1. Sometimes you just gotta get away for a bit. And what better place to try than Hotel Fabuloso? Untalkative Bunny takes a shot at the suite life, and brings some friends with…
2. I don’t give a crap about football, but even I have to admit that this was awesome.
3. Thanks to zaphy for pointing this out to me: a 1,500+ inmate rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.
4. The Ranger Retrocenter linked to a site I’ve never heard of, probably good for the anti-Ranger fans out there: The RangerBitch, who seems to dislike a lot of what’s going on lately…
5. Atomic Fire has found something interesting on Capcom of Japan’s Rockman 20th Anniversary page: a movie that details the history of the Blue Bomber in just under six minutes.

   It’s strange how a series can be so celebrated by its parenting company, and yet, still feel like their best effort isn’t put into it…

   Speaking of which, looks like Mielke at 1up finally posted his interview.

   Long story short: no Legends 3 yet. Maybe when he’s the Supreme Commander of Capcom and can make any game he wants.

   You can bet Miyamoto doesn’t put up with this crap.

6. Meanwhile, Cubed? has an interview with Takeshi Horinouchi, the Line Producer of Mega Man ZX about that game, Advent, and Mega Man on the Wii.
7. GameSpot has reviewed Super Contra, and all-in-all, it sounds good to me, though it doesn’t make note of the issues that plagued XBox Live Arcade’s Contra two-player mode. One can take that to mean they don’t exist here, though I myself remain a little wary at the moment.

   IGN, they paint a less vivid picture of the overall package, moreso on the port than of the original game itself, and don’t have kind words for the online multiplayer, either.

8. As Metroid Prime 3: Corruption stands poised to close out the controversial trilogy, one must ask: where does the Metroid franchise go from here?
9. Now this is a unique treat.

   Charles Martinet first voiced Mario many years ago, not in Super Mario 64, but in a relatively obscure title known as Mario’s Game Gallery. I myself have never seen this game for myself, nor been able to hear the earliest Martinet voicing.

   Now, thanks to the magic of YouTube, we can hear it for ourselves.

   It’s actually kind of amusing, while the “player” voice is kind of… well, see for yourself.

   The end amuses me most, because it reminds me of this bit from The Simpsons.

10. Want a Wii? Try this crane game in Jersey.
11. Turns out Ken Penders was at SDCC to promote the newly-released Sonic the Hedgehog “SatAM” DVD set.

    Kotaku got some stuff wrong, such as Mr. Penders’ status with the comic, but some vigilant commenters set the record straight.

12. THIS is what this oven of an apartment needs– a Mario ceiling fan!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Homer Simpson, the new host of The Tonight Show?

   Don’t count on it.

2. At Otakon, a Lyra kept repeating a line about “falling off a building” which I didn’t get and didn’t think much of. Not my wife, though; she found out what that was all about, which has allowed me to produce this link.

   According to Wikipedia, Bible Black seems to be… well, hentai. But the video is at least visually safe. But the voice acting is HORRENDOUS. Laughably so. Well worth checking out.

3. Thanks to Zaph, we now know that Starscream disgusts Megatron.

   Maybe this has something to do with it.

4. A neat import of Triple H’s theme song, “The Game” by Motorhead, into Guitar Hero II.

   As the wife got that for her birthday at Otakon, thanks to the awesome combined efforts of our friends, I’m a little curious as to how one adds songs to the list like this. Can anyone help out?

5. On a related note, the song seems to work well with Dragon Ball Z clips.
6. Ah, the Atari Jaguar… we hardly knew ye.

   Of course, most couldn’t be bothered to, but still.

7. Press the Buttons looks at a NeoGAF discussion regarding “smart” games which interact with old data from past installments and the like.

   I had no idea Ratchet & Clank discounted weapons with the right data, for example.

   In my younger days, about ten years ago (give or take), I was of the mind that Capcom ought to remake the original Mega Man series with some changes. Granted, they made an ill-fated attempt, but my version remained mostly different.

