Just a quick update with some links I’ve got sitting around.

1. Late last year, a sobering game session of Castlevania Judgment took place over at OMG Nintendo, leading to a question I’ve often wondered: why doesn’t Simon Belmont get his due?

   Though Konami seems to occasionally wheel him out as the series mascot for titles such as New International Track and Field, he never seems to have really been characterized very much at all. It seems as though every protagonist in Castlevania history has their role to play, but Simon’s only feels like a cog stuck somewhere in the middle.

   People like Simon Belmont. I like Simon Belmont, I played the original Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV to death. Why does Judgment make him out to be a loseWeight Exerciser compared to Trevor? Hell, why do the Castlevania games do this, too?

   What’s kind of sad is that the Captain N: The Game Master version of the character seems to be the only one with any sort of characterization.

2. Ah, promotional stunts. One has to admire the craziness of such acts… except when they backfire. Then it becomes rather nightmarish.

   Recently, Yahoo! Finance gathered up “10 Promotional Stunts That Horribly Backfired,” a few of which I remember vividly. Naturally, the God of War II promotion caught my attention when it happened, and there was also the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie promotion, the memory of which still adorns the banner of this site from time to time.

3. As I noted recently, it was not that long ago that I finally came across quite a find at a table in Anime North’s dealer’s room: Mega Man 5 for the Game Boy and Super Game Boy.

   So, what is it that makes this one any more special than, say, any other Mega Man game for the Game Boy? GamingFringe takes an in-depth look at the game, although they seem to switch notations to a slightly bewildering degree in the early going.

   I only wish that the Super Game Boy palette worked on the Game Boy Player or Game Boy Advance. But alas, I suppose all that is left to hope for now is that the game somehow finds its way to some sort of re-release, so that more people can enjoy it.

4. Buzzfeed has an interesting new article: “15 Billboards That Don’t Belong Next To Each Other.” How these got as far as they did is way beyond me.

   And except for 14, which is basically just a rehash of 7, I think my favorites are 10-15.

5. Is there any video game character more iconic than Mario? Sure, Pac-man and Space Invaders are quite iconic, but I think they’re more representative of gaming in the early 80′s. Sonic the Hedgehog was once a definite icon, but seems more emblematic of the 90′s. And Master Chief may move millions, but at the same time, I’m just not sure he’s suited to represent the industry as a whole.

   I considered mentioning Grand Theft Auto, but then I remembered that those games aren’t much for recurring characters.

   In any case, Mario has most definitely been successful and enduring; he put Nintendo on the video game map in the early 80′s, he was a cultural phenomenon in the late 80′s and early 90′s, he paved the way for 3D gaming in the mid-90′s, and has gained fame and recognition on the level of, or exceeding, Disney’s own Mickey Mouse.

   Via GoNintendo, Gameztraffic looks at Mario: The Last of the Gaming Icons, wherein they hope to explain “just why he is the best gaming icon.”

That’s it from me tonight, still working on those reviews.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Okay, this is a little later than I had hoped to have it up earlier, but I wound up having to place a call to my dad, among a few other things. At least now I have a place to ship Metroid Prime Trilogy so I can get all the goods!

I really do need to update more, even if it’s just one or two items. I’ll see what I can begin squeezing in. For now, here are some articles I found interesting that I wished to pass along:

1. Via GoNintendo, Game Informer has a cool feature titled “Beyond the Polygons,” which looks at some of the quirkier stuff that happened in the development of some recent titles.

   My favorites, of course, are the Ghostbusters: The Video Game stuff. I’d love to know why only the male avatar in the Wii game can “slime launch.”

2. Of the 8 Multiplayer Weapons That Grind Gamers’ Gears, I’ve only felt the wrath of two: Red Shells and Meta Knight. And frankly, I find neither to be especially problematic, even if there are those who think he should be banned.

   No, my problem is the blasted Blue Shells. They used to be cool, but have become a cheap item with no real purpose in my opinion. So you’re in eighth place, and you launch the shell to wipe out first place. And that helps you… how, exactly? It’s like an item based on pure, petty spite.

