Brandon Inada's Blog

Here’s a new teaser trailer for Limbo coming this summer for Xbox LIVE Arcade:

Read my earlier post about this hauntingly atmospheric and visually striking indie game by Playdead here.

Check out this awesome, retro gaming-inspired stop motion animation featuring characters from several popular NES-era games:

The artist, Eric Odmyr, says it took over 30 hours, spread out over a few days, to complete.

The music – a song by Bunnymajs called “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” – fits nicely with the retro 8-bit theme, don’t you think? (Thought the music was taken from an old school game myself until I read otherwise on the animator’s YouTube page here.)

I recently stumbled upon this cool, Super Mario Bros. 2-inspired piece of retro gaming artwork by artist Winona Nelson:

(A realistic take on the ultra surreal Super Mario Bros. 2)

I love the way Luigi’s turnip hits its mark, the creepy, slouching postures and twisted claws of the masked Shy Guys, and the innocent vegetables turned blood-spattered murder weapons.

Here’s a screenshot from the original SMB2 for comparison:

(A screenshot from the original NES SMB2)

Shy Guys are usually depicted like this nowadays:

(Cute little, shy guys)

In an interview over at mariomario.over-blog here, the artist discusses her realistic approach to the cartoony, dream-like subject matter of the one-off Super Mario sequel:

I really wanted to show how weird the ideas in Super Mario 2 are (throwing turnips, short creepy guys in masks following you), and by making it realistic it makes people think about these things in terms of reality, where the strangeness and creepiness of it is really obvious.

The Shy Guys in the painting sort of remind me of this fellow – also a tad creepy, looks and behavior-wise – from Miyazaki’s Spirited Away:

(Kaonashi or No-Face on the right)

You can check out Winona Nelson’s official website here and blog here.

Here are two trailers for Transformers: War For Cybertron, undoubtedly the best looking Transformers game to date, by High Moon Studios:

The game looks mighty impressive so far. Could this finally be the game we Transformers fans have all been waiting for?

Signs are looking good: the pre-Earth character designs are top-notch, and Cybertron itself looks fantastic. Peter Cullen is once again voicing the Autobot’s greatest leader, and there appear to be a lot of nice little touches for fans of the original series, like Optimus wielding an axe and Megatron’s mace (also, fusion cannon!).

Set before the arrival of the Transformers on Earth (as depicted in the original 80′s television and comic book series), War For Cybertron offers both Autobot and Decepticon single player campaigns so you’ll be able to play as many of your G1 favorites, including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, even this guy (if you preorder from GameStop):

Shockwave - A Bonus For Those Who Preorder Through GameStop!

Characters are able to transform into their Alt modes at any time and, like their G1 cartoon counterparts, possess unique special abilities (Ratchet, for instance, can heal himself and others).

The game will also have an online multiplayer mode as well.

Transformers:War For Cybertron will be available for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 this June 22nd.

For more info about the game, cool concept art, and a trailer for the multiplayer mode, check out the official site here.

Here’s another cool piece of retro gaming artwork courtesy of artist Glen Brogan:

Metroid-Inspired Artwork Featuring Samus In Her Bikini

Check out the original post (and his other work) at his blog, Albino Raven.