1. Work in a dull office?

   Maybe this Office Space “Bill Lumbergh Office Buddy” with sound is just the thing you need to liven things up a little. Chase off your “case of the Mondays” with a “little bit of flair.”

2. GameDaily takes the “super” out of “superhero” as they look back at the 10 worst superhero games.
3. There is no beating My Ninja Info Cards!
4. GameVideos.com has a better-version of the Super Mario Strikers Charged “Skydive” intro that was linked a short time back; no video of a living room TV this time!

   Or if you prefer, the game’s French web site has a direct feed as well.

   That ball looks like Samus in Morph Ball mode.

5. Game|Life’s Chris Kohler is in Japan, and he’s got some interesting stuff to talk about.

   A crane-game filled with New Super Mario Bros. product?

   One ticket to Japan, please.

   Makes me wonder if Japanese tourists ever come here, see a cheap Spider-man doll in a machine, and freak out.

6. A neat homemade oldschool Super Mario Bros. clock, though I don’t see anything that screams “1-1″ about it.
7. Go figure.

   Get a Christian gaming company together to develop a mass-market title for the big consoles: XBox, PlayStation, Nintendo… and they’ll drop the ball.

   Get some guys from Adult Swim to make a Flash game with Bible themes, however…

8. 8 years ago yesterday, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the Game Boy Color.

   And it was quite a neat little adaptation of the title, with lots of cool extras and bonuses and such.

   Which makes it a damn shame that there’s no way to “upgrade” the NES version of Super Mario Bros. on Virtual Console so that people can enjoy these lost bonuses and features.

9. So, how fast can you push a button?
10. Kotaku, good place to read, lousy place to comment, i.e., they can be snarky, but you can’t, apparently.
11. Re: Halo 3 “leaked” videos: the jig is up.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. From Metal Shark Player: What would it be like if the CDi Zelda and Mario games were on Cartoon Network’s Toonami?

   Probably something like this.

2. PlayStation 3: XBox Killer?!
3. NinjaTurtles.com has added a Korean PSP wallpaper to their website, featuring some nice imagery from the movie.

   Plus, they report that the first two movies will be on the Family Channel at 8 and 10 pm on May 5th.

4. Racketboy’s Retro Gaming has some new Hidden Gems from the Game Boy Advance.

   Featured game Wario Land 4 is worthy; I’ve played it, but I do not own it, though I so wish I did. It is perhaps the last great traditional Wario game, perhaps with the exception of Wario World on the GameCube (I don’t know offhand which came first).

   And since the DS plays GBA games, that’s an extra reason to look over this list, with many good recommendations such as Sonic Battle, Astro Boy: The Omega Factor, and TMNT.

5. Wow, I have to admit, I’m a little envious of the three top Alien Homminid HD players, because now they can sport these cool trophies.

   But no trophy of the alien itself? Kind of weak, but hardly worth complaining over.

   It’d be great if more developers take this kind of initiative in the future.

6. There have been some neat books out there, like “The Science of Star Trek” and “Secrets of the Matrix” and other stuff that takes fiction and looks at the realistic applications/transitions/plausibility of it all.

   Well, now there’s one more to add to the list, “Halo Effect,” which delves into things like how big Halo is, and what it’s made of.

   Sounds like a must-have for any serious fan.

7. Ah, poor Alex Kidd is about to get Screwed by those folks at the Video Game Vault of ScrewAttack.com and GameTrailers.

   There’s actually a Japan-only Dreamcast game called Segaga which reveals a different fate for our monkey-headed hero, however…

8. Next Generation has an abridged version of the recent Q&A Nintendo Co. Ltd. President Satoru Iwata had with investors.

   And Go Nintendo excerpts another part, speaking of their M.O. for acquisitions, like their recent addition of Monolith Soft.

   And of course, you can the whole thing here, five pages worth, about which RMC says:

   “[Iwata] says a lot of stern/funny stuff you will get a kick out of. It?s definitely worth a read. You can make it through 5 pages!”

