Assorted Mushrooms

1. I guess the question is, how does this guy place if they don’t cross the finish line together?
2. Newsarama takes the opportunity to chat with Nicholas Gurewitch about his comic, The Perry Bible Fellowship.
3. They also check out the recently-released Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons! book, which covers many of Nickelodeon’s original animated shows.
4. And, there’s also a piece with Mini Marvels‘ Chris Giarrusso about the microsized superheroes.
5. If you watch South Park, a fair bet is that you tune in largely for Eric Cartman. And to celebrate the worst little 4th grader you’re ever likely to see (sorry, Bart, but your candy ass lost its bad-boy image a LONG time ago), IGN checks out his ten greatest moments.
6. IGN Movies conducts an interview with Chris Nolan to discuss The Dark Knight, Justice League of America, and Bale signing on for Terminator 4.

Video Power

1. I’d like a Pac-Man Christmas tree for my living room this holiday season.
2. With Eternal Champions landing on Virtual Console earlier this week, now seems like as good a time as any (better, even) to bring up this interview with one of the men behind SEGA’s “answer” to Street Fighter II.
3. Gamasutra has a neat piece that looks at 20 unusual control schemes. Interestingly, Nintendo only has five mentions on the list. Somehow, it just seemed like they’d have more, good or bad.
4. They also have Nicolas Normandon’s GDC keynote, wherein he describes the process involved in creating Ubisoft’s Rayman: Raving Rabbids game.
5. Next Generation takes a look at what made Burnout 3 work so well.
6. Sony’s Jack Tretton reflects on his first year as the chief of SCEA, competing with Xbox Live, launching a video download service, PlayStation Home, and more..
7. Why so much controversy over Kane & Lynch? Games Radar investigates.
8. Do you know how many real-life criminals are lurking in your games?
9. I’ll admit, I think the Wii is a system worth the time to hunt down. But stalking UPS drivers? That’s just a bit much. Seriously, what are you going to do? Unless he’s delivering an order to you (which you’d get anyway), what is anyone expecting to accomplish? He can’t sell the damn thing to you. Is theft the name of the game here? I mean, c’mon already…
10. More screenshots from Nintendo’s canned Project H.A.M.M.E.R. title.
11. This article looks at the similarities and differences between sequels for movies versus sequels for games, and how the latter is more reliant on them.
12. The President of EA Casual, Kathy Vrabek, takes reviews to task as to the seeming lack of understanding involved compared to harder core fare.
13. I think this has been touched on elsewhere, but at Game|Life, Yoshiaki Koizumi talks about the issues with translating for Miyamoto.
14. I don’t know MMO all that well, certainly not in RPGs, but for those who can appreciate this better than I (and I still can, to some degree), here are the top five most influential events in MMO history.
15. Who says that games never teach you anything?
16. Witness the commercial for the Vii! Now with 4Kids-style subbing!
17. “Will It Blend?” beats Halo 3 the only way they know how. This really has to be some of the best marketing in the world.
18. 1up continues cranking out the Final Fantasy flashbacks that have so far helped exhaust my poor wife. Please, don’t let her efforts be in vain. Give ‘em a read.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. One interesting piece today comes from Kotaku‘s CliffyB, with some talking to Toyfare magazine about collections and how to make a perfect TransFormers video game.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. The Official TMNT Web Site has new pictures up of a few figures, including Alien Hunter Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, the amusingly-titled Dumpjumper, and Thrashmor.
2. “The turtle must not die.” But why? Click and see.
3. Well, I’ll be damned. Maybe J. Jonah Jameson was right! Of course, Batman got in most of the shots…
4. Spoiler warning: lots of Dragon Ball Z plot twists abound as IGN counts down their ten favorites.

   Too bad the pics seem to have almost nothing to do with what they’re talking about, except for the fact they’re from DBZ.

Video Power

1. Loading.Ready.RunReviews brings us Desert Bus, a 15-year old unreleased SEGA CD game.

   Unreleased for good reason, at that.

   Man, I had forgotten how sort of eerie the SEGA CD startup screen was. Certainly less cheerful than the “SAY-GUH!” that opened up, say, Sonic 2.

2. …“Cheese fans?” I guess the little guy does sort of work the bowtie…
3. Snaking sucks. It’s not cheating, technically, but that doesn’t make it good.

   Some people want things like Snaking and Wavedashing (Super Smash Bros. Melee) in the Wii iterations of these games, but unless they’re MEANT to be in there and are accounted for in the programing, I’d rather they weren’t.

4. It’s interesting. Take away all the sports games, the parties, and so on, bring Mario down to his core platforming persona, and I’d say that he and Link are pretty much the opposite of what’s described here these days.

   Starting with the N64, there’s Link’s Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask to Mario’s Super Mario 64. On GameCube, there’s Wind Waker, 4 Swords Adventures, and Twilight Princess to Sunshine. It’s bad enough when there’s a game you don’t care for released in a series you love, but to have it be the only one released during the console’s duration? Let’s face it, that sucks, and Wind Waker haters were atoned for by the end. Even with all the delays for Twilight Princess, it didn’t bother me as much when I had Mario to give perspective.

   For Game Boy, there was Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins before Wario hijacked the series, and Zelda’s boy got Link’s Awakening, Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons. On Game Boy Advance (I’m leaving out remakes/remixes, by the way), there was… surprisingly little for either that wasn’t a retread, but 4 Swords and The Minish Cap take Link into a clear lead there.

   Nintendo DS, things are a bit more even… for the moment. Mario has New Super Mario Bros., and Link has Phantom Hourglass. And on Wii, Mario has the current lead with Super Mario Galaxy. One might include Twilight Princess, since I suppose it’s technically more a port than a remake/remix.

   Supposing then that one were to take spin-offs into account, Mario would perhaps be a clearer winner, with the likes of Wario, Yoshi, and even Princess Peach carrying on in his stead. But for the “pure” experiences, I think it’s safe to say that Link has the better numbers, and that in itself could be a problem, as some are getting tired of the purported repetitiveness of the Zelda games, citing a desire for some spark of innovation to truly set a new title apart from the rest. Phantom Hourglass doesn’t do this, nor is it really meant to, and time will tell if the first pure Wii Zelda will do that, either (no, it’s not announced, but we all know it’s coming eventually).

   Meanwhile, a light sense of repetition seems to be what a lot of Mario fans embrace, and a lighter twist on the common gameplay that runs through so many of his titles seems to be what more people would like, but Nintendo isn’t willing to give. It leads one to wonder if they don’t have their priorities mixed up, just a tad. Would anyone really mind terribly if Nintendo were to bring us a new game with more worlds in the same vein as Super Mario 64 or Galaxy? “Lost Levels” in a sense of the word (similar gameplay, some twists, but leave the insane difficulty at home)? New Super Mario Bros. was a back-to-basics title, and people seemed to like that quite well, and compared to Sunshine, Galaxy was that and more.

