InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Scatman Crothers, the man behind the Autobot known as Jazz, left impossible shoes to fill when others assume the role, not unlike the also late Chris Latta.

   Find out how the new voice of Jazz from TransFormers: Animated, Phil LaMarr, feels about the prospect of carrying on the role in his Wizard Universe interview, wherein he also speaks a lot about Samurai Jack.

2. As time marches on and the internet continues to grow like an odd weed with buds of new information, we continue to find out new things about… well, old things.

   Case in point: an eBay auction that seems to depict an unreleased “jungle camo” variant of Starscream from Generation 2.

3. TNI has a neat custom piece this week: Masterpiece Slag.

   Pretty awesome, especially the way he towers over Masterpiece Optimus. Now, where’s Masterpiece Grimlock?

Video Power

1. Since it’s too early for a Smash Bros. DOJO!! update, I’m afraid I will have to ask you to instead turn your attention towards Dueling Analogs, who acts out on what many of us will want to do with Pokemon Trainer when the time comes and the game is in our hands.

   Edit: The rest of tonight’s news has taken so long that, well, we do have an update. I’m just too lazy to rewrite right now.

2. One thing I wasn’t sure about when making categories was where to fit something like this, an action figure based on a video game. I figure since it’d be of most interest to those who actually play the games, the game section was the best bet.

   Anywho, Figures.com has decided to review the SDCC exclusive “Pixel” Simon Belmont figure from Castlevania, made to commemorate the launch of their new line of other figures based on the hit series.

   Limited to 1000 pieces, it looks like a neat little collectible, at any rate.

3. So, still wondering what to buy from the Virtual Console, with no Retro Roundup at 1up?

   There’s no need to fear, GameJew is here, and he gives you the lowdown… in song!

4. Most gamers will agree on one thing: the Nintendo DS certainly doesn’t suck.

   But sometimes? It just blows.

   Incidently, way to ruin Battle Mode in Mario Kart DS. But it was cool in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

5. Are games art?

   The debate continues, and may not be settled in our lifetime. But despite that, one thing IS true, and that is that games can certainly inspire some great art, as Racketboy demonstrates with Metroid serving as the example.

   Ivan Flores (among others, certainly) turns out some truly breathtaking imagery. Can’t wait to see what Racketboy brings together for his next collection.

6. Next Generation has a new feature, Made in Wario, which asks whether it’s really Mario or his evil double who’s pushing the company forward.

   For Nintendo’s sake, one might hope so… you definitely don’t want to be behind Wario, especially if he’s pushing something.

7. Sex sells. That’s why developers so often try to add some glimmer of sexual appeal to their titles, if not making it the larger focus altogether.

   But… it doesn’t always work, as Games Radar’s seven examples show.

8. I didn’t really get to watch the ones I reported on yesterday (hey, all of this takes TIME), so hopefully today’s new Super Mario Galaxy videos are different from what came before.

   And I think it’s the third one that features the new princess, Rosetta.

9. Yet another Metroid retrospective, but this one’s definitely worth a look, as it seems to go pretty in-depth with more than just the games, but what went on behind the scenes as well.
10. First, Iwata speaks out in Metroid Prime 3, and now, Miyamoto as well.

    The annoying part to me is the lack of an English translation in the game. What’s with that?

11. Nintendo Dream has an interview with the developers of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.
12. Behold, the Proto-Wii!

    I wonder how well that design would’ve worked with the strategy they’re employing…

13. While I’ve got the chat with Konami about Contra 4, MTV News has a talk with WayForward, the guys who are developing it, about how they reached that point after making Ping Pals.
14. This is how you introduce your product to a new market: you scare the hell out of them, so that they won’t forget your face.

    Or helmet, as the case may be.

    Multiplayer should be a blast there, as everyone freaks out and tries to kill the helmeted visage that haunts their sleep.

15. When it came time to design XBox 360 displays, someone clearly didn’t think their plan all the way through.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 3:43 am and is filed under Points of Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.