1. Joystick Division takes an interesting look at “5 of the Most Hated Games from Top Franchises.” My only real dispute is with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link; I can’t dispute that it is probably many peoples’ least-favorite of the series, but I personally love the game, and would love to see Nintendo make another like it– even if it’s not an actual Zelda title.
2. If Super Mario Galaxy were on the NES, the box art might have looked a little something like this.
3. Destructoid has an awesome look at video game-inspired cartoons, called “From the Console to the TV Station, part 1″.

   Personally, I miss Pac-Man. Pac-Man cereal with Pac-Man cartoons– few things could have been better. While I doubt we’ll ever see the cereal again (no thanks in part to loudmouthed soccer-moms, I’m sure– even if there was a decision to bring it back, I bet they’d ruin it), I would at least like it if the TV show was released on DVD.

   That goes double for Saturday Supercade. While I’m all for preserving the original format of the shows, my chief interests lay with Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.; all others are secondary. As such, if they divided up DVDs by game, I think I would be okay with that.

4. Speaking of cereals, the above article links to a prior feature about that very thing.

   Strangely enough, regarding the “Nintendo Cereal System,” I always preferred the Zelda berry to the Mario fruit, even if I would never admit it at the time (cereal politics are a strange and powerful thing, I’ll tell you). Never had Donkey Kong or Jr.‘s cereals, though, but it sounds like a good bowl of “Cap’n Crunch” makes for a good substitute.

5. Sometimes, it’s easy to tell when someone is new to playing video games. Such as when they die from hitting the first Goomba, or calling things by the wrong names.

   GamesRadar has put together a list of “Classic Mistakes Rookies Always Make,” though I’m not sure how agreeable I am with some, namely the very first.

   I’ve rarely played any games with Quick Time Events, with Sonic Unleashed on Xbox 360 being the foremost example in my mind, and that one part ruined the entire game for me. I can get to the boss, but then it all goes down the toilet, as I’ll hit the buttons on screen, but either wind up with buzzing sounds or Tails telling me to “take it easy” as we’re being blown out of the sky. Easy for him to say– he can fly to safety!

   If it were on Super NES, I’d probably do fine, though.

   The “pressing the wrong button in menu screens” one seems like bull, too, given how many PlayStation games I’ve seen that seem to alternate the buttons.

   Come to think of it, I’m starting to question if this list even holds any water.

6. It would seem that after No More Heroes creator Goichi “Suda51″ Suda said that he’d like for Travis Touchdown to be in the next Smash Bros. game, that was enough to open the floodgates and get people talking about who they would like to see in the next installment, too. And among those are Official Nintendo Magazine and G4.

   As it is, I’m more concerned with who might and might not be retained from Brawl; I wonder how likely an encore by both Snake and Sonic is?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. We’ve all seen favorite video game franchises die, seemingly cut down before their time. Though sometimes, they aren’t exactly as dead as we think. There was a good bit of time and an entire console generation between Super Metroid and the double-whammy of Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, for example, and over a decade before Mega Man 8 saw a proper sequel. And though Bionic Commando had a Game Boy release and even a Game Boy Color semi-sequel produced by Nintendo, 20 years on and it’s back in full force… that is, assuming that what seems to be low sales don’t wind up stuffing it back into the closet.

   So though it may take a while for a video game franchise to step back into the spotlight, I’m not sure any can ever truly be called “dead.” I’m still confident there will be a MegaMan Legends 3– the only question is “when?”

   Nonetheless, that has not stopped GameDaily from assembling “Eight Surefire Ways to Kill A Video Game Franchise.”

   I can definitely echo #3, and it shows the precise reason I hate cliffhangers at the end of video games. But #4? Mega Man? Seriously? 1: It’s not dead, and 2: Which 3D game? It rebounded after X7, and Legends had three good installments (well, two and one side-story), and the Mega Man franchise is still doing pretty well for itself.

