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‘Persona,’ ‘God of War’ named among year’s best concept art
While the E3 show floor might be a loud, raucous place where game publishers flaunt their vast wealth with gigantic booths, the show's Into the Pixel event is something altogether different. It's an intimate gallery-like setting where concept art from titles large and small is given the treatment it deserves before being shrunk down and put into a hastily assembled art book for a game's special edition. This year, Into the Pixel will feature works from titles including God of War, Persona 5, Homo Machina and Afterparty. If you like what you see, the works will be auctioned on eBay next week during the show.
GDC will host its own video game art gallery next year
E3 has the Into the Pixel art gallery for video game concept art, and now the annual Game Developers Conference is trying its hand at one. Called "Art Boss," it's a collaboration with the folks at iam8bit and will feature not just concept art (a la Into the Pixel), but production art, in-game stuff like textures and even promo materials. Another way this differs from Into the Pixel is that each artist will have a headshot and a bio alongside their submitted work -- the E3 gallery typically just lists the artist's name, game a piece came from and the studio responsible. Further on the artist-forward note, there isn't an entry fee for submitting a piece, either.
E3's 'Into the Pixel' celebrates video games as art
I've been checking out Into the Pixel since my first E3. Seeing video game concept art in a gallery setting is an excellent way to unwind and get a minute or two of respite from the madness of the show floor. It's also a chance to appreciate the downright beautiful art in a format that isn't just a rote, diminutive art book that comes with the "special edition" of a video game. In the video below, Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences president Martin Rae explains what Into the Pixel is and we take a bit of a tour through the space. The standout piece this year? It's from Far Cry 4 and right above this text.
North Korea's vision of the future looks like classic sci-fi
When a country is essentially cut off from the rest of the world, peculiar things can happen. In Cuba, the half-century-plus trade-embargo means antique Chevy Bel Airs roam the streets like pigeons, and apparently North Korea's communist ideology translates to some pretty interesting views of the future. A tourism firm in the region gave a state-employed architect free reign to imagine how the mountains of Myohyangsan would appear with a high-rise bridge connecting them in one instance, and what a floating house/hovercraft hybrid (seriously) or a hotel and gondola in Nampo's port would look like in others. The whole of the idea was to experiment with what a "sustainable tourism model" might resemble, according to CNN. And, if you ask us, the four-year project has a certain pulp sci-fi vibe to it. The concept drawings will be on display at Venice's Architecture Biennale until November if you'd like a first-hand look, otherwise hit the source if you can't make it to Italy by then.
iOS Task Switcher concept explores feature's potential
The Verge forums user Sentry posted the concept art you see above for the (underutilized) iOS task switcher, and I think it's awesome. Sentry's vision adds a lot of worthwhile information to the multitask bar without sacrificing the clear layout. The app thumbnails are great, but I really like the various controls for music, WiFi and Bluetooth. It's such a pain to have to dig down into the Settings app every time I need to switch one of those on my phone or iPad, and having them accessible with just a double-tap and a swipe would be excellent. I already heavily use the audio controls that pop up when you double tap the iOS Home button while your device is locked, and sliding them into the task switcher seems like a no brainer. iOS 6, of course, was just released, so we're now waiting for Apple to tell us what's next with the portable operating system. Hopefully, an excellent revamp of the task switcher like this is being worked on right now. [via RazorianFly]
Rumor: Kid Icarus Wii details, concept art revealed
For a game that hasn't even been formally announced, there sure seems to be a lot of information circulating about the Wiicreation of the celestial NES action-platformer, Kid Icarus. For instance, Kombo.com (not to be confused with Zombo.com) recently posted a veritable cornucopia of concept art for the rumored title, as well as some heretofore unannounced deets. Apparently, Pit has been "cursed for thousands of years for a crime" and has become a fallen angel -- those mature themes seem to resonate through the conceptual drawings, available on Kombo's site.We're not sure if this new media is legit, but Kombo did break the rumor that Factor 5 was working on an Icarus title in late January. Perhaps they do indeed have an inside source -- though it's just as likely that their early plot details could have rolled off their own forked tongues. Check out the images, and judge for yourself.
First Prey 2 details and concept art revealed
It's been nearly two years since the release of Human Head Studio's nausea-inducing FPS, Prey -- and subsequently, since 3D Realms' Scott Miller dropped hints of a sequel for the game. From July 2006 to yesterday morning, no news of Prey 2 had surfaced, leading some to believe the franchise had gone the way of the Duke. Luckily, Shacknews caught wind of a Radar Group website (which, for some reason, was taken down shortly after its inception) with some concept art and juicy, but brief, details about the game.Tommy, the astral-projecting hero of Prey the first, will reprise his role as the brash protagonist. Blamed for the disappearance of his family, Tommy "escapes an Earth that no longer wants him for a future that cannot survive without him", according to the short-lived website. This short tidbit along with a single piece of concept art were all that Radar Group had to tease us with for now -- rumor has it that we'll be hearing more about the sequel some time this week. We'll let you know when that update narbuncularly drops into our hot little hands.
