1. Oh my God! That man is beating up those two kids!

   Can they hope to turn this around?!

2. A nice tribute to the 80′s, even if some parts are a little factually off (GI Joe ran a lot longer than that).

   Also: needs more Silverhawks.

3. Just what are the ten best video game remakes? That is indeed the question posed here, and the answers will vary depending on who you turn to.

   I didn’t even know that Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland was a remake, and that makes it more enticing to me.

   Super Mario All-Stars, I would love to see remade. That’s right, a remake of a remake. Take it to the next level, and bring us the classics with the technology of today.

   In addition to Matt’s comments, I feel that Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X belongs as well, taking an excellent game, adding some new polish, mixing a few things up for spice, cohesion, and tension, adding a more integrated story, and best of all, a new playable character in the fan-favorite Vile, whose path through the game resembles X’s only in looks, but with its own brilliantly brutal touches.

   Looking at many of these, as well as Super Mario 64 DS, it leads me to wonder if that talked-about remake of Donkey Kong 64 for the DS might be enough of an improvement to make it worth another look.

4. So, maybe you think the Virtual Console is a good idea, but the state of some games, and the unpredictable releases don’t mesh well with your retrogaming needs. You want the genuine article, and to play the games you want, when you want.

   As far as the NES goes, there are clones of the system available, but… which is the best for you?

5. o/~ It’s (not) The Final Countdown~!

   GameTrailers pulls out another Top 10, this time looking at the best comic book games.

   Kudos to the GT crew for remembering that the Ninja Turtles count as comic book characters, even though the arcade games were based more on the old toon.

   Now, if we can just get X-Men arcade, Turtles in Time, and The Punisher as downloadables…

6. ScrewAttack.com’s Video Game Vault decides to raise a little… uh… act, as they look back at Actraiser for the Super NES, now available on the Virtual Console.

   I always loved the way the guy carries his sword…

7. Final Fantasy is all about contradicting itself, it seems. For example, take the name. “Final” Fantasy. As we all know, Square named it as such because it was thought to be the company’s last game, and it turned out to be far from it, creating something of a paradox.

   “But,” one might suggest, “with each game a story unto itself and unrelated to any other chapter in the series, there is still some sense of finality to each game.”

   And, in most cases, one would be right. But leave it to the most impactful game of the series, Final Fantasy VII as covered in part 5 of GameTrailers’ retrospective, to be contradictory to that as well, as it has ventured off into other directions that keep the story going, and perhaps will continue to do so for another 10 years.

8. Only one thought comes to mind upon viewing this game: “Holy crap.“
9. Shigeru Miyamoto tells Weekly Famitsu that “games should feel like games”, and that a game doesn’t need to be difficult in order to be a good time.

   YES, thank you!! The second throwing your controller at the wall seems like a good idea (especially if you’re one to act on it), that’s when it becomes a bit much, I think.

10. Next Generation has culled together a piece that looks at the 30 defining moments in gaming.

    It’s a pretty good overview of things from the hobby’s humble beginnings to when “Wii” didn’t sound so silly any more.

    What’s your defining moment in gaming? I’ve always enjoyed it, but I think first trying Super Mario Bros. literally changed my life.

11. There are ten things that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo won’t tell you that your console can do, and they don’t even involve playing games.

    What are they? Orb has the answers.

12. Sounds like The King of Kong might be worth seeing…

    You can see a clip of it here.

    …wow. Um… yeah, this guy’s got the whole thing figured out, doesn’t he?

13. Destructoid takes on the indy game-music band The Minibosses in a special interview.
14. Ah, weapons. Your best friend in many a game. And in many a game, your best friend turns out to be almost as strange as your best friend in real life.

    But what are the best? Games.net explores this to find out the top ten unconventional weapons in gaming.

    It’s somehow amazing that the top two aren’t reversed… though maybe I’m thinking more in terms of just being peculiar than being peculiar AND effective.