   What I’m saying here, I should hope to be obvious: I think Nintendo ought to slow down the Zelda releases just a tad, and maybe see if they can’t release a little more Mario of comparable quality. Galaxy was awesome, but I’ve finished most of it, including the story, already. And I hate to think it could be five or more years before I see anything else follow up on it. Zelda, meanwhile, seems to follow a grander scope that I think might benefit from a little more time between releases.

5. Nintendo of America’s headquarters has a nice display of old Nintendo memorabilia. I’d love to see it in person someday.
6. Racketboy’s Retro Gaming takes a look at the best modern 2D games on the Xbox. That’s right, not the 360, but the original big black behemoth. As a result, if you’re lacking the original piece of equipment and something here interests you, best double-check to make sure the backwards-compatibility has you covered.
7. An editorial over at AMN asks the question of why people seem to talk about games more than they play them.

   In my case, I blame the need to know and cover gaming news as a chief catalyst, but I imagine the press might not be the focus of such an article.

8. Reggie has spoken out to MSNBC about the Wii’s supply issues, and that they aren’t a marketing strategy. I’m sort of getting the feeling they aren’t really doing these shortages deliberately.
9. Square Enix’s el presidente has spoken to C|Net Japan about the future of the industry, and how he seems to find the notion of the company relying too much on Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to be absurd.

   As an addendum of sorts, it seems that the translation left out some details.

10. Following on the whole GameSpot fiasco, Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal has written a piece that discusses the “parasitic relationship between publishers and the enthusiast press.”
11. GameDaily dredges up some of the cheesiest video game ads ever known to man.

    Dear Sony: Try cheesy instead of “WTF.” Cheesy is at least somewhat endearing.

    Seriously, that Pole Position ad alone beats half the stuff we see today.

    On the other hand, the Super Mario Sunshine one is pretty bad, but the Japanese PS2 and Metroid II ads make up for it, nevermind the sheer win of the Zelda: A Link To The Past Japanese ad (the Macarena was never this cool).

    I think it’s a key thing to bear in mind with video game ads. They’re more likable if they’re as fun to watch as the games are fun to play. Just a matter of equating fun with fun.

12. Games Radar has put together a look back at the year in video game-related crimes; not anything like “impersonating Grand Theft Auto,” but stories more akin to the recent police ploy to trick criminals into turning themselves in at the lure of a free Xbox 360, or attacks and crimes commited over games. So cue the Dragnet theme and check out these stories of swords, vandals, and beatdowns.
13. In America, Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2 is sold through hilarious commercials. In Japan, however, they apparently need something more…
14. Stuff like this makes me glad I don’t watch Fox News. Not that I really watch any news, as most of it is far too depressing for me, but if I did, it wouldn’t be them.
15. This Thwomp papercraft is nothing short of awesome. I should make one.
16. GamerHelp has assembled eighteen of the greatest video game intros of all time.
17. Game|Life pays a visit to Nintendo’s brand-spankin’ new “San Francisco” office.
18. I’d love to know where PoisonMushroom.Org ranks for blog readability.
19. Yahtzee has a new review this week, wherein he sorta likes Assassin’s Creed.
20. And today, part 2 of 1up.com’s Final Fantasy flashback commences.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Over six months before he’s due in stores, some lucky person has gotten ahold of TransFormers: Animated Lockdown, and has been kind enough to review him.
2. Plus, you can see Animated Starscream in various stages of production.
3. If you can get your hands on Titan UK’s TransFormers comic-magazine’s 6th issue, you can follow the further adventures of Jazz from the Movie, and issue 8 follows Ironhide as he ties up that loose end with Scorponok running around in the desert.
4. A number of reviews and galleries from Ben Yee today, including Fast Action Battler Barricade, Robot Heroes Ultra Magnus and Megatron, and TransFormers Collector’s Club exclusive Chromia-10 pilot, aka Airrazor from Beast Wars.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Eeesh, this really sucks. But at least Will Smith seems to be alright these days.
2. A court in Rome summons Tweety, Donald, Daisy, and Mickey to the stand. And as a result, the court is held up. Brilliant, or wasteful? You be the judge.
3. Two new pics from the 5th turtle show off a pair of backdrops for the NECA TMNT figures, including the fire hydrant/curb and a manhole/lamppost, the latter in both Peanuts and final colors.
4. For the ladies reading this (if there are any), He-Man.Org has reported that She-Ra t-shirts are available on Play.com. Wear the honor of Grayskull today.
5. eToys has released a list of safety tips to keep in mind when doing Christmas shopping for toys.
6. Pool contortionism: for when you just have to make that shot.
7. I’m happy to say that this is one prank I would probably never fall for. Booze + Placebos = Fun. Guess those Princeton types aren’t THAT smart, after all.
8. They say that if you give a thousand monkeys a computer (typewriter, whatever), one of them will eventually turn out the works of Shakespeare. Fanfiction.net has pretty much debunked that theory, I’d imagine, but now the kingdom of Kong is looking to outdo us in another catagory: math.
9. A Batty Christmas to all, and to all, a good Knight.
10. …was going to end that one with “a good bite,” and use that as a link to this abomination. Seriously, I thought we quit trying to kill that country fifty years ago, what gives?

    …sigh. Actually, kill the onions and broccoli, and I’d try it. BUT ONLY ONCE!

11. Much as it would be for, say, an unfortunate penguin or polar bear, I suppose that catching fire is a rather ironic end for a zamboni.
12. Centripetal force does indeed rock. I don’t think I’d ever try this, though.

    I wonder how they get out? Does that thing disassemble, or what?

13. IGN looks back at the many costumes donned by the friendly neighborhood Spider-man over his many web-slinging years.
14. Michael Bay: HD conspiracy theorist?
15. Seems that if the Spider-man movies continue, then J.K. Simmons would like to keep playing J. Jonah Jameson.

Video Power

1. You’ve no doubt seen a few versions of “live-action Pac-Man” on YouTube by now, but from the country that brought us “Human Tetris” comes the coolest version yet (not counting the “movie” trailer).

   Where else do the ghosts beat Pac-Man down with sticks when they corner him?

2. Part 4 in Capcom’s series of behind-the-scenes fine-tuning of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix finally gets to one of my favorites– Ken– and includes a neat animated gif from the Van Damme movie to boot.
3. When the Wii’s controller was first announced, I saw a lot of potential in it (and still do), though I (and others like me) were concerned about input for more traditional fare, such as Mario. Fortunately, it seems that we don’t need to worry about that any time soon, as Nintendo apparently knows that there ARE some things you just can’t mess with, as revealed within the link.
4. Gandalf the Gray, Gandalf the White, Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s Black Knight… among many, many others, those aren’t the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. That honor is reserved for a more personal endeavor to many known as Black Friday, and as Wack Friday shows us, not everyone can be a winner.
5. Those Zelda games for the CDi? Turns out they aren’t so bad after all… *ducks rocks* …on their own merits. And avoiding the Russian (seriously) animation. Read on and find out the truth behind these most hated of titles, and maybe you will learn to feel a little pity for those who put their best into them.
6. MTV’s Stephen Totilo finally got his hands on Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, and he thinks the game is quite mean.

