InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Writer Simon Furman’s blog talks a little about the upcoming Arcee Spotlight, providing a little idea of context behind it and a little about this whole “female TransFormer” thing.
2. Looks like another G2 sample has turned up, this time of Sideswipe in colors more suited to his brother.
3. TFW2005 has an interview with Hasbro Senior Transformers Designer Eric Siebenaler, who got off to a rough start with Armada Laserbeak, and is now working on the Animated line.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. The link requires you to scroll up, but an invisible tank is sort of worth the effort, I think.
2. After listening to this, you’ll never listen to another Batman theme the same way ever again.

   …his parents are dead, you see.

3. And if anyone smacked the hell out of her, they’d be the ones to go to jail.

Video Power

1. Capcom brings us a little “behind the scenes” action as they talk about rebalancing *deep breath* Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

   Geeze, the worst part is I don’t even have to look at the name anymore to be able to type that.

   They also take a close-up look at some of the early production art and animations. Neat stuff.

   Wow, Rey Jimenez as a producer… I remember when he was working customer service. Gotta love the way movement in the industry can work.

2. Racketboy checks in with the cheapest Xbox games worth your time.

   Incidently, I find that I usually like the Xbox version better if a game is on both it and the PS2. Burnout 3 is a good example, if for no other reason than the DREADFUL load time on PS2.

3. Mario meets Buzz Aldrin. I reported this last time. What’s different now? NOW it’s just shamelessly shilling for Diggs.
4. Nintendo has come forth and said that they aren’t really looking to launch any more new systems until the market is ready. So in 2010, when the Xbox 1.21 Gigawatt and the PlayStation 4RealThisTime are fighting for dominance, Nintendo could potentially still be making use of Wii and DS. Guess we’ll see.

   Miyamoto believes the Wii will be a sight to behold five years from now. Me? I’m a believer.

5. ScrewAttack.com looks back at another familiar title from my childhood… literally. I’m familiar with the name, but I don’t think I ever got to play it for some reason. Well, maybe in the arcades… Anyway, it’s Operation Wolf from the Vault.

   Also, check out the player character in the death scene at the minute mark. Totally looks like Flint from GI Joe. I suppose they’re probably part of the same branch of military or something, but still. Even the faces are pretty similar.

6. Funny how I click to watch this new movie for Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, likely to be an E-rated title, and the ad that precedes it is for an M-rated game, showing me the blood and all. I could see how some people might just get offended by this sort of idiocy.
7. Some hottie over at Next Generation has written an article about the PSP, and its steep climb up the comeback trail with the new Slim design.
8. Games Radar takes a look at famous franchises with forgotten follow-ups.

   Never thought of Metroid II as a forgotten sequel, though, so I guess the validity is in question here. In fact, I remember the first four vividly; I’m working on Castlevania: Curse of Darkness right now.

9. It also features a link to an old part of game history I never thought much about, wherein Game|Life discusses crashes/shake-outs in the industry.
10. Hmm, looks like China’s getting an alright limited edition DS Lite with a slight Mario motif.
11. Something tells me that maybe I should give Assassin’s Creed DS another look…
12. Is Wii the way of the future? Epcot seems to think so…
13. Gamasutra has a new interview with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney producer Minae Matsukawa.
14. So Super Mario Bros. 3 is now available on Virtual Console. Me? I’m not looking to get it, I have the original, Super NES, and GBA versions.

    But maybe if Mario himself called and asked me to get it, I’d reconsider.

15. …yeah, right. “Maybe.”
16. Wired makes some sort of sense out of suicide bombing through Halo 3.
17. Joystiq has a neat montage of Zelda ads, from the original “Zelda Rap” to the Four Swords puppet show to a Twilight Princess montage.

    Sadly, no insane Japanese musical number from A Link To The Past, though.

18. If you thought the mascot costume for Sonic in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games videos was bad, then check this out.

    “and before you go bashing this relic of Halloween, we’d like to see you post your childhood costume images. No, really, we’d love to see it.”

    If I ever find the pics of my contest-winning Mario, Navy SEAL, and Saddam Hussein costumes, then you’re on.

    Sadly, my fifth grade Mario wound up better than my recent Otakon attempt, thanks to a mail mishap.

19. So, did you hear who won the GameFAQs Character Battle?
20. Things sure have changed over the past 20 years. Today, Nintendo’s Wii has Manhunt 2. Back then, you weren’t to use the word “kill.” Even in a non-literal context.

    This and more bizarreness is explained as a former Lucasarts employee details the changes made to Maniac Mansion so that it could be published on Nintendo’s first home console.