9. GameDaily does what probably everyone’s doing now: looking back at the history of Spider-man games.

   This one seems a little more thorough than 1up’s feature, which seemed to focus more on the now, however.

10. Go Nintendo has found an MSNBC article which features their Top 5 Mario games, including some less-traditional choices.
11. I think that this Zelda DS Lite case mod might be the one to beat all other case mods. It’s absolutely stunning.

    And it can be yours, no less, as it’s on eBay.

    The Wii mod was also very impressive, but not as much so to me for the simple fact that I know where its sword/shield combo came from. But where did this one come from?

    This also has a custom charger, and 15% of the proceeds go to Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play. What could be better?

12. RMC of Go Nintendo expresses some concerns regarding Link’s next game, Phantom Hourglass. Valid concerns, at that.
13. So it’s being said again that gamers don’t want long games any more, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.

    I don’t mind a long game, but I do mind when stages seem rather endless. I don’t like to sit down to Zelda: Twilight Princess unless I think I can get through the dungeon I’m on in one sitting.

    I like my progress to be in quick bursts, like levels of Super Paper Mario, where I can pick it up, play for a bit, and either stop or keep going for another chapter if I want, as opposed to stopping midway and having to remember what I was doing when I stopped.

    If the game is good and has variety to add to the mix, then it can be very long, and I’ll be happy.

    Opinions?

14. Yahoo! has an interesting feature that looks at the Top 25 Web Hoaxes and Pranks in history.

    Some crazy stuff there. And how many are the result of April Fool’s Day pranks, I wonder…

15. Poor Pac-Man.

    At least he doesn’t let it get him down.

16. So, who likes the new, sleeker, toned-down and more-intimate E3?

    One of Bungie’s co-founders, evidently.

17. Mario Hooked on Shrooms.

    Yeah, the same joke about Mario and Mushrooms we’ve seen a zillion times already, but this one manages to still be funny, if a little heartbreaking.

    Oh Mario, how could you end up like this?

18. The difference between Zelda and Final Fantasy?

    Zelda has people keeping it on course.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. In anticipation of Free Comic Book Day this Saturday (check the site for participating comic book shops near you), as well as the 175th issue of Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog this month, I’ve taken the liberty of posting a sort of retrospective on scans_daily, covering the beginning of Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley’s tenure on the book up until the present.

   If you were once a reader of the book and got tired of the direction it was going, give this a look; you might like what you see. And with a free sample on Saturday, it’s a no-lose proposition.

   On the other hand, I will be honest: if you never liked Sonic, I doubt this will do anything to change your mind, either. But who knows?

2. When the original TransFormers cartoon was on the air, they featured some special clips at the end of Season 3 episodes detailing various aspects of the setting, characters, and more.

   Kalidor at The Allspark came across a combined collection of these, which can be seen on YouTube. Neat stuff.

3. Wow, according to Evil Avatar, the Wii has 131 third-party developers.

   That’s quite a bit.

4. GameTrailers goes back to the good ol’ days to pick their top 10 8-bit games.
5. Yikes! I guess Nintendo President Satoru Iwata isn’t all smiles, all the time.

   Seems he was a bit up-front with NoA about their selling only a third as many Brain Age games here as Europe did last week.

6. Artists and Halo fans, this may be the opportunity you’re looking for!

   Looks like the Halo 3 logo isn’t finalized yet, and YOU, yes, YOU could be the one to create it!

   And to get your juices flowing, here are some screens and concept art to help in the creative process.

7. Speaking of Halo 3, these Halo 3 Kubricks look awesome.

   And check it out, they even have Red vs. Blue!

8. Wait, what?

   Uwe Boll’s Postal movie… good?!

   Something must be wrong here.

9. Kotaku reviews the Ninja Gaiden Sigma downloadable demo.

   Man, I kind of wish I could play this… but at the same time, I don’t think I’m nearly good enough.

10. XBox Live Marketplace has a free download of the Pac-Man cartoon from 1982.

    I wish I could get it. And I wish I could get some damn Pac-Man cereal, dammit.

    One ALWAYS leads to the other. They should just relaunch the cereal with free DVDs featuring an episode and a copy of the game.

