Points of Interest – 12/13/07
InFormers: Robots in the News
- This guy is large and in charge with this homemade Optimus Prime costume. Too bad that most of the movie is just them putting it on him.
- Shia LaBeouf says, “Just Say No.”
This has been a public service announcement.
- If you’ve got money to burn on toys you have no intention of opening, then Hasbro’s toy shop has got something for you.
- Simon Furman has gone through the second part of his 20-question Q&A session, and you can read it all right here.
Assorted Mushrooms
- That someone would make a gun like this is proof as to why society is doomed to fail.
- Hate someone who loves Christmas music? Or maybe you just want to wipe any desire for holiday tunes out altogether. Regardless of your cause, this is the music for you.
God, I thought they were joking when they said this would be on iTunes. Saddest part? This is some of her better work.
- The 5th turtle goes over more retro April poses.
- Frederik Schodt talks a bit to Newsarama about his recent book, The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution.
- What If… Spider-man took on Wolverine?
- Unapproved Star Wars figures? I didn’t think there was an idea they’d say “no” to.
Video Power
- 1up has a new feature, the first part of a Street Fighter Retrospective by the lovely Nadia Oxford, which covers the earlier years of the franchise, including some unexpected (and in some cases, unwanted) spin-offs and other neat trivia. It’s so grand, even Capcom themselves had to acknowledge it!
- A new Bionic Commando podcast is now available, as the Top Secret crew talk to Capcom’s Zack & Wiki producer Hironobu Takeshita.
- Much music has been added over at The Mega Man Network this day…
- …as well as Capcom of Japan’s mysterious Rockman 20th counter. What the heck’s it counting down to, anyway? I mean, will anything happen?
- Don’t you hate it when Christmas backfires on you?
- I must admit, my affinity for Wario’s persona doesn’t include his more grotesque aspects, either.
- Compared to today’s machines, the NES is hardly a technological marvel, but in its day, there were developers who really got quite a bit out of the machine, as Racketboy’s latest shows us.
- According to a survey by NPD, gaming helps relieve stress. I can see where they got this from, and yet, I still laugh at the idea while dying yet again in Mega Man ZX Advent thanks to invisible foes…
- In case you’re not tired of hearing about it already, here’s my write-up about the Donkey Kong monster truck.
- Nintendo has opted to claim victory for the DS sooner, rather than later, citing it as the top-selling video game system of 2007.
- Thanks to the brave efforts of Frash, we get to see just how truly epic Mario Teaches Typing was.
- Don’t know what spurred the occassion, but GameTrailers has a ton of game-related clips from Comedy Central now.
- It’s almost Christmas, and that’s reason enough for ScrewAttack.com to look a the Top 10 “Ho Ho Hoes” in gaming.
- IGN asks if Mario matters any more.
Know the best way to make people stop caring what you think? Pay me and I’ll tell you.
- So, who won in IGN’s little bout between Sonic and Mario?
- Game design has seen a bit of innovation over the past year, and Next Generation has decided to round up the ten best.
Can’t say that I think a game that ditches single player is necessarily a good innovation, though. But I guess as long as you know that before you purchase…
- GameDaily checks out the Man with the Plan, the guy who’ll Brawl for it All, Nintendo’s #1 in Fun, Mario, as he prepares to step back into the ring and layeth the smacketh down on some candy asses!
- It’s amazing what passes with an E-rating, isn’t it?
And don’t worry, the prerequisite “HUR! HUR! MARIO DOES DRUGS!” bit is in here, too.
- We all have our secret shames… those parts of our lives we’d like to put behind us, and hope that everyone forgets… but sometimes… sometimes there are those who take no greater pleasure than in digging those moments up, and exposing them to the light of an unknowing, otherwise oblivious world, for all to see, for all to witness.
- Incidently, I’m about sick and damn tired of hearing about how bad the CD-i Nintendo games were. Seems like it was dug up fairly recently, too, perhaps some attempt to counterbalance Nintendo’s current success? God, get over it already.
- Box art is a key selling point, as that’s the point many less-informed shoppers decide what they’re going to buy. And while some think we’ve come a long way since Mega Man on the NES, Games Radar knows better as they present the worst box art of 2007, ranging from bad to awful.
- GR’s World of Nintendo looks back at many bits from the past year, with “plenty of reasons to be cheerful and confused.”
- Cracked.com takes a crack (see what I did there) at nailing down the six most disappointing end bosses of all time.
- With all the hullabaloo surrounding Rock Band and Guitar Hero III, what better time for the esteemed Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation to take a look at the latter.
- So, just how accurate is the Wii Zapper, anyway?
- If you can get past two ads for one segment, Forbes goes over their annual Fictional Fifteen, which this year inexplicably drops Mario in favor of Princess Peach.
Divorce? Pah, whatever. I realize it’s make-believe and all that, but I liked last year’s entry for Mario better, since it didn’t seem to fabricate anything but the school…
- It’s still close, but a few publications/sites haven’t got their scores in yet. C’mon, Mario! Knock Zelda out already!
- A scalper talks about his dealings with Wiis, PS3s, and iPhones. Interesting stuff.
While I may not agree with what the guy was doing, I think the tactics some employed against him are far worse. All the same, man has some sage advice.
- Um, wow. Guess this is one more argument against video games having matured as an industry. At least Gamecock is expressing remorse for going all 300 on Ken Levine’s speech.
- If boardgames are the next big thing in game genres, I guess Mario Party has a good head-start.
- The final word on Final Fight‘s Poison… until the next time, that is.
- Heh, Wiibot.
- Why yes, I am a bit tired… why do you ask?
- So, why doesn’t Xbox Live have age matching, anyway? And another thing… *rambles drunkenly*
–LBD “Nytetrayn”