fanmade
Latest
Left 4 Dead 2 fan campaign drops the survivors in City 17
Valve's latest featured fan campaign for the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 should be instantly familiar to anyone who's enjoyed the developer's seminal Half-Life series. The five-chapter campaign is set on the streets of Half-Life 2's police-state metropolis, City 17, where the oppressed citizens have been replaced by zombies, and the totalitarian Combine have been replaced by zombies, and ... yeah, just about everyone's been replaced by zombies there. As with all its featured community levels, Valve's temporarily hosting servers running the City 17 campaign. If you feel up for a romp through your ol' crowbaring grounds, you should take advantage of this delightful opportunity.
Lego Android is 15 inches tall, eats apples for breakfast
Say it with us now, awww. The adorable green bot family scene above is highlighted, rather conspicuously, by a 15-inch tall dude in the middle. He (it?) was built by one Grayson Wendell, who went to the trouble of coding up a program for designing Lego domes mathematically, before spending an entire week putting his own lime-green droid together. Between this and the Android tattoo girl, Google really seems to have cornered the market on fanmade art, while we also appreciate the classy touch of including an iPhone in the shot -- hacked with an Android installation, of course. [Thanks, Grayson]%Gallery-101859%
Street Fighter High: The Musical, in 2 parts
Some Street Fighter fans showed their love by purchasing both Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV. Others made an elaborate high school musical.
Sony Ericsson concept phone is as clever as it is unreal
Looking for some innovation to go with your porridge this morning? How about this fan-made flip phone concept that pivots vertically and horizontally? You can use it as a standard old clamshell, with the lower of the two displays acting as your number pad, or you can rotate it down to pair the screens into one snazzy widescreen panel. That's all there really is to it, but it seems like such an ingenious idea to us -- maintaining the slimline dimensions that some think are crucial to phones, while offering the generous screen size that we all want. Hit the source link to see more of this "Sony Ericsson" FH concept.
Super fan-made paper Mario and Luigi
It's our sincere hope that if the Super Mario Bros. ever actually did show up in our world, they wouldn't look anything like Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo -- instead, we'd really prefer they look something like what you see above: Two papercraft statues put together by DeviantArt-ist TouchFuzzyGetDizzy. Definitely click the Source link below to see these guys as big as possible. The actual statues are 40 and 50 centimeters tall, and with the detail on them, you're probably looking at quite a bit of paper. If you want to try cutting, folding, and pasting them together yourself, you're welcome to -- the creator has uploaded patterns of each, though he warns that there are no instructions to go along with them yet. Elsewhere in his gallery, you can see more angles of Luigi, as well as models of Aryll and Salvatore from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Very cool. The best thing we ever made with paper? The football from ... er ... Tecmo Bowl.
Fan-made Pre ad gets the point, why can't Palm? (video)
We've already talked (at length) about Palm's failure to properly present its wares to the public. Using promotional campaigns that have fluctuated between gimmicky and creepy, the company has never allowed its superlative WebOS its time to shine. As if to illustrate our point to perfection, a loyal Pre user has put together his own, extremely professional, advert for the device, which manages to achieve -- in a mere 30 seconds -- what Palm has been struggling with for nearly a year. It shows off the handsome device, the effortless multitasking, the variety of apps, integrated services and video capabilities, and, most importantly, emphasizes the sheer beauty and ease of use of WebOS. See the video after the break. [Thanks, Chris F]
Flickr Find: Fan-made imaginary covers for Steve Jobs' biography
Personally, my favorite is Connecting The Dots. It uses a photograph by Diana Walker called STEVE JOBS AT HOME IN 1982. Steve Jobs said of the photo: "This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that's what I had." I love the layout of the title and the fact that flypigs took the title from Steve Jobs' 2005 Commencement address at Stanford University. What's your favorite? Vote in the poll! %Poll-41968%
More WoW-themed cakes
Thanksgiving seems like an excellent time to update our gallery of WoW-related confectionary masterpieces, also known as WoW cakes. This dragon and Alliance-themed cake above was made for Valaar of Kargath by his girlfriend Erelia for his 30th birthday. She also made the Cake of the Lich King that we posted a while back. Talented lady! And elsewhere in the updated gallery, you'll find this Moonkin cake, made for Mark by his mother, sister, and girlfriend. Yes, those do appear to be real feathers on the cake. Probably not the most appetizing topping, but maybe they were just making it to show off. It does add a very Moonkin feel, that's for sure. If you have pictures of an awesome WoW-related cake, feel free to send them along on our tipline, and you may see them right here in the future! %Gallery-31459%
