive women in small bikinis and thigh-high boots. Of all the bad Star Wars clones that emerged in the wake of George Lucas’ classic, this was one…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 26, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Fantastic Mass Effect 2 Music That Didn’t Make The Cut
We know that some really cool music from the first Mass Effect is hidden in the background of Mass Effect 3. As it turns out, there’s also some great unused music from Mass Effect 2 that’s hidden… in the background of the internet! Okay, that was an awkward transition. At any rate, the video above…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 24, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallHeavy Rain‘s Finale Was Never So Hilarious
This isn’t the newest video in the world, but hey! This is Total Recall! We play older stuff here. (Note to those who haven’t played Heavy Rain: This video spoils the living crap out of the game and the ending.) I have no idea how this thing came into existence, but it popped onto my…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 23, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
From Bully to Persona, I Love a Game With a Schedule
I’ve been thinking a lot about why it is that I love both 2008’s Bully and 2010’s Persona 3 Portable, which I’ve recently started playing on my Vita. Both games are set in high schools, and while I’m on the record as wanting more High School games, that’s only part of the reason I like…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 23, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
No Total Recall Tonight, Sorry!
Due to local historian Luke Plunkett being away for the rest of the week, drinking himself under a table somewhere in Australia’s Snowy Mountains, there will be no Total Recall tonight. It’ll return on Friday evening with Kirk Hamilton at the wheel.
By Luke Plunkett Published March 22, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall1990s Adventure Game Wash-Up Wants Reboot, Begging for Cash on the Internet
If you played PC adventure games in the 1990s, you may have come across detective Tex Murphy, star of the absolutely badass Mean Streets and four more games that weren’t anywhere near as cool. Murphy was one of the first FMV “stars” in video games, which was a lucky break for the character’s creator Chris…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 20, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallBefore LA Noire, There Was This 1996 Noir Adventure Game
Part of the appeal of Rockstar’s LA Noire was the fact it was set in a time period that video games normally avoid like the plague. The hats, the music, the black & white, it should be poison to a generation of gamers accustomed to wars, aliens, sports and fast cars. But as LA Noire’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 20, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWhen French Musicians Make Love to the Video Games of the 1980s
Teaming up with French band Sna-Fu Grand Desordre Orchestre, artist Pierre Manry has made a clip for the group’s song Dream O Rama that is one enormous tip of the hat to the video games of yesteryear. If you like what you see, the band has alternate versions hosted on their site, like one as…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 20, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallAnd You Thought Mass Effect 3’s Ending Was Bad…
When people get all misty-eyed about the amazing, original Syndicate from 1993, they often overlook something. The game’s ending. Or, to be more accurate, its complete lack of one. Maybe they never finished the game, I don’t know, but I did. And it was a tough game. So getting to the end I was expecting…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 19, 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
