Mar 12
In November, Blizzard announced the fifth expansion pack for World of Warcraft, titled Warlords of Draenor. Some details were given at the time, as well as a video to whet … Continue reading
Mar 12
Before its Diablo III art contest, DeviantART also held a competition for another major video game – Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The contest called for the art community’s members to show their own take on the heroine Lightning. The entries were judged by none other than Square Enix’ artist, designer and director Tetsuya Nomura.
The contest was held last month, from February 11 to February 20. Out of the 4,655 submissions, Nomura – known for his character designs for Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, X and XIII and the Kingdom Hearts series – chose three grand prize winners.
Below is Nicolas Barge’s winning piece, of which Nomura said, “At first glance it looks like a CG, and it has a level of quality that makes it look like it was captured as a screenshot. While there were many heroic costumes for Lightning, I was drawn to the femininity of this costume and her hairstyle.”
Nomura was also impressed by Randis Albion’s piece, saying, “It’s wonderful as an illustration, but in addition to that, the artist drew in both the front and back views, so I felt the artist’s clear intent when they created this piece. The red and blue color scheme was very beautiful, too.”
Marga Donaire’s submission is one of my favorites among all of the entries, and it sounded like Nomura felt the same way too: “With one look I was hooked. The costume itself is sophisticated, and it’s also very well done as an illustration. The background that reminded me of the Japanese flag (Hinomaru) matched well with the piece and was beautiful. As an artist, when I look at different works of art, I think to myself “If it were up to me, I would do it differently,” but that thought didn’t cross my mind once when I saw this picture.”
As if earning praise from such an accomplished artist wasn’t enough, Nicolas, Randis and Marga also won an original sketch from Tetsuya Nomura, a custom Xbox 360 and controller, $1000, a keychain, a shirt, and copies of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. They were also featured on the front page of deviantART. Congrats guys! Switch to your browser costume and head to deviantART to check out all of the entries.
Mar 12
Running an emulator with a few ROMs on your laptop or smartphone is a great way to scratch a nostalgic itch for a long lost console. But for the full experience, you need a TV to crowd around with friends, real controllers, and of course the hardware. Which is where the Analogue Nt—a gorgeous aluminum NES clone—enters the picture.
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Mar 12
My Little Pony fans will love what DeviantARTist Chris Cardi of CARDI-ology is doing. He modifies Xbox 360controllers with pop culture themes, like Batman and Pikachu to name a few. However, these Pony controllers really take the cake.
There is even one for Vinyl Scratch, the most famous DJ in Equestria. It has a cool nightclub vibe thanks to blue and white LEDs in the front. Still, it is hard to pick a favorite, since they all look great and represent their Pony extremely well.
I think I like Rainbow Dash the best. That color combination just looks good on an Xbox 360 controller. Good work cardi. Friendship is magic, but my BFF is my game console.
If you’re interested in having your own custom controller made, head on over to CARDI-ology’s Facebook page and drop him a note.
[via Neatorama]
Mar 09
ThinkGeek is now selling an officially licensed plush Headcrab Hat. It sits on top of your head and doesn’t cover your face. Because that would just be silly.
The hat has an adjustable baseball cap-style closure at the back and is made of polyester. We think.
Prepare a crowbar and a torch and head to ThinkGeek to order the hat. It costs $30 (USD) and possibly your free will.
[via Gamefreaks]
Mar 09
We’ve featured a few skins for the PlayStation 4 and the DualShock 4 controller. But if you’re looking for an easier and more affordable way to personalize your system, check out Flaming Toast’s decals for the DualShock 4′s light bar.
The decals feature designs etched out of black vinyl, letting the LEDs in the light bar illuminate the cut out. They can place letters…
patterns…
and best of all, your own custom design. You can ask Flaming Toast to etch your gaming clan’s tag, the logo of your favorite game etc. Here are a couple of examples:
Here’s how easy it is to apply the decal:
Head to Flaming Toast’s Twitter page for more shots of custom decals. Flaming Toast sells the decals for $4.25 (USD) per pair.
[via Polygon]
Mar 08
Illucia Controller Connects Hardware & Software Even if They Weren’t Meant for Each Other
Posted in: Today's ChiliHey there maker. Have you run out of toys to tinker with? Have you refurbished all of the gizmos in your local junk shop? Have you written programs to automate every appliance in your house? Chris Novello has something that should keep you occupied for a long time. It’s called Illucia, and it lets you mess stuff up.
Illucia is a patch bay controller that lets you manipulate software using various electronic devices and even other software. It does this through Open Sound Control (OSC) and an array of jacks that can serve as input or output. Check out the controller’s user guide for more on how it works.
Here’s Chris breaking Super Mario Bros. by using the Illucia and a multitouch music instrument called the Soundplane:
Here Chris controls The Legend of Zelda through Super Mario Bros., manually triggering events in the latter that in turn trigger events in the former:
You can find more of Chris’ demo videos on his Vimeo page. Chris made Illucia fully open source – he posted all of the necessary build information on GitHub – but he also made 19 units by hand, 13 of which have been sold as of this writing. You can buy one from the Illucia website for $495 (USD).
Mar 07
Microsoft is using its users’ data to target political ads to its roster of gamers, the Washington Post has reported. The company wants targeted ads on multiple of its services, … Continue reading
Mar 07
Coolest Star Wars/Super Mario Bros. T-Shirt ever? I think so. This T-Shirt takes the original Star Wars poster and mixes in some Mario fun. Mario is a master plumber with dreams of adventure and he is about to meet his destiny.
This shirt takes place in a galaxy far, far away and features Mario, Peach, Luigi and Toad and of course, the evil Darth Bowser. Mario has never looked so heroic, but our Princess is in another Death Star.
It was designed by Creative Outpouring, but for some reason it has disappeared from their RedBubble page for the moment. Hopefully, it’ll return soon. And stay tuned for the sequel, Bowser Strikes Back.
[via Shirtoid via Fashionably Geek]
Mar 07
The Last of Us is coming to a theater near you. Not yet, but some day soon. If you haven’t played the game yet, the game follows Joel and Ellie, wandering around in a zombie infested world that includes such nasties as Clickers and Bloaters – along with plenty of awful humans too.
The creative director for the game, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, is writing the movie, while Sam Raimi and his Ghost House Pictures will be producing it, with Screen Gems handling distribution duties.
Hopefully it will be more than just the latest apocalypse film. The game was pretty unique, so there is no reason they can’t make a great movie out of it. One requirement though, is that they have to cast Ellen Page in some capacity. That’s really all I ask.
Well, that and focus on making a good movie.
[via Deadline]
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