Five things on Friday #73

Things of note for the week ending May 23rd, 2014.

DIVE DIVE DIVE

1. The birth of the $60 billion videogame industry
I think I picked this up from the rather excellent Web Curios newsletter (go subscribe) but I’ve only just got around to reading it. The bit I’m linking to is an excerpt from the book ‘Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation‘ and it covers off the creation of gaming icon, Sonic the Hedgehog.

The fax machine stopped sputtering, and Kalinske picked up the sketch. “Ah,” he said, trying not to sound repulsed. “Very interesting.” Kalinske stared at the drawing, trying to see in it what Nakayama saw, but it was no use. The hedgehog looked villainous and crude, complete with sharp fangs, a spiked collar, an electric guitar, and a human girlfriend whose cleavage made Barbie’s chest look flat. “I assume this is his girlfriend?”

I’m a gamer, so I loved it*. But its also a great insight into one of the biggest parts of recent pop culture came to pass, so non-gamers might love it too.

*So much so, I bought the book.

2. Godzilla (2014) is ACE.

I loved it. Gareth Edwards is a fantastic director and, while there’s a few clunky bits in places, overall his interpretation is a brilliant take on the Godzilla legend (let’s face it, you couldn’t get much worse than the last attempt).

The good news is, Edwards has already been signed for not only Godzilla’s 2 & 3 but also the first Star Wars spin off film (as yet untitled) in 2016.

Tip of the week? Go and seek out his original creature-feature-but-not, Monsters.

Monsters

3. Good Art

Antonio Mora

Via.

4. Three new trailers for your eyes

New Pixar/Disney/Marvel film – Big Hero 6
The next big Marvel adventure – Guardians of the Galaxy
Christopher Nolan’s next epic – Interstellar

WATCH THEM ALL.

5. Tab Dump
My podcasting partner in crime, Stefan Constantinescu, writes Tab Dump pretty much every day.

He’s going through some technical difficulties at the moment (due to a lack of Internet while travelling) however you should definitely sign up to his newsletter, as it’s one of the best resources for interesting news (tech + real world) every day.

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See you next week!

Supes

 

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