1. Poor guy.

   Some 27-year old decided to pickpocket a 72-year old man.

   The punk never saw it coming.

   Wait, did I say “poor guy?” Make that “got his.”

2. As Koopa’s captives, Mario and Luigi must face the horrors of… THE DEVO CHAMBER!!

   Thanks to BPM Omega for the YouTube version.

3. GameTrailers and ScrewAttack.com’s Video Game Vault opens the doors once again for… er, Astyanax? The hell?

   No, actually, I think I remember hearing this is one of those good games that you probably just never played, sort of like Rygar or Faxanadu. Or maybe you did. Look, it’s subjective, alright?

   Anyway, it’s one of those “cool but HARD” types that really seemed commonplace back in the day. Built-in Game Genie codes? Wow.

4. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but GameSpot reviewed Super Mario Bros. 2 on VC. And, it got an 8.0. Not bad.

   Might just be the first time I’ve ever seen anyone complain about Luigi, though. And as for Wart not being a substitute for Bowser? C’mon, Wart was cool. This is the kind of attitude that keeps developers from deviating. And I know there are people who await Wart’s grand return, like some sort of veggie-hating cult or something.

   IGN makes with the warm ‘n fuzzy, too.

   Admit it. This game blows the “real” Super Mario Bros. 2 out of the water when it comes to fun. And graphics. And ending. Maybe some other stuff, too.

5. Matt Groening chats up The Simpsons Movie. But because it’s got spoilers, I’m keeping my big round eyes peeping in another direction.
6. GameDaily has a feature looking at the video game industry’s worst offenses. They even have this cute little “old west” styled motif going about the whole thing.

   I was going to join in with the blurb here, but then it occured to me that I’ve seen far too few westerns to really pull it off. I think about the closest I’ve seen to a Wild West movie is Back To The Future part III.

   Still, just wouldn’t be right to leave them high and dry, so… get along there, little doggies. Yee-ha. Um… rollin’, rollin’, rollin’?

   Eh, screw this. Just read the damn piece…

   …buckaroos.

7. Games Radar has a new “episode” of their World of Nintendo series.

   With all these weird mods that put Mario in Grand Theft Auto settings and such, is it any wonder SEGA thought there was a market for that kind of thing?

   Also, they fail to mention that those Mario and Luigi hats are really just pillows, so cosplayers, be warned.

8. Wii not only makes for interesting gameplay possibilities, but interesting advertising, too.
9. Hmm, I imagine that egg is going to flip over this:

   Hudson admits that Bomberman: Act Zero was bad.

   I’m just going to leave that one alone, in the hopes that he might give his thoughts on their “confession.”

10. And finally, have you read Robots in Disgust, the TransFormers game retrospective, and Dugg it, thumbs-upped it, and otherwise shown support? Because every time you don’t, God kills a kitten.
    

    Two kittens, actually. One’s name is Dante, and the other is Cammy. They need food, too, you know!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Bunny is still on vacation, folks. In the meantime, I hope that everyone had a good time celebrating yesterday… in America!
2. X-Entertainment has updated with an oh-so rare article, exploring the 7-Eleven to Kwik-E-Mart conversions, and the fun that lies within.

   I’d love to go to one of these, but there’s only ONE in Canada, and it’s off in BC or something.

3. This is not a new Super Mario Bros. Z, but it is a pretty neat opening nonetheless.

   The downside is, it seems to be a bit spoilerish. Which I didn’t find out until AFTER I’d watched it.

   Damn. Oh well, they’re still good enough that this is just scraping sprinkles off the top, rather than ruining the whole meal. I had a slight hunch, anyway.

4. Racketboy evaluates the past, present, and future of Capcom’s fighting games, thanks to the recent announcement of a new 2D fighter, in addition to the HD Street Fighter II effort.
5. Too long, or not too long?

   That’s more or less the question, as not too long ago Shigeru Miyamoto surmised by the sales of Zelda: Twilight Princess that maybe gamers don’t want 60-hour epic sagas any more. This notion is taken to task by a look at what is and isn’t selling now.

   My personal opinion remains unchanged. I like the idea of a lot of content for my money, but in a form that I can easily pick up and put down without really disrupting the flow.

6. RMC asks a question I’ve longed to know the answer to myself:

   When will we get something like Club Nintendo?

   I want Tingle’s Balloon Fight, dammit! And lord knows I’ve probably registered enough Nintendo product to get it by the club’s standards.

