Just a blurb so far, but it appears that The National (High Violent, The Boxer) are contributing an original song to the soundtrack of Portal 2. Not much else is known as of yet. As a fan of both Portal and The National, I find this to be an excellent, if somewhat odd, pairing.
In other Portal 2-related news, I forgot to post this amusing Valentine's Day gift-buying guide from Aperture Science in a timely manner, so I'll do it now.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
IPB&C
I seem to have two themes today: the ghosts from Pac-Man, and fatheed's art. Here they are, together at last!
"How They Died"
"How They Died"
Triptych: 8-Bit Terrariums
"Zelda" by Jude Buffum
"Castlevania" by Jude Buffum
"Super Mario Bros" by Jude Buffum
[8-Bit Terrariums by Jude Buffum]
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Would You Kindly Pick Up That Shortwave Radio?
Abra Macabra 9 by ~betteo
This past weekend, I suddenly found myself with a plethora of free time, as the Heather Monster was running amok in Mexico and we had a sudden, unexpected snowfall (not a substantial snowfall - this is the Pacific Northwest, after all - but enough of one that nobody, myself included, felt like venturing out of their cozy little abodes.) So I decided that I would do something I'd never gotten around to doing in the past: finally finish BioShock.
(Please note that this entry will not shy away from spoilers, so if you don't want any of the major plot points of BioShock ruined for you, you may want to skip it. I repeat: only click through to read the rest of this post if you have either finished BioShock already, or you plan never to do so. Consider yourself warned.)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Alice: Madness Returns
The original American McGee's Alice was, in my opinion, an underrated cult classic, a dark revisionist take on Lewis Carroll's Wonderland novels with phenomenal character design and a grim and clever sense of humour. Although it received a fair amount of criticism for its poor controls, the outdated (though striking) graphics, and the fairly straightforward game structure, it had a kind of indie dark-horse charm to it, featured an absolutely haunting soundtrack by Chris Vrenna (of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson), a well-thought-out world map, and one of the best weapons rosters of all time, including a Blunderbuss, a Croquet Mallet, and Jacks. I played the hell out of it, and loved every second of it.
It looks like American McGee is at it again with the forthcoming sequel, Alice: Madness Returns, slated for a June 14th, 2011 release, and based on the below gameplay trailer, it looks like a return to form. I couldn't be more excited about this game if I tried. Previously, I'd been a bit wary, as everything McGee's done in the interim has been - to put it kindly - underdeveloped at best, but the video highlights what looks to be a definite improvement in both visuals and controls, and I'm now counting down the days until June 14th.
Of course, I got this unreasonably excited about Epic Mickey too, and look how that turned out. Oh well. Fingers crossed!
It looks like American McGee is at it again with the forthcoming sequel, Alice: Madness Returns, slated for a June 14th, 2011 release, and based on the below gameplay trailer, it looks like a return to form. I couldn't be more excited about this game if I tried. Previously, I'd been a bit wary, as everything McGee's done in the interim has been - to put it kindly - underdeveloped at best, but the video highlights what looks to be a definite improvement in both visuals and controls, and I'm now counting down the days until June 14th.
Of course, I got this unreasonably excited about Epic Mickey too, and look how that turned out. Oh well. Fingers crossed!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Mega Man Tribute
Udon Entertainment recently called on artists, illustrators and designers to contribute entries to their Mega Man Tribute art contest in honour of the iconic little blue bomber's 22-year history, with the winner's piece appearing in a limited-edition tribute book being presented at the 2011 San Diego Comicon.
The contest closed on February 4th, 2011, and while the winner has yet to be announced, some of the pieces submitted are genuinely phenomenal. Take a look below for a few of my favourites, and as always, click on each image for a full-res version.
The contest closed on February 4th, 2011, and while the winner has yet to be announced, some of the pieces submitted are genuinely phenomenal. Take a look below for a few of my favourites, and as always, click on each image for a full-res version.
Mega Man, The Blue Avenger by Ilias Patlis