Art News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

A talented Pokemon fan has recently designed new Ice-type versions of Cacnea and Cacturne. Ever since the release of the first games in the franchise, the Pokemon community has spent a long time creating amazing fan art, and swapping the types of classic creatures is one of the most common ways to produce interesting pieces of artwork.

17 years ago, Akira Toriyama provided art for the cult classic Xbox 360 JRPG Blue Dragon, and after the Dragon Ball creator's death, Microsoft is paying tribute with a piece of dynamic background art for modern Xbox consoles.

When I first saw Quantic Dream’s Dustborn, its comic book art style had me expecting some kind of superhero game. It technically is, but I soon learned that its dystopian “Divided States of America” setting pointed toward a more personal story that mirrors reality. As I played through the 30-minute demo, I absorbed the road stops and memories of an action-packed narrative that seemed to dig deeper into the game’s colorful cast of characters. It stood out enough to make it one of our favorite games of PAX East 2024– and for good reason.

A talented Pokemon fan and artist is sharing their latest artwork, which features a Generation 1 classic Pokemon in Cubone. While the Pokemon fandom has proven to be able to create fan art in a wide variety of mediums, this fan in particular uses a medium that is rather peculiar: bike chains.

Capcom has released the first title update for Dragon’s Dogma 2, adding some crucial features to the game.

Forget the highly disturbing scalping scene from Terrifier 2, because the director has now confirmed that the third installment in the franchise will include one of the most gruesome scenes yet, and it’s just been filmed. 

If you want to punish yourself, you have to play this new game. Called Bat to Bed, it’s a retro-style one-button game that’s punishing but fun! Developed and published by Brothers Make Games, it’s a free game on Android. Brothers Make Games are known for other fun titles, like Duplicado – Tasty Puzzle Game.

Earlier this week, Magic: The Gathering artist Fay Dalton was accused of plagiarism when creating the Trouble in Pairs card. Wizards of the Coast released a statement shortly after the story went live, saying that it was "looking into" the matter. But the allegations haven't stopped, as some MTG players believe they've found more art plagiarised to create the card.

The Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth hype continues. Even the excitement surrounding the release of Dragon's Dogma 2 hasn't slowed it down all that much, and since there is so much to do in Rebirth, many of us are still slowly making our way across the grasslands, through Costa Del Sol, and beyond. Whether you're still on your journey or you're done, if you love Final Fantasy 7, you likely want more. The wait for the next game will be a long one, but the wait for Cloud's mini static figure is already over.

Capcom is surveying Dragon’s Dogma 2 players about their experience with the game, as well as potential DLC.

A talented Pokemon fan has devised a few fictitious ads for Kool-Aid starring popular monsters from the Pokemon franchise. The fan came up with four flavors of Pokemon-inspired Kool-Aid based on creatures such as Tentacruel, Pikachu, Blastoise, and Chansey.

A Pokemon fan has recently designed a new Water-type version of Sudowoodo. Pokemon fan art is cherished by many people in the game’s community, and giving new types to classic Pokemon is among the most popular forms for creating exciting new designs with clever twists.

Glass Cannon Unplugged have just launched their Kickstarter campaign funding Don’t Starve: The Board Game.   We've seen plenty of the best board games come out in the past few years but Kickstarter-funded tabletop adaptations of video games are really having a moment right now. It was just last month that Glass Cannon Unplugged announced they were working on Dying Light: The Board Game, adding that to their expansive portfolio of board games like This War of Mine: The Board Game and Apex Legends: The Board Game (which we were very fond of when we previewed it). Gameplay wise, Don't Starve: The Board Game promises to be chock-full of "mechanics highlighting player choice, dynamic combat, and open-world exploration in night and day conditions". From the looks of the game’s box art and promotional materials, it also keeps that charming Tim Burton-esque art style that players have come to know and love. Turns out that expansions and add-ons are already on the cards too.