7. Oh, snap.
8. Uh-oh, he’s at it again…

   If you’ve been around the internet for a little while, you might at some point have ventured across the journals of one Scott Sharkey, chronicling his virtual quest to reach the sacred land of Oregon, that crown jewel of the Union which we all sought in elementary school.

   Well, amidst America celebrating its independence, he’s at it again. And it is good. Seriously.

9. Know how there are some… lesser-quality Wii games out there, graphically? One might argue that maybe the system is difficult to develop for.

   One might disagree.

10. o/~ …I whistled for a cab, and when it came near, the license plate said ‘Fresh’ and it had… Game Boys in the mirror?
11. Looks like an early peek of the new Chun Li Street Fighter movie script has slipped out.

    Interesting, I guess. In a “why mess with what works?” sort of way.

12. Nice lamp. Do you turn it on by whacking the bottom?
13. Can’t remember if I linked to this before or not, so better safe than sorry.

    Herein lies a cool Zelda fan trailer, made entirely in CGI, detailing the origin of the land of Hyrule and reaching a climax with Link and Ganondorf facing off.

And that’s it for today! Between TransFormers: The Movie, Independence Day, and Canada Day, I guess it’s been a tad slow for news and fun.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. A little something different in the “feel good video” department, to kick things off today.

   Remember that iPhone thing that launched a few days ago? Well, evidently there was some sort of buzz around it. I guess a few people wanted them.

   As it turns out, one lady wanted them all. So much, that she paid $800 in cash to get the first spot in line, so she can buy the store out and go wild on eBay in ways that would make Ladiesman217 jealous.

   So, let’s see how she fares…

   Thanks to Bass XO for unwittingly contributing this.

2. Ah, July 4th. Independence Day. What better time to sit and reminisce about Independence Day, the movie?

   But, did you know that movie had a game? (Of course you did, don’t be absurd.)

   Well, the Angry Video Game Nerd knows. Much to his chagrin.

3. Rachel. She likes to play rough.

   And in a similar fashion, the boys at Team Ninja like to play rough in their own way, too. Learn more about them in Behind the Sword, which is packed in the Special Edition of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, which you can take a look at here.

4. Bad endings suck. Obviously. Because if they didn’t, then they probably wouldn’t be bad endings.

   Still, nothing like pouring a ton of effort into a game and getting bupkus for it. I mean, sure, they say for something like this that a good journey is its own reward…

   …but it’s not always a good journey. Sometimes it’s a matter of getting your money’s worth out of a non-refundable product whose quality nosedived after the first couple of stages. Or maybe sticking with a character that you’ve grown fond of to the bitter end.

   But it’s when the end is actually quite bitter that sucks. Even if the journey was awesome, it’s good to part ways with a nice sendoff, rather than a quick slap on the ass, or worse, a knee to the groin.

   Just the same, bad endings are a way of life. And in some cases, they’re the way a life ends.

   But before I get too philosophical here, let’s just say they’ve been around a long time in gaming, back to the NES days, natch. To that end, Games Radar looks back at some NES game endings that sucked like a Hoover in a black hole.

   Totally agree on Wizards & Warriors, though.

   And am I the only one reminded of Lemmywinks on South Park by Ironsword‘s ending?

5. I’ll never understand the Japanese.

   But that’s ok.

   Because I’ll never understand the Americans, Canadians, British, French, Chinese, Koreans, Australians, Mexicans, etc. either.

6. “One shall stand… one shall fall!”

   Yeah, I think that’s the same video I posted the other day. Except I don’t think I used the line, and, well, I’d never be able to live with myself if I passed up such an opportunity.

7. RMC takes a look back at stuff in games that suck. And not just regular things– recurring things. Things of the sort which developers should know better than to implement. And yet they do anyway. Unskippable cutscenes (just as bad or worse are unpausable cutscenes, IMO), save points, etc.
8. In Contra-ese, “Spread Gun” is actually another way of saying to the enemy “you’re screwed.”

   “Machine Gun” is a way of saying “you’re still screwed, I just have to concentrate on you a little more.”

   That has been today’s lesson.

9. Super Paper Mario’s Euro boxart.

   Shown here, simply because it’s kind of neat.

10. Clearly, the violent nature of Manhunt 2 has been overstated.

    Clearly.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Find out which Transformer you are at LiquidGeneration!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Oy, what a weekend. And I don’t even know if I’ll still have a job after tomorrow, which I find out after a doctor’s appointment.