2. I have less to say about their other article, “20 Totally Overused Words in Game Names,” except to say “how many of you noticed the frequent reuse of these words?”
3. I’ve never been a big fan of the 3D aesthetic which essentially made up the foundation of the PlayStation/Nintendo 64 era. Nintendo had trained me to love rendered graphics with Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct, and my jaw dropped the first time I saw Super Mario 64– and not in a good way.

   I said “you have got to be kidding me,” and prayed that the game was still in in early development. “They can fix it, they can refine it… they have the time, they have the technology” I told myself. Seeing the rendered Mario and Bowser they used for promo art only added salt in the wound, however. Thankfully, in-depth previews from the likes of Next Generation sufficiently hyped me up so that I didn’t even care.

   Some people appreciate the graphics of the era, and I can sort of understand that– after all, I love pixel artwork from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras; it just holds a certain charm to me. But for me, the early goings of 3D are better left in the past.

   There are exceptions, though. While Mario and Link did little for me, some games came out pretty well. I think Metal Gear Solid, Bushido Blade, and even MegaMan Legends all hold up pretty well compared to some titles, perhaps due in part to featuring designs made for the limitations of the day, rather than shaping pre-existing concepts into the form.

   But even then, I never found the female figures of the day, with but a few exceptions, to be very attractive. That people were lusting after Lara Croft, who I had first seen on a cover of Next Generation with eyes that looked simply… wrong, that bewildered me. And so it is with this in mind that I can appreciate GamesRadar’s assembly of “Ugly polygon “babes” of yesteryear,” a collection of “39 terrifying monsters we used to think were sexy.”

   Of course, that’s not to say that some of these games weren’t good; I’d love a new or remade Rival Schools as much as anyone. Also, I should say that I’m quite glad Nintendo made Super Mario 64 DS, which I feel upgraded things significantly. Even so, I’m still glad for the GameCube era, when things finally looked good in 3D.

4. Via GoNintendo, we have more cosplay. Only this time, it’s the 20 most badass video game cosplay costumes ever.
5. Wow, now here’s an oldie I never got to do anything with, via Kotaku.

   Video game journalism is pretty well-maligned, “not real journalism,” etc. But over at GameDaily, the non-”top X list of things to drive you nuts” part, they have a pretty good case for it by one Gus Mastrapa, and you can read what he has to say here.

   And now I feel a little bit better about myself.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Thought I fell off the ol’ update wagon there, didn’t you? No such luck.

1. A lot of cool cosplay from the Anime Expo. I haven’t looked at them all thoroughly, but I do dig the Ganondorf one. You can find more here, here, here, here, here, and here. Whew!

   Thanks to GoNintendo for the round-up.

2. Topless Robot recently posted a list of “The 10 Most Heinously Corporate Video Games,” and I think this may just be the first time I’ve ever seen anyone utter an ill word about Cool Spot. Truth be told, there are a number on here I’d like to play; without spoiling the count, I’ll just say: 6B (played the first one mentioned), 5, and 1.

   I’m actually a touch bewildered that McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure isn’t on the list. I would love to get to play that, as a) I’m a sucker for the McDonaldland stuff, and b) it was made by Treasure, so that automatically makes it worth a shot.

   I doubt any of these would make it to the Virtual Console, save for maybe Cool Spot (it was released in Europe sans 7up marketing, as they didn’t use the Spot character there). Guess it’s up to eBay and Amazon.

3. Speaking of Topless Robot, they also have a list of “The 12 Strangest TransFormers Beast Wars Figures,” which actually proves that robotic testicles existed on Cybertron before Michael Bay got there. Go figure.
4. GameGirl (via GoNintendo) has a list of the “Top 7 Video Game Cowboys.”

   One who’s not listed, perhaps because it’s too soon, would be the unnamed “Swordsman” from Ubisoft’s Red Steel 2, which I can’t wait to get my hands on.