    I’d bite.

11. Kotaku’s got a cheap, fun (well, cheap, anyway) way to give your Wii remote more personality, thanks to some simple dyes.

    They look surprisingly good. Too bad you can’t dye the entire casing like that.

12. Wanna rock out, Guitar Hero style?

    Are you a lefty?

    Fear not, for there is an answer!

13. So lately, it seems that XBox 360 is beating PlayStation 3 in the games department.

    But what about customer service?

    Well, to hear it from Kotaku, Sony gets the nod here.

    Of course, there used to be good stories for Microsoft as well… but time will tell.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Some nice Mega Man 2 tunes as performed by a band whose name I can’t figure out, courtesy of Metal Shark Player.

   But can they beat Haruhi’s rendition to take the title?

   …either way, so long as she doesn’t get it.

2. The Angry Video Game Nerd unleashes his wrath on… SEGA CD.
3. “Taste the meat, AND the heat! Mwahahaha!!

   A damn shame Fox didn’t make a mini-online game based on this. Can you imagine?

4. Oh no! Not more Nintendo trading cards!

   I still have all my originals from the NES era with the different fields scratched off. Remember those?

   God, I just hope they keep these affordable.

5. Game Daily with a Bruce Campbell interview.

   Why?

   Because who doesn’t love Bruce Campbell? He’s only a notch beneath Mr. T and Chuck Norris for geek stardom.

   I need to get his book someday.

6. Game|Life gives a contrary argument on the whole Sony-goat thing, basically comparing it to any other meat.

   Personally, it’s not that they had a dead goat there. Fine, whatever. It was when the story seemed to report of a fresh decapitation with invites to eat from the insides. THAT was gross.

   I’m sure some people still think the thing lacked class, and I can go with that. Is going to get some meat to eat after bitching about this hypocrisy? I don’t think so. I mean, just because I know HOW my parents conceived me doesn’t mean I want a close-up view of the action.

   Same basic principle here. There are just some things people don’t want to see, knowledge or ignorance be damned.

7. Voice acting remains one of the biggest problems in video games, and casting celebrities isn’t a surefire way to improve it.

   Sure, it gives it an air of authenticity, specifically in the case of a movie/TV show tie-in, but that doesn’t make it good.

   Then again, with some people, I don’t know that any voice acting to them will ever be considered “good.”

   All the same, this is why I got into voice-acting to start with. Or rather, why I went to college to help with it. Just a damn shame I couldn’t really afford to pursue it. But at least if all goes to plan, you’ll be hearing my yap spout off nonsense soon enough, regardless.

8. Super Mario Bros., played blind.

   1337 skillz, or too much time on their hands? You be the judge.

9. Now this is taking initiative in marketing.

   That’s the sort of thing that’d make me look twice at the product, anyway.

10. Kotaku shows off some nice Mario fan artwork, in the vein of I am 8-Bit offerings.

    The fire flower one is cool, but I like the other two more. Poor Mario.

11. Taking it a step further, they’ve got some rather pricey origami of Mario, Luigi, Astro Boy, and more.
12. In two days, Spider-man 3 comes out.

    Right now, however, 1up has a Spider-man retrospective.

    Many puns abound as Jake McNeil looks at the good, the bad, and the Spidey.

    Personally, though, I’ve some fond memories of Maximum Carnage, thanks to an old friend. But I really do need to get one of the more recent games…

13. Still not sure whether any of this week’s Virtual Console games are worth downloading? Don’t worry, Toastyfrog is here to tell you what’s what.

    I suppose by “any Mega Man game ever” not having co-op play, that he wasn’t counting the arcade titles.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. GameTrailers and ScrewAttack.com delve into the vault once more to look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, a reworked Turtles in Time clone Konami made for the SEGA Genesis back when system-exclusive versions of a title were still more of a contractual big-deal nightmare.

   Incidently, I always did want to beat up Tatsu, but never got to.

2. Well, I’m a knucklehead. Despite my own reminders, I forgot to tune in to see the Miyamoto special on Spike TV’s Game Head.