   Me, I find it enticing, and when you think about it, there’s a game where a strategy guide could really make some money, and not because it’s impossible to find out things on your own (at least not in this case). Might have to import it someday…

7. Can you imagine if Sonic the Hedgehog 2 got the same HD treatment that Super Street Fighter II Turbo is? It might look a little something like this.

   How about Super Metroid?

8. Either Nintendo gives people too little credit, or maybe just too few deserve it. Whatever the case, if you want to know how to use the Wii Zapper, the Big N has got you covered.
9. Elsewhere, some ambulance chaser tries to pretend they’re doing good by telling you what games to avoid giving your kids… through the ages.

   Uneducated comments seem to further undermine her point.

   “I don?t understand why anyone would want to be a part of glorifying violence. A game to me is Candyland, Monopoly, the games we used to play as a child. Scrabble. These are games.”

   Lady, the things you don’t understand would probably sink a cruise ship. And guess what? You’re not a child any more. Times change, and things change. Kids’ interests change. Why do you think kids don’t talk about Thundercats any more?

10. Microsoft tells Microsoft that Microsoft will do just fine this holiday season.
11. The day before, Sony’s Jack Tretton got to share in that same spotlight as he discussed their missteps and future with the PS3. Reggie’s on later today.
12. For some reason, one analyst expects that console sales will go up this month.

    I think the notion is pure poppycock. Why would people buy more systems NOW, of all times?

13. Ubisoft explains why being on board with the Wii so early on was very important to them.
14. I don’t play World of Warcraft, but if I did, having a custom figure based on my character’s likeness would be nothing short of awesome, though pricey.
15. Lucky for me, I haven’t really played much in the way of WWE games since Attitude on the PS1; that said, a lot of the rehashed stuff in Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 would still be new to me. Gametrailers’ review makes it sound like a decent rental, but hopefully the next one will get a little more work on it.

    Though, as an annual game, it seems unlikely. Which is strange; with a year between titles and using the same basic mechanics, you’d think they’d have more time to tweak and make the games even better.

    On a side-note, the review is fun, just to see Guile from Street Fighter doing things around the WWE. On another, I wonder if maybe Chris Jericho has a chance to be downloadable content?

16. GameTrailers has a series of amusing shorts surrounding the other eagerly-anticipated wrestling game, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns.
17. Wrestling not your cup of tea? Then how about some… dodgeball? But not just ANY dodgeball, but Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball.
18. GameTrailers’ review of Contra 4 does nothing to stifle my desire for the title.

    Nor does ScrewAttack’s look back at the included Super C.

19. IGN does what so many others do, time and again: rank the top 100 games of all time.
20. IGN’s newest Hero Showdown pits not only Mario vs. Sonic, but their respective Player 2′s as well.

    Of course, going by what I understand are the stated official heights (seemingly ignored in the games they appear in togeter for aesthetic appeal), Mario would still be taller than Sonic, even without the mushroom.

21. Burnout Paradise producer Nick Channon talks to IGN about what it’s like moving a classic franchise into the future.
22. The boys behind Super Mario Galaxy seem to have become real media darlings after the game’s launch, as Next Generation and GameDaily now add more interviews to the growing list across many websites.

    The big one, however, seems to be over at Game|Life.

23. GameDaily gets all Retro-Rewind on classic sports games, including Punch-Out!! among others.

    I might’ve said this before, but I think for a new Punch-Out!!, Nintendo needs to toss Mr. Dream (or just make him lower-tier), and contrary to many people, I say forget Mike Tyson.

    Mr. T’s Punch-Out!! Has a nice ring, doesn’t it? And after seeing him throw down in Rocky, I think he’d make a damn fine successor.

24. GameDaily takes an in-depth look at Link in preparation for his role in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
25. Games Radar looks at more endings that’ll make you cry “WTF?!”

    Most of these, I’ve not played. I don’t know for sure if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing.

26. This is pretty awesome; a kid gives up his Wii to charity.
27. …Sonic? Is that you?!

    And what’s with Mario? And Mario?

28. At least someone seems to understand that you don’t have to crack a book to be reading.
29. Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an actual cover for Weekly Famitsu. Here’s their recent cover that sports Super Mario Galaxy.
30. Cracked.com has a top 10 list of the “Most Irritatingly Impossible Old-School Video Games.”

    And RMC, no one should be happy to have a reason to use that art. Ever.

31. Just felt like posting this so I could say that there can not be any material on Earth that could stick to a posterior like that.

    Not that I have any complaints, mind you. I’m just saying.

32. Seems MTV is following in the footsteps of CollegeHumor.com and offering some spoofs based on video games.

    On the bright side, I can actually see these. But the constant PSP ads suck, and I don’t care HOW funny the rest is, I’m not putting up with that “Get Your Own” guy any more than I can help.

33. Gizmodo has eight reasons the PSP will never overtake the DS. They missed one. See above.
34. If you happen to feel Super Mario Galaxy is vastly overrated and have about a day and a half to spare, then it turns out there’s one guy who seems to absolutely hate the game. About 7,500 words worth.
35. Eager to improve your score in Link’s Crossbow Training? Zentendo will show you the way.
36. Guitar Hero: inspiring gamers to try the real thing.
37. Still need to score a Wii for the big X-mas day? Wired is here to help.
38. And the winner of the “Ken Kutaragi Crazy Quote Award” is…
39. Boo Mario? Piece of cake!
40. Even if Metroid were ever really an arcade game, I doubt it’d ever look this cool.
41. I’ve been pushing for something like One Laptop, One Child for awhile now, but I think what it needs to improve it are discs that can replace the back-breaking textbooks people have to lug around from elementary school through high school or college.
42. In her own contribution to the yearly trend of gift guides, 1up’s Jenn Frank has her own ideas for some low-cost expenditures.
43. 1up now has the first part of their retrospective of Final Fantasy by the lovely Nadia.

…and FINALLY, I AM DONE. Zzzzzzz…

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. I could just cry. Not only am I NOT a member of the Official TransFormers Collector’s Club, but that now means that I cannot view the Wreckers finale. Bloody hell.
2. On a more tangible note, it is NOW that I would really, really like to get a Classics Cliffjumper, if only so I could trick him out with this cool upgrade kit.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Who doesn’t love a good, funny animated gif? Certainly not some people on YouTube, who’ve created 95 video collections of them so far, seemingly to music. Great way to kill a Saturday afternoon while it snows outside.
2. Awhile ago, it was mentioned here by way of NinjaTurtles.com that EtchStar.com would begin offering engravings of the Turtles on electronics such as iPods, laptops and mobile phones, and it seems they’ve now begun. You can read the full release on the front of the Turtles site, but I just wanted to mention that during December, they’re offering free shipping to TMNT fans who use the coupon code SHPFE12.
3. Regarding the NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures, the 5th turtle had this to say:

   5. Each NECA turtle will have the same body but unique faces/heads.

   6. Why no secondary characters included in NECA’s first wave release? Here’s what NECA had to say: “In an effort to introduce the line early in the year and to be able to ship before Chinese New Year we are going to offer the classic 4 turtles first. We will then refresh the line in Spring with variations on the turtles along with new secondary characters.”