BOOM! Studios debuted Man's Best recently. The sci-fi comic, from writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Jesse Lonergan, follows three animals on a starship full of human refugees and it's one of the most instantly gripping new comics I've read this year.

Blizzard has released a video spotlighting Micah Ulrich, the talented artist behind the incredible art to be awarded to the top players in the Leaderboard Legends competition. Leaderboard Legends Artist Spotlight Video The video showcases Ulrich as he talks about Diablo and its influence on his life and artistic career. Growing up enamored with the dark and gritty world of Diablo 1 & 2 and the gorgeous, high-contrast art of Chis Metzen and Samwise Didier, Ulrich was entranced with the dark and macabre from a young age.

Sony has unveiled the PlayStation Plus games for April 2024, revealing three new additions players can check out on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 next month.

An artistically talented Pokemon fan is quickly gaining attention after posting their impressive crochet of the classic Pokemon, Starmie. The skillfully made creation is catching the eye of more than a few fellow Pokemon fans, with nothing but positive comments occupying the post's comments section.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan has a promising update on that previously announced animated Ghostbusters series from Netflix.

The director of Baldur's Gate 3 has shared his stance on AI and said although it has its place, he doesn't think it'll ever replace the creative side of development.  

Dragon's Dogma 2 modders have already released multiple mods designed to avoid the game's resource restrictions.

Magic: The Gathering’s next set of cards, titled Outlaws of Thunder Junction, is a departure for the trading card game in more ways than one. The Western-themed setting puts a group of ambitious villains at its center for a high-profile heist. It also adds a heapin’ helpin’ of new mechanics, and several sub-sets of cards that fans will be eager to chase after — both for their unique art treatments, and their impact on the game’s larger meta. But golly is there ever a lot to unpack here.

Magic: the Gathering artist Fay Dalton has been accused of plagiarising art for the card Trouble in Pairs. Dalton is accused of stealing from a piece of Cyberpunk 2020 art created by Donato Giancola, who has also produced art for Magic: the Gathering.

A creative Pokemon fan has come up with new designs for Torterra, Infernape, and Empoleon by swapping the types of these Gen 4 starters. Pokemon fans often show their love for the franchise by making fan art, and coming up with alternative versions of starters is a popular idea that many artists employ when creating artwork.

The yellow rubber duckies that were your bathtime play pals have now come to life with Chuck The Duck In: Crossy Seas. It’s a new casual indie game that’s a mixture of roguelike adventure and city-building. Dropped on Android recently, it’s free to play.

Princess Peach Showtime largely revolves around the titular character finding and equipping a variety of exciting costumes to earn special powers, but she can also find various new dress styles to equip for purely aesthetic purposes. While some can be purchased at the Lobby Shop right away, some will only be available there after beating bosses — and others will require you to find ribbons throughout your adventure to unlock.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is finally here, and while many are enjoying the experience, there have been some complaints, leading to a bit of a mini-backlash against the game. One of the issues that’s brought up in a lot of negative reviews on Steam and elsewhere are microtransactions tied to items that provide quality-of-life features like being able to re-edit your character, place warp makers, and more. Now, most of these things can be earned via regular play in-game, but getting them is just difficult enough that some may be enticed to pay real money for them. Here’s the list of the items you can buy with real money or earn in game (there are also a couple of music and sound collections that can only be purchased with real money).

Capcom has revealed planned updates for the recently released Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Capcom has released a list of fixes and updates it will make to Dragon’s Dogma 2 “in the near future” — including the much-requested option to start a new game when save data already exists.

Azur Lane is taking a detour as HMS Anson’s grand entrance has been put on ice. The game’s official Japanese Twitter account announced that they’re hitting the brakes on Azur Lane Anson due to ‘various circumstances.’ Want to know what circumstance they’re talking about? Let’s dive into the details.

Just days after Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched amid a controversy over its microtransactions, modders have worked their magic, making much of what publisher Capcom is selling day-one available for free.

