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UncategorizedWhy Does a Game About a Little Kid Need to be Scary? Can’t it be Fun, Like This?
Among the Sleep got people talking last month when it was first shown off, because it was about a horror game starring a toddler. Interesting premise, but as the parent of a toddler myself, it also got me thinking. My daughter is just shy of two years old, and while she’s had the odd nightmare…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 - Uncategorized
Dudes, Pokémon and a Ginger Superstar Headline This Week’s Cosplay Roundup
Look at that Lizardman, from Soulcalibur III. Just look at him. That’s not a statue. That’s cosplay. Is there a word we can use that goes beyond cosplay? Because that’s what this would be. Apparently, the right arm on the thing was “fake”; instead, the wearer’s actual right arm was inside the suit, and was…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 - Culture
From StarCraft to WarCraft, This Concept Art Certainly Knows its Crafts
Concept artist Graven Tung has, in over a decade working in the field, provided pieces for clients such as Blizzard, where he worked on both StarCraft II – right down to Gabriel Tosh concert posters – and World of Warcraft’s three major expansions. He also did some work on SOCOM II, as well as driving…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 - Uncategorized
Sega’s Game Gear is EATING ALL THE BATTERIES
Slightly away from the chaos of E3, but still in LA, last week Giant Robot held another of its Game Over exhibitions, showcasing video game-themed pieces from some of the world’s (well, internet’s) favourite artists. Many of the originals, which you can see in the gallery below, are still available for sale if you’ve got…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Street Fighter’s Characters Take a Punch (or Three) to the Face
There was a silver lining to the dark, black clouds of defeat after you lost a Street Fighter II round: the post-game chit-chat. While the after-match quotes and character portraits are a fighting game staple, Street Fighter’s really went to town by showing the loser with a face that looked like a side of chopped…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Because Portal 2 Always Needed to Look More Like Ren & Stimpy
There’s already at least one Portal cartoon in production. That one, however, looks like something Dreamworks would come up with. If you’d rather a Portal cartoon look more like something Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi would dream up, though, you might want to take a look at these. These pieces are the work of…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedAs Close to a LEGO Inception Game as We’re Ever Going to Get
We’ll never see LEGO and Traveller’s Tales team up to do an official game based on Inception. Which is a pity. Still, this fan-made clip has all the humour (and quality) you’d expect if they ever came to their senses and did Put together by a team of students, the video took 12 weeks to…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
God of War’s Bronzed Edition is Not For American (or European) Eyes
Gamers in Latin America often get the shaft, either in terms of availability or price (or sometimes both!), so it’s nice to see Sony working with the market to give them something nice This is the God of War: Omega Edition, and includes all three God of War console games in the one box, alongside…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Star Wars x Skyrim Crossover Turns Boba Fett Into the Dragonborn
In lieu of a Star Wars vs Skyrim comics series, ala Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator, I’m more than happy to call this boutique helmet project the finest idea for a crossover between the two franchises. It’s a helmet designed and built by master craftsman Harrison Krix, and is designed around a simple…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
It’s In the Game—Take It Or Leave It
He’s a a fight promoter and a guy with an outsize personality, but however serious Dana White was when he said these things, he still said them. The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship called EA Sports a joke. He threatened to blacklist fighters who appeared in its old mixed martial arts video game. He…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Culture
Chainsaw Reaction
Racy themes and racing games lead the lineup of the coming week of retail releases. Reissues of Metal Gear Solid and Pikmin 2 also come to stores. Today • Nintendo Selects: Pikmin 2 (Wii) Tuesday • Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, 360) • DiRT Showdown (PS3, 360) • Gravity Rush (PS Vita) • Krater (PC) • Metal…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Security Tightens as Diablo III Prepares for Auction House Launch
When Diablo III‘s real-money auction house goes live, anyone wishing to add to their monetary balance in it will have to use an authenticator, Blizzard told its community on Friday. An authenticator, heretofore an optional security measure, is meant to address the claims and instances of hacking in which players’ accounts have been taken over…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Security Breach Turns DayZ‘s Servers into a Giant Botnet
In a month’s time, DayZ—the zombie-survival variant of Arma II— has quickly established itself as one of the most appealing mods of a PC game in recent history, if ever. That also makes it an appealing target to malefactors. One such person managed to get aboard the DayZ server admin team and, apparently, turn its…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Medal of Honor‘s Executive Producer Tangles with Critic Over Realism and Militainment
Give Tom McShea credit. At E3, the GameSpot writer penned an 800-word editorial ripping the tone of Medal of Honor: Warfighter‘s multiplayer, saying features like regenerating health and respawning teammates trivialize the sacrifice that the game professes to honor. In the tradition of a columnist showing up in the locker room after a particularly tough…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Forza Totilo
At last, we have a picture that just might get me in the bag-suit out of ‘Shop Contest jail. At E3 this week, our boss man went for a spin in a Ferrari, with an expression that suggested something less than all-out delight. Maybe it’s because he knew this would be fodder for our latest…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
Games. Know ’em, love ’em, live ’em. Talk about ’em here. Good morning, and welcome to Weekend Talk About Amongst Yourselves. Big thanks to Jamir, fresh off his triumph in yesterday’s ‘Shop Contest roundup, for supplying today’s TAYpic. Want a piece of the TAYpic action atop this six-day-a-week post? Grab the base image here, provide…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Neal Stephenson’s Very Special Guest Star Talks About His Appearance
If you have yet to watch Neal Stephenson’s pitch for CLANG, this story contains spoilers below. My first, briefly considered reaction at the 3:04 mark in Neal Stephenson’s excellent Kickstarter video, is that this celebrity guest star was an impersonator. That’s the nature of the Internet. I wasn’t aware these two had any kind of…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
A Hell of a Cameo Helps Neal Stephenson Pitch His Sword-Fighting Video Game
A flood of video game projects on Kickstarter over the past four months has made it extremely difficult to rise out of the crowd or portray one’s concept as particularly unique or worth funding. But Neal Stephenson, the eminent science-fiction writer, has hauled off and done something next-level with this pitch video. Stephenson wants “to…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012 - Culture
Sunday Comics: What’s My Motivation?
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. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik published June 6.—Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published June 3.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…
By Owen Good Published June 10, 2012