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CultureTotal Recall
Namco: Maker Of Games, Builder Of ROBOTS
During the early 1980s, Namco wasn’t only conquering arcades with games like Pac-Man. The company was doing something else. Something important. It was building robots. Namco made a handful of bots for the Japanese Science Foundation Musuem, including “Largo” the stamp robot. Kids would press Largo’s red nose and the robot would then stamp their…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 6, 2010 -
CultureTotal Recall
Where Were You In 1998?
The first StarCraft game was released in March 1998. That was twelve years ago. So much has changed. So have I. And the smart money says so have you. In 1998, I was a student at Cornell. I hadn’t really used email before college, and I didn’t use online sources for any of my papers.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 27, 2010 -
CultureTotal RecallResident Evil Does The Cancan
There are words to describe this. I, however, am at a loss for them. A Japanese gamer spliced scenes and sounds from Resident Evil to reproduce “Infernal Galop”, more commonly known as the “cancan song”. Resident Evil Meets CanCan [Capcom Unity]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 21, 2010 -
CultureTotal RecallA Celebration Of Video Game…Boot-Up Sequences
It may seem a trivial thing, but a game’s boot-up sequence can be more important than you realise! First impressions count, after all, and the first impression you get of a game is the sequence as it starts up. This is nearly always – always – in the form of a procession of logos. Developer…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 15, 2010 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Genesis Of System Shock 2
Irrational Games, creators of BioShock, uncovered a long-lost treasure the other day: a sketchbook, full of concept art for the game that got the studio rolling, System Shock 2. In a cute touch (and a sign of how long it’s been since the game was released), the images are actual sketches on actual paper. With…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 14, 2010 -
CultureTotal RecallWhen Instant Death Was Only A Step Away
It’s not until you look at the games of the past that you realise how easy the games of today really are. Nearly every game these days has a “very easy” setting, some like Bayonetta – with its optional one-button mechanic – taking this to extremes. But in decades past, a lot of games prided…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 7, 2010 -
CultureTotal RecallA Quick Look Back At Sega 3D
While companies like Sony and Nintendo are pushing 3D, the technology is not new. In movies, 3D was used in attempts to attract theatergoers that had dwindled during the 1950s as the diffusion of televisions increased. For gaming, Nintendo tried (unsuccessfully) to release its own 3D headset, the Virtual Boy, in 1995. It was a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 5, 2010 -
CultureTotal Recall
Ninja + Golf = Ninja Golf
Released in 1990 on the Atari 7800, Ninja Golf is a golf sim that has players fight to where their ball has landed. Ninjas can’t make golf exciting, but ninjas fighting mud-slinging gophers, sand cobras and very large frogs can. More here Ninja Golf [Instant Ramen]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 2, 2010 -
CultureTotal RecallIt’s Sheer Terror, My Dear Watson
Sherlock Holmes’ trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson, is a trustworthy chap, right? Only in the books. In motion, the guy’s as creepy as a truckload of spiders. This footage has been taken from the PC game Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, which was released in 2007. It was uploaded in 2008. A while ago, yes, but we’d imagine…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 8, 2010