15. This is interesting.

    So a kid saves his dad’s life. What does he want in return?

    A PlayStation 3.

    I just wonder, was it offered, or what? It leads to other questions, like: what does the kid do if his dad can’t afford a PS3? Throw him in front of it?

    Yeah, I actually think about this stuff.

16. South Park season 10 will be on DVD very soon, and Kotaku managed to get a neat clip featuring some commentary for the “Make Love, Not Warcraft” episode, as well as some other comments regarding the Wii and atheism. Be sure to check it out!

    And don’t forget, the DVD set comes with a free trial of throwing your life away!

17. Camp Hyrule is back?!

    Crap! Why didn’t I see any sort of notices?!

18. Well, I guess this is one way to voice your hate for the system of your choice.

    And at 13 years of age, too. This boy has a bright future ahead of him… that is, assuming the guard remembers to change the lights in his cell.

19. As cool as this tattoo is, I don’t think I could do it. I’d probably go a much simpler route, like a Poison Mushroom on my arm or something.

    Or an Autobot symbol. Maybe with Maximal on the other arm.

20. David Jaffe, of God of War fame.

    Uwe Boll, of… well, bad video game movie fame.

    When worlds collide…

21. Happy Birthday, Leisure Suit Larry!

    Sorry it hasn’t worked out better for you.

Sheesh, miss one Weekend Wrap-Up after a slow week, and next thing I know, I’m up ’til 7:30 in the morning. What a world…

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Rock on, LittleKuriboh!

   I hope he tells us how it went over.

2. DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN AS YOUR LAWYER!

   RIP, Phil Hartman.

3. It’s The Thwomps, and they’re starring in their very own movie!

   Be sure to check out The Thwomps episodes 1-3, as well as the other neat works by Psycosis91 on Newgrounds! Just check the drop-down menu on the bottom-left.

4. GameTrailers has an interview with Phoenix Wright‘s Executive Producer, Minae Matsukawa, who talks a little bit about the series’ success.
5. Game Daily has a few ideas for characters to join Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

   Cranky Kong, I’ve been down with since before Brawl was ever announced. Make him the “old master” type who looks feeble, but can totally whomp you, like Splinter or Roshi, or even Miyagi.

   ROB would be interesting, though they seem to have forgotten his appearance in Mario Kart DS.

   Waluigi rocks, ’nuff said. Wario could use the back-up, besides.

   And Cyborg Ninja and Little Mac are naturals.

6. Some things just never change. And Games Radar knows it, too, with their list of games that haven’t changed in 10 years.

   Surprisingly, no Mega Man.

7. Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi plays a little game with the EGM staff. Funny stuff.
8. So, how was the Postal premiere in San Francisco the other night? Game|Life has the scoop.

   Not to be left out, 1up’s Jenn Frank, Sam Kennedy, and Patrick Klepek bore witness to Boll’s baby as well.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. This Kefka cosplayer is something else. And he hates you.

   Here’s more, and he hates you for watching that, too.

2. Continuing the countdown to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, GameTrailers presents part 3 of 5 of their Metroid Retrospective, and it’s just Prime.

   …and Echoes.

3. “Better than real baseball,” ScrewAttack.com opens their vault for RBI Baseball for the NES.

   Really, though, what isn’t better than real baseball? Especially when there’s crap like this going down?

   Seriously, never thought I’d see the day when fans would run the other way from a baseball going into the stands…

4. Been playing too much Pokemon? Best to be sure.

   And speaking of Pokemon, if you love yours, make sure that you give it a fitting name.

5. Are these the stupidest peripherals ever?

   While I’m not sure how long a “Piss Screen” race would last (and God help you if you had to “pause”), the “GameBike” Lose Weight Exercise bike doesn’t seem so bad; I never liked real Lose Weight Exercise bikes in the first place because it felt like going nowhere fast.