   One aspect I sought to include was to have data from each game carry over to the next, specifically weapons, life energy, and things of that nature. The old weapons wouldn’t be as effective against the new bosses, but they’d still be there for use in the levels and around the game. Naturally, while having the old weapons would be handy, you’d still want the new ones to really get Mega Man up to speed. By Mega Man 4, you’d be a walking army!

   But, it wouldn’t make the game too easy, because the more save data you have, the harder each subsequent game would be as well. Harder, but still balanced. Of course, playing a later chapter without having the earlier save data would still provide a solid core experience.

8. Hmm, I didn’t think much of this week’s Virtual Console releases, but Matt on PTB is giving me second thoughts on Kirby’s Dream Course.
9. Also from the PTB side of the table, we have another video blast from Nintendo’s past, this time based on the Nintendo 64 in Europe.

   I’m in half-agreement with that last part, though; I think working on exploiting the YouTube internet generation (and maybe some memes) would be an ideal way for Nintendo and other game companies to advertise.

10. What games pushed the TurboGrafx-16 to its very limit in terms of graphics and sound? Racketboy reveals all.
11. In addition, Racketboy recently revealed a list of great Dreamcast games that saw release on other systems. Which is all good and well, but if you own a Dreamcast in addition to those other systems, well, what’s good for it that you can’t find anywhere else?

    This list shows off all the exclusive Dreamcast titles, including Racketboy’s own recommended and highly recommended titles.

    Myself, I thank Kanuck to this day for hooking me up with Cannon Spike.

12. So, you have an XBox, but you’re not ready to step up into the HD generation, still wondering what games you can get?

    Fortunately, Racketboy (there’s that name again) has readily compiled a list of Hidden Gems, the best undiscovered XBox games that the system has to offer.

13. “The Cheapest 32X Games Worth Your Time?”

    Believe it or not, they do exist…

14. GameSpot’s review of Paper Mario is hard to argue with; it’s taking all my free gaming time right now.

    And as much as I enjoyed Super Paper Mario, I’m going to have to say that when/if Intelligent Systems makes another installment, that I hope they go with the style of this and The Thousand Year Door after it.

    The arrival of this on Virtual Console is truly great, though, in that the Wii allows you to play all three Paper Mario titles with minimal fuss.

15. At SDCC, Matt Groening and his boyz had a panel to answer questions regarding the movie and TV show, as well as Futurama.
16. Wow, dissention in the ranks of Rockstar as even some of the employees there think Manhunt is a bit much.
17. A Famicom version of Biohazard?

    Or maybe we should just call this “NESident Evil”…

18. New Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 character art.

    I need to get my wife to cosplay like this someday.

    Or at the very least, this.

19. New Raving Rabbids 2 video.

    Oh my God, the wasabi…

    You can check out more Raving Rabbid hijinx here.

20. I can’t be the only one amazed at the things people are doing with Wii remotes.

Ok, I hope this is enough for a few days, at least. Trying to get semi-caught up here, at least with any site that has good archiving and indexing. But for now, sleep is calling…

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. This Skittles commercial is good.

   This one is fantastic.

2. When talking to The Governator, is 60 minutes enough?
3. Poor Optimus, what with all these Hollywood-types trying to change him…
4. “We’ve secretly replaced Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto with the spawn of Satan himself. Let’s see if anyone notices.“
5. And this is just a peculiar hack with some interesting ideas and implementation, along with neat graphic effects sprinkled throughout.
6. When worlds collide… that is when we KUNG-FU FIGHT!
7. An interesting find, some unused characters from Super Mario RPG.

   Given that Square-Enix seems largely against releasing big titles on Virtual Console, I wish they’d just remake this already.

8. The Angry Video Game Nerd is back, and just in time for The Simpsons Movie, he throws a little 20-year old mud at their oldest gaming efforts.
9. While it seems that there is no update on James Mielke’s progress in getting us Legends 3, he did make sure to see TransFormers The Movie, for which I’m linking his review for the captions, if nothing else.