    Speaking of which, anyone remember the TV series? I only remember the ads that came on during Family Channel’s reruns of Captain N and the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

21. Wow, ancient Nintendo Power commercial. Prepare to be freaked by MUSCLE MARIO!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. One planet full of Decepticons.

   300 Autobots.

   Or something like that.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Wow, now here’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along often.

   If you’re a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then it may interest you to know that you can now commission TMNT art from Mirage Studios artists Steve Lavigne and Ryan Brown!

2. Thylacine2000 turned my attention to a couple of cool Flash movies, Animator vs. Animation parts one and two.

   Think of this as the modern-day non-DS equivalent of the classic Looney Tune “Duck Amuck.”

3. WebbAlert has a collection of various viral videos up, this week regarding the many versions and spoofs of the whole “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” schtick.
4. Are you skilled enough to land a plane on a moving motorhome? These guys are.
5. Who can you trust when you can’t trust your own colleagues? That’s what CSI: CSI is for.

   On a related note, I don’t have a sandwich at home in my fridge. But I hope that I will… someday.

6. The Rock speaks out about wanting the role of Black Adam in the upcoming movie version of Shazam.

Video Power

1. SOTA has unveiled a new resin statue, this time based on Ibuki from Street Fighter III.
2. Racketboy’s Retrogaming checks out the best modern 2D games for the GameCube, many choices with which I agree, such as The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, among others.
3. Toastyfrog has scored himself a Pimp Daddy Destro (I never knew he was into that), as well as giving Super Mario Galaxy an early review score.

   Not to spoil anything, but from The 1up Show, it seems the game is good enough to drive him to song.

4. Yours truly has gone to the effort of finding out more about Corgi International’s upcoming line of Mario collectibles, and there’s more to come. In the meantime, find out what’s in store (more than the last link I gave about it, promise) over at AMN. And if you can, please Digg. Every little Digg helps.

   Oh, and big thanks to RMC at Go Nintendo for linking to it. You rock, man.

5. Sounds like Nintendo isn’t looking to introduce a new portable any time soon. And who can blame them? DS, prints money, lol, you know the deal.
6. Iwata also goes on to discuss how Nintendo is stronger as a hardware and software provider, and his thoughts on combining gaming and other devices for the sake of “trimming the fat.” Which doesn’t seem to usually go over that well. PSP hasn’t really replaced the iPod, and N-Gage hasn’t replaced anything.
7. So, of course you probably know about this new game coming out, Super Mario Galaxy, which is about Mario in space.

   “What good is a fat Italian plumber in space?” is probably the question asked by a lot of cynics. I haven’t heard anyone ask, but I’m sure it’s out there, and if not, it’ll come up eventually.

   Regardless, I feel that it is important to note that for this outting, Mario has retrieved training from some of the best:

   

   Mario, Nintendo’s iconic video game character, floats with famous astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin (and ZERO-G coaches) in zero-gravity atmosphere to train for his upcoming game set in space, Super Mario Galaxy for Wii on November 03, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game is available in stores Monday, Nov. 12.

   And apparently, the ZERO-G guys and Buzz were all lucky enough to become a part of the Super Mario Galaxy Flight Crew.

8. GameTrailers, after a long and arduous journey, reaches the zenith of their journey with the final part of their Final Fantasy Retrospective.
9. The Mario & Sonic “Airhorn” video is available again, this time at GameTrailers.
10. Part 2 of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Ninja Pro-Am opening is now available, with Shake demonstrate’s the finer points of playing the game.
11. Next Generation takes an exhaustive look at Super Mario Galaxy‘s launch in Japan, plus the fear Japanese gamers have of possibly getting motion-sick from the game.
12. Oh boy. So now Game Daily has a new feature, in which they find stuff people in gaming are saying, and kindly tell them to shut their trap.

    Is it me, or does it seem like every gaming site is on about other gaming sites this week?

13. I guess a question that’s going to be around for awhile is whether or not we’ve hit the uncanny valley yet (granted, it refers to robots, but I imagine it’s about the same in principle for games). No doubt, they’ve been working on it since the gaming industry began, and we’re clearly closer than ever. And yet… well, just how close are we? Games Radar draws up some comparisons for us, featuring photographic stills alongside screenshots.
14. Hate thieves, especially those who steal from people (it’s all bad, though). But I do like happy endings. So I have sort of mixed feelings about this story.
15. Go Nintendo spots a difference between the North American and Japanese versions of Resident Evil 4. You might say it’s very moving.

    But don’t say it’s touching, though. That’d just be wrong.

16. Go Nintendo has a review up of Mega Man ZX Advent. I mention this because, in reading, I find it funny the way “Mega Man” is constantly referred to as a singular entity, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary.