   One commenter and a defense I often see of the Blue Shell is that it can be avoided, with a certain bit of tricky driving and… a Mushroom. Something which rarely, if ever, falls into the lap of a driver in first place, who just so happens to be the exclusive target of the Blue Shell. Wonderful.

3. Here at PoisonMushroom.Org, we’re not actually all games, all the time. We’re just mostly games, the vast majority of the time. But there are other topics of interest that cannot help but to be shared.

   For instance, there was that bit about the Saved by the Bell reunion Late Night host Jimmy Fallon is attempting to put together. Well, it seems that SBTB has caught on since then, with a few stories following from it.

   Perhaps most galling, though, is People magazine snubbing not only Dennis “Mr. Belding” Haskins from a recent reunion photo shoot, but Dustin “Screech” Diamond as well, even going so far as to crop him out of an inset picture from the old days which featured him.

   Seriously, I think it’s probably not too far off the mark to say that Saved by the Bell probably defined Diamond’s life for years to come following its finale, and to this very day. Why on Earth would anyone want to take that away from him? It just seems wrong.

   No, actually, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t just seem wrong… I’m pretty sure that it is wrong.

4. If you have any interest in sports, or sports entertainment for that matter, then you’ve probably heard that last week, Shaquille O’Neal was the host of WWE Monday Night Raw. There should be a highlight reel inside, but there isn’t, thanks to a copyright claim by World Wrestling Entertainment. But for the time being, you can still check some of it out here and here.

   While it wasn’t bad, I was a bit disappointed. There was so much Shaquille O’Neal lore that could have been drawn upon for this. I’m not sure what music he came out to, but it definitely should have been one of his rap songs, if it wasn’t. If it was, good job, WWE.

   Then there’s fighting. He should have broken out some of that mixed martial arts stuff he knows, break out a little bit of that Shaq-Fu, rather than just shoulder-ramming The Big Show.

   Finally, and I can sort of understand why they might have wanted to keep this buried, but I think that during match featuring Triple H, he should have given Hunter a hand by passing him the sledgehammer he used in the movie Steel. Or, a close approximation, at least.

   And that would have made for one Shaqtastic Raw.

5. Finally, if you’re on Twitter and have a thing for mad scientists, you might want to check out Dr. Wily’s Twitter feed. It’s actually rather funny.

   What isn’t so funny, I’m sorry to say, is the counterpart feed, _Rockman_ (named for the Japanese identity of Mega Man, for the uninformed). It tends to be a bit… melodramatic. You know the saying “I’m not suffering from insanity, I’m enjoying every minute of it?” That applies well to Wily’s Twitter. Clearly, all the suffering is on the shoulders of _Rockman_.

Well, that’s it for now. Check back soon for more updates, and part 2 of my Game Boy feature will be along come Friday night.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. The Balance Board. The Wii Wheel. The Zapper. The Vitality Sensor.

   Nintendo has a long and storied history of releasing numerous peripherals for it’s consoles over the years since it first stepped into the home video game market, and GamesRadar has a look at the most-failingest” of them all. It’s a shame some of these didn’t garner more support, though.

   I’ll always have a soft spot for R.O.B., who lives on today on the other side of the screen. And I miss my Super Scope. I would love for Nintendo to bring back its titles, as well as those of the Zapper on the Wii. And the DK Bongos’ games, while few in number, were all pretty cool.

2. Via GoNintendo is a Zelda Informer debate of particular interest to me, wherein they try to determine whether the zenith of the battles with Ganon, the original Legend of Zelda, truly marked the end of the King of Darkness.

   This actually reminds me of something else I plan to write about in this space soon…

3. Yet another GamesRadar article, this time looking at the history of everyone’s favorite lovable loseWeight Exerciser, Archie Andrews– er, I mean, Dan Hibiki of Street Fighter fame.
4. Here’s one from Old Wizard, and it’s only two and a half months old. Go, me!