   Though since when “one” constitutes “a lot” of the original voices, I’m not entirely sure.

10. ScrewAttack.com has been busy while I’m gone.

    Video Game Vault entries for Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems, Whomp ‘Em, Little Nemo: The Dream Master.

    All that, and their Top 10 Mario Games, of which Sunshine was thankfully not part, but it has a serious lack of Paper Mario, and I dispute Dr. Mario by their own qualification that these are all games in which you play as Mario. Because let’s face it, in Dr. Mario, the only thing you control are pills in a role that’s ambiguous at best. Just as easily as you could be Mario, you could be Nurse Peach, an unnamed assistant, a thinking manifestation of the Mushroom World’s laws of physics, or just yourself.

11. Plus, GameTrailers themselves celebrates 20 years of Samus with Part 1 of their Metroid Retrospective.

And at this late/early hour, sleep beckons. I shall return with more news and stuff later as I try and settle back into routine.

Ta-ta!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. To celebrate the release of Paper Mario to the Wii Virtual Console, here’s a reposting of Paper Mario: The Hat of Fire.
2. And to celebrate the recent trailer for the Get Smart movie, here are some classic scenes from the TV show:

   Engrish goes back to the 60′s as Maxwell Smart faces The Craw!

   Max meets his match within KAOS as he encounters Siegfried the Great for the first time.

   And finally, no talk of Get Smart is complete without The Cone of Silence.

3. Yesterday, Burger King launched a new website to help promote the soon-coming The Simpsons Movie in the form of SimpsonizeMe.com.

   Previously, only celebrity guests appearing on The Simpsons television series could be Simpsonized. Now, anyone can get a yellow makeover. After uploading a photo and going yellow, website guests can personalize their look even more by choosing from hundreds of hairstyles, body types, outfits and accessories – from Marge’s wacky blue hair and Homer’s five o’clock shadow to Lisa’s pearl necklace. When finished, visitors can create screensavers and wallpaper designs with their new look or email it to a friend. Simpsonizeme.com also features THE SIMPSONS MOVIE trailers, a BURGER KING? restaurant locator, ads and an online store where visitors can apply their Simpsonized photos to t-shirts, mugs, hats, aprons and photo sculptures.

   Burger King Corp. will also sponsor a traveling Simpsonizer throughout July and August, giving consumers a chance to step inside a photo booth and instantly become Simpsonized. Participants will have the option to immediately print their transformed photo, send it as an e-card or send it to a mobile phone.

   

   Not bad. My beard isn’t really that full, but a decent representation. Just had to adjust Dante there in Photoshop a few tweaks, and it’s all good to go.

   All in all, pretty wicked stuff. With this and the Kwik-E-Marts, they aren’t fooling around with this one, are they?

   And don’t even ask about Homer’s “Ultimate Whopper.” You probably can’t take it.

   And in case you haven’t seen any footage yet, IGN has scored some exclusive clips to whet your appetite.

   …I think this is going to be good.

4. When you hear of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse “Unchosen Paths,” you might be thinking of some sort of beta stages that were cut from the game, that you’d love to test your mettle against.

   While unfortunate that this isn’t the case, what Unchosen Paths actually is holds a certain coolness of its own, as it is a guitar-driven tribute to the series, primarily the third installment.

5. On a related note, affiliate orchNEStra has updated with new soundtracks, and word of a Game Boy version of the site to come.
6. “What was the best game of E3?” one might ask.

   Toastyfrog isn’t the person to answer that question, it seems. Not that there isn’t stuff he appreciated, quite the opposite, but the new format pretty much relegated his opinions to what he was assigned to.

7. E3; No one ever said the food was any good.
8. E3; No one ever said the event was any good.

   Ok, so there are some that liked it, but overall, it gave off a very tepid sort of vibe compared to past years.

