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  An Incredible Pixel Tribute to Video Games

  Sure, there’s the odd movie, music or TV reference here, but for the most part, this poster by artist Slovenian artist Matej Jan is one giant who’s who of the heroes of the video game world, past and present. Go on, look closely. Everything from Deus Ex to Day of the Tentacle is there, via…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  At Least There’s a Good Reason I’m Sick of Hearing About BioShock Infinite

  I am sick to death of hearing about BioShock Infinite. It’s become one of those games, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl once was, that I’ve been hearing about for so long that the more I hear, the more it sounds like white noise. Juggling video game press announcements can be a tricky thing. Announce a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  We Have a New Candidate for Worst Box Art Ever

  One of the best things about Batman: Arkham City’s marketing campaign were the all-white posters showing off the game’s characters. They were minimal, they were stylish. So thanks, Warner Bros., for shitting all over them with this atrocious box art. I get it, Game of the Year editions have some boasting to do, but the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  Jonathan Blow Has More Shirts Than Armpits

  A few weeks back, The Atlantic ran a profile on Braid creator Jonathan Blow. It was a great read, and I enjoyed the insight into the developer, but at the same time, he came across to many as a bit of a pretentious asshole. If you’re of that same opinion, you’ll dig this “missing copy”.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
• Culture

  More Killer Concept Art From Korea

  Not content with showcasing the talents of one Korean artist this month, I’m now going to feature a second, NCSoft’s Tae Won Jun. Also known as “Taega”, he’s an artist at the company behind games such as Lineage, Guild Wars, Wildstar and City of Heroes To see more of his work, visit Taega’s personal page…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  YouTube in the 1990s Looked Awesome

  YouTube wasn’t around in the 1990s. It didn’t open for business until 2005. Let’s pretend for 3:31 that it was around in the 1990s, though, because 1990s YouTube looks great This clip was done by Squirrel Monkey, the same person behind those great Angry Birds and Draw Something clips from a few weeks back. If…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  Diablo III’s Witch Doctor is All About the Mana

  DIABLO III. WITCH DOCTOR. CONCEPT ART. DRAMATIC VOICE-OVER. LOTS OF GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE. COMING MAY 2012. OK, seriously, I’d be OK with this guy doing the voice-over to just about every game out there. He’s wonderful.

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  Go Get Noitu Love 2 on Steam

  Noitu Love 2, one of the best indie games released in the past five years, is now out on Steam. At $4, it’s a steal. [Steam]

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  The Amazing Hair Salon That Doubles as a Retro Game Store

  Bobby Ågren runs a store in Copenhagen, Denmark called Ruben & Bobby. It’s a hair salon. Oh, and it also sells old video game systems, old video games and old toys. Making it a hair salon/game store/cultural museum. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those before. Especially one run by someone as awesome…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 24, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Omega Boost’s Intro Might be the Coolest Thing 90s Video Games Ever Did

  This is Omega Boost. It was an OK shooter released in 1999 on the PlayStation. I remember it, and pay tribute to it here today, not for the game, but for everything around it. Like the incredible FMV intro sequence, which goes from corny to amazing to “wow those aren’t bad props and costumes for…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Portal was First Released in 1986, and was an Activision Adventure Game

  Portal may be the name for a contemporary series from Valve, about mad robots and jumpsuits, but it’s also the name of a video game first released nearly thirty years ago. That game, Portal – Valve got the trademark after the original ceased using it – was a strange adventure title for personal computers, and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2012
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  Using Strap-On Joysticks to Fight With Fake Dicks

  That’s not a crass headline. It is quite literal. There’s an indie game (not a video game, a literal game) called Swordfight. It asks players to buy old joysticks, strap them to their crotch using an S&M harness (complete with cuffs!) and, well, sword fight A circuit board hidden within registers “hits”. Photographs of people…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2012
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  Take a Look at Some Cancelled PS3 Exclusives

  Martin Binfield, a former artist at Sony Cambridge Studio, has recently posted a showreel of his work, and contained within are glimpses of some games we never actually got to see. Games like binned PS3 exclusives Heavenly Sword 2, and Eight Days Eight Days was cancelled a long, long time ago, while Heavenly Sword 2…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2012
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  SSX‘s Tricky-Themed DLC Hits on May 1st

  Fans of EA’s extreme snowboarding series were miffed that more homage wasn’t paid to the Tricky era of the SSX franchise when this year’s reboot came out a few weeks back. (All right, era may be pushing it since it was only one game…) No afros, no fireworks, no disco lights. “What the hell, EA?”…

  By Evan Narcisse Published April 23, 2012
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  Beautiful Things Happen When 151 Artists Take on 151 Pokémon

  Back in January I told you about the Pokémon Battle Royale, an exhibit at the Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis, Minnesota featuring 151 artist, each tasked with portraying one of the initial 151 Pokémon. Now we have the results of that experiment, and they are glorious The exhibit opened on April 20 to an…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012
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  Even The Library of Congress Has a Hard Time Preserving Old Games

  Game designers and enthusiasts have, for many years, faced the challenges of preserving history in a digital medium. Source code and original designs for a project get lost over time, or data storage methods change and degrade. Gamers, though, aren’t the only ones facing those challenges. Professional preservationists have their hands full trying to maintain…

  By Kate Cox Published April 23, 2012
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  How Nanotechnology is Portrayed in Video Games – The Metal Gear Solid Saga

  “The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big.” – Richard…

  Kevin Neibert Published April 23, 2012
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  Judge Thinks Xbox 360 Infringes on Multiple Patents

  A story that’s been brewing since 2010 just took an interesting turn: a judge from the US International Trade Commission agrees that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 infringes upon five patents held by Motorola, mostly related to video codecs. Note this is just a preliminary ruling, and it’ll take more decisive court action before anything drastic happens.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2012
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  This Portal Cover Vid Is Pretty Entertaining

  The song (a cover of Jonathan Coulton’s now-infamous “Still Alive”) is well done, too. Don’t turn it off after the first few squeaky seconds. It gets better. I swear. Bonus points if you spot the Duck Hunt dog. And the Skyrim giant. Professor Shyguy – Still Alive (Portal Cover) [YouTube]

  By Jason Schreier Published April 23, 2012
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  How Hollywood Managed To Not Screw Up Mortal Kombat, The Movie

  Editor’s note: Hollywood seems to have a penchant for shitty video game adaptations, don’t they? But the utter disaster that was a movie like Super Mario Bros. didn’t quite scare away movie producers and directors. When a team of passionate, actual gamers got together, they recognized that someone had to pay attention to the booming…

  Jamie Russell Published April 23, 2012