   Fortunately, GameTrailers saves the day!

3. IGN has some new info regarding Capcom’s Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

   Interestingly, it was going to be like Resident Evil 4, but they felt it was too difficult and complicated on the Wii.

   If that’s the case, then what does that say about the Wii version of Resident Evil 4?

   Go Nintendo offers a video interview with the developer here.

4. Next Generation takes a look at XBox’s Elite, and what its pros and cons are from a business perspective.

   “in the $300 and up range consumers tend to be a little more careful with their purchase. Consumers don’t want to spend $400 on a piece of hardware and be told they are not “elite” and only getting second best.”

5. N-Philes offers up the intro to Super Mario Strikers Charged, along with the game’s online multiplayer menu.

   Pretty wild stuff, with a rockin’ soundtrack. And am I the only one who’s happy to see that the Kremlings are involved somehow?

6. Jingle bells? No.

   Shotgun shells? You betcha’!

7. The Adventures of Link.

   Wow. I bet he wish he’d thought of that one when he was doing the cartoon.

   Hmm, Link’s kind of a jerk, isn’t he?

8. Go Nintendo plays Mario Kart: Double Dash!! again… for the first time.

   I do agree, on its own merits, its quite a fun game. I never quite understood why MKDS was so loved and this was so reviled. Maybe RMC is on to something with the bit about overhyping…

9. The PSP, in itself, is a good little system. However, from Slashdot, it could have been great.

   In addition, Cnet via Wired asks, “where have all the video downloads gone?”

10. Development is underway for a device that read your mind to operate toys and other electronics.

    It’s a neat idea, and makes you wonder what the potential applications might be for games. Or who might be the first to try.

11. Pfft, I’ve been saying this for years. The Sony one goes beyond just those four buttons as well, which makes sense, given the origins of the system.
12. Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Blue Dragon and Final Fantasyalum, explains why he has no plans to work on the PS3 any time soon.

    He’s not an MS fanboy, either. Guess it’s just a matter of finding the lesser of two (three?) evils.

13. Kotaku shapes up Kaz Hirai’s chances of righting the ship that is PlayStation 3.

    Can he do it? Can he save their world so we can play in it when we are not living in ours?

14. So, what’s worse? Naming your kid after Yuji Naka, or naming your kid after Yuji Naka by making it all one word?

    And amusingly, that’s the least disturbing thing on the list.

15. Oh, so that’s what Beer Pong is.

    Good to know. For… I dunno, reference. Or something.

16. Hold it!!

    A papercraft Phoenix Wright model?

    No objections here.

17. Mr. *deep breath* KENNEDAAAAAAAAY takes us into his mind as he looks at Kutaragi and Sony, and what went wrong.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. The Mrs. has found something interesting in the form of “Comics With Problems.”

   From Spider-man needing an adult to Charlie Brown’s sister (yes, I know her name, but if I said “Sally Brown,” would you have ANY idea who I meant? I don’t think so.) fighting lazy-eye the pirate way, this site goes all over the spectrum.

2. One just HAS to wonder this was done on purpose.

   If you hang around the internet, I’m sure you know what I mean.

3. Atomic Fire has some new scans and info regarding Rockman ZX Advent available, including pics of the Three Wise Men.

   Jeux France via Kotaku have some more shots as well.

4. Press The Buttons has a short “Most Wanted Virtual Console Games” list, and one that’s hard to argue with. While Chrono Trigger seems dubious at best, with Square-Enix’s recent comments, Mega Man: The Wily Wars is a title that could use some VC-lovin’, especially the uber-rare “Wily Tower” segment.

   As for Mother 3? Well, to be honest, I never got to play Earthbound, and I’d sort of like to see that make its more-likely appearance first…

5. Racketboy has formed a list of the cheapest N64 games worth your time.

   …wait, no Paper Mario? I’ll have to assume it fetches more than the rest, and subsequently go cry in the corner as I lament this.