9. This still blows me away.
10. Ever wonder about how Nintendo of Canada influences things?

    Well, we’re telling you anyway. onNintendo has the questions, and NoC Marketing Manager Farjad Iravani has the answers.

    Pity they missed the “when are we going to start paying the REAL prices for this stuff?” part.

11. Game|Life gets down and dirty with the bad boys of BioWare, and brings us the skinny on the Blue Blur’s RPG renaissance in the upcoming Sonic RPG.

    …doesn’t really say much, does it? From that, I guess we can ascertain that the game should be “good” and “fast.” Good to know. I was worried they’d tell us it would be “awful” and “slow” and leave us to wonder what they meant for months on end.

12. A little more interesting is the interview with members of the team working on Sonic Rush Adventure.
13. A snippet of a Q&A between IGN and Square-Enix regarding the Wii Board and Final Fantasy.

    I don’t know what’s more cracked, the question, or the answer.

14. So, wondering if the graphical difference between Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl is very significant?

    Maybe this comparison can help you judge.

15. An awkward conversation that never happened. Probably for the best.
16. Eiji Aonuma, aka “Miyamoto 2.0,” has been interviewed over at Game|Life regarding his work in Zelda, chiefly the new Phantom Hourglass.

    Since I won’t be here this week, let it be known that Game|Life will have more on the way.

17. E3 swag.

    Gamecock lollipops.

    Would you suck on something that came from a company called—

    You know what? Let’s just move on.

18. o/~ …Glove Slap! Baby, Glove Slap! Glove Slap, I don’t take crap! o/~
19. Now THIS is the kind of schwag I can get into…

    You know, if I was into Mass Effect. Still, a novel? Cool deal.

20. The Wii Zapper, up close and personal, and how it all comes together.

    Oh yes, you naughty, naughty peripheral… you know just how to pwn some n00bs, don’cha?

    (I’m still of the opinion that it looks like Zero would tote around. Look for it soon in a cosplay near you.)

21. The Super Mario Bros. mushroom bank.

    For some reason, the thought of putting coins into a mushroom just strikes me as… odd. And yet, not unlike something you might be expected to do in a game.

    I wonder if these come in purple…

22. In case you missed them the first time, here’s the whole lot of Kotaku’s “talku” with Shigeru Miyamoto.

    There are also numerous segments with Peter Moore, Jack Tretton, and developers being forced to defend their games.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Something a little different to kick us off today. Over on Yahoo, it’s reported that a Pizza Hut waitress was the beneficiary of a $10,000 tip from some rather nice, and needless to say, generous people.

   Nearly as odd are the bundles of money being found in toilets across Japan.

   I just hope they aren’t actually being found in the toilets. That sort of presents a dilemma…

2. bpm? has found a neat piece (c’mon, man, if you still read this, contribute!) of equipment: The iPhone killer.

   Superior hardware?

   No, superior firepower.

3. It’s been hot lately, no secret about that.

   Loading.Ready.Run. may have three PS3s, but they seem to have zero air conditioners.

   How do they handle it?

4. Are older games better for younger gamers? Arguable, but Racketboy has a pretty good case for using them to at least start them on the path to more advanced games.
5. The GameTrailers/ScrewAttack.com Video Game Vault take a look at a game I had quite a bit of fun with as a kid, Wrecking Crew, featuring Mario and Luigi as demolition experts who have to avoid mutant wrenches, eggplants, and Foreman Spike, the possible precursor to Waluigi…?

   It’s not as bad as they say, though. You just have to have an appreciation for the really oldschool.

   And they’re surprised that Luigi looks just like Mario, except for colors? Where the hell have they been?

6. Funny, I don’t think I’ve heard of an E3 closing montage before. So I guess as those go, Sony’s was pretty good.

   Huh, was that Sonic Rivals 2? Hadn’t heard anything about it from the show so far…

7. 111 issues. That’s nearly 10 years worth of comics.