Nibris: it's art, but is it a concept?
So when is concept art not concept art? When it's part of an artist's established portfolio of fan art and book covers, and not in any way related to an actual game. That didn't stop Cubed3 from posting the "exclusive concept art" straight from Nibris, which turned out in fact to be older art that deviantArt member OmeN2501 turned in to the alleged developer as an example of what he might like to see in a DS horror game. That's rather more like conceptual examples of concept art for a possible concept than an actual confirmed game, but this not the first we've seen from the company's reported upcoming title, Children of the Night. It's just the first "art" we've seen, and if you happen to seek out Silent Hill fan art, you may have seen some of it before. Fortunately, a few intrepid armchair detectives over at NeoGAF were quick to point out that the art was not precisely new, but was in fact part of the aforementioned artist's profile on deviantArt. A little digging revealed that while Marek Okon, aka OmeN2501, is reportedly working as an artist for Nibris, these particular pieces of art were never meant for release in conjunction with Children of the Night, or any other game, real or imagined. It might also be worth nothing that the artwork was cropped to give it a fresh look, though we can't say who did the cropping.
New Heavenly Sword art shows off weapons, environments
Okay, we admit we have a love affair with Heavenly Sword. So much so that we're willing to grab onto any piece of art that comes out of Ninja Theory. This latest batch of art focuses on the weapons and environments in this upcoming PS3 action game. The graphics engine is impressive ... but what drives the real visual beauty of the game comes from its impressive art. Check out our gallery below:%Gallery-5898%
Wrath of the Lich King concept art
More eye candy for you -- this gallery contains concept art from Wrath of the Lich King. We're pretty sure the Tuskar Chief is moonlighting from Grant Theft Walrus.%Gallery-5526%
Unbelievable Heavenly Sword concept art
Today marks a very special day for us at PS3 Fanboy -- we've stumbled upon 26 fantastic concept art images for the upcoming Heavenly Sword. We're told that some of these are from the anime created to correspond to the game, but clearly some of it is artwork of the highest pedigree.Heavenly Sword is a fast-paced action game due out exclusively on the PLAYSTATION 3 this August. Lead heroine Nariko stumbles upon a sword of immense power that slowly sucks the life out of her while she slices through legions of enemies. We were told a while back that Heavenly Sword may feature more monstrous enemies than packs of infantry, and that piece of art in the gallery with the turtle-shell bad guy is what we can probably expect -- humanoid, but with monstrous strength and funky fashion sense.Check out our gallery, leave your thoughts and get ready for a fantastic game this Fall!%Gallery-3104%[Thanks, Jamal!]
New Peter Lee concept art (including the Black Temple)
Our good friend Boubouille at MMO Champion has a nice post up linking to some of Peter Lee's concept art-- he's been given the go ahead by Blizz to put up a few new pieces, and they are definitely awesome. If you've got the art book that came with the Collector's Edition of the expansion, I'm pretty sure you've seen them, but even if you have they're worth another look.You can see some neat concepts of Nagrand, Auchindoin, and the Outland side of the Dark Portal, along with a few other expansion locations. There's even a piece of the new Black Temple (which we just learned about), and this cool pic above of a Tauren Shaman throwing down what can only be a Windwall Totem. Now, it could be Windfury, but A) he's solo, so it's more likely he'd use Windfury weapon, and B) He's still wearing Earthfury, so it's not likely that he's 64 yet for Wrath of Air, or he would have found better gear, and C) He's getting hit with arrows. If it is Windwall, that might mean he's the first Shaman who's ever actually found a good use for that one-- most shaman don't even have the icon on their bars.Of course, maybe I'm reading too much into the art (I won't even get into the placement of the totems, which is clearly wrong). Anyway, it looks very cool. Enjoy.
Concept-iPhone Compendium
TUAW reader Okan Gürvardar has put together a huge collection of iPhone concept art over at his Apple iPhone blog. The art, which has been created by Apple fans, runs the gamut from the impossible to the brilliant to the absurd. In a way, it will be a huge let-down if Apple actually delivers on the iPhone at Macworld this January because it will cut off some of the most creative expressions of Apple fandom. I'm particularly fond of the wrist-phone shown here.