With the launch of Patch 10.2.6's Plunderstorm, Blizzard has released a full press kit of images exploring the event including: Key Art, Plunderstorm Logos, and event screenshots. Explore the unique battle royale event with these spectacular images. Patch 10.2.6: Plunderstorm Guide

A Pokemon fan has reimagined the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in a cartoon image resembling the black and white rubberhose cartoons of the 1930s. This early style of mainstream cartoons includes many names that are still popular today, such as Mickey Mouse. The first Pokemon anime debuted in 1997.

Rise of the Ronin, the latest tentpole PS5 console exclusive from legendary Japanese developer Team Ninja, has been subject to a colossal marketing push in Asia, where posters and billboards have been spotted around cities such as Taipei for several weeks now. That’s all culminated in an Edo period art exhibition in Huashan 1914 Creative Park – coincidentally, the former home of a Japanese sake manufacturer– where Sony has installed several 19th-century props inspired by the game.

There are plenty of games that deal with death, but we've not seen an afterlife quite like the one in Hauntii. This gorgeous adventure game now has a release date of 23rd May 2024 on PS5 and PS4, and if it plays as good as it looks, we're onto a winner.

The career of Yoshitaka Amano, the Japanese artist who is well-known for his art in the franchise, spans over 50 years, long before his work on Square Enix’s (formerly Square) popular gaming series. Amano’s work started off in the anime industry and has since reached far beyond, extending to games, graphic novels, comic books, and even music. Amano is wildly popular as an artist, having even illustrated the cover of .

Knights in Tight Spaces just debuted as a world premiere in the post show for this year's Future Games Show Spring Showcase - aka the Expansion Pack. We just had to sneak one more surprise in, and what better than the surprise sequel to Fights in Tight Spaces from Raw Fury. 

BattleJuice Alchemist, the action-roleplaying game dripping with Tim Burtonesque art, heading into early access today as announced at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase. 

Sky of Tides is a sci-fi RPG that follows Rin, a young woman born into a technologically advanced race on the brink of war. 

If you want a groovy adventure in space, I've got good news for you. Right now you can embrace your inner 'space-faring getaway driver' by grabbing a key for Super Space Club, the movement-based top-down shooter we are giving out as part of IGN Plus.

OpenAI's ChatGPT Store is facing a deluge of spam and copyright concerns. The marketplace, designed for custom chatbots powered by OpenAI's generative AI models, is grappling with an influx of peculiar and potentially copyright-infringing bots, indicating lax moderation efforts.

Baldur's Gate 3 swept the Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday night, taking home Game of the Year in addition to Best Narrative, Best Design, and the Audience Award.

The next big video game movie adaptation could be The Sims, with Electronic Arts partnering with LuckyChap – the production company of Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerly, Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr – and Roy Lee and Miri Yoon of Vertigo Entertainment to make it happen.

Princess Peach: Showtime! MSRP $60.00 Score Details Pros

A skilled Pokemon fan recently designed a new form for Reshiram using the Monster Hunter series art style. By mixing two popular franchises such as Pokemon and Monster Hunter, this fan artist achieved a pretty interesting result that showcases how good-looking the fan art made by the community can be.

“Development is going to be chaos.”

A Pokemon fan artist took to social media to post some artwork of the Ghost Pokemon Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar in the style of rubberhose cartoons from the 1930s, each having distinct features that are different from their normal styles. The Pokemon fan artist received compliments from other trainers for their efforts and creativity in making each Pokemon design stand out.

Have you ever just wanted to run away from it all? When you’re dealing with mounting problems at home, the idea of jumping in a car and driving away as far as possible sounds appealing. What better way to leave the past in the dust than to hit the open road and go wherever your wheels take you?

Pentiment developer Obsidian Entertainment has pushed out a new PS5, PS4 update for the historical title that fixes its comically blunt Platinum Trophy name. Formerly named just «PlatinumTrophy», unlocking the final reward will now grant you a gong called «Historia Tassiae». Patch 1.3 also tweaks the PS5, PS4 home screen icon from a close-up of Andreas' face to the black and orange key art.