6. Sounds like the PSP Final Fantasy remakes aren’t quite all-that.
7. Wow, Duke Nukem Forever is 10 years old.

   Or rather, the legend of it is. Given that it still has not been released…

   Nor do I think it should ever be released. It’s something of a legend now, just throw us a bone every half-decade to keep it alive, and let us wonder… wonder, for should we ever actually know, there can only be disappointment to follow, for no game could ever live up to this kind of hype.

8. Evil Avatar has an interesting look at “The Blame Game,” as touted by GameDaily. As EA says:

   “The fact that the shooter in this case was clearly an adult and not a child or teenager definitely changed how the media viewed gaming’s role in the incident. People will believe a 15 year-old can be affected by violent media, but a 23 year-old? That’s too much of a stretch for most people.”

   Sounds like a sad but plausible truth of the matter. At the same time, maybe it could be beneficial in that regard as well…

9. Oh, just remembered, those Wii remote weapon attachments reported a couple of weeks ago? I saw some of those at Future Shop earlier. And unless it was a different brand making these, then a few notes:

   1) They are nowhere near that good looking. They’re white. Just. White.

   2) They’re shorter than you might expect. The handles sort of give it away when you put it into perspective, but even then… they seem very, very short. And the shield is quite small, too. Just a little bigger than the Wii remote itself, lengthwise.

   3) They’re made of foam, sort of like some pool toys. Well, the blades, anyway. So it’s like paying 30 dollars (Canadian, anyway), 10 dollars each for two pieces of foam.

   It might be worth it for the customizing gamer, but on their own? It just shows you have money to burn, and nothing more. In truth, actually burning the currency might be more worthwhile.

10. Once more, the subject comes up of whether or not Nintendo is doing more harm than good to the industry, pushing down sales of third-party titles.

    I’ve been waiting for just such an opportunity to break out this quote I found over at the Penny Arcade forums:

    Deguello wrote:
    Nintendo set up a DS buffet and all the third parties went to the PSP Diner. The Diner came down with a case of botulism and everybody wonders why Nintendo is fat when they return.

    Sums it up right there.

    Of course, as Go Nintendo and Kotaku state, that’s not the case for ALL third-parties.

11. GameTrailers has some new trailers of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for the DS.

    For those into that.

12. GameSpot has some new Mario Party 8 screens, and only one word comes to mind: gorgeous.

    New screens for Super Mario Strikers: Charged and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass are available, too.

    Go Nintendo has some new NiGHTS, as well.

13. IGN reports that DK Bongo Blast is now DK Jet, perhaps putting the final nail in place for any hopes of the bongos maintaining a presence.
14. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I’m glad I don’t live in Europe.

    No offense intended to Europe, there’s some cool country and stuff over there. But the gamer part of my blood is just a bit too thick, I’d go crazy.

15. I see stuff like this Manhunt 2 preview, and I just wonder if it’s for me. Do I have it in me to go around brutally murdering people in gruesome ways? Even if it is fake?

    It’ll be an interesting case to check when it finally comes out. I don’t mind stuff like Grand Theft Auto, but stuff like that hasn’t exactly gripped me, either.

16. A bit of talk has come up as of late regarding Wizards & Warriors, after ScrewAttack.com listed it as a faded franchise.

    Well, some more has come from RMC’s End-of-Day post at Go Nintendo.

    Out of all the crap Acclaim has made (though developed by Rare), Wizards & Warriors remains one game that I’d like to see return to glory. Praise Fabio*!

    Reading about this makes me weep a little on the inside, however, for days long passed. I remember living in Mt. Airy once, and my dad and I going out and getting this game one night; I think he might’ve said it was one my mom had wanted, but I was unfamiliar with (we were a gaming family, you see). I think we got it from a Family Dollar or a Sky City or someplace when it wasn’t uncommon for even some small, crummy store to carry some NES games. Ah, but how I miss those times.

    (* Yeah, I know that was technically Ironsword, but still.

17. Despite all the ups and downs between Nintendo and Sony, it would seem that there is no bad blood, at least from Iwata’s standpoint.
18. Wow, has it really been a full year since Nintendo named the Wii?

    I think it’s like some (such as myself) figured: people got used to it.

    BOCTAOE.