6. Go Nintendo asks, “why isn’t Chibi-Robo getting a chance?”

   Nintendo hasn’t shed any light on the issue… who knows, though? Maybe this is a sort of trial run, a first-printing thing? Hard to say. I’m just hoping that I might be able to get my hands on it, since Canadian Wal-Marts aren’t well known for getting Wal-Mart exclusives.

7. Still haven’t had enough of Inafune in New York? Destructoid has you covered, with quite the photo gallery.

   Sure, they and everyone else who went will probably harp all over Star Force later, but for now, it’s Inafune!

   Gotta admit, the cosplayer was a neat touch.

8. In related news, the poll at Capcom of Japan’s website has concluded, with Wii as the definite winner. Shame this doesn’t mean much of anything more than gamers wanting Mega Man to appear on the Wii.
9. How to tell if the XBox 360 you’re looking at buying has an HDMI port.

   Makes sense to me.

10. Wow, Left Behind is just the game I’d want to receive if I were stationed in Iraq.

    Is this supposed to be a “Jesus loves you anyway” sort of deal?

11. Sonic wants to bring you popcorn, but the EVIL Dr. Eggman seeks to thwart his efforts!

    Will snacktime goodness prevail and hunger be vanquished, or… say, I wonder what happens if you loseWeight Exercise?

12. And finally, courtesy of the Mrs., we have the Atari 2600 Label Maker, a program which allows you to turn any image into an Atari 2600 game, like so:
    

    You can find many more examples at Talking Time.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. It’s always a trip to see voice actors applying their trade, creating voices that just don’t look like they should be coming from their mouths.

   Case in point: Family Guy.

   For reference, the finished product to one of the segments.

2. Matt over at Press The Buttons has dug up something interesting: The Powerpak Compact Flash System.

   Basically, what this does is allow you to compress your collection of NES games into one unit for use on your NES. Of course, you need a CompactFlash card and legally acquired NES ROMs (for games you own; don’t be a cheapass), and you’re all set!

   Of course, this could provide some murky questions, such as “if I download the game on my Virtual Console, then can I legally use the ROM?” Not that you’d really need or want to, except in only the most specific instances (say, a game whose old passwords don’t work on the VC version).

   Anyway, it’s an intriguing but pricey device, and as pointed out, might make the homebrew experience more fun, at least.

3. Racketboy looks at the wide world of retro-imports, starting with the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive and the Game Genie.
4. IGN’s Top Ten Tuesday brings to us their Top Ten 8-Bit Soundtracks.

   It’s a pretty solid list, and if there are any you’ve not played, they’ve even taken the courtesy of providing samples for you to listen to. I wouldn’t normally even consider Blades of Steel, but Konami’s pedigree is enough for me there, and the sample clinches it.

5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is said to be the first big “hardcore” game for the Wii. Have they failed to promote it as such?
6. Yet more piracy pics of GameCube games being packaged for Wii use.

   I have to admit, the multi-games would be an enticing idea for a real release; the ones here, not so much, for the reasons disclosed at the bottom of the piece.

   But if Nintendo released Mario Party 4, 5, and 6 at a budget price, I think I could go for that.

7. Wii parties have become something of a growing trend, and one developers haven’t been quick to stifle with their releases, to the chagrin of the “hardcore.”

   As a result of this, Nintendo and Evite.com have gotten together to help people plan out their Wii parties a little more easily.

8. This is handy. Not sure what the differences are between the PSP and the PSP Slim? How about some side-by-side comparison shots?

   …I’m good, thanks.

9. Inafune hit New York a couple of days ago, and Kotaku got the fun on tape.

   Everyone seems to like the last kid, he’s hardcore.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. The Angry Video Game Nerd is back, and he’s here to celebrate Bugs Bunny’s Birthday.

   But is this bash a blowout, or does it just blow?

   Actually, I have no idea how time has treated it, but I enjoyed it on a rental as a kid. Even beat the game, too.

   Also, check out the trailer for the video.