   And a record run for Ultimate Spider-man creators Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley, who discuss the End of an Era with a special interview at IGN.

8. Next-Gen talks to George Harrison of Nintendo about the Wii’s longevity, how serious they are about online, and how their relationships with third-parties have changed in this exclusive interview.
9. 1up’s Jeremy Parish has taken on the painstaking task of transcribing the Shigeru Miyamoto/Eiji Aonuma roundtable, adding some of his own brand of humor among the comments made.

And that’s it for today, I’m afraid. The weekend is looking a little busy, but I’ll try and catch things up before Monday. Hopefully next week will be slow, because I’ll be spending most of it at Otakon, leaving Wednesday. I’ll try and score some good pics and/or anecdotes for my return.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. After coming across a nest full of duck eggs, Untalkative Bunny and Squirrel do the only thing they can, as they help the hatchlings reach water.

   But what if one of them becomes attached…?

2. Matt over at Press the Buttons is at E3 this week, and contrary to the opinions of many, he rather likes the new format. He’s checked out numerous titles on the showfloor, and given some impressions of the likes of Super Mario Galaxy, Beautiful Katamari, and more.

   Ah, to be there. Someday…

3. Likewise, Toastyfrog has some “off-the-record” assessments of what he’s seen and done at E3 so far, including a more positive perception of Wii Fit.
4. Over on GameSpot, Miyamoto chats up Super Mario Galaxy in a special video interview, as well as gives a special peek to the press at Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and some unseen-at-E3 Super Mario Galaxy levels.
5. Not to be outdone, IGN has their own Miyamoto interview for you to enjoy.
6. Next-Gen asks Miyamoto the question on everyone (else’s) mind: is Nintendo abandoning the hardcore?
7. So, Chewbacca made an appearance at Sony’s press event.

   But, what the hell was he saying?

   Hilarious.

8. Games Radar just doesn’t know when to quit: more E3 asses, sexy E3 girls, and… mechanical bull-riding?

   Oh, not to mention mocking of the stylistically challenged.

9. As reported yesterday, Hideo Kojima misses the E3s of yesteryear, and now you can see his thoughts on video.
10. Ah, the PSP. Games Radar makes a note that in this case, “new and improved” is easily lost among “old and inferior.”

    On the other hand, Joystiq seems to dig it.

    Now I’m curious if a common toy phenomenon will start to occur here. People buying the new PSP, and returning it with the old PSP in its box. If customer service at Wal-Mart can’t tell the difference between a dollar-store jet fighter with Decepticon symbols on the wings and Movie Ironhide, then what hope do they have here?

11. So, graphically, is Metroid Prime 3 that great of a leap over Metroid Prime 2? That’s what Play Nintendo aims to find out.

    Not that I really care that much. The interface is the big draw for me here; if it looked 8 times better than the last one but played the same, I’m not sure I’d be as interested.

12. It’s the end of the world as we know it, and Nintendo is to blame.
13. Evidently, Nintendo customer service sucks.

    In Australia at least.

    Nothing new, really. Sad truth is, just about any branch of Nintendo that’s not in Japan or North America seems to suck. Maybe that’s why they seem to try and make up with it with the likes of Mario Strikers Charged and Paper Mario for Virtual Console.

14. I guess third party game developers aren’t the only ones happy with the Wii. Accessory developers seem to be loving it, too, with all the crap they’re making.

    Seriously, how in the hell else can you explain this?

    The only way Wii could be more of a party machine is if it left you waking up in a daze, wondering just what you were doing last night.

15. A new video for Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations has surfaced, now starring the English language!

    Man, parts of this makes me want to see some sort of HD remake of the games for a console, not unlike what Capcom’s doing with Street Fighter II…

16. The Halo 3 XBox 360 looks kind of ugly, but in the neatest possible way.

    No, I don’t know what I mean, either.

17. In 2005, it was “kicking ass and taking names.”

    In 2006, it was “giant enemy crabs” and “RIIIIIIDGE RACER!!!”