19. So Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has recently gotten to play some Super Smash Bros. Brawl against the game’s director/designer, Masahiro Sakurai.

    “Kojima makes a few comments about Brawl in general saying that the game feels very complete, it is a lot of fun, and if Nintendo released it now it would probably sell millions of copies.

    We also find out that during their matches, Sakurai played as Mario and Kojima played as Snake. Kojima jokes about how he couldn?t bring himself to beat up Mario out of respect for the character.”

    Funny thing is, I heard a related bit of info a year ago that pertained to such a scenario…

20. Game|Life discovers the true tragedy behind Kutaragi’s retirement: the end of the “Kutaragi Kwote!”

    Yeah, the deliberate misspelling was all me. I’m sorry.

21. …what the hell is a beer pong?
22. Seems that there’s a little dispute as to whether or not Kutaragi retired of his own accord.

    Also:

    “A few other [giant enemy crabs] go on to note that Kaz Hirai will prove to be [the weak point for massive damage] and a better instigator of [RIIIIIIDGE RACER!!!] in the [599 US dollars] to come.”

    Sorry, I just had to. For old times’ sake.

23. Nintendo says the purpose of the Wii is to expand the game industry and its userbase.

    What they mean, though, is “Wii would like to prey.”

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Over on Newgrounds, Mega-Comedian Glitcher brings to us a tale that depicts Mega Man X8′s Vile as the victim of some “Fowl Play.”

   This is pretty good, with the Spielberg/WB stylings used.

2. Miracle of modern programming, or assault on the senses? Check out Mega Man for the Atari 2600 and decide for yourself.

   What’s funny is, it still seems to be better than the Hudson version of Super Mario Bros.

3. I seriously don’t know what to say about this.

   I guess we don’t have to worry about people arguing their decisions, at least…

4. Go Nintendo and Game Videos have found this interesting Japanese Super Mario RPG ad…
5. Science astounds.

   Seriously, I’ll never quite understand the ingenuity of some people.

6. Ok, as much as I want an XBox 360, I’m seriously starting to reconsider.
7. James Mielke over at the green fungus has an interesting piece up that takes an in-depth look at the process of one of Square’s localizations, not of a game, but of its box-art.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. NinjaTurtles.com has just added some new issues to their archives, Michaelangelo #1 and TMNT vol. 1 #6.
2. Press the Buttons takes a sad path oft travelled by looking at how SEGA blew it after leaving the console biz.
3. An interesting feature over at IGN is a series of video interviews with various creators of The Simpsons regarding various episodes.

   Some fun little stuff there, good as a time-killer.

4. I don’t hate Pokemon, but I’m not a rabid fanboy, either. If someone gave me a copy, I’d play it, but I’m not one to go out and buy it, either.

   That said, maybe some of you who play it will get something out of this.

   It’s interesting to note, at any rate, and not the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.

   Some years ago, WWE star Mick Foley recalled one of his trips he’d made to Japan, wherein he had some special “Japanese versions” of his t-shirt made, and they didn’t go over so well with the fans, as having English on the shirts was the cool thing.

   I guess some trends never change.

5. I don’t know, is this so wrong? I mean, compared to something like EA’s “pay for it on 360, unlock it everywhere else” approach to microtransactions? A tip, regardless of where it comes from, ought to still work, right?
6. I have no idea what this story has to do with this picture, but it’s sorta hot.
7. My Little Pyramidhead?
8. These are probably some of the best Mega Man/South Park hybrids I’ve ever seen.

   Makes you wonder if Powered Up would’ve sold more had the styling been closer to this, along with the use of casual swearing.

9. So recently, Disney revealed that they were going to be creating a line of Disney Princess wedding gowns.

   That’s cool, I guess. At the same time, it’s sort of too bad Nintendo hasn’t had this brainstorm yet. Just imagine a wedding ceremony where the bride is Princess Zelda, or maybe something a little more Peachy? In white, perhaps?

   On the other hand, I’m not sure how good an idea it’d be to attend a wedding where this could be what walks down the aisle…

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. BPM Omega sends in this little slice of charm, a parody of the Lucky Star opening that stars Mega Man and friends.

