Giger-likes! Non-Aliens games with art inspired by HR Giger.

Dunkr · November 4, 2021, 12:26am

I think the later console Alien Breed games weren’t so shameless but it’s amazing what the first two got away with on the Amiga

docky · November 4, 2021, 10:16pm

[upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/ScnvK3i.jpeg]

The ZX Spectrum had three Popeye games, culminating in this wrestling title.

hellomrkearns · November 5, 2021, 9:14am

i.imgur.com/Qj9KnrE.jpeg

i.imgur.com/CMPTXnm.png

i.imgur.com/GXDpBNk.gif

tanuki · November 9, 2021, 9:25pm

Did anyone say Alien Syndrome yet? [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/ge1WdZS.jpeg]

And Gynoug on the Mega Drive / Genesis. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/IheZdT2.png]

tanuki · November 9, 2021, 9:26pm

Relevant: https://www.avclub.com/game-over-man-how-aliens-not-alien-shaped-3-decades-o-1842250324

exodus · November 9, 2021, 10:43pm

man, gynoug rules

Dunkr · November 10, 2021, 1:15am

chazumaru · November 10, 2021, 1:27am

Let’s get topical: Fafnir’s character model and new roaming animation in this week’s hot new release Shin Megami Tensei V has an unmistakable Giger vibe.

https://youtu.be/ZW3lgtFjOjg

And of course His Turgescency Māra and buddhism-inspired demons in the same vein all share obvious traits with Giger’s bestiary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10gUt2iEbh8

Dunkr · November 10, 2021, 2:05am

Z-Out

Dunkr · November 10, 2021, 4:38pm

Lionheart

(In updating images on my old posts I accidentally deleted some text here. I was wondering if you could measure Giger’s influence vs other artists by counting their mentions in an archive.org magazine search)

exodus · November 10, 2021, 7:41pm

yeahhhhh I was waiting for these british computery games to show up.

@Dunkr I don‘t think there’s anyone larger than Giger but Moebius has got to be up there as well. I think you see Moebius referenced over maybe a longer period but Giger had such a condensed period of influence that I think he‘s unbeatable. I mean you still have Giger influence today, but there was that glut of stuff in the 80s/90s that I don’t think anybody else had. Moebius's style was hard to communicate in the 90s too.

tangentially related, there's a book written by a game dev about the failure of the 1979 alien toy: https://www.fanbyte.com/features/how-game-dev-blues-led-to-a-300-page-book-on-an-alien-toy-from-1979/

chazumaru · November 10, 2021, 9:50pm

« Artist » could lead us to a much wider spectrum of talents and I think music composers and performers would win out the reference game, but if we are talking purely illustrators referenced in western gaming magazines, my bet would be on Frank Frazetta who was very influential, had an easily remembered and evocative name, and played to a type of illustrations and topic (heroic fantasy) that came up much more often in video games than Giger’s work (biomechanical horror) or Moebius (… ascetic fantasy?). But Giger is definitely up there in terms of successful personal branding and helping some poor shmuck not repeat “this sure is ripping off Alien” in every paragraph of their article.

Obviously Disney wins it if you accept illustrators who might be mentioned for a different reason than their art.

Dunkr · November 11, 2021, 12:06am

Yeah, I meant illustrators/painters but I did think about film directors and maybe Ridley Scott would be high up on that list. I’m sure there would be some big regional differences too. A couple of games are named Moebius which would complicate actually trying to do this.

rejj · November 11, 2021, 12:31am

I would suggest that he is beaten in this regard by Michael Bay – AAA game production is essentially Michael Bay Presents: Big Things Happening: The Experience