    Not counting evil doubles, we can name two in the Battle Network/Star Force continuity right off the bat. I think I even heard that the former shows up and meets you in the latter if you put a GBA Battle Network game into the DS’s GBA slot.

    Then we have the “main” timeline. There’s the original, and his successor Mega Man X. After that it gets a little questionable; the next series is titles Mega Man Zero, though he’s never, ever called as such within, nor are the Four Guardians (who were based on Mega Man X), though users of the BioMetals in the next series, Mega Man ZX, are referred to as Mega Men (the plural is even used in the original). So there are Vent and Aile, plus Giro and Serpent, and purportedly Pandora and Prometheus, all holding the title of “Mega Man” in that game alone. Then we get to Advent, where Models L, P, F, and H are held by four more individuals, plus the two Model A holders.

    And finally, we have MegaMan Legends, the first game to show more than one Mega Man existing at the same time with MegaMan Volnutt/Trigger and MegaMan Juno.

    So, in total, that’s 23 potential Mega Men, 16 definite, all distinct, save for the recurring use of arm cannons and wearing blue. Really, after the original series, Mega Man has become less of a name and more of a title, sort of like “Green Lantern” or “Power Ranger.” They are legion, and God help if they ever all get into a room together.

    Incidently, one of my favorite art pieces from the 20th Anniversary is this wallpaper, featuring many of the protagonist Mega Men standing together.

    Sorry, RMC (like he’ll ever read this, I’m sure), not trying to rag on you or anything, it’s just a recurring thing I’ve noticed and finally wanted to address.

17. Speaking of Mega Man‘s 20th anniversary, there’s some new Rockman swag to commemorate the occassion.

    I dunno, felt like they went more “all out” on the 15th, especially in America. Still, these look neat, though I much prefer character art than pixel art. Put the above wallpaper on a shirt, and then we’ll be talking!

18. Sounds like Nintendo is trying to make nice and help out third parties more. I wonder how many would accept? It sounds beneficial for all parties involved.
19. Konami has blessed us with a kick-ass website for Contra 4.

    I’m going to be spending a bit of time checking this out later, as it looks to have plenty of good content for the Contra fan.

20. Incidently, Konami used to have a really cool site for Neo Contra, with some fun anecdotes from the developers and such, but it’s no longer there. Since this is specifically a “Contra 4” website, I imagine its days are numbered as well. Is there any way to “save” a website like this, like to disc or something? I’d love to know.
21. 1up’s Matt Leone, Go Nintendo, and now PMO are telling you to give Donkey Kong Jungle Beat a try before Super Mario Galaxy sees release; they were made by the same new team (mostly) of Nintendo’s out of Tokyo, and seem to both be products of quality.
22. Game|Life seems to like Penny Arcade’s take on why GameStop doesn’t care for Eye of Judgement, at least as a product.

    Sadly, it all makes sense, serving to further perpetuate the idea that GameStop is less a specialty store and closer to a specialty pawn shop.

23. Joystiq has coverage of the debate in Philly between Jack Thompson, Oddworld’s Lorne Lanning, and moderated by Newsweek‘s N’Gai Croal.

    And I hate to say this… maybe I was not of sound mind and body when reading this, but Thompson didn’t seem nearly as bad as usual here. And from the lovely Jenn Frank’s account of the matter, it seems that I am not alone in that thinking.

24. I wish my mom still cross-stitched.

    Then again, I wonder if she’d ever do something as cool as that. Of course, once upon a time…

25. Great, now I’m hungry.

    Thanks a LOT, guys!

    Seriously, though, where in the hell is that from?

26. Kotaku has a new feature wherein they ask who the big loseWeight Exerciser of the format war will be: BluRay, HD-DVD, or you.

    Me? I’m just sitting this one out until a victor is declared. Low risk, high reward seems to be the call this day.

27. Hey, remember that part in Back to the Future part III where Marty schools those old west kids in a rousing game of Pac-Gentleman?

    Yeah, me neither. But you know it would’ve been cool.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. A couple of interviews with the visual-effect supervisor for TransFormers: The Movie, Scott Farrar, can be found here.

Video Power

1. Poor Toastyfrog. Evidently, he had to change his feature because some people whined about the whole “perfect 10″ part of the Super Mario Galaxy article he wrote. He also has a new Retronauts podcast available, and it’s (mostly) about Mario!
2. So damn jealous…
3. Want to make your voice heard, and air your views on video games? Well, has AMN got an offer for you…
4. Hey, guess what?! Sony has finally gotten a clue about how to make ads for the PlayStation 3, as you can see here and here.