   Few other series outside of Mario can have a top 30 list list of its various baddies and yet still feel like the surface has only just been scratched. Some of these characters have been pretty scarce, however, and unfortunately so. Thankfully, at least spin-offs such as Paper Mario have helped to keep characters such as Ninji and Shy Guys firmly in the spotlight in the time since their initial appearances.

   On the other hand, I think some of the bigger bosses who aren’t named “Birdo” or “Wart” should pop up now and then, too. Granted, Wart has pretty much been out of action since Super Mario Bros. 2, save for a cameo in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, but everyone always picks him first. And while I too would like to see him make a triumphant return, some of his lieutenants, such as Mouser, Triclyde, and Fry Guy would be equally welcome back… at least, for as long as it takes for me to send them falling off the screen again.

   Nothing personal, guys. It’s just business.

   As for ones who do appear, I think Goombas and Koopa Troopas are my favorites, as is the big bad himself. Bowser just has such an excellent design for a villain, it’s hard to get tired of seeing him standing atop the world as his evil schemes are carried out.

   Oh, and props to Nintendo for finally giving us the Koopalings back.

5. And now, a little something different.

   Professional wrestling is not a competition in the strictest sense, short of when competitors attempt to outdo each other with bigger moves or better matches. It is a performance of sorts, whose setting is based in the world of sports as if the events going on were part of an athletic competition. To this end, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has even, to a degree some might call infamous, rebranded professional wrestling as “sports entertainment.” Which, in my opinion, is fair enough, though I still call them wrestlers and refer to what they do as wrestling.

   However, over the years, it feels that WWE has kind of lost the sense of what it means for their entertainment to be of the “sport” variety. To that end, Lance Storm has put together a list of wrestling rules that he believes that companies should abide by when presenting their product. And for the most part (if not completely), I agree with him.

   I enjoy the product, but the titles so often feel meaningless, as do wins or losses. I’ve heard Jim Ross talk about the way to move up in the WWE is to win matches, but really, it never seems like there is any particular reason to. It feels like guys such as Edge or Cody Rhodes can just leave a match of their own volition without any negative consequence, unless it’s a title match. And even then, the titles don’t feel like they have the meaning in the company that they once did.

   Sometimes, it feels like the goals are ill-defined. Sure, Face A wants to beat Heel B because the latter wronged the former somehow, but then what? Sure, it’s all for show, but even so, internal consistency can be an important part of the product. Why are any of these guys here? To simply draw a paycheck? Some say that having the World Title means everything to them, that it means they are the best in the world, but I just don’t feel that significance from the belt. Something feels missing.

   I believe one thing that would help, and be assisted greatly by the internet, is some sort of rankings of each athlete on each brand. A guy wins a match, he moves up; a guy loseWeight Exercises, he moves down. Sort of like in the video games, where you’re working to reach certain championship goals. Give it a real feeling like every match, whether or not there’s a story behind it, has some kind of meaning to it.

   It’s kind of funny, too. Before I read Storm’s article, I wound up watching some openings to old WWE shows (from when they were the WWF, at that) via Retrojunk and YouTube, and it was funny how much more “sports-like” those openings and setups made the show feel (albeit in an 80′s/90′s sort of way), versus what we have today.

   Long story short: I think WWE needs to put more of the “sport” back into “sports entertainment.”

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. Joystick Division takes an interesting look at “5 of the Most Hated Games from Top Franchises.” My only real dispute is with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link; I can’t dispute that it is probably many peoples’ least-favorite of the series, but I personally love the game, and would love to see Nintendo make another like it– even if it’s not an actual Zelda title.
2. If Super Mario Galaxy were on the NES, the box art might have looked a little something like this.
3. Destructoid has an awesome look at video game-inspired cartoons, called “From the Console to the TV Station, part 1″.

   Personally, I miss Pac-Man. Pac-Man cereal with Pac-Man cartoons– few things could have been better. While I doubt we’ll ever see the cereal again (no thanks in part to loudmouthed soccer-moms, I’m sure– even if there was a decision to bring it back, I bet they’d ruin it), I would at least like it if the TV show was released on DVD.

