Enlarge / Attorney Henry Deaver (André Holland) returns to his childhood home and must confront terrors both past and present in Hulu’s Castle Rock. (credit: Hulu) Castle Rock, the new horror anthology series from Hulu, surprised us by becoming one of our top breakout shows this summer. Inspired by the works of Stephen King, the ..
Tag : Gaming & Culture
Enlarge / You’ve probably caught at least one of these, right? (credit: Andrew Cunningham) On August 27, 1998, Topeka, Kansas became Topikachu for one day—a ceremonial renaming to celebrate the US arrival of a new video game franchise, Pokémon. While popular previously in Japan, the franchise’s impact has been felt in the US ever since. ..
Growing up, I loved exploring the heavily branded shopping experiences of the Disney Store and the Warner Bros. Studio Store. These days, I can get a more tech-oriented version of the same basic concept at one of Apple or Microsoft’s many retail locations. But to get Nintendo’s version of that kind of retail wonderland, I ..
Ars chats with Titmouse Animation’s Chris Prynoski. (Transcript available) (video link) AUSTIN, Texas—Chris Prynoski remembers paper (and, no, that sentiment is not as absurd as it seems). The animation veteran has been in the field for more than two decades now with early stuff so beloved (he directed an episode of Daria and sequences of Beavis and ..
Enlarge / The secret to yummy brisket and ribs lies in food chemistry and phase transitions. (credit: TayFos/Getty Images) Imagine this nightmare Labor Day scenario. You’ve invited a large group of friends over for pulled BBQ pork or a delicious beef brisket. That morning, you confidently place your meat in the smoker, handy digital thermometer ..
Enlarge (credit: DotEmu) SEATTLE—PAX West has overtaken Seattle’s downtown convention center with roughly 4,000 new and in-development games across its giant expo halls. Yet somehow, it’s the kind of ragtag show where titans like Spider-Man, Artifact, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate can stand toe-to-toe with promising indies like Due Process and Risk of Rain 2. ..
Ars talks with Kin‘s filmmaking team: co-directors Josh and Jonathan Baker and screenwriter Daniel Casey. (Transcript available here.) (video link) “Sixty grand and a space gun—who the hell are you people?” Out of context, that mid-film Zoë Kravitz quote sounds ridiculous. But Kin, a new sci-fi adventure meets broken-family societal drama from a pair of first-time filmmakers, ..
Enlarge / Getting one’s Artifact on. (credit: Valve Software) Editor’s note: This feature’s two videos include transcripts, and many of their details appear in the article’s text and galleries. So however you want to learn about Valve’s latest video game, Ars has your back. BELLEVUE, Washington—Right as this article goes live, Valve Software is taking ..
Lego As a gigantic LEGO nerd and a gigantic car nerd, the last few years have been pretty great. LEGO’s Speed Champions range has brought us brick versions of Le Mans prototypes like the Porsche 919 Hybrid and Audi R18 e-tron quattro, and classics like the Ferrari 250GTO and Ford GT40. (In fact, all of ..
Enlarge / A screen from the Pokemon Essentials interface showing how to build a map with the tool in RPG Maker. Nintendo has a long history of using legal action to take down fan games based on its popular copyrighted franchises. Now the company is taking aim at one of the tools used to build ..