   I’m still not ready to dive into that one, but at least I don’t have to cringe when the commercials appear on TV now. I rather like the longer one, in fact.

5. Thanks go to Wolf for finding this one. It’s really kind of a no-brainer, but evidence shows that it bears repeating: If there’s a thunderstorm going on, ditch the electronics. This isn’t even a Sony thing; it’s a fluke incident, generally speaking, but it can happen to damn near anything. Don’t risk it.

   Also, surge protectors are a good idea. Unless you own an Xbox 360. Then you’re pretty well screwed no matter what.

6. Game Daily fires back at Mark Wilson’s Kotaku article from yesterday regarding the system of rating and reviewing games.

   Mr. Wilson himself looks at several more here.

7. Nintendo Prez Satoru Iwata has some things to say about first party vs. third party game quality.
8. Games Radar delves deep into ten fashion faux pas of the video game world.

   Just one word to kick off: belts. Because let’s face it, even Batman doesn’t need as many belts as one Square-Enix character.

9. A Halloween idea that only a gaming father could come up with.
10. …what the hell is an “air card?”

    Well, whatever it is, it’s clearly essential to the Spartan mission, and evidently worth punching your mother (plus a cop) over, at least for some people.

    And there we have it. Clear proof that playing videos games doesn’t make people violent. It’s obviously when they STOP playing that the violence kicks in.

11. …whackjob…
12. Ah, Nintendo Power, then and now. And I enjoy it just about (I’m guessing, I never really kept track) as much now as I did then.

    It’s just somewhere in between that things went to hell for a few years. But I’d say they’ve adapted well to the growing age of the interweb.

13. Hmm, Super Mario Galaxy in Newsday? I don’t even know what a Newsday is or where you get one, but I assume it’s fairly mainstream, which makes me happy to see Mario’s presence there again.
14. Team Awesome is aptly named, and that’s why I’ve added them to my YouTube subscriptions. You might remember them as the entrants in the Nintendo Short Cuts contest who made Von Kaiser my favorite Punch-Out!! character.

    Now, they’re back, and instead of making something my favorite, they’ve tackled one of my favorites with their excellent awesome Contra trailer.

15. Luigi and Daisy do a little fencing.

    Admit it, you want him to be all like Antonio Banderas and go “Zorro” on her.

16. Ok, so this swag, I’m not quite as upset over, on account of the fact that you’d probably have to be in Germany to get it, and the likelyhood of me making it is pretty small.

    Still, I like the shirt. The other thing on the lanyard, I don’t even know what that is, so.

    Careful if you click the first link, though, as beyond the first couple of pics lie spoilers.

17. Seems there’s a new Wii Sports commercial down under. I probably wouldn’t even link something like this normally, except I think it does a nice job of capturing the spirit of playing the game.
18. Speaking of things I normally wouldn’t care to report…

    “Next week?s sales figures (for Super Mario Galaxy) better be pretty good, or else you?ll have to deal with me!”

    Raw Meat Cowboy running rampant over rowdy rascals in Japan? Hell, I might even pay to see that.

19. The first look at Corgi International’s Mario collectibles can now be seen over at Destructoid.

    They look pretty spiff, and ought to be available in December, at least in the UK. Wonder how much?

20. D-toid also notes that the aforementioned Super Mario Galaxy Christmas decorations are due to hit GameStop next week, and the stockings will retail at $14.99 each, with the ornament going for $9.99.

    Hope they come here. Hope they’re at that price. Hell, I hope I’ll have money to get them.

    (Hey, a red stocking and a black stocking. That’s perfect for the wife and I!)

21. …yeah, and as I’m checking Destructoid for news, I wind up hitting the spoiler for who the other playable character in Super Mario Galaxy is. It’s not a huge spoiler, I kind of suspected it anyway, but I really would’ve liked to have found out on my own.

    I think I’m going to blacklist the site now, just to be safe. Most other sites had the courtesy to put it behind a jump; I’d rather not take the chance that their different standards might spoil something a little more major next time. Pity, I only just started going there, and was enjoying it, too.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Issue 2 of the Beast Wars Sourcebook hits stores this week, and writer Simon Furman issues an interesting challenge to readers with a keen eye, to see if they can tell who (between himself and Ben Yee) wrote which entries.
2. Mastercollector has a new item available, which I’ve seen variants of around: stands to make your Seekers look like they’re flying!

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Caution: naughty language is afoot in the following. Maddox has added a new article in which he targets women’s fashion, hitting a few notes I do tend to agree with myself, but never thought to actually say anything about.
2. And in related news… yeah, y’know what? I can’t even watch this without feeling wrong, ABC News or not.