The breadth and depth of crowd-pleasing patch notes teased so far for Stardew Valley’s new update, simply titled “1.6 update,” makes it clear that the game’s creator Eric Barone (known as ConcernedApe) still has plenty of ideas for the title 8 years after its launch. He’s been busy on a number of other things, too, from continuing development on his new game, Haunted Chocolatier, to co-authoring the official Stardew Valley cookbook, and showing up to show support the Stardew Valley live concert series, which is happening now worldwide.

One thing I’ve always appreciated about gaming is the iterative nature of the industry. When one game cracks a good idea, it tends to trickle down to others in creative ways. There’s a sense that developers are always in conversation with one another, riffing off of each other’s ideas in search of something that feels truly fresh.

A lot of video games, media and works of art took on a whole new meaning in the 2020s, despite not directly addressing the global pandemic that blighted the start of the decade. Themes of isolation and societal collapse are common in fiction, but revisiting games about stories like that is a bit more harrowing after living through something felt so similar. Very few games directly tackle the idea of life after COVID lockdown, and the fact that Mediterranea Inferno does just that is only one of several reasons why it’s the most unorthodox, unique, and unforgettable visual novels I’ve ever played.

A Pokemon fan has recently created a unique piece of fan art by fusing Mudkip and Lucario. While fusions are not allowed in the mainline Pokemon games released so far, fans like to fuse different creatures when doing fan art, often achieving excellent results.

It's been nearly two years since Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, retired from crime with his wife Typhoid Mary and literally sailed into the sunset, away from New York City, Hell's Kitchen, and Daredevil. And in June's Giant-Size Daredevil #1, he'll finally cross paths with Matt Murdock again - but this time, he'll have some hellish new powers to challenge the Man Without Fear.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor launched last year and, despite having a decent number of performance issues, was chock-full of references to the movies to create a world that fans of the series loved exploring and learning more about. With a seemingly endless amount of source material to choose from, you can likely find inspirations in Jedi: Survivor from across the entire series, but one big inspiration was staring all of us in the face the entire time.

The studio behind Gotham Knights is seemingly supporting Monolith Productions on its upcoming Wonder Woman game. 

Concept art for Spider-Man: The Great Web has revealed that it would have let players create their own unique Spider-persona instead of just customising Peter, Miles, and Gwen.

DC's full June solicitations have finally arrived, and summer is heating up as the venerable publisher prepares to bring back one of its most classic imprints with the return of Elseworlds.

Microsoft has continued its trend of creating custom consoles to celebrate game and film releases with a Final Fantasy 14 Xbox Series X, but there's a catch... This one doesn't actually work.

Microsoft is currently running a sweepstake competition for an absolutely stunning Final Fantasy 14-inspired console bundle that features an attractive Xbox Series X and custom Xbox Wireless Controller — but there’s a massive catch.

Nobody arguably needs to see detailed line art depictingMonsters, Inc.’s Mike Wazowski with the muscles of a world-class powerlifter and a chin so chiseled it could cut a diamond, but that hasn’t stopped millions of people from wanting to.

Starting Thursday, The Sims 4 publisher Electronic Arts is giving away the Backyard Stuff pack for free across all platforms (EA App, PlayStation, Steam, and Xbox) until April 13.

Game development is no longer just a one-man show – or even a one-studio spectacle. The seismic size of games these days means that the crafting of fantastical, virtual realms is easily a multi-team endeavour.

Gameloft, the developers behind Disney Dreamlight Valley, has announced that it is working on a game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

Paper Trail, the game that lets you fold the world around you, finally has a release date after multiple delays. The top-down puzzler is now scheduled to launch on May 21.

Rise, wanderer. Starting on March 19, sealing your legacy in the absolute highest spot of each Ladder will earn you the ultimate spoil of war. Until April 2, if you secure the absolute top spot of any Ladder and are eligible for entry within the Official Rules, you’ll receive a personalized, custom autographed poster from the incredible Micah Ulrich.

