Ryan Lambie Jan 26, 2017
With its lurid marketing and violent action, Barbarian was controversial in its day. But it was also a lot of fun, Ryan writes...
Where would the 80s have been without the writings of Robert E Howard? In cinemas, John Milius’ 1982 adaptation of Howard’s macho pulp tales, Conan The Barbarian, prompted a wave of sword-swinging imitators, including The Beastmaster, Deathstalker and Hawk The Slayer.
See related Doctor Strange: what to expect from the movie Black Panther: first pictures from movie shoot Captain Marvel to be origin story, Black Panther won’t be
The sword-and-sorcery zeitgeist also crept into the videogame realm, from the decidedly Conan-esque playable characters in the hits Gauntlet and Golden Axe to the muscle-bound adventurer in Taito’s fantasy-themed coin-op, Rastan. But for computer owners in the 1980s, one Howard-inspired game stood out from the pack: Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, released by...
With its lurid marketing and violent action, Barbarian was controversial in its day. But it was also a lot of fun, Ryan writes...
Where would the 80s have been without the writings of Robert E Howard? In cinemas, John Milius’ 1982 adaptation of Howard’s macho pulp tales, Conan The Barbarian, prompted a wave of sword-swinging imitators, including The Beastmaster, Deathstalker and Hawk The Slayer.
See related Doctor Strange: what to expect from the movie Black Panther: first pictures from movie shoot Captain Marvel to be origin story, Black Panther won’t be
The sword-and-sorcery zeitgeist also crept into the videogame realm, from the decidedly Conan-esque playable characters in the hits Gauntlet and Golden Axe to the muscle-bound adventurer in Taito’s fantasy-themed coin-op, Rastan. But for computer owners in the 1980s, one Howard-inspired game stood out from the pack: Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, released by...
- 12/14/2015
- Den of Geek
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The birth and evolution of the British games industry is perfectly captured in Britsoft: An Oral History. Ryan reviews a great book...
Pick a page, any page, and you'll find something funny, strange or informative. Ah, here we go: page 258, which talks about the time Palace Software hired glamour model Maria Whittaker to pose for the cover of its 1987 game, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior.
"Steve made little breastplates out of ashtrays," recalls Palace Software's Richard Leinfellner, "which apparently kept pinging off for some reason."
It's an anecdote which aptly captures the 80s era of British software development: the wild, sometimes crazy marketing ideas and gimmicks, the hype, the great mountainous piles of cash for the lucky few, the financial disaster for the less fortunate. Britsoft: An Oral History, a two-inch-thick slab of a book, is a time capsule from a bygone era of innovation and eccentricity, as...
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The birth and evolution of the British games industry is perfectly captured in Britsoft: An Oral History. Ryan reviews a great book...
Pick a page, any page, and you'll find something funny, strange or informative. Ah, here we go: page 258, which talks about the time Palace Software hired glamour model Maria Whittaker to pose for the cover of its 1987 game, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior.
"Steve made little breastplates out of ashtrays," recalls Palace Software's Richard Leinfellner, "which apparently kept pinging off for some reason."
It's an anecdote which aptly captures the 80s era of British software development: the wild, sometimes crazy marketing ideas and gimmicks, the hype, the great mountainous piles of cash for the lucky few, the financial disaster for the less fortunate. Britsoft: An Oral History, a two-inch-thick slab of a book, is a time capsule from a bygone era of innovation and eccentricity, as...
- 11/10/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Odd List Ryan Lambie 1 May 2013 - 09:34
Blood, guts and controversy abound, as we delve back to look at the evolving gore and mayhem in a dozen 80s videogames...
Ah, the 80s. The decade of video nasties, The A-Team, Boy George and Ronald Reagan. A time of conspicuous consumption and voluminous hair, the 80s was also the decade where videogames rapidly evolved, from the blocky 8-bit computers and consoles at its beginning, to the more powerful 16-bit systems at its end.
The 80s was also a period where the depiction of videogame gore would be realised with ever greater detail - much to the consternation of media watchdogs, who commonly regarded games as bleepy toys for children. The mainstream furore which would greet Mortal Kombat was still just over the horizon, but from the start of the start of the decade to its end, mischievous (and sometimes cynical, it has...
Blood, guts and controversy abound, as we delve back to look at the evolving gore and mayhem in a dozen 80s videogames...
Ah, the 80s. The decade of video nasties, The A-Team, Boy George and Ronald Reagan. A time of conspicuous consumption and voluminous hair, the 80s was also the decade where videogames rapidly evolved, from the blocky 8-bit computers and consoles at its beginning, to the more powerful 16-bit systems at its end.
The 80s was also a period where the depiction of videogame gore would be realised with ever greater detail - much to the consternation of media watchdogs, who commonly regarded games as bleepy toys for children. The mainstream furore which would greet Mortal Kombat was still just over the horizon, but from the start of the start of the decade to its end, mischievous (and sometimes cynical, it has...
- 4/30/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The new poster for Marcus Nispel’s Conan the Barbarian is an exercise is kicking subtlety in the groin with a steel toe-capped sledgehammer, but it’s certainly preferable to another floating face collage.
The recent trailer seemed to confirm expectations that this retelling of the Conan tale will be full of violence and growling, which is not without its charm and Jason Momoa seems to embody the long haired hero with a big sword type pretty well. The supporting cast has Stephen Lang, Leo Howards and Rachel Nichols and Nispel knows his way around an on screen slaughtering or two.
Still not convinced? Check out the new poster,
As you can tell IGN had it first. And from gamesdbase.com we have a nice comparison for what might have been. Actually – Wolf from Gladiators and Maria Whittaker would work – anyone got the phone number for The Asylum?...
The recent trailer seemed to confirm expectations that this retelling of the Conan tale will be full of violence and growling, which is not without its charm and Jason Momoa seems to embody the long haired hero with a big sword type pretty well. The supporting cast has Stephen Lang, Leo Howards and Rachel Nichols and Nispel knows his way around an on screen slaughtering or two.
Still not convinced? Check out the new poster,
As you can tell IGN had it first. And from gamesdbase.com we have a nice comparison for what might have been. Actually – Wolf from Gladiators and Maria Whittaker would work – anyone got the phone number for The Asylum?...
- 5/10/2011
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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