   That goes double for Saturday Supercade. While I’m all for preserving the original format of the shows, my chief interests lay with Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.; all others are secondary. As such, if they divided up DVDs by game, I think I would be okay with that.

4. Speaking of cereals, the above article links to a prior feature about that very thing.

   Strangely enough, regarding the “Nintendo Cereal System,” I always preferred the Zelda berry to the Mario fruit, even if I would never admit it at the time (cereal politics are a strange and powerful thing, I’ll tell you). Never had Donkey Kong or Jr.‘s cereals, though, but it sounds like a good bowl of “Cap’n Crunch” makes for a good substitute.

5. Sometimes, it’s easy to tell when someone is new to playing video games. Such as when they die from hitting the first Goomba, or calling things by the wrong names.

   GamesRadar has put together a list of “Classic Mistakes Rookies Always Make,” though I’m not sure how agreeable I am with some, namely the very first.

   I’ve rarely played any games with Quick Time Events, with Sonic Unleashed on Xbox 360 being the foremost example in my mind, and that one part ruined the entire game for me. I can get to the boss, but then it all goes down the toilet, as I’ll hit the buttons on screen, but either wind up with buzzing sounds or Tails telling me to “take it easy” as we’re being blown out of the sky. Easy for him to say– he can fly to safety!

   If it were on Super NES, I’d probably do fine, though.

   The “pressing the wrong button in menu screens” one seems like bull, too, given how many PlayStation games I’ve seen that seem to alternate the buttons.

   Come to think of it, I’m starting to question if this list even holds any water.

6. It would seem that after No More Heroes creator Goichi “Suda51″ Suda said that he’d like for Travis Touchdown to be in the next Smash Bros. game, that was enough to open the floodgates and get people talking about who they would like to see in the next installment, too. And among those are Official Nintendo Magazine and G4.

   As it is, I’m more concerned with who might and might not be retained from Brawl; I wonder how likely an encore by both Snake and Sonic is?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. We’ve all seen favorite video game franchises die, seemingly cut down before their time. Though sometimes, they aren’t exactly as dead as we think. There was a good bit of time and an entire console generation between Super Metroid and the double-whammy of Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, for example, and over a decade before Mega Man 8 saw a proper sequel. And though Bionic Commando had a Game Boy release and even a Game Boy Color semi-sequel produced by Nintendo, 20 years on and it’s back in full force… that is, assuming that what seems to be low sales don’t wind up stuffing it back into the closet.

   So though it may take a while for a video game franchise to step back into the spotlight, I’m not sure any can ever truly be called “dead.” I’m still confident there will be a MegaMan Legends 3– the only question is “when?”

   Nonetheless, that has not stopped GameDaily from assembling “Eight Surefire Ways to Kill A Video Game Franchise.”

   I can definitely echo #3, and it shows the precise reason I hate cliffhangers at the end of video games. But #4? Mega Man? Seriously? 1: It’s not dead, and 2: Which 3D game? It rebounded after X7, and Legends had three good installments (well, two and one side-story), and the Mega Man franchise is still doing pretty well for itself.

2. I have less to say about their other article, “20 Totally Overused Words in Game Names,” except to say “how many of you noticed the frequent reuse of these words?”
3. I’ve never been a big fan of the 3D aesthetic which essentially made up the foundation of the PlayStation/Nintendo 64 era. Nintendo had trained me to love rendered graphics with Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct, and my jaw dropped the first time I saw Super Mario 64– and not in a good way.

   I said “you have got to be kidding me,” and prayed that the game was still in in early development. “They can fix it, they can refine it… they have the time, they have the technology” I told myself. Seeing the rendered Mario and Bowser they used for promo art only added salt in the wound, however. Thankfully, in-depth previews from the likes of Next Generation sufficiently hyped me up so that I didn’t even care.