Red took a bit of time on the computer, and I’m tired. We just got back in from seeing TransFormers: The Movie. Not going to leave you guys empty-handed, though. Here’s a sort of mish-mash of updates of stuff from over the weekend. I’ll comb the blogs later, because frankly, that stuff’s a bitch. Except for Joystiq and Game|Life, those two are good to catch up on quick.

1. TransFormers to start.

   Hasbro has bios of the Target-exclusive Energon recolors for the movie. They also have some podcasts from BotCon, with reveals, interviews, and more.

   Speaking of reveals, much was revealed at BotCon this weekend, and you can find out all about it here and here. Animated, Classics 2.0, dead lines, and more, plus Animated cast news. Oh, and who doesn’t love pictures?

   WizardUniverse.com is holding a TransFormers week, while the site TransFormers Phillipines is holding an interview with Floro Dery, considered a father of the TransFormers brand.

   Sam’s Club has a nice 3-pack of figures from The Movie, featuring Jazz, Bonecrusher, and Brawl.

   Newsarama also has interviews with some of the movie cast, and GameTrailers goes behind the scenes of the game. GT also has videos of Optimus vs. Megatron, and a trailer for the DS games.

   Ben Yee has his own BotCon gallery, report, and movie review available.

   And finally, keeping the brand popular? All about momentum.

2. Smash Bros. Dojo brings something new… really new into the world of Smash in the form of assist trophies.

   Things just got wilder.

   And now, with Bowser officially on the scene, even moreso. This time looks like a hybrid of his Melee form and his more traditional, cartoony form. I can dig it, though I do argue that he seems to have given up just a smidgen of his menace that he had before. But just a little.? The wife should be happy, at least.

   Sadly, though, the game won’t be playable at E3. Why that’s sad for you and I is anyone’s guess, come to think of it. Validation of fears/anxiety?

3. Virtual Console has updated with the NES classic Super Mario Bros. 2, Ecco: The Tides of Time from the SEGA Genesis, and Dragon Spirit of the TurboGrafx-16.

   See what’s worth buying here.

4. Matt of Press The Buttons has some neat ideas of what WiiWare could provide. I’m totally on board for Star Fox 2.
5. Racketboy has a review of one of my favorite Dreamcast games in Capcom’s Cannon Spike, as well as a nice look at a list of SEGA Genesis games that pushed the limits of graphics and sound.
6. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass? October 1st.

   Metroid Prime 3? Delayed (but only by about a week).

7. GameTrailers fun: The 10 worst movie games, a Video Game Vault for The Punisher, and last Friday’s Game Head, with the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet.
8. Capcom, making a new 2D fighting game? Curious…
9. Looks like the Devil May Cry anime has found a DVD home in America after all.
10. Edge magazine has come out with their list of the Top 100 games of all time, and Next-Gen tells you what they are.
11. GameDaily has a piece looking at the use of game length; “Just what constitutes a proper game length? Are today’s titles too brief? Too long? And what’s the effect on sales? We chat with a couple developers and a couple analysts to hear the long and short of it…”
12. This looks fun. Games Radar has the top 7 rivalries in gaming.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Poor Bunny. He can’t sleep because of all the noises.

   Could it be… the Boogeyman?

2. 1up scores again, this time with GameVideos discussion about Contra IV (with footage), plus more footage of the jungle, city, and ocean levels.

   Looking good so far, though the sound evidently needs more tuning up, additions really. The “death” sound specifically.

   And from the look of things, the grappling hook is less a Bionic Commando-styled gimmick as it is more like a quick “space jump” to help you reach the top screen faster and hang on to an overhead bar, though I’m sure there may be some other uses, such as in the waterfall level.

3. Konami.

   Capcom.

   Both are great.

   But who’s the greatest?

4. “So,” you ask, “is Ninja Gaiden Sigma up to snuff?”

   IGN’s answer?

   “Outstanding.”

5. Licensed games are a fact of life, perhaps an inevitability, given that they date back to even the early days of Atari, Coleco, and Commodore64. Heck, even Donkey Kong was going to be a game based on Popeye the Sailor before Nintendo failed to obtain the license (perhaps effectively making Popeye to Mario what Astro Boy is to Mega Man).

