- Culture
The Spies, Soldiers and Sexy Ladies of Splinter Cell: Conviction
Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Conviction lived two very public lives. The first had Sam Fisher looking like the sexiest homeless man on the planet. That version was binned. The second version, the one that was actually released, was more “traditional”. This art, from Ubisoft’s Bruno Gauthier Leblanc, is of this second Sam Fisher. And loads of…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
EA’s Origin Used by Five Million People Every Day
EA says that 5 million people use Origin every day. Note that this isn’t a measure of popularity; like Steam, it’s hard to avoid a service when you practically have to use it to play certain games.
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 -
UncategorizedRap Music, Final Fantasy VII and Some Pretty Visuals
It’s a wonderful world we live in when rappers can release singles from albums devoted entirely to Final Fantasy VII Nerd rap superstar Mega Ran, who we’ve featured before, has with Jon Louden put together this video for the track Absolute, which can be found on his Black Materia album If you like what you…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Having Yet Another Press Conference (What’s Going On?)
Right before this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo suddenly revealed it was having a press conference. It was a total bust. Today, Nintendo suddenly announced it was holding another press conference. Will it be a disappointment, too? Dubbed “Nintendo 3DS New Information: Internet Presentation”, the event will be carried over Japanese video site NicoNico Douga…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Next Call of Duty DLC Has…Muppets?
Oh, if only that were the case. This fan art from poopbird, dropping the Muppets in as Call of Duty characters, certainly has me wishing. Though, when you think about it, it’s not that crazy an idea. It’s not that far a leap to go from soldier dudes to zombies to Muppets. Is it? Especially…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
She’s Been a Bad, Bloody Girl
Cosplayer Omi Gibson, perhaps best known for her Metal Gear work, is no one trick pony. Her repertoire includes obscure characters like Super Galdelic Hour‘s Toko and Thrill Kill‘s Belladonna, along with a willingness to cover herself in fake blood. Here, she cosplays as baseball-bat-wielding Bad Girl, a cosplay she’s donned before. This time, she…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
Here’s What Battlefield 3 Looks Like On the Xbox 360
Throughout its public relations cycle, DICE’s Battlefield 3 was shown only on PC and, later, PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360 version was kept under the stairs, beaten weekly and fed fish heads and stale water. That led many to assume it was a hideous thing, but if these screenshots from the Korean version of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
Some Guy Recreated a Country in SimCity
SimCity 4’s world creation suite is a wonderful thing, allowing players fine control over the hills, valleys and rivers of their virtual building plot. It’s so fine, in fact, people can try and recreate entire countries. In this case, Taiwan. OK, so it’s a small country, but at 3,902 square miles and with a population…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 -
UncategorizedHollywood’s Secret Japanese Commercials Are no Longer Secret
In the West, you know them as movie stars. They’re larger than life. Even appearing on television often seems beneath them. But in Japan, they’re more than happy to sell you crap. For years, Hollywood movie stars have made no bones about appearing in Japanese commercials. Back home, they’d never dream of compromising their images…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011 -
UncategorizedWatch Harrison Ford Play Uncharted for Almost Seven Minutes
As previously posted, Harrison Ford is appearing in Uncharted 3‘s Japanese television commercials. The above video shows Ford playing Uncharted 3 and talking about the game. It’s the best clip of the bunch—far better than the actual commercial, which feels phony. The commercial does feature Ford speaking Japanese as well as his calligraphy. Ford wrote…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011 -
UncategorizedBehind the Scenes of the Minecraft Team’s Next Game
Now that it’s free to use its planned name, Scrolls, the next game from Minecraft developers Mojang, is all systems go. As is this documentary going behind the scenes of the game. Filmed by 2 Player Productions, the same guys currently working on a big Minecraft documentary, the clip above shows the first of what’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
Here’s Harrison Ford. Playing Uncharted. [Updated]
National treasure Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, your childhood) has popped up in an unlikely place: A Japanese television commercial for Uncharted 3 Since nobody wants to play Sega with Harrison Ford, it’s about time he had a go at something others do want to play. Since the 69-year-old is famous for playing Indiana…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 19, 2011 -
UncategorizedThis Could be the Prettiest MMO in the World
Sorry to get all Jeremy Clarkson on you for a second, but after seeing this trailer for upcoming MMO Bless, that’s the first thought that popped into my head. The game, developed by Korean studio Neowiz, has teamed up with Epic to bring us one of only a few Unreal Engine 3-powered in existence, finished…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - Uncategorized
EA Caught Pressuring Publications Over Battlefield 3 Reviews
It’s an ugly thing, and one that sadly rears its head from time to time when big games are released: the practice of a publisher exerting a little too much pressure on gaming press. Of course, pressure is applied all the time! That’s the people in marketing and PR’s job, to try and make sure…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 - CultureTotal Recall
Vietnam was Hell, not a Series of Green Corridors
Vietnam is a war that still looms large in the American psyche, both in terms of its impact on modern history and its portrayal in popular culture. Yet for all the protests, rock n’ roll and classic films that came out of the war, good Vietnam video games are hard to find. This is mostly…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 19, 2011 -
UncategorizedKinect, Windows Phone, Windows, Office: They All Live Together Peacefully In This New Ad
Microsoft kicked off their new global campaign this week, showcasing not a one of their products, but all of them and they managed to squeeze in a little Dance Central too! Apparently this is the company’s first every multi-product Christmas ad campaign. EXCITING!!!
By Brian Crecente Published October 18, 2011 - Uncategorized
30 Million People Play Angry Birds Every Day
It’s been damned popular for a damned long time, but Angry Birds‘ numbers don’t appear to be dwindling at all. As Mashable reports, 30 million people play the portable game each day, logging over 300 million minutes of gameplay. Each day! That’s 208,333.3 days of Angry Birds played for each day of real time (or,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published October 18, 2011 - Uncategorized
They Just Want Some Of Your Brains
Hello late-night travelers, it’s time to do my second of many off-topic threads. I hope you are all doing well, and don’t doubt you have many things you’d like to discuss. In case you’re wanting for conversation fodder, here are some starters. The Walking Dead Premiered on Sunday, to mixed, mostly positive reviews -I thought…
By Kirk Hamilton Published October 18, 2011 -
UncategorizedLook at How Microsoft Wants to Transform Sesame Street. It’s the Future.
Microsoft wants to make Sesame Street interactive. We’re not talking about Sesame Street video games (though they’re doing that too). They also want to make the show—filmed puppets and all—a TV show that a kid standing in front of their TV can interact with You don’t have to imagine what interactive Sesame Street would look…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 18, 2011 - Uncategorized
Vampire Diaries Star Joins Christina Hendricks in Need For Speed: The Run
We already knew that Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks will be voicing the female lead in the upcoming Need For Speed: The Run. Electronic Arts is now saying that Sean Faris, star of The Vampire Diaries, will be assuming the role of the male lead, Jack Rourke. EA’s Press Release describes Rourke as “one of the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published October 18, 2011