   I dunno, with women, I find “sexy but modest” to be better than “shouldn’t you be wearing a black plastic bag over that?” Needless to say, other than the “sexy” part, that goes double, triple, or more for young girls. Nothing worse than wondering if someone’s going to call the FBI because you cast a stray glance at what looks like a preteen hooker.

   Here’s a better title for the book mentioned: Stop Baiting Pedophiles.

3. The ultimate showdown: fighter jet vs. car.

Video Power

1. Well, this is just wonderful. shinkuu just brought word that GamePro has hopped on the “Nintendo Seal” hatewagon.

   I think it’s rubbish, and I dare say that it aspires to a broader form of censorship. But issues of “good” or “bad” are more subjective than say, ESRB rating of content, where you know that “damn” is a curse word and if a woman is topless, it’s considered nudity. I know a lot of people love Resident Evil. Me, I like them, progressively so, but I’m not very good at them. Let’s look at the first one. I think the earlier Resident Evils control like tanks, and the voice acting in the first was atrocious. So perhaps going by such personal assessments as that, Resident Evil should not have been made.

   Now, if I’d been making such a call, I imagine that a lot of people could be upset that the game never came out, all based on pure subjectivity. And of course, that could potentially have caused later games not to have been made as well. Wouldn’t it suck if we never got Resident Evil 4 because the first one had some pretty bad qualities by comparison?

   And really, I think it’s safe to say that EVERY game is disliked by someone. Every game may or may not be someone’s favorite, but even Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and Metroid Prime are disliked by people. Some people like games like Sonic Adventure or Sonic and the Secret Rings or Sonic Rush, others don’t. Some like some, others don’t, all based on various qualities. Even if someone says a game is “bad,” what right have they to deny it sale? Someone else may like it.

   And really, I would think that a video game magazine should be the LAST place we see this kind of complaint, since so often it’s a part of that publication’s JOB to review games and tell people what they think is good and bad about them, and whether or not it’s worth a purchase or even a rental. To me, it sounds like they’re tired of doing their jobs, and maybe they should find other work if that’s the case.

   No system is ever going to have a flawless track record of perfect games, and it’d be naive to think so. Not even the Wii. And compared to the problems listed for the other systems, it feels like they’re grasping at straws.

   While I’d love it if every game I touched would be something I could enjoy for hours on end (in spite of my bank account’s protests), that’s just not realistic. Different qualities mean different things to different people; that’s what makes us human, and there is no way any kind of seal or lack thereof can represent that.

2. …beyond my rant, most of the feature is pretty decent otherwise.
3. Capcom’s Bionic Commando website has a new podcast available from producer Ben Judd. Within, he discusses:

   - his memories of the original Bionic Commando- how he got started at Capcom Japan and how he became a producer

   - why he wants to bring back the Bionic Commando franchise

   - the advantages and disadvantages of bringing back old franchises in games and movies, and the challenges surrounding this kind of move

   - whether games are art or not, and if they can make you cry

   - about designing and creating the new BC game, and the cultural conflicts in that

   - killing a bum, just to watch him die.

   Should be a blast. Except I still can’t get the site to load. Does anyone else have this problem?

4. I keep hearing all these great things about Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night for the GBA. Maybe I ought to check it out sometime.
5. Gamasutra caught up to Castlevania dungeon master Koji Igarashi at the GameStop Expo, and asked him some questions about 2D gaming, and why he’d attend such an event.
6. This Halo video? Very cool.

   If this were what a Halo movie were like, I think they could put my name on a ticket.

7. The Angry Video Game Nerd is back, in an all-new Halloween Special!
8. Those wacky Raving Rabbids have a new video that shows off their latest DS title.

   Which is good and all, but I want more “around the world” vids.

   In the meantime, GameSpot has a Q&A going on.

9. Not that I dislike the new Ratchet and Clank Future commercial, but damn… why’d you have to stop with the “real-life gadgets” bit, Sony?
10. Don’t see this too often, I suppose: Q&A with Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov.
11. So Manhunt 2 is finally upon us, after all that controversy and chaos. How’d it do?
12. The Simpsons Game is here, too, but is it more “d’oh!” or “woo-hoo!”?
13. IGN’s Top 10 Tuesday presents: Best Gamer Apparel.

    Frankly, it takes to 6 before I perk up, though 9 is mildly amusing. 5 on up are pretty good, but I’ve seen better stuff not mentioned.

14. Next Generation has a new feature about the history of touching in video games… which goes back a little further than the DS, and is “a concept that must be grasped if videogames want to become truly mainstream.”
15. Games Radar asks if Mario Kart, among other titles, have lost their style.