   He also has a pic of Mikey’s face for the figure.

4. Streamlining Vegas.
5. Good luck getting the role of, er, “Sangoku” in the Dragon Ball movie, guy. You’re going to need it.

Video Power

1. Don’t think I ever saw this Sonic TV Games joystick in stores. Was it ever released?

   What a queer design. Yes, that’s right: queer. As in odd. Just because some people decide to repurpose parts of the English language doesn’t make the original meanings invalid.

   Anyway, just weird they’d have Sonic’s fist erupting from Sonic’s face, though I can see that as some sort of strange metaphor for how half the franchise’s games have gone over the past few years…

2. Postcards from the Video Game World, one of the better Photoshop Phridays as hosted by SomethingAwful.com.
3. Remember when Sony’s PlayStation 3 controller looked like this? This is what I see in my head whenever I think
   “PlayStation 3 controller” or “Sixaxis.” Don’t know why. Kind of wish I’d gotten my hands on this, I never thought it was that bad a design. Jarring at first, yes, but not necessarily bad.

   Now, it seems that there’s the occassional knock (if anything is said about the design at all, anyway) that they’ve stuck with the same design for three generations.

4. Despite all the BluRay, Cell-based Hokey Pokey realism of games, are they still not realistic enough? Or do you care if you see a character flip a lightswitch with his hand or not?

   Give me interestingly unreal any day.

5. Have kids? Make ‘em a snack they’ll never forget with your own homemade Pikacheese. Or even for yourself, I guess, if you’re really, really bored.
6. Still have a lot of my Nintendo merchandise. Thing that always irked me about this catalog, however, is that it wasn’t truly a catalog: you couldn’t buy a damn thing in it, only see what licensees were making. Finding it to buy was all on you at whatever retail outlets happened to be nearby.

   Ironically, thanks to the internet, I’d kill for a book like this…

   Just for fun, let’s see what I managed to acquire…

   …on second thought, let’s don’t. Because I’m sure no one cares.

7. “Gaming’s cheapest and laziest moments:”

   Dennis The Menace for the Super NES was impossible to complete because the developers hadn’t actually finished creating the game.

   Um, wow. I wonder if that’s even legal. Or what sort of grief people went through over that. Barring the grief of the game itself, of course. I mean, if some idiot can sue over Halo 3, then this had to be a goldmine itself.

   I wonder what moments compare in games from today’s market.

8. Where do you sit to do your best gaming? Me, I prefer my sofa.
9. I swear, there are some stupid patents out there. Patents I would like to exploit. But SEGA holding the patent on switching camera angles? Give me a break.

   Also, I think it’s Namco who sucks because they’ve got a patent on playable minigames during loading times. Thankfully, it’s less an issue these days.

10. An edition of “The Forgotten” takes a look at Capcom’s phantom Mega Man Mania project, collecting the five Game Boy Mega Man games into one GBA cartridge, giving color to all. Within, it mentions the tale wherein Capcom had purportedly lost the source code to the games.

    A little older, a little wiser now, but most of all more knowledgable, I think I know a possibility of what really happened.

    These Mega Man collections have typically been US-exclusive, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that Japanese developers do NOT like it when their source code is messed with. It’s become legendary how Yuji Naka threw a fit when SEGA of America gave one of its teams the code for NiGHTS without his permission, so that Sonic Xtreme could be made.

    And more recently, in Contra 4, it was revealed that the versions of Contra and Super C were 1-player because to do otherwise for the DS would require a change of the code, and that’s a big no-no.

    Thus, it seems that the most likely scenario here is that Capcom of Japan wasn’t about to give up the source code for the games to be tweaked for color and whatever else for this American game. And to try and release the five game without color? That probably wouldn’t go over so hot with ANYone, save for those desperate to play the games in any form at all, unable to find a place to purchase the originals. Perhaps they tried to remake it from scratch or hacking ROMs, and it just wasn’t working.

    Of course, it leads one to wonder about titles such as Mega Man Anniversary Collection, which features shoddy chop-shop versions of Japan’s Rockman Complete Works PS1 titles. Perhaps hacking stuff out was easier than adding it in…

11. Xbox Live is $50 a year. You’d think Microsoft could do something to soften the blow come resubscription time.
12. Rock Band: It can get you evicted.
13. The fine folks at MoCap have created what might be the greatest game ever… er, maybe…

    “If that game’s released, kids will start reading again.”

14. I think I remember an ad, MAYBE a review for Aero Fighters. Naturally, ScrewAttack.com remembers more than that, and fondly.
15. Since I’m not boycotting GameSpot just yet, I guess it’s safe to say that they have an interview with Super Mario Galaxy‘s Yoshiaki Koizumi about the finished game, with some interesting notes about things like power-ups, Luigi, Yoshi, and a more traditional co-op.
16. Speaking of Mario (as I often do), GameDaily has compiled a list of what they think are the ten worst Mario characters. Let’s see…

    Seems to be a real hate-on for Super Mario Bros. 2 characters here. I still like Wart, and I think Clawgrip is the hardest boss in the game.

    Princess Peach? Wow, harsh. And Mario himself? Frankly, I think his voice in Galaxy was an improvement over Sunshine.

    And between us (a-ha, ha, ha), Martinet’s voice is sort of what I imagined Mario to sound like before I ever heard him in a cartoon… just minus the Italian accent.

17. Mario lists not your thing? Fine, then have a list of outrageous boobs instead.
18. Hate snipers in Halo 3? Now, you can root ‘em out with these handy maps.
19. Seems that while the gaming audience is growing, a number of adults are still deterred by the price.
20. The whole releasing of Wonder Boy/Adventure Island games, among other names for what amount to the same games, boils down into quite a mess. Luckily, Game|Life is ready to try their hand at straightening it all out.
21. The New York Times: clearly can’t be trusted for accuracy.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. So, what do you get when you cross TransFormers with Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies?
2. Ah, those Japanese and their Lucky Draw contests. You can see one such prize in the form of a golden Big Convoy from Beast Wars Neo.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. And now… NECA’s Leonardo, in all his glory.

   Seems the two secondary characters that were to accompany the fab four have been dropped for the moment, however.

2. That’s one lucky lunch!
3. The Angry Video Game Nerd once again dons his Movie Nerd hat as he takes us through the top 10 baddest bad guys to cross the silver screen.
4. I would love to know the train of thought that lead this person to believe that ANY part of this action would be a good idea.

Video Power

1. Killer Instinct had some pretty cool character designs, for the most part. Fulgore was a definite favorite of mine, and I’d like to at least see that crop up in another game, if not a new or re-released KI title.
2. Nothing like the potent mix of video games at Christmastime, eh?
3. Shy Guys: Real or imaginary (so to speak)?

   For the full story on these guys, be sure to check out their entry at the Super Mario Wiki.

   Stupid, Funny Fact: Before I ever got to play Super Mario Bros. 2, only having a few screenshots seen at retail and word that Mario was fighting in a “dream world,” I saw a pic of Mario tossing a big veggie at a Shy Guy, and thought it was so cool that Mario was taking out Jason from Friday the 13th.