A pink moonkin for the Raid for the Cure raffle
Serthida has posted a set of pictures that serve as a perfect reminder of the Raid for the Cure coming up this weekend: she's finished the pink moonkin plushie that they're going to be giving away in the raffle (with the winner chosen from donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation). We've collected them in an easy-to-browse gallery below for your perusing pleasure. As you can see, she says she used the same pattern as the other plush mookin she made, though of course it's all done up in pink fur from this fabric site. "The horns, beak, claws, and feet," she tells us, "are made of fleece, and inside each leg there is a packet of plastic pellets to give it some additional weight." It's all handsewn, as doing it with a machine is apparently tougher with all of that fur flying. And she says that "the eyes are some pearly buttons I found at the craft store. They just looked neat." Neat indeed; while it's weird to see a pink moonkin, the idea definitely works for the cause. Don't forget -- Raid for the Cure is going down this coming weekend, November 14th, on the Kael'thas realm. %Gallery-77905% [via BBB]
Replica tabards and banners from Windlass Studios
Blizzard has announced that they've partnered with a company called Windlass Studios to release real-life versions of a couple popular in-game banners and tabards. $40 will get you a banner of the Alliance or Horde, while $80 will get you a real-life faction tabard to wear. Each of the pieces is apparently 100% cotton, and silkscreened with the familiar faction insignia. Very interesting -- we've seen some nice fanmade pieces before, but these are commercial releases bearing official logos. The company has also released a latex rubber version of Frostmourne -- it's not quite as nice as the Epic Weapons metal version, but then again, it's $149, and the metal version is over $400. I still wouldn't spend over $100 on a rubber sword, but hey, if that's your thing, there you go. And speaking of spending money on rubber costumes, the Blizzard store is also chock full of Halloween costumes this year, and there are a few other masks, including Illidan and a new Draenei mask, floating around the Internet for purchase as well.
Xbox 360 and rhinestones, how can this go wrong?
Stop us if you've heard this before: You get home, stare at your Xbox 360 console and, through the corner of your eye, spot your sister's Bedazzler and think, "Yes. Yes, I can." Apparently that's what happened with deviantART user ricepuppet when creating the above piece of work for "a client." Don't get us wrong, we dig the paint job, but the faux gems look completely out of place. Somewhere, a little girl's jean jacket sits cold and alone without the word "Princess" strung across the back in precious rhinestones (for the sake of this joke, pretend it's 1987).
Link, the later (and depressing) years
If you've ever wondered what Link's life would be if he were real (and a pathetic middle-aged man), you may enjoy Link, the later years (watch it after the break). If you're a fan of uproarious laughter and entertainment, you won't be a fan of Link, the later years. It has its moments, but Link's pathetic (and monotone) state drags on as a nearly six-and-a-half minute bummer. Seriously, we're so depressed about it we're going to go polish off a whole tub of Chunky Monkey.[Via GoNintendo]
Those ears look totally fake: a collection of Zelda cosplay
Turkish website Nintendocu.com has a gallery of fantastic Legend of Zelda cosplay compiled from various photography websites and gaming events. The primary character in action is Princess Zelda herself, with cameo appearances from Link. In one of the images (above) Zelda and Link can be seen locking lips, which we're pretty sure jumps the shark from "dress playing" lore to "blue" fan fiction. It's especially "blue" if you've got a thing for plastic ears.[Via GoNintendo]
Deconstructing Street Fighter II
Capcom's marketing machine sure did a number on us. If you need proof, just look at how terrible Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix looks in this video (after the jump)! Wasn't it supposed to be über sexy? Oh, wait. We've just been informed that this isn't HD Remix, but a deconstruction of the SNES version of Street Fighter II. Our collective bad. Using various programs -- including one horrendously named "Tile Molester" -- Rom hacker/bender Dylan Hayes has reduced SFII to nothing more than hit boxes, a few birdies and one giant fish. By breaking the classic down, Hayes shows off the game in its most basic -- yet, still completely playable -- form. Capcom, it looks like we just spotted your big E3 XBLA announcement: Street Fighter II Blocky Mess Remix. [Via Offworld]
