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A.Wake in a Nightmare
After being in development for five years, Alan Wake launched in May of 2010 to moderate success exclusively on the Xbox 360. Despite sales figures officially showing it sold around 1.4 million copies, only 500,000 of those were actually in stores. An estimated 900,000 download codes for the game were bundled with Xbox 360 consoles during that year’s holiday season, which padded the numbers quite a bit. Regardless of how it was received, though, Alan Wake is still a creative, unique game that stands as one of this generation’s most ambitious efforts. See why in my video below.
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC. Price: $19.99 (Xbox 360), $29.99 (PC) Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will be out tomorrow exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200msp. If you have a game you’d like me to check out, or just some feedback, tell me! donallendoes@gmail.com
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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