   Naturally, with children who grew up with games now adults with their own children, it’s the perfect time to hit them right in their wallet with the rosey-tinted shades of nostalgia, and what better wealth of licenses to exploit than those born in the 80′s?

   It is to that end that GameDaily reveals their Top 10 80′s Cartoons That Deserve Video Games.

   Sadly, there was what appeared to be a neat-looking Masters of the Universe game on its way to consoles a few years ago, based on the updated cartoon, which vanished into thin air.

   On the other hand, ThunderCats may fare better, thanks to their recently-announced CGI movie in the making.

6. And since it’s sort of related, the final battle from the Masters of the Universe movie.
7. “lolz” courtesy of Go Nintendo:

   

8. I have no idea who thought that posting Hogan’s Alley footage to GameVideos would be a good idea…

   …but I’m glad they did. I miss that one. I swear, some of these old Nintendo properties are just BEGGING to be updated and expanded upon.

9. The Super Mario Bros. theme song. Now in Japanese(?).
10. The Donkey Kong Country crew is back! …just not in a new Donkey Kong Country game, sadly. Still, K. Rool, Candy, and the rest are along for the DK Jungle Climber adventure, and you can check out all the cool screens and art here.

    Lots of DK Jet pics, too.

11. Kohler is totally pimpin’ the Rockman DASH/MegaMan Legends soundtrack.

    Unless “pimpin’” means “giving.” In which case, no, he’s totally not doing that.

12. Ever been in one of those situations where the best advice is to just. Not. Move?

    Well, Mario has found himself in just such a spot.

    Brilliance? Or insanity? I don’t know, and damned if I’m touching that one. Watch for yourself, though, the mind will @#$%ing boggle.

13. Japan, a DS, a cat, and a blog. What more do you need?

    Oh, right. A translator. Oh well, at least there are pics.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. I’m of a mixed view when it comes to seasons. We have little in the way of cooling, so warm weather is a bit uncomfortable to me. I generally prefer cooler weather, but I hate wet and especially snowy and icy conditions.

   And, as Untalkative Bunny knows, cooler weather is a good time for baking.

2. Thanks to neoendgame, we’ve got another Atari rarity from eBay tonight, this time a prototype laserdisk game.

   Holy crap. I shudder to think how bad the load times on this would be. Or how bad the game itself could be. I mean, remember how bad the first games on CD were? This commands a lot more than last night’s Cosmos auctions, but it might be worth it just to see how potentially horrible this could be.

3. The Official TMNT Web Site has added Donatello #1 to their archives, encouraging fans to see how it compares to episode 16 of the recent cartoon series.

   Plus, there’s some word about adult-sized Halloween costumes that will be available this year, about $150 each.

   And while I don’t know about the episode itself, it seems Comcast On Demand has a new episode of Fast Forward that is supposed to be one of the best, thanks to its mysterious (to me, anyway) guest stars.

4. Utopia? Or Dystopia? That’s the question about our future posed by Mr. Parish as he uses video games like a big pixelated crystal ball to gaze into the future and see where we are all headed.

   Mega Man is kind of a funny one. Sure, it’s all cute and friendly NOW, but skip forward a hundred years, and it gets ugly… a few hundred more, and even uglier. Then a bit more… and not so bad… and a few thousand more, yeah, it’s good again. Save for the oversized baby-blasters from the sky, that is.

5. o/~ Paperboy, Paperboy, treats newspapers like a toy!

   Rides his bike, down his route!

   His obstacles… are such a hoot!

   Hey there… here comes the Paperboy! o/~

   Ok, not one of my best efforts. Regardless, I sort of want to see someone make a “movie version” of Paperboy. In the meantime, I’ll just settle for ScrewAttack.com’s Video Game Vault retrospective. To add to Handsome Tom’s useless fact: The Paperboy was illiterate, too.

   …why the hell does the boy have grey hair? His route isn’t that bad, is it?!

6. Mmmm, tasty new Ninja Gaiden Sigma footage, courtesy of GameTrailers.

   I dig the boxart. And the extras. If I could afford it, I’d even consider just buying the special edition by itself, lack of PS3 be damned.

7. Over on IGN, Matt examines the nonsensical existance of the “AO” rating that essentially cannot even be used, and how it essentially breaks down the entire system. And I have to agree.

   In fact, one should ask themselves if games will ever really be “all grown up” if AO titles are to remain in such standing?

8. I normally don’t just post pics of new boxart, but I just like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption’s.

   Maybe because it picks up on familiar theme.