Gorgeous Mirror's Edge inspired photo set leaps into view
Savage Land Pictures have revealed a gorgeous photo set inspired by the 2008 Electronic Arts action title, Mirror's Edge. The shoot, which Savage Land Pictures notes took months to plan, includes sixteen images of a model dressed as Faith traversing rooftops and interacting with armor-clad enemies. The set isn't completely realistic however, as "Faith" is shown holding a pistol and the image doesn't completely break... like the game did when she picked up a weapon. Just kidding, kinda.[Via SlicedLime Twitter]
Blizzard legal censures Shakes and Fidget
First the legal crackdown on fan-made iPhone apps, and now this: German-based webcomic Shakes and Fidget, a longtime sight in our Sunday Morning Funnies column, has apparently been smacked with a cease-and-desist by Blizzard. Our German isn't that great (and we've reached out to the comic's creators for further comment), but a translation of this forum page tells us that Activision-Blizzard's legal department suggested to them that there was enough similarity between the official game and the unofficial comic to cause a problem, and while they believe that they're covered under parody laws, they decided to take the "offending" comics offline anyway, and are apparently currently working on editing them so that they can be put back up without any issues.Obviously, since the comics are offline, we have no idea what material Blizzard objected to -- you could argue that depictions of certain gear created by Blizzard artists in the game or specific names are under trademark and thus could be protected under copyright law. But even then, Shakes and Fidget is one of many, many fan-made webcomics to obviously depict World of Warcraft and Blizzard-designed items specific to the game, and we haven't yet heard of any other webcomics that have been approached in this way.Still, as they might say in Germany, wir riechen eine ratte. Without knowing the exact nature of the comics that Blizzard had an issue with, this seems like a complete overreach on their part, especially considering that it's some of their biggest fans who are making these comics, and that many artists have portrayed many videogames in webcomics without anyone confusing the issue of whether they were official or not. We'll keep an eye out for more information (and we've also contacted Blizzard for comment) -- if you know of any other webcomics or fan artists who've been approached by Blizzard in this way, definitely let us know.Thanks, Henry!
Fan-made Draenei Barbie
Reader Amanda S sent us this picture of a Draenei Barbie (that is a Draenei, right? Not a Night Elf? Oh yeah -- check the hooves) she says she and a friend made when they were bored. It's not the most involved craft we've ever seen, but it looks pretty good and it's an interesting idea: make Warcraft characters out of existing dolls, rather than completely from scratch. GI Joe would probably be perfect for putting together a figure of the new King Wrynn. But we do like the dress and the shoulders -- nice job. Whenever Blizzard figures out how to do player housing, we can put her in a dream house as well.Got a WoW-related craft that you'd like to share? We'd love to see it -- send us a tip through the tipline and we'll check it out.
Fan brings 'Link's Awakening' into the world of 3D
With the power of 3DsMax8 in hand, a Nintendo fan going by the name of MithosKuu has decided to completely render the classic GameBoy title, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in 3D. After revealing the first pieces of Koholint Island in September 2008, the 3D transformation is complete.Using the freshly made 3D hunting ground, beta testing for the proof of concept zChicken Hunter Extreme (MegaUpload) has begun. MithosKuu is asking all users to play with the beta and report back to help fix issues with the environment ... unless you're a lawyer for Nintendo in which case there's nothing to see here and this has nothing to do with the Link's Awakening you're thinking of.[Via GoNintendo]
Driven to boredom: Mario Kart, the office supply racer
Collector / creator Donald Kennedy sometimes gets taken over by boredom at work. While we tend to click around our favorite websites (all Joystiq related, of course) or update our Twitter status during those boring times, Donald decides to get creative. Example: This Mario Kart homage created from everyday office supplies. Donald also solidifies his Nintendo geek-cred with a beautifully designed Animal Crossing themed Qee, complete with a 2.5" figure of the diabolical Tom Nook. Way to get those creative juices flowing, Donald. [Via Spritestitch]
Joystiq Interview: Harrison Krix, replica designer
After wowing us with his Portal "gun" replica, Harrison Krix is at it again -- this time tackling the world of BioShock. His latest in-game item replica is the ADAM Syringe, used by the Little Sisters who roam the world of Rapture. We sat down with Harrison to discuss his work, reactions from video game companies and what he would build if money and time were no object.%Gallery-45974%
