Kooberz Studios – Bricks of War
Kooberz Studios specialise in stop-motion videos and here they have created a short but delicious homage to Epic Studios “Gears of War” action combat games, titled “Bricks of War.” Turn the volume up for the full visceral ‘Gears’ effect and enjoy! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua5qh40x4KA&w=600]
Dan Trachtenberg – Portal: No Escape
Independent film-maker Dan Trachtenberg recently released his fan-film tribute to Valve Software’s Portal game series. Titled “Portal: No Escape” the short film features Danielle Rayne in the lead role, playing a woman who awakes to captivity in a strange dark place. What follows next is over all too soon but is worth the watching. Such is the critical praise being received by this creation that talk of a full-length feature follow-up is already taking place. We can only hope! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4drucg1A6Xk&w=600] More material of a behind-the-scenes nature can be seen in the ‘making-of’ featurette below: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeTycAZsdzI&w=600]
Beyond Aperture – Chell’s Epilogue
Set sometime after the conclusion to the story of the original Portal game, this fan-movie provides something of a “what-if” next chapter for the game’s protagonist Chell. Well made and littered with some wonderfully inventive touches, look out for the back-scratching! Anyone for cake? [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NorZUFfpvC0&w=600]
Dead Island Trailer
The following trailer was released back in February of 2011 and did the rounds, gaining plenty of positive attention. Having been shown it again recently, it’s clear to see why – one of the few examples of a video game promotion rising above the normal parapet of the medium. Beautifully melancholy, recognisably sophisticated in structure, this is one that deserves to be seen again.
Enchantment?… Enchantment!
If you’ve ever played Bioware’s “Dragon Age: Origins” RPG, you’ll be familiar with Sandal, the young boy with a single word vocabulary. We’d heard he was opening a shop locally and went down to check it out. Unsurprisingly, the name of the shop was somewhat predictable…
Borderlands – A Modest Proposal
Back in April 2011, Ben wanted to propose to Tora and both were huge fans of Gearbox Software’s Borderlands FPS/RPG. Ben had sent off a hopeful missive to Gearbox asking if there was any chance they might send Claptrap along to help him pop the question. Incredibly, they agreed and what they created is what you see below. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fii-KPEmcMw&w=600] Better news again, Tora accepted Ben’s proposal and said yes. You can read the full story of the event where Ben surprised her with the video in front of a group of their friends here or better still, see how it went for yourself. [youtube...