2. Before there were TransFormers, there were… Diaclone! And thanks to Frash, we’ve got some old Diaclone commercials lined up here.

   Before he was Optimus Prime, he was… Convoy!

   And everyone’s favorite cool-bot Jazz had his own spot.

   Be careful of what you keep in your bedroom, because you never know when it may come alive!

   …why the hell does the kid have a gun in his drawer in the first place?

   One of my old favorites has to be Powered Convoy, better known to folks here as “Ultra Magnus.”

   Shame we never got this one: FORTRESS X.

   Plastic Fetish has many more where those came from, too.

3. If you bought the TransFormers: Generation 1 DVD sets from Rhino, you might have noticed some… strangeness. Rest assured, it isn’t you.

   Turns out, Rhino wound up touching up the wrong footage from the cartoon, leading to all sorts of crazy errors. And thanks to Grimbot, you can compare many of them here from episodes such as Fire on the Mountain, and War of the Dinobots.

4. In the early goings, a lot of people didn’t like what they were seeing for the TransFormers: The Movie designs.

   As it happens, Optimus Prime was one of them.

   Some time later, images revealed the look of the new TransFormers: Animated show.

   And then things got worse.

5. GameDaily checks out 25 upcoming DS games that are lookin’ good.
6. This is a cool custom Wii, Yoshi style, and it’s yours for the bidding!
7. Go Nintendo has scored some images from Nintendo of Super Mario Galaxy’s logo and boxart, and new character art from Mario Party DS, too.
8. Oh, GameStop… is there any low you won’t stoop to?

   Then again… I don’t know. If it’s made known that a Cube controller is required, and since the games DO work on the Wii, and if there isn’t any absurd markup (well, any more than usual), is it really that bad? They might be getting some people with Wiis to look at games that they may not have otherwise considered.

   I’m a little conflicted on this.

9. Keiji Inafune was in New York yesterday to celebrate the launch of the 20th Anniversary Mega Man title, MegaMan Star Force, and among others, Kotaku was there to greet him.
10. I’m… really not sure what’s going on here, but at least it looks fun!

    Snoopy and Sonic, where can you go wrong?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. LittleKuriboh is at it again! I thought that YouTube had kicked him off or something, but apparently that isn’t the case, as he has shown up with Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series, episode 23, wherein we discover a STARTLING secret about… well, that’d be telling, now wouldn’t it?
2. In what amounts to a colossal ball of head-scratching weirdness, the Angriest Gamer you’ve ever seen teams up with Captain… S? to save… Christmas?

   The whole thing can be seen here at no charge to you! All in the spirit of giving, I guess.

3. A little tribute to one of my favorite Raul Julia films… Street Fighter!

   Some say the role killed the man. I say the man did such justice to the role that he was able to ascend to a greater place.

   Seriously, his Bison was awesome.

4. On the subject of video game movies which have “questionable value for appreciation” (i.e. all of them, I suppose), one cannot forget the first movie of the type, Super Mario Bros., and a gent by the name of Phlibbit has indeed not forgotten at all.

   It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I’m a fan of the movie, though just why may still mystify them just the same. Truth be told, I figured that I was one of the biggest fans of the movie that I know, but it seems that there are indeed bigger. In fact, I dare say by virtue of his site, Super Mario Bros. The Movie Archive, that he probably knows more about this particular film than most. There is still a lack of content right now, but if he manages to fill this thing out, then I for one will be most impressed, as there seems to be a lot of stuff out there for this movie that I didn’t even know existed.

   In the meantime, you can check out some production sketches and storyboards, some nice jewels of the collection. And when you’ve finished that, you can check out this incredibly rare “Making of” featurette that came from a videotape in the PAL territories.

   Also on YouTube is this trailer for the movie that I don’t remember ever seeing… the ones that stick out in my mind most had “Jump!” playing…

   And finally, on this topic, Mario Mario himself, Bob Hoskins, held an interview with UK paper The Guardian in which the film surprisingly came up:

   “The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a ****in’ nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! ****in’ nightmare. ****in’ idiots.”

