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Hey Link, It’s Also Dangerous to do Business With Men Who Look Like Toothless Hobos

Link really is the hero of time, because here he is, in the 1980s, with a take on the Resident Evil 4 merchant meme years before Resident Evil 1 was even a twinkle in Shinji Mikami’s eye. [via VG Junk]

By Luke Plunkett Published July 24, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Star Wars Used to be Uncool. Pinball Helped Bring it Back.

This Star Wars pinball machine wasn’t released in the 70s, or 80s. It was released in 1992, which makes it very special, because that makes it part of the great Star Wars renaissance. After the hype over the original trilogy died down after the mid-80s, as weird as it is to imagine now, Star Wars…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 24, 2012

Culture

The Futuristic Landscapes of Concept Artist Josh Kao

Josh Kao is a concept artist and illustrator who over the years has worked with studios like EA, Irrational (BioShock Infinite) and Microsoft (Halo 4). He’s also contributed to Firefall, God of War: Ascension, Playstation All Stars Battle Royale and Black Ops II so, yeah, he’s very good at what he does. In addition to…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 24, 2012

Culture

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Wreckateer, the second offering in Xbox Live’s “Summer of Arcade” rollout, highlights an otherwise slow week in the dog days of summer. Tuesday • Adidas miCoach (360, PS3) • Prototype 2 (PC) Wednesday • Wreckateer (360) Thursday • Planet Crashers (3DS) • Decathlon 2012 (DS) Friday • Inversion (PC) Sources: GameStop, GameSpot

By Owen Good Published July 22, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Don’t Stand So Close to Me

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 July 16.—Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published July 16.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…

By Owen Good Published July 22, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Xbox 360 Isn’t So Good Anymore Compared to PCs.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Xbox 360 isn’t so good anymore compared to PCs.”—Matt Firor, head of Zenimax Online Studios, talking about why we haven’t seen successful console MMOs on 360 as part of an in-depth Elder Scrolls Online interview QUOTE | “There’s a brutality, there’s…

By Steve Peterson Published July 21, 2012

Culture

Nazi Explosions Meet Beautiful Landscape Paintings in This Video Game Concept Art

Geoffroy Thoorens is a French concept artist who currently works at Quantic Dream, the developers of Heavy Rain and the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls. He’s also done stuff for movies, TV shows and even board games, so the gallery you’ll see here is a mix of all kinds of work, ranging from landscape painting to…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

It Took Japan to Add a Little Style to Alien vs Predator

It’s been over twenty years since some bright sparks decided it’d be cool to see Aliens fight Predators. Since then we’ve had good comics, good video games, bad video games and terrible movies based on the idea. When people talk about the games, though, they almost exclusively remember the three first-person shooter titles. While the…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Dangers of Using Wikipedia for Video Game History

When I put Total Recall stories together, I use a ton of sources. My memory/brain, for one, but also specialised history and collector sites, weird blogs, books, all kinds of places. Wikipedia is, sometimes, one of those places. It’s also not always the most reliable. A great piece this week over on Hardcore Gaming reminds…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 20, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Total Recall, Kotaku’s History Section, is Moving

Just a quick public service announcement to let you know that Total Recall, Kotaku’s history feature, is changing timeslots. It’ll now appear between 1am and 2am Eastern, Tuesday through Friday.

By Luke Plunkett Published July 19, 2012

Culture

Drown Your Eyeballs in Rayman: Origins’ Gorgeous Concept Art

That’s it. No mahine guns today. No more giant robots, no post-apocalyptic landscapes, no bloodthirsty aliens. Today, we’re looking at video game concept art that’s so damn bright and cheerful it’ll put more peps in your step than you’ll know what to do with. It’s all the work of Floriane Marchix, who is currently at…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 19, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

How Capitol Hill Learned to Love Video Games

Video games used to be, quite literally for many in US politics, the devil. Or something very close. These days, though, you’re more likely to hear about developers getting tax breaks than games being banned. That kind of acceptance from a former enemy didn’t happen overnight. It took years of education and lobbying. Oh, and…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 18, 2012

Culture

I Never Thought The Walking Dead Could Look So Delicious

When I play Telltale’s excellent The Walking Dead game, I rarely get hungry. There just aren’t that many appetizing things in the game, particularly in the ghastly second episode, “Starved for Help.” And yet, when the folks at Gourmet Gaming get their hands on the game, my stomach starts growling. These biscuits from episode 2…

By Kirk Hamilton Published July 18, 2012

Culture

Let’s Look at Some Killing Machines (And Giant Castles, And Steampunk Samus)

Yohann Schepacz, aka OYO, is an atist who works at Sixmorevodka, a studio whose work we’ve featured here on Kotaku before Sixmorevodka is based in Berlin, and has provided concept art for clients like Blizzard, Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, EA, Disney, Marvel and Warner Bros. The gallery below contains a bunch of both Schepacz’s personal work,…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 18, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Atari Video Music Was Like Winamp For The 1970s

You know when you use a music or media player – and really, they all do it in some way or another – you can activate a visualiser to help you “see” the track like you were tripping on acid? Well, Atari had one in 1976. And it was, for the time, pretty damn great.…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 17, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Apple Co-Founder Was a Tetris Champion (and a Pain in Nintendo’s Ass)

Steve Wozniak, aka Woz, was one of the co-founders of Apple back in 1976. When he left the company in 1987 (though he technically remains an employee to this day, drawing a nice salary), he needed something to do. One of those things was to become a Tetris champion. In a candid Q&A on Gizmodo…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 17, 2012

Culture

The Heartwarming Tale of 10,000 Horrible Doritos Tacos

Imagine living in a town so remote, so isolated, and so dreary that the prospect of a Taco Bell opening nearby ignites a spark of hope in the populace so intense it has to be set to moving music. Some would say Bethel, Alaska sounds like hell. Me? I say it sounds like the healthiest…

By Mike Fahey Published July 17, 2012

Culture

Modern Shooters Can Look Pretty (at Least, Their Concept Art Can)

It’s a common, and entirely justified complaint that most modern shooters look too drab. They’re too brown, too grey, too dreary. You could counter that, well, since wars are fought in the dirt and ruins that’s how they’re supposed to look, but it’s too nice a day for arguments. Let’s instead just enjoy this concept…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 17, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

A Tribute to Old Video Game Maps

What did you do over the weekend? See some friends, go out to dinner, play some games? Me, I sat in front of a monitor, then a printer, and went through this spontaneous collection of old video game maps. Younger readers, accustomed to things like waypoint markers and mini-maps, may not be aware just how…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 16, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Private Atari Emails You Weren’t Supposed to See (Until Some Guy Released Them)

Here’s a rare and fascinating thing: a collection of ten year’s worth of internal Atari Games correspondence from between 1982 and 1992, all stored, public and ready for your voyeuristic consumption. What you’ll find isn’t just boring business talk. There’s all kinds of stuff in here, from high-level corporate discussions to guys making dinner reservations…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 16, 2012