   Some people appreciate the graphics of the era, and I can sort of understand that– after all, I love pixel artwork from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras; it just holds a certain charm to me. But for me, the early goings of 3D are better left in the past.

   There are exceptions, though. While Mario and Link did little for me, some games came out pretty well. I think Metal Gear Solid, Bushido Blade, and even MegaMan Legends all hold up pretty well compared to some titles, perhaps due in part to featuring designs made for the limitations of the day, rather than shaping pre-existing concepts into the form.

   But even then, I never found the female figures of the day, with but a few exceptions, to be very attractive. That people were lusting after Lara Croft, who I had first seen on a cover of Next Generation with eyes that looked simply… wrong, that bewildered me. And so it is with this in mind that I can appreciate GamesRadar’s assembly of “Ugly polygon “babes” of yesteryear,” a collection of “39 terrifying monsters we used to think were sexy.”

   Of course, that’s not to say that some of these games weren’t good; I’d love a new or remade Rival Schools as much as anyone. Also, I should say that I’m quite glad Nintendo made Super Mario 64 DS, which I feel upgraded things significantly. Even so, I’m still glad for the GameCube era, when things finally looked good in 3D.

4. Via GoNintendo, we have more cosplay. Only this time, it’s the 20 most badass video game cosplay costumes ever.
5. Wow, now here’s an oldie I never got to do anything with, via Kotaku.

   Video game journalism is pretty well-maligned, “not real journalism,” etc. But over at GameDaily, the non-”top X list of things to drive you nuts” part, they have a pretty good case for it by one Gus Mastrapa, and you can read what he has to say here.

   And now I feel a little bit better about myself.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Thought I fell off the ol’ update wagon there, didn’t you? No such luck.

1. A lot of cool cosplay from the Anime Expo. I haven’t looked at them all thoroughly, but I do dig the Ganondorf one. You can find more here, here, here, here, here, and here. Whew!

   Thanks to GoNintendo for the round-up.

2. Topless Robot recently posted a list of “The 10 Most Heinously Corporate Video Games,” and I think this may just be the first time I’ve ever seen anyone utter an ill word about Cool Spot. Truth be told, there are a number on here I’d like to play; without spoiling the count, I’ll just say: 6B (played the first one mentioned), 5, and 1.

   I’m actually a touch bewildered that McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure isn’t on the list. I would love to get to play that, as a) I’m a sucker for the McDonaldland stuff, and b) it was made by Treasure, so that automatically makes it worth a shot.

   I doubt any of these would make it to the Virtual Console, save for maybe Cool Spot (it was released in Europe sans 7up marketing, as they didn’t use the Spot character there). Guess it’s up to eBay and Amazon.

3. Speaking of Topless Robot, they also have a list of “The 12 Strangest TransFormers Beast Wars Figures,” which actually proves that robotic testicles existed on Cybertron before Michael Bay got there. Go figure.
4. GameGirl (via GoNintendo) has a list of the “Top 7 Video Game Cowboys.”

   One who’s not listed, perhaps because it’s too soon, would be the unnamed “Swordsman” from Ubisoft’s Red Steel 2, which I can’t wait to get my hands on.

5. Following the announcement that Asteroids has been optioned for the motion picture treatment, TotalFilm.com has organized 7 Classic Arcade Games That Could Be Movies. 1 and 4 are my favorite; for number seven, all I’ll say is “he didn’t take the role last time, why would he do it this time?”
6. Let’s see… how about something that’s not a list? Let’s see… ah, here we go.

   A little while back, MattG over at Press the Buttons assembled a nice collection of Super Mario World artwork to check out. Good stuff, I miss when Nintendo Power produced a lot of their own original-but-official artwork. Particularly when it could barely (if at all) be distinguished from the stuff out of Japan.

7. I haven’t even read this yet, because it’s loooong. IGN Retro has compiled The History of SEGA. Might be good for my train trip next week, though.
8. Also of considerable length, and also from IGN Retro is The History of Wrestling Games.