   Warning: “May cause cavities.”

2. ScrewAttack.com, via GameTrailers, offers a look back at the “Top Ten Big Names That Fell Off”, 10 big franchises that have disappeared with little trace…

   Definitely some good picks on here, especially in the higher rankings.

3. GameSpot’s offering up some Mario Kart DS fun in the form of wallpapers, a screensaver, and IM icons.
4. I love Balloon Fight. It is made of win and awesome, and is one oldschool game I can play damn-near endlessly.

   Well, in Japan, Club Nintendo members were recently offered a choice of custom Mii battery covers for their Wii remotes, or a DS game called Tingle’s Balloon Fight.

   No question what I would have picked. And it seems to have been released. And is far more than I had ever imagined.

   Going strictly by the boxart, which features a picture of Tingle taped over the regular Balloon Fighter, I thought maybe it’d be a swapped-out sprite and otherwise perfect recreation of the NES game. Hoo-boy, was I ever wrong. This looks gorgeous!

   And incidently, it looks like Nintendo had a similar idea here as what I did, by featuring 4-players. BUT, I still have some tricks up my sleeve, should I ever be in a position to implement them…

   In the meantime, I’ll have to hunt down a copy of this to fulfill all my Balloon Fighting desires on the go… but I bet it won’t be cheap.

5. FINALLY, something new for Project H.A.M.M.E.R.

   Whoops, false alarm. But glad I’m not the only one who remembers…

6. Mario, then and now.

   No, this isn’t another look back at how far Mario’s come since his days fighting Donkey Kong, but rather, a look at games in the beta stage of production that saw changes before their final release. Check out Kamek in Mario Kart 64. Wonder if he’ll ever get his day?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Over at Press the Buttons, Matt takes a loving look at the longstanding link between animation and gaming, as well as a tease for this weekend’s King of the Hill episode titled “Grand Theft Arlen.”
2. GameTrailers and ScrewAttack.com take a look back at Killer Instinct for the SNES, one of my favorite games.

   Incidently, despite the better look and cinemas and such of the arcade, I just had more fun playing the SNES version.

   And Fulgore and Jago were awesome. I don’t own a 360, but I’d love to see Rare and Microsoft show this one “mercy” and give it new life on the Arcade.

3. Next Generation interviews SEGA’s Scott Steinberg about SEGA’s lack of marketplace pull these days, and how some strategic alliances may change that fortune.

   And that seems like as good a segue as any to entice you to look at other corporate alliances and mergers in Shawn Struck’s latest feature, Corporate Combos: When Game Companies Gang Up.

4. And while on the subject of SEGA, a new interview reveals details about the upcoming NiGHTS title, which among other things will feature two control schemes.
5. New Mario wallpaper that’s just Super!
6. I love Mario, but I’m not sure how much of this I could stand.
7. Dude, this is seriously messed.
8. An interview with Shigeru Miyamoto and Koji Kondo from Spike TV’s Game Head.
9. Wow, now you’re shooting with power… Piranha Power!
10. Awesome, I want Reggie’s autograph too!
11. Ed Boon talks about– what else? MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!armageddon.
12. And the next character for Super Smash Bros. Brawl iiiiiiiiis… Shigeru Miyamoto!

    Just kidding, but that’s the first thing that pic brought to mind.

13. Are you 8-bit? I am 8-bit. Take a look.
14. I think Chris Kohler may be on to something when it comes to the fascination surrounding speed runs.

    Incidently, some of the glitches exploited are news to me…

15. I can’t even call this news.

    Hell, at this point, “Point of Interest” is a stretch. Still…

    Cracker Jack goes after Kotaku. Again.

    Probably wouldn’t even mention this but for the trophy.

    I sort of wish the silly bastard would come after me. Might generate more traffic.

16. Hmm. Hey, Mark? Mr. Wilson, if I may?

    Zero is not a number.

    Not in this case, anyway. But I bet you knew that, didn’t you?

17. I’m sure that this’ll cause an uproar.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”