5. Following the announcement that Asteroids has been optioned for the motion picture treatment, TotalFilm.com has organized 7 Classic Arcade Games That Could Be Movies. 1 and 4 are my favorite; for number seven, all I’ll say is “he didn’t take the role last time, why would he do it this time?”
6. Let’s see… how about something that’s not a list? Let’s see… ah, here we go.

   A little while back, MattG over at Press the Buttons assembled a nice collection of Super Mario World artwork to check out. Good stuff, I miss when Nintendo Power produced a lot of their own original-but-official artwork. Particularly when it could barely (if at all) be distinguished from the stuff out of Japan.

7. I haven’t even read this yet, because it’s loooong. IGN Retro has compiled The History of SEGA. Might be good for my train trip next week, though.
8. Also of considerable length, and also from IGN Retro is The History of Wrestling Games.

   I do wish Capcom would bring back Saturday Night Slam Masters, and maybe Nintendo with Pro Wrestling while they’re at it.

Ok, I think that’s enough for tonight. Til’ next time!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. It’s not often that one finds video game industry news and journals creating their own fanfiction, but that seems to be what IGN has done, taking it upon themselves (and their readers) to name the two Toads who accompany the Mario Bros. in the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii. IGN says:

   I’ll tell you, I went back to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii on the second and third day of E3 last week, with these names in mind for the characters, and it helped me to better connect with the game. I was excited to get to play as Wolley, instead of being disappointed that I had to be Yellow Toad. There’s an important difference there. There’s an important aspect of being able to enjoy and identify with your hero that, if you choose to accept too, will help you better enjoy the game yourself when it arrives this holiday season for Wii.

   Of course, I’m slightly bothered by their not including any form of “Toad” in the names, given that seems to be a Mushroom Kingdom tradition of sorts, though it seems that Toads usually have a last initial of “T,” as seen in the Paper Mario titles.

   Also, it’s interesting we have a Toad who is garbed all in blue… much as the Toad in Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES was. Makes you wonder.

   You can find more of my thoughts on the duo, and IGN’s course of action with them, here.

2. Drew Mackie of “Back of the Cereal Box” clearly has quite a bit of time on his hands, but puts it to pretty good use with this lengthy, exhaustive, and thorough look at video game etymology, or to put it another way, explanations of names and words in video games. It’s one I need to read sometime, but have no time for at the moment. At least it will be here for safekeeping.
3. While Evan Narcisse of Crispy Gamer has about seven years on me, I can still relate to much of his list of things in video games he’s getting too old for.
4. I get the feeling that GameDaily has it in for Mario. My evidence? The following two lists.

   The first is “Ten Reasons Mario Will Live Forever (and Five Reasons He’s Already Dead).” Of course, with the good outnumbering the bad by 100%, it would seem they are in favor of the humble Mushroomland plumber, right?

   But then we have this: “The Top 25 Ways to Kill Mario.” Yikes!

   What’s really amazing, though, is that there is nothing from Super Mario Galaxy on there. Sure, the picture of the Thwomp in action is from Galaxy, but it’s hardly a death specific to that game. I’ve seen Mario sucked into black holes, electrocuted, and eaten alive by Dark Matter, and not a single one is on the list? That’s just plain odd.

5. You hang around video games for a while, and you tend to hear things. Hang around enough, and you hear a lot of things. And if you’re really committed, then you hear a lot of things repeatedly.

   That’s where GamesRadar has found themselves, and so they’ve compiled a list of “The Top 7 Video Game Legends We Never Want to Hear Again.”

   You can count me in for #3. In fact, I think it should be exempt from every “worst box art” list for the rest of time, and given honorary status as a lifetime achiever. Because odds are, nothing will ever beat it. On the other hand, it’s probably the mere act of looking at that box that has inspired most of those same lists, leading to the writers seeking out enough other bad pieces to round out the list, sometimes reeking of desperation in doing so.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

A bunch of articles and stuff I still haven’t done anything with. I really need to start writing more of my own; now that we have a pretty good news staff going over at Kombo, maybe I’ll finally have it in me to get it out.