    And now, in 2007?

    “You pulled a Peter Moore!”

    Gotta love gaming vernacular.

18. Kotaku has some nice bits with Mr. Miyamoto, covering such topics as future Wii upgrades, the death of E3, Nintendo manipulating hardware supplies, the next DS, and death before retirement.
19. Over on 1up, Mr. Parish talks more about his E3 experience, and the drinking game that has come from it.
20. As regards Mielke’s attempt to get Legends 3 rolling… well, it’s not BAD news, but not good news, either. In fact, the only news is that there seems to be SOME sort of news, but we don’t know what. But it should be worth waiting for.

    He also plans to have another poll for Inafune soon, and in the meantime, encourages those who haven’t already to continue rocking the vote.

Ah, finally, done! Until tomorrow, anyway. See you then!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Summertime, a good time for a fair. Today, Untalkative Bunny and Squirrel head off to the fairground; will they win any prizes? Let’s find out.

   Sadly, it’s not as easy as it looks.

2. The Dreamcast was an awesome system, and about as good a way for SEGA to go out as they could have hoped for.

   Of course, a large part of what made the Dreamcast good was, as with any system, the games. But since a number of people don’t actually own a Dreamcast, they may not be as familiar with the joys the system provided.

   Fortunately, there have been games from the Dreamcast library which have been ported to other systems, and Racketboy has been so kind as to make a list.

   However, it remains quite a shame that Cannon Spike, a delightful Capcom-made title which works very much like a 3D Contra starring several of Capcom’s best, never made the jump.

3. Desperate for E3 booty, the boys at Games Radar decide to take their chances and take their shots.
4. Earlier, we had a glimpse of the new home of E3, Barker Hangar. IGN has come through with a better look around the premises.

   Eesh.

   Kojima thinks it’s a waste of time, and Chris Kohler at Game|Life doesn’t see much going on with the new layout, either.

5. Go Nintendo has acquired many “assets” from Nintendo for various games. Included are Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.
6. Turns out Cnet’s had a neat feature running for a little while now, looking back at the history of various game genres. Platformers, beat-em-ups, and trivia all around sounds like the makings of an interesting series.
7. This looks interesting.

   “Those of you who are hoping for BDSM furry porn can just keep moving. Bound Bear is actually a game where you attempt to reunite a spherical baby bear with its spherical mother bear by throwing him at the blocks that are separating them, avoiding or bouncing off the big square bears that are floating in the way. I didn’t say it made sense, I just said it wasn’t porn.”

8. While Joystiq is pretty much covering the same stuff as everyone else, Kotaku has some more interesting pieces going on:

   Reggie discusses Wii and movies.

   Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices unit, dumped 62 million dollars worth of stock. Related to recent Red Ring problems…?

   3 big flops from the three big press conferences.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. I hate the hiccups. I have a very strong set of lungs, it would seem, because whenever I sneeze, it pretty much goes all the way to 11. People give me collect calls to say “bless you” or “gezundheit.”

   With something like that going, having the hiccups just makes me want to die. It would be a mercy killing, even if the problem is generally short-term.

   Well, now Untalkative Bunny has the hiccups, too. Let’s see how he copes.

2. o/~ It’s the most… wonderful time… of the yeeeeear…

   No, not Christmas. That’s ok, too, I guess. No, I’m talking about E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, when the big boys let it all hang out for the world to see what they’re packin’.

   And to that end, the boys over at ScrewAttack.com decide to take a look back at the ten best E3s of all time.

3. Oh, come on!! I did this already!! …sort of.

   Why aren’t I getting linked? Does no one reading this love me enough for that? Do I have to whore myself out?

   Sigh.

4. For a while, there has been a cool (or so they say) Japanese documentary floating around that chronicles The Legend of Zelda.

   The good news this day is that it is no longer just in Japanese!

   And people know it, too. So actually downloading it may be a bit tough.

