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What You Get When You Cross a Dog With a Giant Tank

Sam Brown is another of the talented kids at concept art studio Massive Black. His work has appeared in games like BioShock 2 and inFamous. Love his robots. They always look their best when they’re functional, dirty and a little banged up. You can see more of Sam’s work at his personal site To see…

By Luke Plunkett Published September 4, 2012

Culture

This is Who We Thank For Bastion’s Gorgeous Art

Jen Zee works at Supergiant Games. A small indie team, Jen is art director (and part-time badass cosplayer), meaning she’s the main one to thank for the amazing colours and vibrant world of Bastion, one of the best-looking video games in recent memory. A Seattle native, Jen has also done work for Gaia Interactive and…

By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2012

Culture

Unreleased Altered Beast Games, Guns And Crazy Naked Dragon Ladies

You’ve got concept art with a pinch of news this morning, as Superannuation points out the portfolio of Kiwi artist Christian MacNevin, which contains images from a pitch for an Altered Beast remake that Sega never picked up. They’re…interesting, to say the least, but I’m just as interested in MacNevin’s other fantastic pieces for projects…

By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2012

Culture

The Week in Games: Take the Day Off

There are no major retail releases in North America this week as the United States celebrates Labor Day. Downloadable content instead highlights the Week in Games. Tuesday • The Sims 3 Supernatural (PC) • Battlefield 3: Armored Kill (PSN) • ZEN Pinball 2 (PSN, PS Vita) • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim —Hearthfire (XBLA) •…

By Owen Good Published September 2, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Roll a Joint

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. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Aug. 28.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Aug. 27.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by…

By Owen Good Published September 2, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Consumers No Longer Want to Pay $40 for Nintendo Games.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Consumers no longer want to pay $40 for Nintendo games.”—T. Scott Edwards, PlayMG Corp Founding Partner, talking about why their MG Android-based portable is a better gaming value than the Nintendo 3DS STAT | 8—Number of Zynga execs that have left…

By Steve Peterson Published September 1, 2012

Culture

Soak in The Beauty of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII‘s Concept Art

Final Fantasy XIII heroine returns with, well, Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The game is set in the world of Nobus Partus, 13 days from its demise. Here is a first look—a first good look—at the game’s stunning concept art. The urban setting of Luxerion looks very intriguing. Check it out in the gallery above.…

By Brian Ashcraft Published August 31, 2012

Culture

A Backpacker’s Guide to Warhammer 40K, Part 7: Churches

You’re about to see some of the work of Carlo Balassu, an artist who spent over six years at RTS masters Relic before moving onto a freelance career that spans both games and film. In addition to undisclosed projects on both side of that fence, he’s worked on pretty much everything Relic has released in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Life, and Death, of PC Gaming’s Most Famous Cover Star

You might not have played the game, but if you’ve ever walked into a video game store in your life, you’ll recognise the face: that of the Chessmaster, star of 1986 game The Chessmaster 2000. That first game, developed by The Software Toolworks, would lead to a series that would span decades, with the last…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Namco’s Badass Retro Arcade Game Logos

I do love me some arcade marquees. The colours, the hand-drawn art, it’s all so very Roger Dean. This set are from Namco, before the company merged with Bandai, and could just as easily have worked as the logos for mid-80s thrash bands. Which is equally awesome. Namco Arcade Logos [VGJunk] Total Recall is a…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012

Culture

The Art Of Dishonored

It’s not every day you get to look forward to a game featuring the work of, among others, Half-Life 2 legend Viktor Antonov Developed by Arkane and published by Bethesda, Dishonored will be out on PC, 360 and PS3 in October. To see the larger pics in all their glory (or so you can save…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Super Nintendo’s Greatest Weapon Was Its Secret Spinning Tech

While in most areas the SNES and Mega Drive were similar enough, Nintendo’s one secret weapon – that Sega couldn’t match – was its Mode 7 technology. Allowing different “layers” on the screen to be rotated, it was usually used to move the “ground” separately from the background, and is perhaps most famously employed in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

You Are Getting Old. Street Fighter Just Turned 25.

On August 30, 1987, the very first Street Fighter game was released by Capcom. Making today the series’ 25th birthday. My God. How depressing. Not for Capcom or Street Fighter, of course. For them, it’s party time. But for most of us who grew up button-smashing our way through combos, it’s a stark reminder that…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 30, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Your NES Could Have Had a Keyboard And Wireless Controllers

In the mid-80s, thanks to the success of platforms like the C64 and MSX, video game machines that could double as personal computers were hot. So it’s understandable that, ahead of Nintendo’s entry into the North American console market, the company was thinking that its first US machine might need to be more than just…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 29, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

World of Warcraft’s 2001 Reveal Feels Like a Different Age

The year was 2001. Rather than battling evil computers on white-washed spaceships, we were instead still living on Earth playing PC games, and stuck in that awkward phase between the pre-WoW Blizzard and its post-StarCraft efforts. That phase is perfectly illustrated here in this cover feature in the sadly now-defunct CGW magazine, giving the world…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 29, 2012

Culture

Cancelled Crytek Game Looked More Alan Wake Than Crysis

French artist Eric Cochonneau, formerly of Killzone developers Guerilla and Electronic Arts, has also worked at Crytek, where around 2008 he helped out on a game called Redemption which was ultimately never released. Or even seen publicly. Until today. NeoGAF user miladesn was digging around Cochonneau’s portfolio when they discovered the artwork, intended for an…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

Culture

And Suddenly I Wish The Next Assassin’s Creed Was a Western

If you can be bothered going back through the Fine Art archives, you’ll see that artists either currently or formerly employed at Ubisoft make up a disproportionate number of those showcased. The simple explanation for that is that Ubisoft hires a lot of talented artists, but there’s a little more to it than that. For…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How Assassin’s Creed Was Made

Assassin’s Creed is easily one of the most successful and genuinely new properties to emerge from this console generation. But were it not for a few key changes here and there, things could have ended up entirely differently. Edge has a great feature up detailing the story behind the making of the first game in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

One Man’s Journey From Warehouse Worker to Nintendo Legend

Howard Phillips might not be as big a name in Nintendo history as men like Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Gunpei Yokoi. But his story is just as interesting, and the story of his role in the company’s American invasion of the 1980s is one all Nintendo fans should enjoy. Speaking with Phillips – who…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 28, 2012

Culture

Because You Need to See More Bums & Strippers From the Star Wars Universe

That old Ben Kenobi really was a damn fool. Mos Eisley wasn’t the galaxy’s most wretched hive of scum and villainy. It wasn’t even Tatooine’s (um, Jabba’s Palace?)! No, you want scummy villains, you head to the planet where all the action is: Coruscant. This concept art from the upcoming Star Wars 1313 revels in…

By Luke Plunkett Published August 26, 2012