9. A cool display of hedgehog unity from last year’s E3. Pity the game sucked. But at least Rivals is said to be decent.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Summertime. Full of heat and noise, as people start working on… stuff.

   As Untalkative Bunny knows, that’s when it’s time to escape to the beach!

2. neoendgame provides another contribution to our archives with a look at an auction for an Atari system that never was.

   Long before the Virtual Boy and others attempted the step to “real 3D,” the Atari Cosmos was a table-top unit that would untilize holograms to immerse the player in the game.

   They managed to obtain at least 8,000 pre-orders at the 1981 NY Toy Fair, and had 250 units produced to be sent out along with advertising and packaging, but decided in the end that the product was too great a risk to attempt to market.

   Would this item have changed Atari’s fortunes? Eh, probably not.

   But this auction is a stellar deal, though. I’d love to have one for my collection myself.

3. Licensed music: yay or nay?

   For Matt at Press the Buttons, definitely nay.

   I’m of a mixed mindset about it. For something that’s licensed to begin with, say TransFormers, I’d feel almost cheated if I couldn’t get the theme or soundtrack in there somehow. Same for some games, like EA games such as Burnout, or sports titles, perhaps. It just sort of works.

   On the other hand, I sort of hate all these videos for Smash Bros. Melee and such on YouTube, were the sound is completely wiped in favor of “Worlds Collide” or whatever. It sort of works, but… well, no, no thanks.

   And lastly, I rather enjoy the use of popular bands to sing the openings of Mega Man X games, or rather, Rockman X games in Japan, and for whatever reason, it usually feels like the US versions (sans X6) wind up with the budget cuts. And that’s always pissed me off just a bit.

   My favorite, though? I actually rather like the Sonic Adventure and beyond type stuff, where it pretty much sounds like it could be licensed music (vocals can really help in that respect), but it’s made for the game.

   Those are my thoughts, how about yours?

4. Oh, now here’s an awesome treat from Racketboy today: a .pdf file of the February 1993 issue of what could very well be one of the greatest video game magazines of all time, Game Players, who pretty much developed the snappy style everyone tries to emulate today.

   Unfortunately, I’m not sure if this issue is before or after they developed their edge, and I’ll have to wait until later to check it out.

   Good times, though.

5. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam? Not really my thing.

   Or is it?

   I have to admit, that looks rather fun. But the still shots of the pilots strike me as a little bit weak.

6. Next-Gen hits an exclusive interview with Takashi Tezuka, a longtime standing member of Nintendo who has worked on many a Mario and Zelda game.
7. Ooh, a real Sonic RPG preview?

   …no, false alarm. Dammit.

   This is one of those times I wish they’d just kept their mouths shut until they had something to show with it.

8. Here’s something I can dig: 2D franchises that deserve another chance.

   It’s hard to argue with any of these, though I’m sure that many more could be named. Which ones would you like to see return to prominence?

9. Some new screens and info on the upcoming Power Rangers: Super Legends DS game, which will also be on Wii, PS2, and PC later this year.

   Tommy, the Green Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger had best be playable.

   Anyway, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m blown away by anything here, but I guess I shouldn’t expect to be. I hope that the console games look closer to the TV show, though. i.e. more like actors and less like drawn cartoons.

10. Reggie talks a little about WiiWare and its control schemes, as well as Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 troubles.
11. Looks like 1up sticks it to a company who might be thinking just a little too highly of themselves.

    Welcome back to Earth, boys.

12. The Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles trailer, now in English.

    Freaky.

    And man, that Wesker guy looks like such bad news, doesn’t he?

    Hmm, anyone else ever notice that two (three, if you count Battle Network seperately) of Capcom’s biggest villains are named “Albert W.”?

13. Ah, Acclaim… sometimes I miss you and your wacky advertising antics.
14. DS Lite stylus too small for your enormous paws? Fear not, for there ARE solutions!

    I’m surprised no one thought of this one sooner.

15. Lara promotes Tomb Raider: Anniversary in perhaps the best way that she can. And still be SFW.
16. And last, but most certainly not least… just one more day until 1up’s mysterious Contra IV… whatever, is revealed.

    In the meantime, a round of applause to Mr. Parish and MISTAAAAAAAAAAAR… Kennedy… for a Retro Roundup that has been specially created to give a rundown of all the past Contra titles to date, and which ones are and aren’t worth looking at.