   Fond memories, as you can see.

   Whether or not this means he hates the movie or the characters as a result, hard to say. I’d be a little apprehensive about asking, personally.

5. On the subject of Mario, someone added him, and his brother, to Mugen in complete with original sprites. It’s kind of neat to watch, but as with most Mugen, a trainwreck to listen to. Oh, and the intro to the video takes up a third of the running time. Brilliant move, that one.
6. I saw this on Family Guy the other night, and had to hunt down the clip.

   The second part is where I crack up.

7. From Igo SplashMan, a company called “Original Characters” has an interesting message geared towards making sure you buy original games, rather than pirating wares.

   Just beware of the midget… he looks a little “frisky.”

8. GameTrailers has added part IV of their Final Fantasy Retrospective to their site.

   Yep, part IV. I’ve been a bit remiss in not posting about it, but even though I’m not a huge Final Fantasy fan, it has been an entertaining bit of education in video game history.

   For those wondering, part I covers the first game, II the second and third, and III the fourth and fifth, with IV tackling Final Fantasy 6 and next week’s delving into VII.

9. ScrewAttack.com opens up the Vault again for one of my old favorites, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game. I still need to get the arcade version on XBox Live.

   He says the game has two buttons, “punch and kick.” Don’t know what he’s playing, but the TMNT arcade-style games always had jump and attack; the Turtles never punched anything, using their weapons, and only occassionally threw out a kick, save for jump kicks.

   Says it’s coming soon to Virtual Console, but does he mean the arcade version he just spoke of, or the NES version? The latter makes more sense, but I don’t think I’ve heard anything on either, so…

10. “Better late than never,” or so they say.

    Ever since Zelda: Twilight Princess was announced for the Wii, people have created their own mock-ups of attachments and controllers themed around the game to work for Nintendo’s latest console, but it seemed that despite an endless array of accessories and attachments, some even loosely themed as to be workable with the title, nothing true-to-Hylian-form would ever come.

    That has changed today with the announcement of Camy Pro Gear’s Hero Pack, which features attachments based on Link’s most common armaments. The designs seem to take some artistic liberties, specifically the shield with its lack of a true Triforce symbol, but anyone familiar with the games should recognize the pieces immediately. And for about $20, it may even help some people to further immerse themselves into the land of Hyrule.

11. Ah, console launches. Remember when they used to be good? When you knew that you could walk into the store on Day 1, pick up a piece of the next generation of gaming, and get something that would blow away everything that came before?

    Well, I wouldn’t say those days are exactly gone, but people certainly aren’t quite as satisfied with what they see at launch these days. Which is no doubt why GameDaily felt the need to say “screw the launch window, it’s all about Day One” and turn back the clock to look at the best console launches ever, “six consoles that put their money where their memory slots were on launch day.”

    Of those listed, the only one I got on launch day was the Nintendo 64, and in fact, I actually got it a few days early, back when such a thing was possible. And then there was the shock and horror when I found out that my SNES connector wouldn’t work with the N64 without an adaptor. Fortunately, I was able to figure out the new-style connection and had some 3D fun for the first time.

    Game Boy Advance, I couldn’t afford when it came out. Game Boy, my dad was convinced would ruin my eyes, and he forbade me to have one. The Super NES, he couldn’t/wouldn’t see any marked improvement in the quality until he got ahold of Contra III, a year or two later.

    Now, he buys PlayStations just about as soon as he’s able. Funny how times change.

12. Pixel Perfect Productions pondered possibly profound problems persistently plaguing PlayStation 3 plus its peers to produce this piece.
13. Cool Super Mario Bros. 3 token machine.

    I’ve seen some neat Sonic arcade fare like that around here as well.

14. RMC at Go Nintendo asks, would you buy Super Smash Bros. Brawl if it lacked online play?

    My answer is a resounding HELL YES.