   Obviously, I later found out that was not only not the case, but it’s in fact Freddy Krueger who inhabits dreams, not Jason. As you can tell, I was never big into those kinds of movies. But the truth never took away that moment when I thought Mario was a certifiable badass.

   (He still is, just not for that reason.)

4. Yahoo takes a look at a number of movies (11, to be exact) set to come out, all based on video games.
5. When it comes to the word “canon” anywhere in the vicinity of Mario’s name, people usually think about the Bill Blasters or the things on the side of Bowser’s airships.

   Not 4ColorRebellion, however; they’ve come up with their own zany chronology of how the various Mario-verse titles relate to one another. And the movie, too.

6. Don’t you just hate it when things in video games get just a little… awkward?

   Be warned, some of these border on more mature humor.

7. Oh, sure, there’s the Famicom-to-NES adaptor to consider, but I just don’t think I could bring myself to do that to a copy of Gyromite. Surely, SURELY there must be another way!
8. An argument as to why the Wii shortage is legitimate.
9. For some reason, in the UK, video games are now being blamed for declining literacy rates. You know, because all of those menus, dialogue, subscreens, magazines, etc. feature absolutely no text or anything. Just click and shoot, click and shoot…
10. Related to the GameSpot/Gerstmann story in The Daily ‘Shroom, Chad Lakkis at ripten games asks, “can you trust a video game site that runs video game ads?”

    I think, in some select cases, you can.

11. IGN has an interview with Yoshiaki Koizumi about the development of Super Mario Galaxy.
12. Next Generation checks out how retailers did with their Black Friday sales.
13. With so many great releases this year, could 2007 be the best year ever for video games?
14. Good games are good, certainly, but which ones are system sellers?
15. Find out how to avoid being labeled a noob with Games Radar’s handy guide.
16. When did games start becoming so damn emo?

    Interesting that Mega Man X or Zero are mentioned nowhere within. I always thought the general consensus was that X originated the concept of a colorful franchise taking a darker turn, and Zero refined it.

17. Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, and others, has an autobiography on the way. Can’t wait to read that.

    Be sure to check the link for a video of Martinet discussing how he got the job, violence in games, and more in his own distinct style. 15 minutes of Martinet-Mario goodness!

18. Incredible. I thought a bust like this only worked on The Simpsons!
19. At some point, it seems that Bungie decided to be kind enough to create video histories of the first two Halo titles as a primer for Halo 3.

    Or you can try to use this guide.

20. Whether or not games are art, they certainly never fail to inspire it.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Hey, kid, a word of advice: the characters in Death Note are actually known for using their heads when dealing with something like that.
2. Mac & Cheese your food of choice? Yahoo has some tips to liven it up a little.
3. Oh………. wow………….

   I think we can safely deduce that she is NOT smarter than a fifth grader, perhaps knocking down a few extra grades on top of that.

4. Top dog in the world of Turtles, the Teenage Mutant Ninja variety, that is, has the following for those of you into convention sketches but unable to attend one:

   I don’t do too many comic conventions these days, but when I do go to one with the Mirage crew, one of the most fun things for me is collaborating with my old pal and ace colorist/cartoonist Steve Lavigne on TMNT head sketches — I draw them and Steve colors them. Now Steve and I have decided to make some of these types of sketches available to fans who can’t make it to the shows that we attend. Check out lavignebrownart.blogspot.com (or do a search on eBay) to find out more.

   – Peter Laird

5. The 5th turtle shows off a rejected base from one of the NECA figures (due to colors), with an addendum regarding what it looks like.
6. Mark Evanier shares some thoughts related to the upcoming new DVD release of the Adam West Batman movie.
7. Vegas will get you, no matter what machine you put your money into.
8. Equal rights for women strike as Minnie packs a little heat of her own.
9. Press The Buttons brought to my attention a Family Guy bit I seem to have missed, involving Stewie performing a parody of the Naked Gun intros. This lead me to a quick YouTube search, which resulted in a montage of the intros, Family Guy included. Good stuff.

   Say, think they’ll do a new Naked Gun any time soon?

Video Power

1. Jazwares has released their new action figures based on Mortal Kombat, and Figures.com has a review of Noob Saibot (just “Noob” here, seems that since Tobias left the company, they shortened it. Lacks the punch, methinks) and Reptile from the line. How do they fare? Let’s find out!
2. Hey, I can finally view the official Bionic Commando website! And just in time, too, as they’ve added a new podcast!
3. Want to know the status of your Nintendo WiFi connection? Why don’t you ask Lakitu for free?
4. Awhile back, Matt at Press The Buttons hit on a major grievance of mine: video game shipping dates. To the best of my knowledge, video games are the one part of the entertainment industry where you just never know when you’ll find what came out on a given date. DVDs, CDs, books, comic books, magazines, they’re all pretty much there when they say they’ll be there, barring the unforeseen complication, which is forgivable enough, even through clenched teeth. And games HAVE on rare occassion managed to pull off the “available on” technique; Halo 3, for example, right? So what’s the deal?
5. Donkey Kong has quite a storied legacy in games. It’s funny to think that for a time, it seemed that Nintendo had all but forgotten about the big ape who co-starred with Mario in the first steps to making them a household name.

   Matt takes a look back at Donkey Kong’s legacy, circa 2005, and his ultimate rise to superstardom as a Nintendo staple.

   Donkey Kong Country 3 is the one game of the original trilogy I never did finish, though, and to this day, I’m not sure why. I just seem to get sidetracked by other games. I think maybe the GBA version would help.

   Donkey Kong 64, I never got into the way I wanted. Just what to do never seemed especially clear to me the way it was in Super Mario 64, it struck me as a game where you wanted to have a strategy guide handy, journey of discovery be damned.

   I rather loved Mario vs. Donkey Kong at first, but in some later levels, things just seemed too damn complicated. Some time later, I did *ahem* “borrow” a friend’s copy (rest assured, I have my very own) wherein I got to use the save st–file to finally see and beat the last boss, and I enjoyed it with but a hint of sadness that I had to resort to such a method to see it through. I can get through Donkey Kong ’94 with no real problems, but this one… sigh.

   Of the more recent titles, however, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (made by the same guys who did some title, what was it? Super something Galaxy?) made me fall in love at Nintendo World, and I didn’t rest until I had my own copy, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, though that one I’ve been sidetracked from as well.

6. Love Luigi’s Mansion though I may, I think people will always consider Mario Is Missing to be Luigi’s first big solo title. You know, despite the inability to be hurt or the lack of a distinct sprite from his brother.

   All the same, you just have to wonder if this will make it to Virtual Console, or Mario’s Time Machine for that matter.

   …yes, I played both. And beat both. And I’d probably get them again at the right price. Stop looking at me like that.