1. Wired Game|Life has a look at “10 Raw Deals for Gamers.” I agree with pretty much all of them, though I think #3 strikes the biggest chord with me. Come on, Nintendo; surely there was some way you could have released Disaster: Day of Crisis. I wonder if they’d have sat on it if we were in that all-digital gaming era that people are predicting?
2. Sometimes I like water levels, but other times I don’t. I definitely appreciate Super Mario 64‘s, for the most part, but I often found myself struggling with Super Mario Galaxy‘s. And some games just leave out anything remotely like swimming. Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo has taken it upon himself to find out just why that is.

   I should add that I liked those in New Super Mario Bros. and the other 2D Mario games, as well as Donkey Kong Country. By the time Mega Man learned to swim in his eighth outing, though, it felt rather unwieldy to me.

   I am glad that swimming is in Super Smash Bros. Brawl to a small degree, and wish that maybe Animal Crossing would let you jump in the river to avoid a swarm of angry bees. Not asking for an underwater voyage, but just enough to loseWeight Exercise them.

3. Via GoNintendo, GamesRadar has an article about “Soundtracks you didn’t know were stolen.” Though I knew about Chrono Trigger/Rick Astley, Mega Man X/Guns ‘n Roses, Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Michael Jackson, and Earthbound, the rest are new to me.

   Some say that “What’s the Buzz, Tell Me What’s Happening” from Jesus Christ Superstar is like Super Mario Bros.‘ invincible music, but beyond those lyrics, I don’t really hear it.

4. The UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine has an interesting piece asking what the greatest Nintendo environments are, following from a article in the Architect’s Journal that lists their Top 10. That’s a rather tough one, one which I would have to think on. But as it says, Mario and Zelda have some obvious ones, and I dare say Metroid could probably join them.

   And while it may not be “Nintendo,” per se, I think the way the ruins were all interconnected in MegaMan Legends was pretty nifty in itself, if that should count.

5. When Nintendo introduced the Famicom and its subsequent American cousin, the Nintendo Entertainment System, it had much grander aspirations in mind than simply playing video games. Destructoid takes a look at what might have been, had Nintendo not been a bit ahead of its time.

   What’s kind of funny is that, in some ways, they seem to be taking just the opposite strategy now. I guess it would be hard to blame them for being cautious.

   On a side note, I still dig the prototype Zappers shown in the bottom photo– they remind me of the Blade Blasters the old Mighty Morphin Power Rangers used in their eponymous TV show.

And that will do it for tonight. I’ll try to update with more interesting stuff more frequently, so I can at least whittle down this list. Maybe after that, I can try to keep more up-to-date with such things.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Today marks two very special occasions.

First, today marks the tenth anniversary of Super Smash Bros.! I’ll probably go into some detail soon about my fondness of the series, but for now, you can read what Joe Keiser has to say about the occasion over at 61 Frames per Second.

And amidst it all, he drops this:

So it’s important, but that doesn’t make it all that worthwhile to go back to. Super Smash Bros has been thoroughly eclipsed by its sequels. 2001’s Super Smash Bros Melee in particular is still considered the series’ highlight, and was a favorite of professional tournaments for many years. Of course, that’s not going to keep Nintendo from selling the original: it recently appeared on the Japanese Wii Virtual Console, and it seems like an American release (perhaps on April 27th, 2009?) is inevitable.

Hmm, that’s less than a week away. Would Nintendo consider giving it to us on VC to mark the anniversary? Can’t say I’m holding my breath, but that would be terrific.

The other big celebration, arguably the bigger of the two, is that today marks the 20th anniversary of the Japanese release of the original Game Boy. You remember, the brick with the green screen?

I plan to write my own memories about the system– and my lack thereof– soon, but in the meantime, check out some of these posts about the portable powerhouse:

- Happy 20th anniversary, Game Boy!, from The Mega Man Network

- A Girl and Her Brick

- Game Boy: The Cure for Boredom

- 8-Bit Cafe: Nintendo’s Withered Wonderland

- A (Far Too) Personal Look Back at 20 Years of Game Boy

- Game Boy: Falling Hard for the Foot Clan

- 8-Bit Cafe: The Humble King of “Good Enough” Turns 20, and the last of the 1UP Retronauts blog posts for now.