    While I agree that Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was different in that regard, the vehicles didn’t strike me as bad, and what’s more, it’s the only title in the series not to feature traditional go-karts. It looks like even the Wii title may have some variation on the traditional, alongside the more zany, and of course, the motorcycles.

16. Game|Life takes a thorough look at how protests make games sell better.
17. A neat new site known as Retro Game Video has gone live, and here’s the press release from Destructoid:

    RETRO GAME VIDEOS OFFICIALLY GOES LIVE

    After months of beta testing and site feedback, RetroGameVideos.com has officially gone live. Retro Game Videos (RGV) is dedicated to keeping the memories of our video game past alive by offering a wide selection of genres. Everything from gameplay to commercials is at RGV which now hosts nearly 200 videos and is growing more everyday.

    About Retro Game Videos -

    Retro Game Videos is dedicated to the good old times, when console wars were fought by stout plumbers and speedy hedgehogs, when terms like dynamic shadowing and bump-mapping carried a mythological context. This is what RGV is all about. RGV hosts a growing number of user submitted videos – all related to retro video games. Nothing modern allowed. RGV has everything from speed-runs to the cheesiest game commercials – all submitted by our community, it’s all here. So take a trip down memory lane and witness the largest Web site dedicated totally to old school gaming.

    Sounds cool. The first thing I found was this video of Popeye for the NES; I never got past the first level, so seeing this guy whiz through was pretty cool.

18. Finally, fellow Penny Arcade Forum dweller Mntorankusu has created a Flash mock-up of the level creator for Super Smash Bros. Brawl that was unveiled Monday. It may not be 100% accurate, but may still be good for practice until the real deal hits in February.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Galleries galore! Remy has a new one for Energon Power Mode Convoy (Optimus Primal), while the Allspark has new collections for Masterpiece Starscream, Movie Dropkick, Binaltech (Alternators) Rijie (Mirage), Movie Armorhide, Beast Wars II Dirge, Movie Air Raid, Movie Elita-1, Beast Wars II Thrust, BotCon ’97 Packrat and Fractyl, Energon Ultra Magnus, Binaltech Asterick 01 Alert (Red Alert), Binaltech Asterick 02 Sunstreaker, and Beast Wars Neo Hydra. Whew!
2. Reprolabels has some new stickers to trick out your toys.
3. Looks like TransFormers: The Movie has been transformed between the theatrical and DVD releases to include more product placement.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Oh, Fox, you silly bastards. Do you really think that people can’t tell your news station from a cartoon parody?

   Insert obvious jokes here.

2. Family Guy wants to rock.
3. IGN Anime has begun a new feature wherein they index characters from anime and manga.

Video Power

1. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this before, but it came as a surprise to me that Nintendo and Hal Labs were once working on a Kirby game for GameCube that looks a lot like Super Smash Bros. Melee, and is possibly a part of why the Kirby franchise has a stronger showing in Brawl than previous iterations.
2. While some are calling for Duck Hunt from the NES to appear on Wii’s Virtual Console, I think I might rather see the arcade version, with its bonus stage and breaktime cartoon. Then again, the NES has its perks, too, I suppose.

   Just the same, Nintendo’s old arcade games were usually superior or different enough from the home versions that it still drives me crazy that we have to deal with watered-down versions of Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. And with NeoGeo and TurboCD added, you can’t convince me that Nintendo couldn’t add arcade games in some fashion.

3. Speaking of Duck Hunt, seems that Master Chief has decided to try his hand at it.
4. This is just funky: Vegeta’s Final Flash to the music from Gangplank Galleon in Donkey Kong Country.

   What’s scary is how well it synchs up.

5. Press The Buttons reveals that Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP may have more secrets than they’ve been letting on.
6. Continuing his series of stunning video game artwork, Racketboy has turned his retro-gaming eye now to Darkstalkers, just in time for Halloween!
7. Wow, it’s like everyone wants a single, unified console format now. Doubt it’ll happen. Especially with Nintendo’s new strategy.

   I’m not even sure I’d want it to. PS2′s carried a notoriety for breaking down, and Xbox 360 trumps that tenfold (by my guess), if either of them were in charge of making it…

   Granted, I’ve always thought it’d be a good idea, to only need one system to play any game you want on, but…

8. Brain Age: helping children learn and play better.
9. I’m no sports fan, but the name Double Dribble still stirs up memories of a simpler time, and ScrewAttack takes us back to see it once again.
10. GameTrailers has an in-depth interview for Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.
11. The San Francisco Chronicle got to spend a little time with Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who talks about things such as the whole “Wii is a fad” thing being overblown, and wondering the same thing I did when I first saw Little Big Planet: “What’s this doing on a Sony system?”
12. Next Gen has a new feature wherein it seems that arcades are doing a little better these days. And I for one am VERY happy by that, even if they aren’t to the level they once were.