7. Apparently, the end wasn’t quite the end as GameTrailers brings part 2 of their post-mortem Ratchet & Clank Future interview.
8. Next Generation talks to Alexey Pajitnov, the inventor of Tetris, in an interview about “those 27 kilobytes of code that changed the world.”
9. Games Radar explains how Link’s Crossbow Training has begun a trend that can help save shooters on the Wii.
10. Want an RPG that has nothing to do with the Square-Enix name? Games Radar has a list.
11. I know crap-all about Gamertags, but apparently you can add mottos to them, and for those who are having trouble coming up with one, GR has some suggestions, plucked right from many an actual game.
12. Is Super Mario Galaxy a borderline failure at retail? this guy seems to think so.
13. Don’t normally post much in the way of reviews, but IGN has a pretty good one for the NES classic Wrecking Crew on the Virtual Console.
14. 2P Start has a funny comic up regarding Super Mario Galaxy, and its not-quite perfection (believe it or not, I don’t think it’s perfect, either. I’ll try to get to that in a review sometime… once I can tear myself away from it).
15. And now, a word to parents from G4′s Adam Sessler: play with your damn kids!
16. Oh, so that’s why those Rat Race clips weren’t funny. Right…
17. Susan O’Connor has three rules for game stories.
18. Zero Punctuation’s Yahtzee tackles Fear.
19. A new study shows that game rentals don’t always translate into purchases, for obvious reasons.
20. Nintendo of America COO and President Reggie Fils Aime laments that Wii shortages are missed opportunities.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Assorted Mushrooms

1. “Stupid Car Crash” video. It’s always the suspense that gets me on these, as you’re not sure just when the vehicle’s going to hit.

   “Is it that one? No… that one? No… well when is– oh, there it is.”

2. 5th Turtle has a peek at Donatello from the ’07 holiday card, as well as an explanation for the ’86ing of Jagwar from the Global Mutant Missions line from a fellow at Playmates.
3. Trouble sleeping? Maybe this method will help. Have your own? Feel free to share it (here or there).
4. More talk with David X. Cohen about the future of Futurama.
5. Ever since the biggest crisis to hit the DC universe (until the next one), there has been 52 alternate universes established, and Newsarama checks out what they are.
6. This is a neat Mickey Mouse collectible; oldschool black-and-white, and packin’ heat, no less!
7. This past Monday, Chris Jericho got to meet Santino Marella for the first time, and it was pretty funny.

Video Power

1. Capcom has found a new (or newly reborn, it’s new to me either way) Street Fighter fan site known as “Street Fighter Devotion:”

   “Featuring interviews, exclusive art by UDON Street Fighter artists, and journalistic character profiles, the centerpiece of the site is an exhaustively researched and stunningly extensive Street Fighter museum”

   Definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of Street Fighter.

2. Mega Man and Metal Man face off in this neat beadcraft.
3. Hmm, I don’t think I have a copy of the Castlevania II Worlds of Power novel. I ought to remedy that, one of these days. Just ’cause.

   I still have my Worlds of Power: Mega Man 2 book. I actually loved it back in the day, mostly for lack of anything else that gave me a little more of a look into Mega Man’s world.

   …I think it was around Mega Man X that I realized everyone else wasn’t wrong about Mega Man still being a robot, just that Worlds of Power was full of it. But on the upside, rendering the cover for a “book cover” contest in elementary school netted me the winning prize, so it wasn’t without value. I won a copy of the Guiness Book of World’s Records, inside which I could discover just how big a Scholastic sucker I was.

4. A few days ago, I added a new feature wherein I looked back at some of my favorite video game advertisements which were essentially short comics (you can find it in the Articles section in the sidebar on the left. Hell with it. Just click here). Deliberately left out were some of the lengthier insert-type comics which defied the traditional limitations of most print ads, which usually take up only about one or two pages.

   One such exception that I neglected was Johnny Turbo, the spokesguy for the TurboGrafx16 and TurboCD that you might have heard about on Virtual Console. Fortunately, these have been collected and discussed online.

   I don’t get it. What kind of focus group did they use to determine a guy like this was the way to go, and at what point during the meeting did they all get together and decide to totally mess with the people conducting the research? Johnny Turbo looks more like Uncle Ed, come back from trekking through the backwoods of the future, half-crazy from starvation for his days lost in the wilderness and unable to kill the robodeer, what with their air-to-air missiles and whatnot.

   And the Blues Brothers are apparently to blame.

5. It’s interesting to see a smalltown company repurpose a license character for promotion their own trade (no matter how abstract the relation may be), but what does that make you think of the company itself? Surely if you saw an orange Sonic peddling tacos, you wouldn’t be swayed into eating there. So why do they do it?
6. So, whatever happened to the “Sonic Killer” known as Bubsy the Bobcat, anyway?
7. Super Mario Galaxy makes tons of references to past Mario titles without relying on them to make the game. Error Macro has compiled a list of such recurrences, and their origins. How many did you catch/know?
8. I had no idea that they made Double Dragon for the Atari 2600. Oh well, if Mega Man could, why not?
9. o/~ They call him Sonic… ’cause he is faster than sound, he keeps on jumping around… blue hedgehog Sonic… with incredible speed, he’s moving his feet… o/~

   Anyway, Racketboy has gathered up a collection of what he finds to be the most stunning Sonic the Hedgehog artwork. And some of these are pretty nift; I rather like the first, actually.

   “Home Sweet Home” and “The Doomsday Zone” are awesome, too.

10. According to a developer for Battalion Wars (aka Advance Wars), a lot of developers aren’t taking full advantage of the Wii’s capabilities.
11. ScrewAttack brings us a new Top 10, this time looking at Fighting Games.
12. At the airport, a Rabbid finds true love.

    And who ever thought that the Raving Rabbids would get their own single?

13. Missed previous entries in the Street Fighter: The Later Years series? Catch up at GameTrailers.

    Hmm, I still need to grab the Xbox and 360 Dead Or Alive games…

    And you’d think that with Rare’s extremely low game output, they’d have some room to have SOMEONE port the Killer Instinct games… well, anywhere.

    Regarding Street Fighter IV being in 2D or 3D? Well, I did like Rival Schools quite a bit (despite never owning it), having it something akin to that wouldn’t be so bad.

14. IGN takes Hyrule’s #1 hero and looks back at the many styles and incarnations that spirit has dawned over the years.
15. Could an upstart company known as “Play N Trade” take over the #1 spot among video game retailers?
16. Next Generation has a new interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, wherein they delve into “what does the master think about how other entertainment media have influenced his work on the Mario games,” as well as his most famous creation and why Hollywood can’t seem to get it right.

    Interesting is that his thoughts on the Super Mario Bros. movie are that they followed the game TOO closely.

17. Looking for gift ideas? Game Daily has a few frugal suggestions.
18. Today, Games Radar offers ten games to help you relax a little.
19. Who knew that K-Fed rocked at NES classic Pro Wrestling back in the day? Guess that would help explain why he was so ready to go up against John Cena. How prophetic.
20. Retro Studios reflects in an Gamasutra interview about the path taken when developing Metroid Prime.
21. At the Montreal International Game Summit, Ben Sawyer gave his thoughts on why kids games don’t have to be crap.