    Super Smash Bros. Melee was a blast, and remains one of my favorite games, and that didn’t have online play at all. Hell, I rarely got to play against anyone but the computer. So it’s nothing new to me in that regard.

    Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate the inclusion, however.

15. Digg has found a wicked pic of Mario fighting Giga Bowser over the body of a fallen Princess Peach. Pretty nice stuff.
16. Apparently, some people can’t accept that Sonic is a slow starter.

    But seriously, barring the fact that these characters’ speeds seems to only be based on what’s convenient at a given time, would you be more or less interested in the game if they made it so that Mario couldn’t beat Sonic?

17. In making the Jackass game, the producers had some tricky material to work with, such as making sure your failed stunts are as entertaining as the successes are gratifying.

    Makes sense.

    Now, a story for the game? That makes no sense.

18. Ever wonder why there aren’t more MMORPGs on consoles?

    The creator of Ragnarok Online lays it out for us.

19. Sure, it looks good, and is functional, but what happens when it comes time to do the speaker-smashing guitar swing?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. James Rolfe drops the “Angry” persona again to discuss Ghostbusters 3, now said to be a CG movie, and whether or not that’s a good idea.

   I’m in agreement with him here, though I’m not completely opposed to a CG version, but maybe part of that is because I enjoyed the animated series so much. You know, before Slimer took over and the Ghostbusters became sidekicks.

   And speaking of which, wouldn’t mind if they went to the uniquely-colored costumes. Sure, some people might not dig that, but sometimes it helps to easily recognize who’s who without seeing faces or whatever.

   The “skip ahead x amount of years” idea has an appeal, too. Actually, the animated versions did that as well when they made Extreme Ghostbusters some years ago, except Winston, Ray, and Peter got on with their lives after paranormal activity dropped off the map, leading to Egon (now a professor at the University) recruiting some students to be the new Ghostbusters. But, the old crew got back together for the would-be finale, at least.

   Not that I really got to see the show, but I wish I had, having read up on it.

   On a final “bustin’ makes me feel good” high note, wouldn’t a game where you use the Wii remote as a proton pack and the nunchuck to toss and trigger a ghost trap have the potential to kick ass?

2. Mr. Rolfe has also reviewed The Simpsons Movie, which is pretty much spoiler-free.
3. Remember these old AT&T ads?

   Hey, AT&T… are we there yet? And how responsible were you for those that have happened?

   For those wondering, this stemmed from a topic showing off SeaQuest DSV‘s look at the future, and other takes on the internet and the future from not too very long ago.

4. GameSpot has a nice feature on how to upgrade the hard drive of your PS3.

   That is, assuming you have one. I don’t, so… anyway.

   I wonder if this is giving Hirai and Tretton any sort of fits.

5. So… just how is that multiplayer in Mario Strikers Charged, anyway?
6. Well damn.

   According to an ad on 1up, it seems that someone apparently has Jen, and they want to know what I’m going to do about it. But I clicked the “Skip Ad” link too quickly, and missed the rest. And this is one of those ads that only get you on the first time through, going back misses it entirely.

   What AM I going to do about it?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. As I promised, some TransFormers to kick off Points of Interest today.

   First, behold the worst episode of Generation 1, ever.

   In addition, how about some PSAs?

   Thanks to Frash for the link-up, we now know why not to steal cars, run away from home, judge someone without giving them a chance, and go bike riding at night without reflectors.

   Because knowing is half the battle.

   Oh, and on the NSFW side, Arcee and Hot Rod have a dispute about the internet. Serious business.

2. That lucky dog, James Rolfe, aka “the Angry Video Game Nerd,” was invited to E3 a few weeks ago.

   Well, maybe I should say “lucky” in quotes, considering.

   At any rate, he gives his thoughts, and as luck would have it, it seems that some of his favorites mirror some of my favorites. So hearing that things are good from a like-minded gamer makes me feel even better about what was shown.

