Gaming has changed a lot since the NES days. And I’m not just talking about the graphics, sound or even 3D environments. I’m referring to how the industry as a whole reshaped. Tutorials, micro-transactions, achievements, making the game more accessible to everyone etc… All that stuff, plus more, has transformed the industry. I’m not complaining, nor do I think video games are worse now then back in the 80s.
Maybe it’s just because I was younger — but the industry felt like it had more of an innocence. When we interacted with a game, we were supposed to figure out the mechanics on our own, and along the way, you would encounter secrets, simple stuff that would blow your mind. And downloadable content did not exist. What you bought, that was it.
HuguesJohnson.com, decided to take the games I grew up with, a give it a modern twist. And while you might look at some of these pictures and find them ridiculous, it’s not far from today’s truth.
If your friends don’t think you’re the biggest geek out of the group, and you’ll or pay anyone to gain the title and you also need a new living set? Then PixelArtStudios might have the perfect furniture decorate for you.
The picture above shows off what could be your abnormally large coffee table, which is obviously shaped like a Nintendo Entertainment System, with even non-moveable controllers on its top. The door that normally opens with a real-life NES, also does for the table for storage. But that’s not all, for only $1,250 for a limited time, the set will include two tables that resemble NES cartridges with each having its own game art, one being just Mario Bros. and the other the original Super Mario Bros. And after all that, you can choose two of his wall art pieces he has made, which I think are quite cool.
One of /film‘s favorite artists Olly Moss, imagined the Japanese Mario poster above. Titled: スーパーマリオ (Super Mario), the imagine depicts Princess Peach being stalked by the famed plumber’s arch-nemesis Bowser.
On a side-note, I would personally display the red version of this poster; it just gives off this uneasy sinister feel.
As of now, you can’t purchase the pictures but when (or if) you can, I’ll let you know.
What do you think of this sweet retro Mario clock? I think it’s pretty freaking awesome, even with a Goomba attached to the famous plumber’s crouch — swaying back ‘n forth…OUCH!
The 8-bit inspired clock was hand crafted with wood, and created by Etsy seller ClockworkOregon. It’s also fairly inexpensive, costing only $60.
As promised by Ubisoft, Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is going to be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Today we get word on when the updated version of the 2003 platformer is going to be uploaded onto the servers. And that day is March 21. (more…)
Youtube user MajamiHiroz tends recreate art ideas like, film and games, but re-imagines them as 8-bit video games, but uses current generation effects. His latest video de-make is Max Payne.
After the jump, check out how he would interpret it as a classic 80′s title. (more…)
These Pac-Man lights are a few years old, but I thought I should share them to you.
As you can tell, it’s Pac-Man eating the light bulbs, as if they were the pellets in the game. And right behind him are the evil ghosts that have been terrorizing him for the last 20+-years.
Bendedetto Bufalino and Benedict Deseille created these lights for the Geneva, Switzerlands’ Festival of Trees and Lights.
After the jump, check out some more pictures of Pac-Man doing his part to increase light pollution. (more…)
If you grew up in New England, surely you would know about the American restaurant chain called the Ground Round. As a child it was one of the top places I would wanted to dine. Not because the food was incredible, in fact, it wasn’t great at all. But they had one thing…and that was a small arcade room. I would order my food, and beg my Mom for a few quarters and mash some buttons as my burger was being grilled.
Looking back on it, there were two titles I distinctly remember playing all the time at the ol’ Round, and both titles were developed by Konami, AND both were extremely popular 90′s TV shows. One was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And the other…the FREAKING The Simpsons. (more…)
For the past two-decades, THQ has been a top publisher. But lately, the company is having major financial trouble, to say lightly.
Just yesterday, Nasdaq has given the company until July 23 to raise their share price above $1 for ten consecutive days, or they’ll be force to be delisted.
Because of the dreadful notice, the company has already started to take action and have announced some major overhauls and changes. (more…)
Tomorrow is a huge day for anyone waiting for Duke Nukem Forever, especially if they’ve been waiting since it was announced back on April 28, 1997.