    Another thing I miss about the NES days: the only “kids games” were those with a Sesame Street or somesuch license, so there wasn’t quite such a division where “adult games” would be better than “kids games” in the sense we seem to see today.

    Sawyer is calling for games with a more forgiving input method: A controller with one large button, for example, or a dance pad with one square to jump or step on. He also sees a place for educational games, but not ones that teach math or typing, he wants educational games that teach “game literacy.”

    I think that’s just a bit TOO simple.

    He wants games that teach his son about power-ups, and game mechanics and make him better at playing videogames.

    So get him an NES. Or Virtual Console.

22. My giant Companion Cubes, let me show you them.
23. PlayStation 3: A hacker’s dream?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Ben Yee has a review and gallery of Robot Heroes Bumblebee and Barricade from the movie available now.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Aww, the poor kitty got pinned by a pillow.
2. Speaking of cats, did you ever see one that’s so happy in water?
3. Take a little time to learn about that little city to the north, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
4. PriceGrabber.com, via Raving Toy Maniac, has a list of the Top 5 Things You Didn’t Expect To See On Black Friday.
5. IGN gives us the rundown on all of the teaser sites seen so far for The Dark Knight.

Video Power

1. Good news! Capcom reports that IGN’s Anoop Gantayat got to go to the Rockman/Mega Man 20th Anniversary party, and has written up a report about it!

   Bad news! They fail to mention that it’s for IGN Insiders only. If someone can get the gist of the report and submit it, that’d be grand.

2. Continuing the series of articles by David Sirlin which detail the behind-the-scenes changes and re-balancing for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a new entry that takes a look at the monstrous Native American known as T. Hawk.
3. Here’s a neat one (and long, too) from Racketboy’s Retro Gaming: The Best Pac-Man Clones and Spin-Offs.
4. Rare talks a little more about Viva Pinata on the Nintendo DS.
5. Ubisoft says that Assassin’s Creed is proof that original properties can thrive in a sequel and license-driven marketplace.
6. Word is that the video game industry is poised to crush all previous sales records this year.
7. The creator of Katamari Damacy laments that today’s games aren’t creative enough. I’m sure he means as a collective, rather than any specific title on its own.

   Incidently, that’s one thing I miss about the NES era. Seems like back then, EVERYTHING was new.

8. ScrewAttack looks back at a game I really wish they’d revisit now with the new Wii Zapper, Hogan’s Alley.

   …”shirtless guy?” I thought he was wearing a trenchcoat…

9. GameTrailers finishes up their interviews with the Ratchet & Clank team as they conduct the Post Mortem Interview.
10. They also give the Street Fighter IV trailer a thorough analysis, in the hopes of finding… something.

    “There are clues everywhere, if you know where to look…” Fascinating.

11. Looks like Ganondorf beats Bowser, at least in IGN’s poll.
12. GameDaily has a new Retro Rewind that looks back on the game that made “Fatality” a household word, Mortal Kombat.

    Still need to try Armageddon, personally.

13. Games Radar looks at seven games that should have sucked, but didn’t, and why.
14. They also add more gaming trivia to your brain with over 80 gaming firsts.
15. Chris Taylor, head of Gas Powered Games, has an interesting outlook on what gaming should be like…

    …like mowing lawns.

16. And now, for more mature readers, Street Fighter: The Later Years, part 6.
17. Wow, it took Go Nintendo’s headline to make me think about this… maybe it’s NOT the PS3′s launch pricetag that was choking them, since people are spending that much on Wiis now. It would certainly bear study…
18. First “Mega Man Water,” and now Mario on a plumbing van. Madness, I say.
19. It’s not the Virtual Console, or even NES Classics, but if you have some old Famicom games around, this is a neat way to play them on the go.
20. Belgian police have no sense of humor. And that just pisses me off.
21. I’ve seen this problem with returned TransFormers, and the people working at Wal-Mart didn’t care.

    Now, someone returned a gutted 360 and walked away with cash.

    Too far? You be the judge. Meanwhile, I’m wondering how many imitators this may spawn, especially among those who might have wound up with now-worthless red-ringed 360s MS refused to cover.

22. Patrick Warburton, aka Joe Swanson from Family Guy among other characters, explains why he thinks that humor is harder to pull off in video games. Admittedly, he’s right to some degree.
23. Finally, 1up’s Scott Sharkey lays it all out on the line for game developers: five ways to improve games and the scores they receive. Hard points to argue with, too.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Alright, time to see what’s transpired over the past couple of days of Thanksgiving break…

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. If you’ve a question for legendary TransFormers scribe Simon Furman, now’s your time to ask.
2. So… Animated Megatron will turn into… an Osprey-styled helicopter?
3. Oh, wow. Time for a history lesson.

   Back around the end of the 20th century, about 1998-2000, if memory serves, Hasbro released a show and toyline called Beast Machines as a follow-up to their successful, Emmy-award winning franchise-reviving Beast Wars. And to follow that, they were going to make a series called TransTech, using plenty of designs from a studio known as Draxhall Jump…

   …until Beast Machines more or less bombed. At the very least, it just didn’t do well enough to warrant continuing along the train of thought. As a result, Hasbro stalled for time by importing the popular Japanese cartoon TransFormers: Car Robots here as Robots in Disguise. This bought Hasbro enough time to team with Takara to make a cross-ocean franchise in Armada/Micron Legend and so on.

   Anyway, didn’t take long for a portion of the fans to get sick of beta animation, misscripted lines, and toys that couldn’t lift their arms or bend their legs, and so they started to wondering aloud about the MIA TransTech.

   Until now, as the Official TransFormers Collector’s Club has revealed that TransTech will be their focus for 2008. The interesting question that remains is, what are they going to do for toys? The TransTech designs never made it into production, with possibly less than a scant few even reaching the prototype stage. Since Master Collector doesn’t typically use new molds to make their figures, but rather retools…

   Maybe redecorated Movie toys? I have said that they do sort of look the part, except with realistic vehicle modes.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. They may not be Spartan-class of Chozo-worthy, but the military’s exo-suits are getting there.

   If they want more funding, they ought to make a good game to promote this thing.

2. Ouch! I think I’d have given him the ten bucks anyway.
3. Maybe you’ve seen that video of two cats speaking. But did you ever wonder just what they’re saying?
4. Epic fail on the Wheel of Fortune.
5. WebbAlert brings viral videos to ring in Turkey Day, including two “Will It Blend” episodes.
6. Thanks to Kanuck, we’ve got word that Kamen Rider Dragon Knight is coming to the US.

   …wait, Dragon Knight? Dammit. I really should’ve found another name for my fighting team…

7. The Stages. Happens to a lot of guys.
8. Captain Kirk is pissed after being snubbed by the makers of the new Star Trek film. They’d better watch it, lest his Shaman strike them down. Nevermind the Night Elf Mohawk reinforcements.
9. Beware of spoilers as the site for The Dark Knight takes it up a notch and The Joker mocks the media.