   I do wish Capcom would bring back Saturday Night Slam Masters, and maybe Nintendo with Pro Wrestling while they’re at it.

Ok, I think that’s enough for tonight. Til’ next time!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

1. It’s not often that one finds video game industry news and journals creating their own fanfiction, but that seems to be what IGN has done, taking it upon themselves (and their readers) to name the two Toads who accompany the Mario Bros. in the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii. IGN says:

   I’ll tell you, I went back to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii on the second and third day of E3 last week, with these names in mind for the characters, and it helped me to better connect with the game. I was excited to get to play as Wolley, instead of being disappointed that I had to be Yellow Toad. There’s an important difference there. There’s an important aspect of being able to enjoy and identify with your hero that, if you choose to accept too, will help you better enjoy the game yourself when it arrives this holiday season for Wii.

   Of course, I’m slightly bothered by their not including any form of “Toad” in the names, given that seems to be a Mushroom Kingdom tradition of sorts, though it seems that Toads usually have a last initial of “T,” as seen in the Paper Mario titles.

   Also, it’s interesting we have a Toad who is garbed all in blue… much as the Toad in Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES was. Makes you wonder.

   You can find more of my thoughts on the duo, and IGN’s course of action with them, here.

2. Drew Mackie of “Back of the Cereal Box” clearly has quite a bit of time on his hands, but puts it to pretty good use with this lengthy, exhaustive, and thorough look at video game etymology, or to put it another way, explanations of names and words in video games. It’s one I need to read sometime, but have no time for at the moment. At least it will be here for safekeeping.
3. While Evan Narcisse of Crispy Gamer has about seven years on me, I can still relate to much of his list of things in video games he’s getting too old for.
4. I get the feeling that GameDaily has it in for Mario. My evidence? The following two lists.

   The first is “Ten Reasons Mario Will Live Forever (and Five Reasons He’s Already Dead).” Of course, with the good outnumbering the bad by 100%, it would seem they are in favor of the humble Mushroomland plumber, right?

   But then we have this: “The Top 25 Ways to Kill Mario.” Yikes!

   What’s really amazing, though, is that there is nothing from Super Mario Galaxy on there. Sure, the picture of the Thwomp in action is from Galaxy, but it’s hardly a death specific to that game. I’ve seen Mario sucked into black holes, electrocuted, and eaten alive by Dark Matter, and not a single one is on the list? That’s just plain odd.

5. You hang around video games for a while, and you tend to hear things. Hang around enough, and you hear a lot of things. And if you’re really committed, then you hear a lot of things repeatedly.

   That’s where GamesRadar has found themselves, and so they’ve compiled a list of “The Top 7 Video Game Legends We Never Want to Hear Again.”

   You can count me in for #3. In fact, I think it should be exempt from every “worst box art” list for the rest of time, and given honorary status as a lifetime achiever. Because odds are, nothing will ever beat it. On the other hand, it’s probably the mere act of looking at that box that has inspired most of those same lists, leading to the writers seeking out enough other bad pieces to round out the list, sometimes reeking of desperation in doing so.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

A bunch of articles and stuff I still haven’t done anything with. I really need to start writing more of my own; now that we have a pretty good news staff going over at Kombo, maybe I’ll finally have it in me to get it out.

1. Wired Game|Life has a look at “10 Raw Deals for Gamers.” I agree with pretty much all of them, though I think #3 strikes the biggest chord with me. Come on, Nintendo; surely there was some way you could have released Disaster: Day of Crisis. I wonder if they’d have sat on it if we were in that all-digital gaming era that people are predicting?
2. Sometimes I like water levels, but other times I don’t. I definitely appreciate Super Mario 64‘s, for the most part, but I often found myself struggling with Super Mario Galaxy‘s. And some games just leave out anything remotely like swimming. Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo has taken it upon himself to find out just why that is.

   I should add that I liked those in New Super Mario Bros. and the other 2D Mario games, as well as Donkey Kong Country. By the time Mega Man learned to swim in his eighth outing, though, it felt rather unwieldy to me.