    I still think that arcades are viable, even for new releases, in much the same way that movies still come to theaters, even though the real money is in DVD sales. It seems mostly a way to help build hype, and I think a similar model could work here.

13. Oh shudder, oh horror! GameDaily sees fit to punish mankind for some reason by rewinding and reminding us of all The Simpsons past video gaming attrocities (save a few).

    C’mon, give us console ports of the arcade game and Virtual Springfield, stat!

14. Games Radar presents the top 7 worst jobs for game characters.
15. Stuff magazine has a look at the Top 10 most gratifying moments in video games.

    I really need to jump that flagpole one of these days.

16. Now THIS is a freakin’ awesome Mario pumpkin, that looks great lit up OR in plain daylight. Way too cool.

    Of course, “Halo-ween” isn’t bad, either.

17. Ah, used games. Frankly, for the prices they tend to go for, I just go for new, unless I can’t find new copies. Then I don’t need to worry about condition, the box, the booklet, or any of that stuff. And with some companies, I get the stuff that lets me register for goodies or whatever. Though Nintendo has really dropped away from doing that as much in recent.

    Rentals… I’d rent more, but that stuff’s getting damn expensive. Nearly 10 bucks for a 3-day rental around here on a new release. And often, Blockbuster doesn’t even get a lot of the games I want, anyway.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Ever want to learn more about the Cybertronian martial arts? Now’s your chance!

   Thanks to Frash for the link.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Loading.Ready.Run. presents: Trick or DOOM, featuring Canada Man!

   One double-double of asskicking, coming right up!

2. And to think that there are those who would say that G4 isn’t entertaining any more.

   Seriously, what IS with abbreviations lately? Have people just gotten lazy?

3. This is just wrong. Is it me, or does customer service these days seem either completely indecent, ignorant of policy, or simply require on-air, widely-publicized “uh-oh” moments before they’ll do the right thing?

Video Power

1. Racketboy’s Retrogaming takes another look at how to maximize your game room, this time with chairs, sofas, and beanbags.
2. AMN has a neat feature that looks back at the early goings of the Nintendo/SEGA war of the 80s and 90s. Given the state of affairs today, it’s interesting to look back at how things once were.
3. An interesting piece on Team Ninja’s Tomonobu Itagaki, wherein he has nothing but praise for the ratings boards, of which he says he does not feel censored by.
4. Will Wright recently had an interview wherein he says that Wii is the only next generation system he sees.

   The full interview contains more from him, but in the end, he still favors the PC mouse over all other input.

5. For making Bungie laugh, they’ve decided to award some fans some exclusive Recon armor.

   But is it traffic cone proof?

   Both lucky players will now find that Recon is a useable armor perm next time they log into Halo 3 and for the rest of you don’t bother asking us for it. We’ll give it out based on good deeds and valuable community service and occasionally because they make us laugh, as seen above. There will be plenty of occasions and reasons to get it. PM-ing and emailing us will not make any difference. But play nice and be a good sport and who knows?

   Pretty cool of them.

6. ScrewAttack.com looks back at Skeleton Warriors, while GameTrailers continues their Final Fantasy Retrospective.
7. IGN is featuring cosplay now, and you can be a part!
8. Now that Death Note has begun airing in America and Canada, it’s only fitting that those who need help figuring out what’s what check out IGN’s Reader’s Guide. And for those who haven’t seen it yet, a trailer is included, too.
9. GameDaily looks at ten reasons Mario games never get old.

   The first reason is one I’ve always dug.

10. A plus Xbox 360? Who could resist?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Chapter 15 of the Binaltech TransFormers saga from Japan (Alternators in the US) is now available in translated form, and could be the end of that story as we know it.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Do not let zombies catch you unaware.

Video Power

1. When hunting for a new memory card, make sure you can spot a fake.
2. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, Nintendo VP of Marketing Perrin Kaplan had some interesting things to say in defense of the Nintendo Seal of Quality against EGM, and thoughts on seeing Club Nintendo in America.

   C’mon, dammit! TINGLE’S BALLOON FIGHT!

3. Crap, I completely forgot about the Contra 4 character design contest. Neat winner, though.

   You can see the top 20 finalists for yourself here.

4. Last week, GameDaily took a look at Gaming’s Baddest Bosses, now they’re checking out their minions.
5. Sure, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 is looking good and has an impressive roster, but these ten superstars would make it all just a bit better.
6. SEGA has opened up their new website for NiGHTS: Journey Into Dreams. Check it out!
7. Think I’ve posted this before, but what the hell, it’s good. Mr. Rogers and Donkey Kong, together at last.