3. Power Rangers: Lightspeed Intro.

   No, it’s not a new show, just the intros from each Power Rangers season from the beginning to present, played at supersonic chipmunk speed.

   So many memories, packed into six and a half minutes.

4. “Scisspaper beats paperock. Or DOES it?”

   Spock isn’t sure.

5. Just can’t rely on marquee names to carry a product, I guess.

   Activision is finding this out the hard way, as their latest entry in the Hero series of music-based rhythm games has only sold 52 copies its opening week.

   That’s not 52,000, or 5,200, but just 52.

   Maybe the world just isn’t ready to become a Sousaphone Hero yet. Maybe it never will.

6. …hoo-boy.

   Those silly bastards at ScrewAttack.com are at it again with another Video Game Vault.

   Their target this week? None other than my most favorite of old-oldschool-styled single-screened retrogames, Balloon Fight.

   Will they see kindness as a virtue, or cruelty as no vice? Time to find out.

   Oh yeah, they liked it. EVERYONE likes Balloon Fight, deep down. They do. It’s true.

7. I know crap-all about Mutant Storm Empire, but I will say this: the trailer has some nice, almost soothing music.

   Actually reminds me of the old days, with SEGA CD…

8. Another trailer from the Nintendo DS title Death Note: L o Tsugu Mono.

   Wonder if that’ll ever come here…

9. Next Generation digs into “How Game Characters Achieve Lasting Appeal”, and what developers need to do to create endearing, lasting franchise players.
10. Over at Game|Life, Susan Arendt has found for me the greatest Mario pen/stylus in the world.
11. How can you tell the difference between a 360 with a new heatsink and one without?

    Got a camera?

12. Take Two raises an interesting point on the meaning, or perhaps non-meaning, of “AO.”

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Phoenix Wright is given the… interesting task of reading the will of Mr. Muldoon to his… er, “grief-stricken” family.

   Based on a sketch from The Frantics on the Dr. Demento show, this fits right in line with the classic Phoenix Wrong series.

2. Loading.Ready.Run decides to have some young wizard fun at a Canadian launch of the new Harry Potter book.

   Plus, it seems some Hogwarts students are also eagerly awaiting to see who kicks it.

   Don’t worry, these two videos should be spoiler free, though I imagine if it mattered to you that much, you’d have bought and read the book by now.

3. GameTrailers has posted the second part of their Metroid Retrospective, covering Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.

   Speaking of which, I need to get back to Fusion one of these days. Damn SA-X…

   Regardless, I can’t wait for the next Prime. Considering I was fairly “meh” on the first two in general, that’s saying something.

4. There’s also new DK Jungle Climber videos, a a pair of Japanese commercials.
5. An interesting tidbit is that today’s Featured Wiki Article is none other than their entry for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Relive fond memories of youth with the system that brought us Super Mario World, Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, as well as introducing us to Super Mario Kart and much more.
6. According to a Joystiq interview, it seems that Tomonobu Itagaki thinks that “Tekken sucks.”

   I’m not one to disagree, but then, I’ve never played much Tekken.

7. Ever wanted to see a real, live Gundam?

   Keep dreaming. In the meantime, Japan has the next best thing (who else would?).

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. I believe, bar none, that this is my favorite moment from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

   This one does well to amuse as well.

2. Hoo-boy, this can’t end well.

   The “unbiased” and intrepid reporters of Fox News have discovered the internet. Or more specifically, *chans and “Anonymous.”

   The overall idea is pretty exagerated and laughable to many.

   Of course, not everyone is laughing, it seems.

   Anonymous is not amused.

   I think I’ve even heard reports that since this aired, that station’s website/forum/something-or-other online was crashed– repeatedly– by members of the *chans.

   As one person has put it, “it’s the internet equivalent of poking an anthill.”

3. GameTrailers’ “Wiicast” turns back the clock at the Classic Games Expo to look at some of Nintendo’s strangest products, and more.

…wow, really slow day.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”