Revisiting Video Game Classics - Altered Beast (Sega Genesis) As Seen Through Fan Art

I recently picked up a multi-game disc for my Xbox 360 that features 40 classic Sega Genesis games, and I have been in nostalgic heaven! There are so many classics on here, so I decided to take some time out over the next few weeks to take a look back at some of the great games that laid the groundwork for the fantastic video games we have today. To do so, I will use fan art courtesy of Deviant Art to show how people with artistic talent remember the gems of the past. The first game I will look at comes from Sega, and has its origins in the arcades of old. Originally a coin op game, it was ported to a bunch of international systems but most famously here in the US to Sega Genesis. It was a pack in game, meaning you got it with the system... which means that it was one of the games that almost everyone who had a Genesis owned. The game followed the adventures of a resurrected Roman Centurion that is tasked by Zeus to rescue Athena from the evil demon Neff. While questing after Athena, the centurion can absorb spirit balls that allow him to transform into different monsters, a la Altered Beasts. Each board has a corresponding beast, with five in total (werewolf, dragon, bear, tiger and golden werewolf). Each monster had multiple special attacks, some much better than others. I spent many hours trying to master the five levels (only five levels.... wtf!) and capturing enough spirit balls to transform into all the different creatures. The bear was by far my favorite, but the dragon (that flew for Christs Sake) was definitely the most equip for battle. The game was short, sure, but it was always a fun time. When I popped the game into my Xbox 360, this was one of the titles that I immediately cued up. So in honor of this Genesis 16 bit classic, here are a few artist renderings of the characters from the game to pay homage to the greatness that it possessed. Enjoy the art after the jump, and always remember where you came from when it comes to video game culture....

Butcher Billy Gets His GIF On Using Your Favorite Video Game Characters

Butcher Billy is a very interesting artist to say the least. He has clear pop culture roots that find a way into all of his work, yet his love for classic art and non traditional displays make his mash-ups quite interesting to say the least. he doesn't think twice about using a Nintendo character and and artist like Lichtenstein to bring an art piece of his to life. His latest project is a GIF series featuring various classic 80s video game characters mashed up with some cool alternate pop culture movies & music. Schwarzenegger as Donkey Kong? Akira & Pac Man? Hipster Ghosts & Goblins? These are just fantastic. My boy Jeff dug these up, and given the fact that today is his birthday I thought it would be fitting to post them up. You can check them all out in their GIF anaimated glory after the jump and even see some instances of them being used as street art. You can also buy these awesome prints in a variety of mediums, such as T shirts or I Phone cases, by clicking here. Enjoy!!!

Tilt Warning Customs Wants To Bring Back The Arcade With Custom Pinball Machines Designed By Some Very Talented Artists...

I am a huge fan of artists Alex Pardee and one of the things I love about him has to be his lengthy blog posts that allow him to ramble about various things he is doing (forget his art which is awesome, his blog is hilarious... check it out). One of the projects he has become involved is the Bring Back The Arcade kickstarter campaign by a company called Tilt Warning Customs. Tilt Warning Customs is already an active pinball customization company, but they work on an order by order basis. The Bring Back The Arcade project would allow them to give 10 artists blank canvases of a machine and have them create a crazy piece of playable art, and then put those 10 machines into one playable art exhibition. Now that is one art show I would love to go to. The thing I liked most about Pardee's post about the kickstarter was how he acknowledge why he felt he was never good at pinball. He said the reason why he never played pinball in the arcade was because he wanted to use his precious quarters on games he could last longer than 4 seconds on... and since he never played pinball, he never got any better. But as an artist Pardee is amazing, so even though he didn't like the game itself so much I still can't wait to see the creepy monsters & deformities that Pardee puts onto his personalized pinball machine. Check out the official kickstarter page by clicking here  to get more info on the project and which artists are currently involved & then check out the projects trailer after the jump...

Ghosts n Goblins & Dig Dug Get toys? Yup... I'm In!!!

