Have a few articles I’ve been holding onto, but haven’t been able to do anything with lately. I think this will put them to good use and clear out my queue.

1. Ah, Mario. No small secret that I’m a fan, and no doubt a part of that comes from the variety of powers and suits he’s able to obtain. To that end, GotGame has a list of plumber powers that they think would make life easier.

   Those are some pretty good ones; in the Mario titles, I’ve always been fond of the Fire Flower, but if I were to have one? It would probably be a toss-up between a Super Mushroom and the Cape Feather from Super Mario World. I’ve never been a fan of heights, but I think being able to fly and slow my descent for a perfect landing would help a bit. Plus, it looks snazzy.

2. Ever wonder if a company can have so many products, that they don’t even know what they make? That might have happened in this Windows Vista leaflet, which shows a couple of kids playing the PlayStation 3. Oopsie.

   Thanks to my coworker, Blake Grundman, for the tip.

3. WiiRincontrol.com seems a tad miffed at Nintendo as of late, and so they’ve compiled a list of five things they believe Nintendo needs to stop saying and doing, that they take to mean “F— you, we’ve already got your money.”

   I am slightly inclined to agree with #5, even though I think Nintendo has done a fantastic job with a lot of their franchises this generation. But yeah, we’ve got Super Mario Galaxy, and while we definitely want another Mario title, Galaxy sequel or otherwise, we’ve more or less been trained not to expect another until we have a new Nintendo console in our homes. After all, if we couldn’t get more than Sunshine for the GameCube generation, what chance then do we have now?

   What’s always puzzled me is that the seemingly more complicated, intricate, and detailed Zelda games are coming two per console; Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, then Wind Waker and Twilight Princess… it actually would not surprise me to see two more Zeldas at that kind of rate. Though really, I’d much rather have what amounts to an expansion pack for Super Mario Galaxy and wait for an extra-cool, fresh, revolutionary Zelda. I honestly think they have it backwards; I could handle one Zelda per generation, it’s Mario I want more of.

   Maybe that new studio that did Galaxy can be the key to turning that tide.

   #2, I’ve noticed before when I’ve seen Big Brain Academy for the DS going for around $20, and Big Brain Academy for the Wii going for about $50. Um, no thanks… it’s a nice game and all, but I don’t really see $30 worth of difference. Sorry.

4. The Gamers Cafe isn’t quite so hard on Nintendo in their article, instead looking at Nintendo’s unconventional methods and how they may be received by the core market.
   

   “Originally, the Wii was a very casual console, that lacked core games because of the lack of dedication developers gave it. Looking forward to 2009, Wii should not have a big problem with core games anymore. But it could have a problem with core features. Although Nintendo has brought in many of the features gamers have demanded, they have all come in- dare I say it again?- unconventional ways.”

   One item mentioned is Friend Codes. These, I don’t have so much of a problem with– it’s Friend Codes on top of Friend Codes that bother me. Why do we need a seperate code for every game, and the system on top of it?

   The article also brings up Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime talking about a “community that’s unique to Nintendo.” For more on that, click here.

5. I’m often inclined to look at cover art of the past; Nidzumi, however, is into checking out some of the cool covers of today.

   Of course, we all know that that Mega Man 9 has the best of both worlds, which is impressive, given that it isn’t even sold at retail.

   And on one point, I need to compare; it seems like there’s a lot more junk info (addresses, copyrights, legal text, etc.) on the back than there used to be.

6. The Globe and Mail‘s “Controller Freak” column reviews Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and draws the conclusion that while the game is good, its target demographic lies with another console. No prizes for guessing which.
7. An interesting LittleBigPlanet user level, made with a Mega Man theme. But given Sony and Media Molecule’s little bait-and-switch regarding licensed properties, it may very well be long gone by now.

   If it does still exist on the servers, the user’s name is Availation, so grab it while you can, if you can.

8. Starting with 1990 (why so late?), Binge Gamer has been counting down their top ten games of each year, and it appears they’re going to go up to 2008. Presently, they’re at 1999, which is the first one of the series I saw a link to, and checked out because that’s a rather curious year to go with.

   Of course, being the year of the Dreamcast’s launch, there’s naturally going to be some memorable titles like Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi, two favorites. Plus, that’s the year the first Super Smash Bros. came out, which I cannot yet call a favorite because Nintendo has not yet added it to the Virtual Console (*hint-hint*).

9. Japanator.com found a neat Street Fighter anime of unknown origin, presumably a fan project. The art is a little simpler than I like my SF, but it’s still a very nice piece.
   
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   by hanamerui
10. And finally, GamePro takes a look at Mario’s 5 Weirdest Commercial Cameos. As I noted in the comments, it’s interesting that they are all related to food.

    It’s a silly article, really, but it seems to have riled some people up nicely. As for me? I have the Milk one on my PSP. I like the others, too. Ah, memories.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 3:06 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.