By the time the game arrives, it will have been 14 years, 1 month and 17 days since it was confirmed, or even you can even say 445,824,000 seconds, if you want to make it sound like it was a shorter wait.
A lot has changed in the world since 3D Realms had made the infamous revealing of Duke Nukem Forever, and after the jump, we put some facts together as to what has. (more…)
We’ve been hearing for years about a Wii successor, or at the very least the variation of the Wii. Some suggested that it would essentially be an HD version of Nintendo‘s popular white console, yet those rumors have been squashed recently (more…)
Wait, that isn’t Jesse Eisenberg? Why is this news?
Apparently, it’s Andrew Gardikis, and he holds the world record for the fastest speed run for the original Super Mario. He’s kinda like the Billy Mitchell of Super Mario Bros., but with less girls.
The video is over at Kotaku, where Gardikis attempts to break his own record with the creator of the classic game, Miyamoto, painfully looking-on.
Unfortunately for Gardikis, he didn’t break his record nor even the game — which means he leaves alone…again.
What the hell is going on with this music video from the Swedish group Bondage Fairies? I really don’t know, but I LIKE IT!
It should also be noted that the band self-titled themselves as “the only Nintendo-death-punk band that the cold country of Sweden has squeezed out from its fleshy womb.” Awesome!
When you leave a theater after watching a film adapted from a videogame, how times have you felt cheated? For me, I can honestly say every single instant. It seems like Gabe Newell, the co-founder of Valve, feels exactly the same way.
While having a conversation with PC Gamer, Newell admitted Hollywood would constantly approach his company and try to convince them to develop a film based off the first Half Life. According to him, the pitches that presented to his company were terrible; furthermore, the film executives were baffled onto why gamers had such a connection to the original story.
“Where we got into this direction was after Half-Life 1 had shipped. There was a whole bunch of meetings with people from Hollywood. Directors down there wanted to make a Half-Life movie and stuff, so they’d bring in a writer or some talent agency would bring in writers, and they would pitch us on their story. And their stories were just so bad. I mean, brutally, the worst. Not understanding what made the game a good game, or what made the property an interesting thing for people to be a fan of.”
Due to the poor propositions made by Hollywood, Newell feels if a Half-Life film is ever-to-be, then his company would develop the project and not rely on any outside interference.
“That’s when we started saying ‘Wow, the best thing we could ever do is to just not do this as a movie, or we’d have to make it ourselves.’ And I was like, ‘Make it ourselves? Well that’s impossible.’ But the Team Fortress 2 thing, the Meet The Team shorts, is us trying to explore that.”
Making a movie might seem easy, especially if you make high-production videogames; but reality says it’s not. Jordan Mechner, the man who wrote three of the Prince of Persia games, also penned the film adaption. According to critics and fans, one of the bigger problems of the PoP movie was the story, and how it was chaotic — and not in a good way. So even Valve’s passion for Half Life would be in the evident in a film adaption, it doesn’t automatically make it good.
If Newell is ever interested in the possibility of Half Life becoming a summer blockbuster, and at the same time please the fans of the series, he should just hold out until he or the company can have creative control. Instead of relying solely on outside studios. Plus, having there resources would be much more beneficial to them, rather than depending on yourself.
BlobVanDam from youtube must be a HUGE Sonic the Hedgehog enthusiast. So much so, he decided to construct the video above, which is a 3D recreation of the Mushroom Hill Zone stage from 1994′s Sonic & Knuckles, for the Genesis.
Only one word can describe his video: gorgeous. From the detail of the forest, to the sun shining through the trees, it is a shame Sega can’t reproduce this for Sonic’s next adventure. Hell, I’d be happy if they just remade a Sonic title and had it look this attractive.
There is a catch however — this is NOT actually playable. Sadly, it’s just a video and not someone physically playing it in real time. BlobVanDam just animated over the actual game, using 3DS Max and Adobe After Effects. Although, it was time consuming because according to him, it took 2-3 weeks to complete the 47 second clip.
Hopefully Sega take a long look at this video, and maybe one day they’ll develop something that resembles it. But I’m not holding my breath.
