• Culture

  Get a First Look at XCOM’s Fantastic Concept Art

  While a few pieces were shown here and there in the lead-up to the game’s release, what you’re about to see is a collection of mostly never-before-seen concept art from the production of one of the year’s surprise hits. Drawing in works from all over the place, from mood-setting paintings to gun designs to ideas…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
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  Check Out Halo 4’s New “Gameplay” Launch Trailer

  Putting aside the fancy live-action stuff for a day, Microsoft tonight released this “gameplay” launch trailer for Halo 4. As pretty as it looks, “In-game cinematics interspersed with brief staged moments of gameplay from a third-person perspective” might have been a more accurate title. Though, admittedly, a little less snappy.

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
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  If You Don’t Watch Homeland, Claire Danes Will Cry On You

  Homeland, ya heard? If you haven’t heard, I’m here to let ya know: It’s a pretty awesome show. I mainlined the entire first season, which you can now get on DVD, last week. Goodness. It’s a lot of fun. I describe it as, basically, “If 24 has been an actually good show.” That perhaps undersells…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 23, 2012
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  What an American City Would Look Like at the End of Humanity

  Whether you want to imagine the first days of Life After People, the next instalment of The Walking Dead or a sequel to Tokyo Jungle (Seattle Jungle?), you should check out these stunning images of what an American city looks like without a single person to be seen. Rather than be shot at dawn in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 23, 2012
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  Why Propose With a Diamond When You Could Propose With Portal‘s Companion Cube?

  We’ve seen Portal proposals and Portal jewelry before. But putting them together into a Companion Cube engagement ring is a new one on me. The ring is stainless steel and, yes, the cube is a tiny exact replica with its little heart on every side. It was custom made by bmf jewelry for Justin Palmer,…

  By Kate Cox Published October 23, 2012
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  Return To New Vegas: The One Place You Just Had To Rob

  Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting my open-world RPG fix with Fallout: New Vegas. Yesterday I talked about how to mod the game to look nice and pretty, and from here on in I’m going to share some things I’ve noticed while playing the game. So here’s a thing: The Silver Rush.…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 23, 2012
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  Mornings Just Fall Into Place When Your Coffee Comes From a Tetris Mug

  To be honest, this Tetris mug would probably drive me crazy. I would fill it with my morning coffee and then wait for that one long piece to fall. And I’d be waiting forever, because it never, ever will. But the board will vanish as if it had, when I finish my coffee (or when…

  By Kate Cox Published October 23, 2012
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  Congratulations, EA, You Just Released Your 10th Military Shooter in 5 Years

  It was a long time coming—longer than the gap between the announcement of the iPad 3 and the iPad 4—but Electronic Arts has finally released another military shooter. The game is called Medal of Honor Warfighter. It’s EA’s first military shooter since 2011’s Battlefield 3 (we’re not counting this past winter’s sci-fi first-person shooter Syndicate).…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 23, 2012
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  Yes, We Could’ve Had A Diablo Set In Outer Space

  StarCraft is cool. Diablo is cool. So what if… the two combined, letting you click demons to death in outer space?? Why, that would likely be pretty great. And it could’ve been a reality. Blizzard prototyped a version of Diablo set in space, according to an excerpt from David Craddock’s upcoming book Stay Awhile And…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 23, 2012
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  The New Macbook Pro Looks Just Like A Certain 80s Film Star

  The inner workings of the new Macbook Pro, unveiled today at Apple’s mini event, look familiar. In fact, if this thing had a laser on its shoulder, it could have had a successful film career in the 80s.

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 23, 2012
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  One Warning For Anyone Who Plans To Play Virtue’s Last Reward

  Late Saturday night, I finally finished Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward, the game that’s been keeping me up every night for the past two weeks. I clocked 26 hours and 20 minutes. It was fantastic. As I played, I had been bugging Kirk non-stop. “Dude, you’ve gotta play this. You will totally love this game.…

  By Jason Schreier Published October 23, 2012
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  The Beautiful Hidden Paintings Of Dishonored

  There’s no question that Dishonored has great art. But in addition to Viktor Antonov’s wonderful visual design direction and Sebastien Mitton’s art direction, the game also has a lot of great art. As in, there are some really cool paintings in the game? Okay, you get it. Bethesda has pulled together shots of all (I…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 23, 2012
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  Brutal Zynga Update: 13 Games ‘Sunsetting’. More Studio Shutdowns. 5% Workforce Reduction

  Following a day of bad news for the embattled maker of FarmVille and CityVille. Zynga chief Mark Pincus just sent this note to his company: INTERNAL NOTE FROM ZYNGA CEO AND FOUNDER, MARK PINCUS Team, Earlier today we initiated a number of changes to streamline our operations, focus our resources on our most strategic opportunities,…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 23, 2012
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  You Might Be Able To Buy Some Wii U Games Early

  Days before I bought a launch-day GameCube, I bought a GameCube game. Super Monkeyball, if you’re curious. It’s not unusual to be able to buy new games for a new console before you can buy the console itself. The evidence is mounting that you’ll be able to do so next month with some Wii U…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 23, 2012
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  Persona 4 Golden Continues To Look Ridiculously Awesome

  Here’s a new trailer for the Vita remake of Persona 4, which Atlus will release on November 20. Anyone buying a Vita just for this? I’d totally consider it if I didn’t have one already.

  By Jason Schreier Published October 23, 2012
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  CityVille UFO Landing: Everything You Need to Know

  If you’re familiar with the Whale Rescue feature in CityVille that asks you to expand out into the water surrounding your town in order to rescue lost baby whales, you’ll feel right at home with the newest event in the game: the UFO Landing. This event sees you building a UFO Landing site and then…

  by Brandy Shaul | Games.com Published October 23, 2012
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  It Only Took Seven Months For Apple To Make Me Feel Like A Chump

  On March 7, Apple announced the iPad 3. “Look how shiny it is!” Apple’s executives preached to a crowd full of cheering fans and press. “Retina display! Brand new graphics! You want one!” The pitch worked on me, and I bought one right away. Sure, it cost $600, but between the spectacular resolution, the impressive…

  By Jason Schreier Published October 23, 2012
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  XCOM: Enemy Unknown‘s First DLC Takes The Alien Fight to China

  XCOM: Enemy Unknown is getting something new with its Slingshot DLC: a self-contained story. Players tend to create a number of their own stories in XCOM, through customizing their squads and telling stories about what happens to them as they undertake missions. The Slingshot DLC is a little different: it comes with a specific background,…

  By Kate Cox Published October 23, 2012
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  Drop Bombs On Your Friend’s Head Using This iPhone App

  What? You’ve never heard of Action Movie FX before? Oh man. It’s a simple iOS app. Point the camera at any flat surface, place a kitty on said flat surface, and record for about 5 seconds. Then watch the kitty explode from an EMP blast-damaged helicopter, or from missiles from Call of Duty: Black Ops…

  By Tina Amini Published October 23, 2012
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  Ten Comics That Will Have You Hating Goodbyes This Week

  If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…

  By Evan Narcisse Published October 23, 2012