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65-Foot Long Dragon Incoming, and It’s Not Skyrim
This summer, from July to September Universal Studios Japan will hold Monster Hunter the REAL 2012 in collaboration with Capcom. To greet you for the event, there will be a life-sized golden Rathian model, straight from the Monster Hunter series that moves and roars as though alive. Last year’s event had a life-size model of…
By Toshitaka Tachibana Published April 24, 2012 - Kotaku East
From Steve Jobs’ Death to the Prime Minister’s Q&A, Sakura Bloom in Unlikely Places
Last night on Japanese television, Prime Minister Noda appeared in a Q&A. To his side sat a young participant in black glasses. This young man’s appearance, while certainly not striking, looked familiar to one Japanese net user, who quickly uploaded a photo showing the same man with a mic to his face. Impressed with the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
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 - Uncategorized
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 - Uncategorized
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 - Uncategorized
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 -
UncategorizedYouTube 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 -
UncategorizedDiablo 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 -
UncategorizedThe 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 -
CultureTotal RecallOmega 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 -
CultureTotal RecallPortal 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 - Uncategorized
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 -
UncategorizedTake 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 -
UncategorizedSSX‘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 - Uncategorized
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 - Uncategorized
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