Video Power

1. Heatman has decked the halls with thanks (wait…) by offering up some Battle Network/EXE and ZX tunes from the Japanese soundtracks on The Mega Man Network.
2. And Smash Bros. DOJO!! makes us thankful for Lucas’ Special Moves, and the art of Charged Special Moves.
3. Press The Buttons has updated with their annual Holiday Gift Guide. Mine didn’t seem to go over so hot last year, so I don’t know if I’ll mess with it this year.
4. Gamasutra has a new feature up that looks at the secret ingredient of the feel of a game.

   Speaking of leaning into the turns and such, I remember when a friend and I had rented Star Fox on the Super NES, and the first time we’d gotten to Andross, he was playing, and was literally down to his knees trying to keep from being sucked in.

   Now THAT is how you do it.

5. I’m not much a car person. I just know what I like, and someday, I wouldn’t mind a small collection. Like, count the number on one hand.

   Actually, part of the dream is to have a custom hybrid Hummer that can drive me into the city from the country, in good weather or bad, and have the back open up to deploy a Smart car. Ah, to be rich…

   Anyway, Jeep has a new piece that I’d like to add to the list which strikes some folks as… inspired.

6. GameTrailers pits Super Mario Galaxy head to head with its predecessor, Super Mario Sunshine, in both standard and HD.
7. They’re STILL making trailers for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games? Maybe it’s to keep momentum going for the DS version.

   Anyway, here’s Team Mario. Say, you’d sorta think Bowser would be on Team Sonic, wouldn’t you?

8. ScrewAttack looks back at one of the few basketball games I’ve ever set my hands on in NBA Jam. It was kind of fun, but really, the main reason I ever picked it up was because it was the second game in the first Blockbuster World Video Game Championships.
9. A game I’ve regretfully been ignoring until I read the feature in the new Nintendo Power: No More Heroes. Check it out, it’s actually kind of interesting.
10. The team at MoCap tackles one of the most profitable businesses around.

    Um, this one might not be so good for the kiddies. It’s not exactly uncut, but… just keep the kids away.

11. Next Generation has been running a series of features called “The New Generation.” Part 1 looks at the games leading the way, while Part 2 takes a look at five figures who’ve helped shape what’s to come.

    And the newly-added Part 3 looks at five elements that are helping to facilitate the shift forward.

12. Games Radar has reminded me that I should really go back and visit my Animal Crossing towns.

    Actually, that comic the other day did that, but in a much sadder way.

    Anyway, they went back and found TONS of weeds, which will no doubt await me. Here’s a montage to the Benny Hill theme of them cleaning up.

13. The many gross, crazy, and funny ways to die in Halo 3.
14. Games Radar asks, “why the hell are PS3 games always late?”
15. Nintendogs, meet Wii’s Kitty Luv.

    I have no idea what it’s about, but it’s inspired me nonetheless; I’ve an idea for a game. Animals doing animal things. You take snapshots at weird moments, and add word macros, then send them to friends and post them on a Wii channel.

    Budget title, if not Wii Ware. Watch it sell.

16. GameVideos has a neat documentary about the Super FX chip, the 3D graphics chip for the Super NES which made games such as Star Fox and Stunt Race FX possible on the 16-bit system.
17. Nintendo of Japan spruces up their Super Mario Galaxy website with some wallpapers for your desktop. I like the one with Mario and all the bosses.

    Speaking of which, Kotaku hit upon the idea that it’s that very picture which should have been the box art, and even went so far as to make a mock-up of it. Good show.

18. Go Nintendo has found a collection of DS icons, the little ones that appear when you start up your game. RMC thinks they’re useless, but I could see these working well as instant messenger icons, perhaps… How many can you name?
19. By hook or by crook, Contra IV has been engineered with a way for you to get 99 lives in death.
20. Nintendo has revealed that they’re working on a fix for the Fire Emblem problem between the Wii and GameCube games’ save files.
21. Dengeki has some neat Ryuusei no Rockman (MegaMan Star Force) 2 art and cards and stuff, whatever it is…
22. Super Mario… Sisters? This in no way could have been good.
23. Check that, unless maybe it was something like this.
24. “GTA for girls?” The idea sounds like it COULD have some merit, but not like this.

And hopefully, that’ll do for now. See you in a couple more days!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. The Allspark has updated their galleries to now include: TM-SP DX Convoy (aka Beast Wars Optimus Primal), TM-SP DX Megatron (Beast Wars Megatron), JBW D-7 Shadow Panther (early Beast Wars Ravage), JBW D-2 Skorponok, BWII C-19 Tonbot, BWII C-14 Tazmanian Kid, BWII C-22 Scissorboy, BWII C-18 Powerhug, and
   BWII C-16 Flash Lioconvoy (Leo Prime).

Assorted Mushrooms

1. “A Darker Ducktales.

   …this… it’s just… click it and see for yourself.

2. Wrong. That’s the word I was looking for.

Video Power

1. A Capcom Marketing intern dressed up as Cammy for Halloween. “Does that count as cosplay?” Inquiring minds want to know.

   And while it’s a nice costume… well, without the funky hair, let’s just say it’s a good thing they said who they were supposed to be.

2. Heatman at The Mega Man Network has found some samples from the various upcoming Rockman anniversary albums.
3. Today, GameTrailers goes behind the scenes of Ratchet & Clank Future‘s Story.
4. Games Radar presents: The Top 10 Excuses For Losing.

   Of course, camera can be a pretty legitimate issue.

5. Another feature they have today is the evolution of water effects in games. Surprisingly, Super Mario Sunshine is absent.
6. And their third today looks at why video game movies don’t need to suck.

   Don’t remember Street Fighter having an “Ultimate Battle” subtitle, though it did use it as a tagline.

7. Chris Kohler at Game|Life gives a retort to those who mock all the Guitar Hero players out there by telling them to play a real instrument instead.

   Why does it seem like people who don’t play games confuse them with reality more than actual gamers, who would allegedly go on killing sprees inspired by the Wii Zapper?

8. Guitar Hero III… Will It Blend?
9. To speak, or not to speak… that is the question.

   Me? I prefer silence unless carried out by capable, fitting voice actors. Which I find easier to get into for a new character than an older one. Some bits are ok, though, such as how Mario and Link do it. Note that as soon as Sonic started talking, things began a decline for him…

10. The lovely Jenn Frank gives a recap about some time gaming with her mom, who seems pretty cool.
11. 1up.com has compiled an excellent gift guide to help with all your video game shopping needs this holiday season.
12. In honor of this day of giving thanks, Scott Sharkey over at 1up has compiled a list of the Top 10 Turkey Games; rather, instead of games about turkeys, these are good games which simply did not live up to their proposed hype.
13. And finally, last night (or rather, the night before) on The Rick Mercer Report, former Prime Minister Jean Chretien stepped up to show that he’s still got the stuff as he took on the show’s eponymous host in Wii Sports‘ Boxing to show that he’s back, and better than ever. You can see it for yourself here.

And with that, as I said before, I’m taking a few days off, since little is likely to happen over Thanksgiving weekend. But I’ll keep my eyes peeled, and if I can scrape together a report, I’ll do just that.

Enjoy!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”