Upper Deck has unveiled new cards from its upcoming Neopets Battledome trading card game, bringing your favourite early-noughties virtual pets to card form.

The game director of the Star Wars Jedi titles, Stig Asmussen, has formed a new independent studio — with its first project already in the works.

While it's not the most popular creature in the world of Pokemon, one fan artist from the community has designed an unofficial mega evolution for Shuckle. This piece of fan art is as adorable as it is funny and represents just one of many custom mega evolution designs that Pokemon fans have been sharing lately, with the recent reveal of Pokemon Legends: Z-A rekindling interest in the already-popular mega evolution phenomenon.

Blizzard Entertainment’s collaboration with anime studio Sunrise to bring the world of Cowboy Bebop to Overwatch 2 was met with great enthusiasm when it was first revealed in its stylized, animated form. But when Blizzard released a full look at the in-game skins for Cassidy, Ashe, Mauga, Sombra, and Wrecking Ball, a dose of reality set in.

Unseen concept art for The Super Mario Bros. Movie has recently come to light, revealing that several notable characters from the video games were originally supposed to appear in the movie, but for some reason never did. 

Earlier today, Devsisters pulled back the curtain on CookieRun: Witch’s Castle with a showcase that gave players a glimpse of their upcoming sequel. During the stream on their official YouTube channel, we got a preview of the levels where you’ll be smashing through blocks and tiles in the castle.

Star Wars Jedi series and God of War III director Stig Asmussen has announced the establishment of Giant Skull, a new game studio dedicated to building “gameplay-driven, story immersed action–adventure games set in captivating worlds.” It is currently working on a AAA single-player-focused action adventure game built on Unreal Engine 5.

Game director Stig Asmussen, who left Respawn Entertainment last fall after making two games for publisher Electronic Arts, has a new studio. It’s called Giant Skull, and he’s bringing a long list of ex-Respawn talent with him to his new venture.

With its distinctive art style, Cult of the Lamb is a natural fit to be adapted into other media. And that's exactly what's happening with Cult of the Lamb: The First Verse, a new graphic novel that serves as an adaptation and expansion of the original game's lore.

Nvidia has found itself on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit alleging copyright infringement by its artificial intelligence platform NeMo. The litigation poses an obstacle to Nvidia fully realizing its AI ambitions that have propelled its stock to unprecedented heights.

Pre-orders for physical copies of the PS5’s upcoming Stellar Blade have opened in South Korea, and the goodies are stunning. As spotted by a Shift Up fan account, buyers can choose between a vinyl soundtrack or a themed USB stick, with the former sporting some particularly fetching artwork. In fact, we’re not sure why this isn’t the box art, because it looks absolutely incredible.

Akira Toriyama, the artist behind iconic manga like Dragon Ball, has passed away aged 68. His death was confirmed by the official Dragon Ball website, which noted that he still had “several works in the middle of creation”. A statement added: “He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world. We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”

Interior Night has taken pages from the books of Don't Nod, Supermassive, Telltale, and Quantic Dream to craft a choice-driven character drama with As Dusk Falls. The game's stylistic flourishes take time to acclimatise to, but it provides a unique tone and perspective that still stand out in a genre that’s becoming increasingly crowded.

In a celestial nod to human creativity and curiosity, NASA is set to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft in October, bound for Jupiter's moon Europa. Nestled within the spacecraft is a symbolic message, marking a departure from NASA's longstanding tradition of sending inspirational dispatches into the cosmos.

A Pokemon fan produced creative designs that transformed Mr. Mime, Grimer, Psyduck, Krookodile, Tangela, and Lunatone into McDonald's mascots. The Pokemon community is known for its immense creativity in giving new forms to its favorite critters. Every day, Pokemon fans create fan art, with some standing out for making mashups that go beyond the idea of turning Pokemon into other Pokemon.