Assorted Mushrooms

1. Hope everyone’s Halloween was happy! And Rob Zombie does, too!
2. Think you know your classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Find out by taking the 5th turtle’s retro art quiz, and see if you can determine which art is genuinely retro, and which is pretending it’s old.

Video Power

1. Matt over at Press The Buttons thinks that Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a good thing, and more classic ‘vania should be chronicled as well. Here are his picks.
2. So there’s a developer at Midway, Mike Bilder, who thinks that making the PS3 the lead platform could cut down the time needed for ports to be made between it and the Xbox 360.
3. More of The Itagaki Agenda, this time focusing on game design.
4. Seems that EA is adopting an “evolve or die” mantra with the notion that prices need to come down on games.

   What’s sad here is that in a way, they have. Remember when CDs first became big in gaming? Cheaper to print, ship, all that stuff? Well, it seems that a lot of games are probably priced according to how much fits on those CDs, and now DVDs. I imagine to get a game that takes up as much space as Halo 3 back in the cartridge days would’ve required an astronomical retail price.

   In short, I’d guess that most developers would probably adhere to the notion that price tags look the same now as they did then because you’re getting more in terms of length, production, etc., balancing out the cheaper factors.

5. Another hilarious video with the mascot costumes to promote Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Er, that is, if they can get it working again.

   Today’s prank: the airhorn.

   Sonic may look paunch, but he can still move.

6. Go Nintendo has a nice collection of video game-themed Halloween fun from last night, with costumes, candy, and more!
7. Not to be outdone, the GaiaOnline offices have decorated their workplace for the occassion as well.

   Wow, I wish I worked there now. Just think, if they did this, what must Nintendo have done?

8. Give me a break, figuring out Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest wasn’t THAT hard.

   Maybe it’s true what they say; gamers today are pampered. Hell, this game even puts you back in the EXACT spot where you died (save for when you’re, say, jumping from one floating block to another), something a lot of games won’t do today.

9. …I could just cry.
10. Cry long and hard. No GameStops here, and I’ve not seen them at my local EB Games, who as we’ve discussed previously aren’t exactly apt.
11. Iwata Asks: Super Mario Galaxy, volume 3 goes down to chat with the sound team.
12. What are some of the best video game appearances of Death? GameTap tells all.
13. Looks like an unnamed Games Radar editor (oh, I’m sure I could find out, if I wanted) and Sharkey at 1up.com are poking at each other over the notion of copied features.

    I am SO not touching this, suffice to say that it makes for a good show from the sidelines.

14. On a slightly related note, sent a message to Sharkey, who among other things has written reviews and features regarding those Worlds of Power novelizations of games from way back in the day. You know, the ones that would edit the weapons out of the characters’ hands, making them look really… ah, effeminate?

    Well, I came across a book based on The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons that makes that stuff look like Shakespeare (I had a more colorful analogy, but perhaps TOO colorful, and I imagine people would dispute it anyway) that I wanted to send him, but he never replied.

    Pity, I’d have loved to have seen him tear at it in a write-up of some sort, my only prerequisite for sending it to him.

15. So, are Achievements stupid? Luke Plunkett at Kotaku sure seems to think so.
16. Mega64 returns with a new parody, this time featuring Super Mario Bros. 3 and its fabulous footwear, Kuribo/Goomba’s Shoe!
17. Phoenix Wright used in law schools? Who’d have imagined?

    Though I guess this sort of helps debunk the notion I’ve heard that the screwed-up system of the game is like what’s used in Japan.

18. Rock, Paper, Shotgun got a chance to talk to the writer of Portal, and here’s what he had to say.
19. If you missed it, you can now see CBS’s segments on Manhunt 2, which from the sounds of things kept to a sane level with a sensible warning that, hey, games named Manhunt or Grand Theft Auto probably aren’t very good for the Playskool crowd.
20. The Raving Rabbids 2 site has gone live! DAAAAAH!!
21. So a lot of people are generally disenchanted with how reviews are done these days. It seems Kotaku has some ideas of how to fix this.
22. And FINALLY, we have Jeremy “T-Frog” Parish and his 10 reasons Super Mario Galaxy could be a perfect 10.

    I’m sure the number of tears to flow until I get to play this will far exceed 10, as will the number of punches I take for being such a pansy-ass crybaby. mY lIfE iS pAiN!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”