- Happy Birthday Game Boy!

Happy Birthday, indeed.

Of course, Nintendo hasn’t peeped a word regarding this event, but then, there is probably little reason to expect them to; the Game Boy didn’t launch in North America until around August. Hopefully we’ll see and hear something then.

…wouldn’t a Game Boy-themed DSi be kind of cool?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Told you there would be more. And today’s is pretty much video game-centric; I’ll try to diversify more in the future. And for those who caught yesterday’s SEGA-centric edition, there’s still more in here.
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Quite a few Sonic the Hedgehog items today, and not by design; they’ve simply stacked up. In fact, I’ve opted to include all of the SEGA/Sonic stuff here, for those interested; I’ll add the rest of what I have later.
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Tonight is the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, and I can’t wait. It’s looking to be a good show, and a long one… and one with the price jacked. But I can’t wait. Just relaxing a little bit before I go out, and wanted to do something I’ve been aiming to do for awhile: an old-fashioned return of Points of Interest. I’ve got a lengthy backlog of articles and links to content that are more or less timeless, and would like to whittle that list down just a bit, and today seems like a good day to do it.

But before I go on, I just want to remind anyone who might still be reading this that comments are welcome and are appreciated. You don’t have to agree with anything I say or like, but I just like to get some feedback, to know this stuff isn’t in vain. It helps drive me to do more of it. I really need to talk to Lance about getting a hits counter put on here as well, that helps, too. So yeah, as long as you’re not being outright disrespectful, any comments are welcome.

Now, on with the links!

1. First up, if you don’t know about showing off your New Xbox Experience Avatar online, as I’ve done here, then the URL you want is http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/username/avatar-body.png Just place your Xbox LIVE ID in the italicized part marked “username,” and there you have it.

   I’ve only just recently been able to tailor my Avatar to my liking, thanks to the hat and coat you see there. Now it finally feels right, like it’s mine.

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Just some other fun stuff to check out.

• GamePro has a list of their 8 Great Video Game Kings. Personally, I think #5 should have ranked higher. And GoNintendo thinks that another of Mario’s rivals should have at least made the list a Top 9. Can’t say I disagree. And what about his crocodile cousin, King K. Rool?
• I’ve shown my affinity for retro-video game ads in this space before, though that was chiefly relegated to comic-styled advertising. But Unreality has that and more in their compilation of 20 Awesome Vintage Video Game Ads. I think I remember some of these from before I was actually hooked on games.
• PSXExtreme has a neat piece which asks the question “How Did You Decide Upon Your Next-Gen Console Purchase?”

  For me, it was simple: I bought the one that said “Nintendo” on the box (of course). In the past, getting other consoles has largely come down to “which one is supporting Mega Man and other franchises I love (which stemmed from being on Nintendo)?” That’s lead to my desires for the PlayStation, the PlayStation 2, and the Xbox 360: Contra, Castlevania, and Bionic Commando have all made very convincing arguments. Not that there isn’t other stuff I’d like to play, but those are some of the series which pretty much tilted things into “gotta have it” territory.

  More recently, I find myself having to play any sort of remakes, such as Pac-man: Championship Edition and Galaga Legions that Namco Bandai releases on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

• Ever want to create your own The Legend of Zelda text pics, putting words in the mouth of the old man? Well, now you can!
• It’s perhaps a lucky thing for me that Nintendo doesn’t allow demos on the Wii. I’d probably find myself wanting more games than I can afford (a situation I’m already in, actually).

  And with the internet questioning the wisdom of Sony’s move to make the demo for Killzone 2 only available to those who preorder at GameStop up to the day before the game comes out, Destructoid has put together an article which looks at the evolution of the video game demo, and whether or not Sony’s making the right move

–LBD “Nytetrayn”