    While I still enjoyed the original arcade Contra to some degree, I find most of these to be pretty spot-on, unlike the roundup of Mega Man titles, which I felt were more disputable. As for Shattered Soldier? In an ironic way, it’s too short AND too long; there’s no saving, so you have to do it all in one go, and that can take awhile. On the other hand, if there was saving, I imagine more people would have seen the end.

    Me? I haven’t seen the end yet.

    I do slightly disagree with the Neo Contra assessment; it runs most like a game built around the “special” stages of the first three titles: your behind-the-back views, your top-downs, and such. The lack of analog may be that title’s one true shortcoming, but not enough for a thumbs-down, in my humble opinion.

    Can’t speak so much for the “inspired by” parts of the review, though I have loved everything I’ve played of Gunstar Heroes and Gunstar Super Heroes (I need to get a copy of the latter; the former I finally got to play on Virtual Console).

    And it should also be noted, perhaps, that playing as Axl in Mega Man X8 sort of gives off a slight Contra vibe as well, as he sprays down every enemy on screen with a barrage of blasts.

    And I should really play Metal Slug one of these days. I mean, it has a collection on Wii, right?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Today, the Untalkative Bunny learns the value of Animal Obedience.

   However, results may vary.

2. Mario, Luigi, and Captain N are here to talk to you today.

   “What about?” you eagerly ask. “Is it the new Nintendo system? That ‘Why’ thing?”

   Heh heh heh, no, you silly, ignorant little bastard.

   They’re here to talk to you about SEX, bay-bee!

   Seriously, though, this is an amusing little piece, and it’s only unfortunate that some things weren’t kept a little tighter in consistency (a few visuals, sound effects) so that we could see just how many people might actually buy into this being legit.

   Oh well.

   Btw, this is N exactly SFW, so be warned.

3. Dinosaurs make everything cooler.

   And yeah, Nintendo’s got Yoshi. Nothing against him, but we need something more.

   Dinosaur Comics, yeah, that’s it! And we’ll get Microsoft and Sony in it, too.

   And to that end, a recent strip of the aforementioned title, involving discussion of the three big boys of gaming. And that is so it, isn’t it?

   Thanks to neoendgame for the heads-up… UNLIKE THE REST OF YOU.

   I kid, though. But I mean it. Sort of. But I kid. Really. Only not. But really, I do.

4. GameTrailers and ScrewAttack.com have put together the Top 10 Worst 2D to 3D Games.

   But on the front page is Mega Man and… MegaMan Legends?! Oh HELL no they did not just say that!

   Really, #4 practically invalidates the rest of the list. If they were trashing Mega Man X7, it might be one thing, but…

   Bad cameras? Give me a break, I’ve dealt with worse in Super Mario 64 and tons of others. If MegaMan Legends had a bad camera, then there is no such thing as a good camera.

   On the bright side, at least Legends was a seperate series.

   Now I still want to try Final Fight: Streetwise for myself.

   As for Contra? The 3D jump with Neo isn’t so bad, if you like the “special” stages from the first three games.

5. In fairness, at least they managed to pull another classic out of the Video Game Vault with Excitebike.

   …but that wasn’t a Miyamoto title, was it?

6. This ain’t no time for no jibba-jabba! Bioware is talkin’ up their DS Sonic RPG with IGN, and I pity the foo’ who doesn’t check it out!

   …why in the blue hell am I talking like Mr. T?

   Anyway, the interview actually isn’t very pitiable at all, since they mostly talk about their enthusiasm of working on the DS, and why Sonic, without any real details as to what they aim to do.

7. Next Generation is looking at Nintendo in three parts, with The Nintendo Years and Nintendo’s Winning Ways already up, looking back at the history and trends of the House That Mario Built.
8. With the announcement of Dynasty Warriors Gundam, GameDaily tries their hand at some video game mashups, including one right out of Robot Chicken.

   …Castlevania and Contra is one I’ve brought up to friends before, though I really meant in more of the “unlockable character” sense. Mowing down skeletons with Spread Gun fire… could anything be sweeter?

9. The Top 9 DS ads.

   Notice the lack of US ads herein. At least Animal Crossing: Wild World was amusing.

10. And of course, what could be more interesting than finding out the most horribly mangled titles in videogame history?

    Don’t answer that. But I plead guilty to the first one on the list.

11. SEGA answers 5 questions about NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams, coming soon to a Wii near you.
12. Some Wii remote attachments, I can see as being somewhat useful.