Not much of a day for PoI. Hopefully the news made up for it, and maybe tomorrow will bring more fun.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. In baseball, as in life, success depends on clear communication.

   A classic bit.

2. Yahoo! had a front-page feature over the weekend about the Super Mario Bros. theme, featuring videos of it in several different forms, some you’ve probably seen, others, perhaps not.
3. Warren Ellis: Castlevania scribe and secret agent man?
4. Press The Buttons has tracked down a rather tantalizing new site that seems to specialize in rare Castlevania art and materials, including the rarities which came with the Portrait of Ruin preorders.
5. Ultra Megaman? Mega Ultraman?

   I don’t know, you figure it out.

   Thanks to Rightot for the link.

6. Before the Genesis (ironically), there was the Master System.

   And it wasn’t all that bad. Racketboy has gathered a list of the cheapest games worth your time for this system which remains popular in some places, such as South America and certain parts of Europe.

7. Oh, wow. Who remembers Mickey Mousecapade? Not one of Capcom’s finest Disney efforts, but then, not a true Capcom game anyway.

   I was SO pissed off when I beat the game and was taken back to the title screen. And to find out later that the “secret friend” was Alice… ALICE?! Give me a break.

8. Nunchuk extension cable. For when… um… I don’t know, you need to hit something?
9. GameTrailers has a Top 10 of their most anticipated E3 games, to the beat of a neat Marc Mero remix at that.

   Naturally, of the ones listed, Super Mario Galaxy is the one I’m most eager to get my hands on.

10. Wow, now this is strange… a Super Mario 64 hack, made to have a Paper Mario-esque appearance.

    It’s name?

    Super Paper Mario 64.

    Gotta admit, tweaks like this are always interesting, at least for a short period of time, and can potentially add replay value to an old game as you work your way through to see how other things look.

    But what I wonder is, is this the kind of thing that might interest people to download for Virtual Console games?

11. And finally, 1up’s Jeremy Parish has gathered a group of suggested games; that is, if you like certain games on this list, then there are other games to be recommended which may interest you. Got it?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Today, Bunny has learned a very valuable lesson: Don’t play on construction sites.
2. An interesting piece, thanks to Shigamodo over at the Bumbleking Forums.

   Years ago, there was a Sonic compilation called Sonic Jam, and evidently it featured an original animated cartoon about Sonic being named “Man of the Year,” and Eggman getting jealous and making Sonic look bad. It’s a nicely done piece, and is amusing, but sadly, the continuation never came.

   Also of note is that this is pre-Adventure era Sonic, so if the oldschool look is your thing, give it a peek.

3. Ever wonder about Wonderswan? Racketboy has a neat beginner’s guide to the half-brother to Nintendo’s Game Boy, with a fairly extensive look at this neat little piece of hardware.
4. Wow, has it been 20 years of Metal Gear already?

   It seems like just last week when my dad was showing me this new game with the guys parachuting into the jungle before he started beating up sleeping guards and dogs. Ah, memories…

5. GameSpot has a feature that looks at the past, present, and future of E3.

   Knowing now that your chances of going are somewhere between “slim” and “none,” how many people even give a damn any more?

6. IGN brings a cool sneak peek at the upcoming Udon’s Art of Capcom book, featuring some gorgeous pin-ups of all the good stuff.
7. Top Ten Games with Drugs?

   For some reason, associating everything slightly unusual with drugs has always bothered me. I don’t even know why I’m plugging this here.

8. Meanwhile, there are eight things that Games Radar feels gamers should stop doing.
9. 1up takes a look at the seemingly Japan-only DS party game, Itadaki Street DS. Sadly, it doesn’t really say too very much.
10. Wow, remember when the DS looked like this?

    How far we’ve come…

11. These new plushes are TOTALLY “da’ bomb.”
12. And finally, Retronauts returns, this time with Madman Sharkey at the helm. Will anything survive? Listen and find out!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”