   I am glad that swimming is in Super Smash Bros. Brawl to a small degree, and wish that maybe Animal Crossing would let you jump in the river to avoid a swarm of angry bees. Not asking for an underwater voyage, but just enough to loseWeight Exercise them.

3. Via GoNintendo, GamesRadar has an article about “Soundtracks you didn’t know were stolen.” Though I knew about Chrono Trigger/Rick Astley, Mega Man X/Guns ‘n Roses, Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Michael Jackson, and Earthbound, the rest are new to me.

   Some say that “What’s the Buzz, Tell Me What’s Happening” from Jesus Christ Superstar is like Super Mario Bros.‘ invincible music, but beyond those lyrics, I don’t really hear it.

4. The UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine has an interesting piece asking what the greatest Nintendo environments are, following from a article in the Architect’s Journal that lists their Top 10. That’s a rather tough one, one which I would have to think on. But as it says, Mario and Zelda have some obvious ones, and I dare say Metroid could probably join them.

   And while it may not be “Nintendo,” per se, I think the way the ruins were all interconnected in MegaMan Legends was pretty nifty in itself, if that should count.

5. When Nintendo introduced the Famicom and its subsequent American cousin, the Nintendo Entertainment System, it had much grander aspirations in mind than simply playing video games. Destructoid takes a look at what might have been, had Nintendo not been a bit ahead of its time.

   What’s kind of funny is that, in some ways, they seem to be taking just the opposite strategy now. I guess it would be hard to blame them for being cautious.

   On a side note, I still dig the prototype Zappers shown in the bottom photo– they remind me of the Blade Blasters the old Mighty Morphin Power Rangers used in their eponymous TV show.

And that will do it for tonight. I’ll try to update with more interesting stuff more frequently, so I can at least whittle down this list. Maybe after that, I can try to keep more up-to-date with such things.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Today marks two very special occasions.

First, today marks the tenth anniversary of Super Smash Bros.! I’ll probably go into some detail soon about my fondness of the series, but for now, you can read what Joe Keiser has to say about the occasion over at 61 Frames per Second.

And amidst it all, he drops this:

So it’s important, but that doesn’t make it all that worthwhile to go back to. Super Smash Bros has been thoroughly eclipsed by its sequels. 2001’s Super Smash Bros Melee in particular is still considered the series’ highlight, and was a favorite of professional tournaments for many years. Of course, that’s not going to keep Nintendo from selling the original: it recently appeared on the Japanese Wii Virtual Console, and it seems like an American release (perhaps on April 27th, 2009?) is inevitable.

Hmm, that’s less than a week away. Would Nintendo consider giving it to us on VC to mark the anniversary? Can’t say I’m holding my breath, but that would be terrific.

The other big celebration, arguably the bigger of the two, is that today marks the 20th anniversary of the Japanese release of the original Game Boy. You remember, the brick with the green screen?

I plan to write my own memories about the system– and my lack thereof– soon, but in the meantime, check out some of these posts about the portable powerhouse:

- Happy 20th anniversary, Game Boy!, from The Mega Man Network

- A Girl and Her Brick

- Game Boy: The Cure for Boredom

- 8-Bit Cafe: Nintendo’s Withered Wonderland

- A (Far Too) Personal Look Back at 20 Years of Game Boy

- Game Boy: Falling Hard for the Foot Clan

- 8-Bit Cafe: The Humble King of “Good Enough” Turns 20, and the last of the 1UP Retronauts blog posts for now.

- Happy Birthday Game Boy!

Happy Birthday, indeed.

Of course, Nintendo hasn’t peeped a word regarding this event, but then, there is probably little reason to expect them to; the Game Boy didn’t launch in North America until around August. Hopefully we’ll see and hear something then.

…wouldn’t a Game Boy-themed DSi be kind of cool?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Told you there would be more. And today’s is pretty much video game-centric; I’ll try to diversify more in the future. And for those who caught yesterday’s SEGA-centric edition, there’s still more in here.
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