    Others, however…

    The real fun begins when Nintendo gets a lawsuit after someone tries cooking with that for real, and winds up burning their arm because they wriststrap kept it in place.

    Conversely, the pool stick attachment looks like it’d make for a better sword than the actual sword attachments.

13. And over here, we have a different type of mod in the Wii-NES Light Gun. If I had the money to go gutting a Zapper AND a Wiimote for this, this would be one I’d go for.
14. Ten-dollar Totin’ with Mario! A neat little item, this.
15. I want this for my living room sofa, just so I can watch the confused look on peoples’ faces as they try to figure out whether they’re supposed to sit down, or wait for me to finish reorganizing the entertainment center*.

    * Not as impressive as it sounds.

16. Sonic the Hedgehog ketchup bottles must have been the greatest SEGA item ever to a Nintendo fanboy back in the day. Just imagine the villainous delight with which they’d pummel the bottle, to watch Sonic’s “blood” splatter everywhere… only to realize that they’d violated Nintendo’s own protocols regarding violence, and run crying back into the house where Link and Samus could reassure them.

    And now? No big deal, because Sonic’s living mostly under Mario’s roof (only to occassionally cavort with those other guys).

    It’s sort of funny, Mario and Sonic sort of echo that anime cliche’ where two guys are the fiercest of rivals, but then become pretty good friends as other challengers come…

17. This is one version of Princess Peach’s castle that’s NOT cut out for any Smash-Brawling…

    …or IS it?

    Well, if it is, then not for very long.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Sure, I’m a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh, I admit it, and I feel no shame in it. I rather enjoy the manga, the cards feature nice art, and I’m a fan of a lot of the designs, including the hot chicks and wicked dragons, among others.

   That said… well, it now comes to my attention (through atreyu452) that the pool of dialogue throughout the series is a little shallow.

   Seriously, no diving allowed here, kids, you’ll hurt yourself.

   I wonder if the Japanese version had the same problem…

   Also: Kaiba addresses the YouTube audience, and The Card Game Channel, for all your dueling needs.

   “It was just like the ending to Pirates of the Caribbean 2, except this was satisfying!”

2. Simpsons go manga!

   This is too good for words. SpaceCoyote does some neat work, and you can see a lot more of it here.

3. Finally, part 5 of Mishaps of a Podoboo.

   Will Podobella discover the right course of action to take? Will the object of her desire reciprocate? Click, and find out!

4. The Power Morphicon is going on this weekend, and here are some pics from the event thus far.

   Sigh, I long for the opportunity to be able to go to more than one convention per year…

5. Iron Man, caught on video.

   Man, that costume looks awesome.

6. Once upon a time, SEGA was perhaps one of the best-known, most prominent entities in the entire video game industry. But what got them there? Was it superior hardware? Fast hedgehogs? Good games? Add-ons on top of add-ons (literally)?

   Maybe a bit of this and that. But we all know the #1 contributor to SEGA’s success:

   Hype.

   And with that, Racketboy looks back to the 16-bit era as he examines the SEGA hype machine and the SEGA CD.

7. So, with Resident Evil 4 hitting the Wii now, what better time for Game Daily to go back and look at the top 10 scariest Resident Evil moments, as well as the ladies of said series.

   Jill and Claire will always be my faves. Not necessarily in that order. Not necessarily out of that order, either.

   …3/5 my ass, she’s at least a 4.

   And yet, they give a 5/5 to Milla Jovovitch while displaying a picture of her that makes her look like someone’s crazy aunt, come to devour someone’s organs and sell the rest on the black market.

8. A closer look at Contra IV from the latest Nintendo Power.

   Someone hold me.

   Sigh, damned Canada Post. Where’s my issue already?

9. On a related note, in that same online preview, they show off an article talking about Samus turning 20, and Go Nintendo reveals that the mag will look at Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in the next issue.
10. And on top of all that, we find out that Itagaki loves Pikmin. But really, who doesn’t?
11. Someone has finally pieced all the DK Jet videos together. Looks like a neat game, hope there will be a demo.

    Plus, the Japanese website has updated with new videos, and looks at the characters.

12. If it’s the sort of thing that would interest you, Chris Kohler has spoiler-filled impressions of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for you.
13. 1up takes a look at “Platform Agnostics,” aka “the most whored out games in history,” games that have appeared anywhere and everywhere over the years.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”