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'Battleborn' turned gaming cinematics into high art
The best part of Battleborn is its prologue cinematic. That's not to say the game itself isn't any good -- in fact, it's a wonderful single- and multiplayer experience for the fantastical first-person-shooter crowd. However, the opening video is divine. It's evocative, rich and effortlessly cool, built on a base of smooth hip-hop and anime-inspired, neon-coated illustrations. When I think of Battleborn, my mind is immediately saturated in the cinematic's soulful rhythm. This is a new brand of video game artistry. As a game, Battleborn doesn't feature cartoon characters; it's a fully realized 3D experience from Gearbox, the creators of Borderlands. In the same vein as Borderlands, Battleborn is highly stylized, but it looks nothing like the opening cinematic. That was on purpose.
The Rise of Blizzard
The Escapist Magazine outlines the history of Blizzard Entertainment and ponders the secret of their success. They ask, "how does a maker of B-quality DOS and console games go on to become the single most successful videogame company in the history of the world?" As I don't clearly recollect the world of games pre-Blizzard, the story of the company's start is new and interesting to me. However, I'm sure we all have our own opinions on this - what do you think has made Blizzard the huge success it is today?