I am not a big toy collector, nor do I claim to be up on the whole toy game. But given the fact that it has gotten larger and larger over the last few years to the point where toys & collecting toys have infiltrated the mainstream, it is hard not to catch some news about cool releases every now and again. And when the tidbits I come across are from two of my favorite coin-op/Nintendo games of all time, they get showcased here on CCD. Ghost n Goblins may be my favorite side scrolling 8 bit game ever. I love the adventures of Arthur in his quest against Lucifer. And I always loved the fact that you would lose your armor when you first got hit, and would be forced to play the rest of the board in your underwear. Dig Dug is my favorite old school coin operated game. You can keep you Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Space Invaders, Galga, etc.... I'll stick with inflating bad guys until they burst and dropping rocks on their heads! Both of these properties were given the toy treatment by a company called Gargamel. These cool ass toys seem to come unpainted, and then are customized any way you want. Since I am not really up on the whole toy game, I am not sure. But these look amazing, so I thought I should share. Head on over to Kaiju Korner to hear what Andy has to say about these releases as well as over 200 other pics he took at Wonder festival 2013, the years first big toy event. Go ahead afetr the jump to see the Ghost n Goblins/Dig Dug to pics....

Palette Swap: Artists Recreating Iconic Video Game Box Art In Their Own Unique Styles

I am a true 80's baby, and this makes me a person who experienced the true first era of home video games Now I know their were home video game systems before the 80s (Atari, Intelivision, Collico Vison, etc), but in reality these systems were clearly overshadowed by their coin operated arcade counterparts... that was up until Nintendo changed the game forever with the release of Robbie the Robot, Gyromite & Duck Hunt back in 1984/5. Then came Genesis, Neo Geo, Turbo Grafix 16, and many more systems who gave us the unique opportunity to play fine crafted video games at home. These games had to come in packaging, and that packaging became a part of our lives as gamers... plus the images on the cover helped sell the games in the years before Internet preview & game play videos. I totally remember buying games that were total shit just because they had some cool ass cover art. So when I stumbled upon a cool new website called Palette Swap, I was completely enthralled. Here current artists take on some of the iconic images from video game boxes of the past and make it their own, adding unique little twists to make them amazing. I also like that the blog includes the original art as well for a comparison... very cool idea. Check out all the good work that site creator Rusty Shackles & the rest of the artists are doing by clicking here, and click after the jump to see the ones I liked best...

Play "Fix It Felix", The Game Within The Movie From Disney's Upcoming Film "Wreck It Ralph"

Wreck It Ralph is shaping up to be one great looking movie, a homage and love letter to the era of coin operated video games & arcades from the 70s & 80s. Those place lost their value once home video game consoles became prevalent with the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. But Disney's newest film seems ambitious, and they are getting all the right nods to the popular games of that time in the footage so far. So Disney decided to make the tie in that seems the most logical and created a playable version of the game from the movie, 'Fix It Felix', so that people can become familiar with the main characters (Good Guy Felix, bad guy Ralph) who will serve as the main characters in the film. You can click here to get taken over to Disney's page for the game and enjoy... but heed this warning, it is quite addictive!!!! Movie is in theaters on November 2nd.

Mari-0: A Super Mario Brothers/Portal Mash-up For The Ages

The guys over at StabYourself.net have created an unreal mash-up of two classic video games, Portal & the original Super Mario Brothers. Can you imagine flying through portals as you zip around the 9 levels of the Mushroom Kingdom? This mod is going to be awesome. Thanks to Joe Fletch for sending me the link to this awesome game. You can download it by clicking here and following the page directions. Watch the trailer for the game after the jump.I really like the way they used the whole "Big Brother 1984" concept from the old Apple Computers commercial and the Fred Savage movie "The Wizard" as inspiration for the commercial. It just adds to the coolness of the game. Enjoy...

8/16 Bit Opening Screens by Title Screams: All Horror Week Edition

I came across this wonderful website entitled Title Screams, which is a site that celebrates the wonderful triumphs of past 8 & 16 bit video game title screens. This site has tons of screen caps, and they brought back a lot of good memories involving controllers with two buttons and no save features. I decided to revisit the site for the best of the best another day, but today I will focus on the Horror themed screen shots they had in their files. Here are a few that caught my eye. Do you remember them all? Tell us what you think in the comment section below. Click after the jump for the full gallery of home screens...