   And God forgive me, but listening to him in this clip, I can’t help but think of that one guy with the brown mustache from Family Guy. I am really, truly sorry for that.

8. This is just too out there not to pass on: the creator of Earthbound as a judge on Iron Chef.
9. GGL has a video interview with Castlevania Producer Koji Igarashi.
10. More Iwata Asks discusses Super Mario Galaxy.
11. Happy second anniversary, Game|Life!
12. Looks like Mega Man finally beat Pumpkinman.

    You get: lit up.

13. Mike Tyson’s Brunch-Out.

    I dunno, I thought it was mildly amusing, but everyone seems to be loving it and linking to it, so hopefully some of you will get some guffaws from it.

14. 1up’s Super Jenn Frank got her hands on Arcade Attack, a movie with more 80s than you can handle and perhaps more crazy than is safe to handle without a sedative in your system.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Video Power

1. Huh, I never once gave thought to the possibility of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Miis.

   Now I have to try it.

2. Game Informer has a two-part interview with Bionic Commando Producer Ben Judd, which you can see right through here.

   Capcom adds: Besides talking about Bionic Commando, Ben actually shares his non-traditional path into the gaming industry, which may be of particular interest to many of you, since one of the most common questions we often get is, ?How do I get a job in the gaming industry??

3. Huh, I thought he did this already. Well, anyway, whether you’ve collected the console or just waiting for them on Wii, Racketboy has got the cheapest TurboGrafx-16 games worth your time.
4. A new viral video has surfaced for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, this one involving a… sprinkler?

   Oh, it’s ON now.

5. ScrewAttack looks back at E for All 2007 with what they felt were the best and the worst parts of the show.
6. Wow, Nolan Bushnell is on a roll lately, isn’t he? First he sums up today’s gaming as “unadulterated trash,” and now he’s zeroing in on Grand Theft Auto and Doom.

   He does speak highly of the Wii, however.

7. Um… ok. So Games Radar is celebrating National Breast Cancer Month. That’s cool.

   The way they’re doing it? See if you can guess who’s boobs belong to who.

8. An interesting debate regarding the holiday console war from purportedly possibly clueless sources on MSNBC.
9. Zero Punctuation delivers a funny review of Super Paper Mario.

   I am inclined to agree on many points, as I did overall like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door better.

10. Yeah, I don’t even want to touch this, figuratively OR literally. I think I’m just going to step back and clear away from this genital junction.
11. Now why didn’t I see this pumpkin coming sooner?
12. So FHM asks the burning question:

    Why should a gamer pick up Aqua Teen over Assassin?s Creed or Halo 3?

    Because they?re stupid? We can?t compete with Halo 3. Give me a break.

    It’s the honesty that’s refreshing. He also discusses the best way to play, but I think that applies to the adults only.

13. Sharkey is back, and this time he takes us on a trip to discover the best, worst Atari ads ever.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Some new concept art of Trans-Scanning Bumblebee have surfaced, in case you wanted a better idea of what’s in store.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Ever wonder how to survive a horror movie?

   Well, yes, not being an idiot helps. But for further advice, the creator of the new CBS comedy/horror webseries gives IGN some tips.

2. Wired has a feature in their latest issue, as well as online, that is a “graphic guide” (i.e. comic) to how manga conquered the US.

Video Power

1. Costume ideas for gamers and more from E for All 2007 in this edition of Samsung’s GameOne.
2. Counting down to Halloween, IGN presents the ten goriest deaths in gaming, featuring one of my favorites from the NES days at #10.
3. To celebrate the release of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, GameDaily has created a Retro Rewind to look back at the long and storied war of the Belmonts and their allies against the evil forces of Dracula.
4. What if Sony or Microsoft made Super Smash Bros.?

   Well, for one thing, that probably wouldn’t be a title unless it was some odd effort to make fun of Nintendo’s mascot. Anyway, Games Radar speculates a little on what the end product might be like.

   And hey, who knows? There’s always a chance someone at either company could copycat the game.

5. One of these days, I really, really, REALLY need to get Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

   As it turns out, this Back to the Future mod makes a VERY compelling case for the PC version.

   This reminds me of my idea for a modern Back To The Future game. I ought to get that article written one of these days.

6. Not to be left out, Joystiq interviews Koji Igarashi, Castlevania Producer!
7. Joystiq also gets some interview time in with Rygar‘s Keisuke Kikuchi.
8. Wicked Zelda, Wario, and Bowser pumpkins.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”