The PMO Weekend Edition
- If you live in Norway(or just would rather import) and have not yet jumped on the Nintendo DS bandwagon, it seems there may yet be some good news coming your way.
QJ.net reports on a special DS bundle package which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s launch in Norway.
The package, besides having a spiffy NES celebration motif, contains a Black DS Lite(not yet available in the US, btw), New Super Mario Bros., and the NES Classics Super Mario Bros. GBA game. That’s quite a nice pack of Mario Madness.
And if you can find a place that’d import all that for you, the bundle goes for 1,595 Norwegian Kroners, or about $245 US, versus the 2000 Kroners (around $305-310) it would normally take there.
But this would appear to be a limited-stock item, so if this item appeals to you, then don’t delay.
- TransFormers news aplenty coming from over at The Allspark.
First up is report of an eBay auction for a pre-release version of Classics Grimlock.
Classics will be a hard line to resist, and I must say, this toy is looking really good, perhaps even better than I’d hoped from the hard-to-see photos taken earlier this year. My only real gripe is that the sword seems to be fixed in bayonette mode, instead of one he can swing like in the old days. That and the handheld tail makes for a decent homage to Pretender Classics Grimlock, though.
Additionally, the Japanese trademark patenting office has shown to us what will be prototypes for Classics Jetfire and Ramjet, as well as Classics Prime and Starscream.
I want Jetfire SO bad now… the fully-completed form should have his added armor and weapons, from what we’ve seen.
- Via Seibertron, The Allspark also brings us a look at movie Bumblebee, as seen from above as he’s on his back.
Rather nice, though I question the placement of a license plate on his crotch. Can you imagine some thug lifting that and then realizing what he grabbed after the fact?
In fact, now that I’ve thought about it, I want that scene in the movie. Guy would probably be all like “Aww, man, I just grabbed that dude’s–wait, you are a dude, right? Aww, MAN!!!!” *drops the plate and shakes his hands*
- And finally, the baddest TransFormer sporting only one eye is getting his very own one-shot comic in TransFormers Spotlight: Shockwave, for which the first five pages can be seen here.
…oh, and who’s that trailing our favorite transforming cyclops at the end there…?
- Wow, Nintendo’s really kicking some ass… sort of.
In Japan, the GameCube is outselling the XBox 360, and the DS is obliterating the PSP.
Funny to think then that there are those who have sworn that Nintendo would be getting out of the hardware business not all that long ago…
- Disney and Pixar’s Cars is coming home on November 7th, and it looks to be packing in a nice bevy of features.
I really wish I’d gotten to see that one in theaters, but alas…
…incidently, I still need to get Toy Story and Toy Story 2.
- Game|Life has a piece up about the late Mr. Gumpei Yokoi, whose 65th birthday would have been yesterday.
I wish I had more to say myself, except that I am sorry that he had departed the world in such a way, and I wish he were still around today.
- Hey, remember that crazy-awesome Japanese commercial for The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past? Go Nintendo has found someone to make sense of it all.
Interesting stuff… it even shows you step-by-step how to… er, “Do the Zelda?”
- Go Nintendo also links to an interesting video of a game show from long ago, where the Nintendo Ultra 64 was shown off, but was well behind schedule.
It’s most interesting to see a pre-release version of Super Mario 64 or the F-Zero-esque speedboats of Wave Race 64 as they originally were, prior to being finalized for launch.
- Wow, the Beatles really stick it to the PS3.
…ok, not really. Kind of an amusing video, but a bit heavy-handed.
- Guess Game|Life has either fallen behind or abandoned the interview Nintendo Prez Mr. Iwata conducted with the Wii development crew. Fortunately, there are still ways to view other parts of it, including Part 2 and Part 3.
It may be stuff no one here cares about, but sometimes it can be interestin to find out what they were thinking with some things, such as “fanless at night.”
The end also offers this interesting little tidbit:
“Wii is the first machine that Nintendo can update its OS(Operating System). So, possiblity of Wii can be enlarged in the future. You can look forward to this feature, and I am very excited about it too.”
- Burn.
Long story short: It seems there are GameStop employees who are not at all above knowingly selling counterfeit games, in this case a Game Boy Advance title.
I’ve seen a suspicious Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 at an EB around here, too…
LBD “Nytetrayn”
September 11th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Haha! GameStop… But telling you not to buy used games from GameStop is like saying… Well, I can’t think of a good analogy, since where else do you see such a strangehold on an industry? GameStop was swallowed up all competition, so the only other places to buy games are stores that do not specialize in games. Isn’t this a monopoly? Can’t we consumers go after them like with Microsoft?
And all those complaints in the article (and the comments) are so, so true. You often can’t get a game on release day without a preoder. As I’ve been told by employees before, they only order 1 or 2 copies and wait for it to sell before ordering more. Their pricing is terrible (I haven’t seen a new game sold for less than a used game like the example they cited, but they do have ridiculously high prices for used games at times). And I’ve also been to locations where they hire people that have no idea what they’re doing… There was one in upstate New York where they had one of those young girls who knew nothing about games, but they also had an elderly woman who also knew nothing about games! I got my copy of Chrono Trigger up there, and man, I felt dirty…
There was one time I purchased a game, and it rung up for more than the price tag said. I said, “But the sticker says it’s $5 less…” The guy’s response was, “Well, that’s a stupid sticker!” Not only did he refuse to give me the advertised price, he was also unable to as the price is controlled by the computer. I was stupid and just paid the extra for the game, because I didn’t realize that was actually an illegal practice in the state. I was supposed to get the price on the box no matter what the computer said…
They ARE expensive, though I suppose there’s little blame you can place on them for simply going to the max of the suggested retail price… Other retailers like Best Buy, however, do occasionally mark down prices… Something you’ll never see GameStop do unless it’s a publicized price drop!
Sure, not every GameStop is the same… But they all have their own unique ways of sucking the life out of your favorite hobby. I’ve stopped going there entirely. Usually I get my stuff from Best Buy or Toys R Us… Ugh! I HATE GameStop!
September 11th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Ooh, wish you’d known it was illegal. That’s some serious ball-busting right there.
Also, about their hiring practices? They turned me down. Rather, EB did before the merger, but all the same…
LBD “Nytetrayn”
September 12th, 2006 at 3:35 am
Call me cynical, or devil’s advocate, but the thing about Gamestop selling counterfeit games… first of all, that should come as no surprise. (If they get a counterfeit game without realizing it, yea they’re gonna sell it, can’t blame them) And 2nd it’s just not that big a deal.
September 12th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Oh, not to make a big deal out of it, I put it there more as a reminder to check your games, even if it comes from a store.
This has been a PMO PSA.
LBD “Nytetrayn”
September 12th, 2006 at 5:56 am
yep, thanks gj
just that the guy in that article seemed to overreact