posted by Chris on April 25, 2008 12:46 PM in Geek Culture
I love it when I can bring video game sound effects into the context of the real world. I own a couple of those gashapon sound drop keychains, and revel in the fact that the Super Mario Bros death noise scares my small dog enough to make her bark nervously and then hide under the bed. Last night, Herr Bizzleteats received a missive from the ether on his Blackberry, which caused it to chirp as if he had gained an extra life. A plushy question mark block sits on my couch, waiting for unsuspecting guests to sit down and accidentally gain a coin when it drops on their lap. Now, with ThinkGeek's help, I can become invincible. Check out this awesome Super Star
, which gleefully grants you doot-dee-dootillies whenever you desire. It's plastic, fits on your desk, and looks amazing. It's battery powered too, so you could feasibly take it into any dangerous situation such as walking home by yourself late at night or if you are going to smash a few of your brothers or there's a mushroom uprising.
This thing is pretty neat. Now if only they did a whole series of classic powerups (no stupid New Super Mario Bros blue shell ridiculousness please) I could further blur the line between fantasy and reality.
[link via BBG | ThinkGeek Product Page]
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posted by Chris on April 21, 2008 6:19 PM in Podcast
This week Chris is joined by Mack and Ross to talk about those playground perpetuated secret levels we all remember from childhood, the Iron Man/Hulk movie crossover, the Mortal Kombat vs. DC crossover, and our frothing demand for GTAIV. These and other geeky discussions can be yours this week, for the low, low price of zero dollars! Will these geeks ever get over the childhood trauma of finding out there's no cow level? Find out by downloading this podcast!
Subscribe to our feed to get these updates automatically! Show notes after the jump.
download now
continue reading "Podcast for 04-21-08 | The Mythological Secret Level"
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posted by Chris on March 19, 2008 4:59 PM in Games, Geek Culture
Yesterday I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of Monkey Island 2 for the ol' IBM PC in pretty decent condition, which contained all its original contents, including the Lucasarts Company Newsletter: The Adventurer. There are forum threads where people have enshrined these magazines (newspapers, really) but have you seen what's inside? For this week's Wayback Wednesday I present you with a heaping helping of nostalgia with scans of every page of The Adventurer issue 3. Marvel at the artistic prowess of "Adobe Systems' Photoshop"! Be astounded at the new technology called "scanning" (which is like a copier, but instead of copying to paper it copies to your computer!) Stare with awe at the company store, which sold tan fanny packs bearing the Indiana Jones name! Enjoy the hilariously funny Sam and Max comic, written and drawn by Steve Purcell, exclusive to The Adventurer!
I am sure many of you read these cover to cover back in the day. Full scans after the jump (they are large! Click to zoom!)
continue reading "Wayback Wednesday: The Adventurer"
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posted by Chris on February 18, 2008 7:04 PM in Podcast
What makes a geek tick? This week, Chris, Qais, Colette and Mack discuss our formative geek experiences; what defined our tastes, what makes us tick. What games did we play as kids and did those games have an influence on what we like today? Is today's generation of new gamers going to have the same nostalgic view of today's current lineup, or will the classics endure?
Download the podcast here
and subscribe to the feed to take a trip into the minds of grown-up geeks. And hey, if you feel like sharing your own personal experiences growing up, feel free to post in the comments.
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posted by Mack on November 14, 2007 9:53 AM in Geek Culture
When I was a kid my parents were very anti-gun. As a result, I never owned so much as a Nintendo Zapper. I missed out on all the amazing toys of my day. There was no Optimus Prime for little Macky. No Sargent Slaughter's Triple-T Tank for me. No... I'm sorry there's something in my eye.
Just read on before I break down completely.
continue reading "Wayback Wednesday: 80's Toys"
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posted by Chris on October 17, 2007 10:05 AM in Games, Geek Culture
When I was but a wee teenager deep in the dark heart of suburbia I spent an impressive amount of time holed up in my bedroom with various distractions. Usually it was video games, but I would read a ton of books (comic and otherwise) and listen to music. I was able to save up my allowance for a while to buy an old Mac LCII from my step-dad and load it with shareware. I didn't have an internet connection at the time (that was in the garage on the main family computer, using an old 14.4 modem) but I played Escape Velocity, Taskmaker, and Bolo. I would also make humorous Hypercard stack games. At least, they were humorous to me at the time. I remember they involved a lot of images of stick figures getting mangled and blown up.
Bolo was a networked multi-player tank game that occupied a ton of my time after school. We'd load it on all the computers in the computer lab, but that still wasn't enough. We'd then load it on all the computers in the neighboring classrooms, spreading like some sort of "computerized virus". It was a team based affair for the most part, you'd move your tank around a map looking for recharge stations to capture. They would fill up your ammo and health and were vital to your success. There were also pillboxes, which would automatically shoot at you. You could destroy these pillboxes (which was fairly difficult) and capture them, using them as sentries for your base. You also had this little man that could come out of your tank, harvest trees, build walls and roads and generally improve your base. I remember playing epic matches of 16 players, even the teachers got in on the action. Someone brought in Warcraft II one day and we all snubbed him in favor of Bolo. Yes it was that good.
It was my first foray into what online multi-player could be like, and it was the most intense strategy game I can remember playing for a long time. It combined sim elements with brilliantly balanced multi-player combat that is still unmatched to this day. A couple years ago I looked around for a version that could work with Mac OS X so I could install it on the computers in my college lab, but all I could find was this buggy version which appears to no longer have support.
I'd kill to have a version of Bolo I could play today. It's a fantastically lightweight, simple network game that I think could hold up pretty well. Someone get on it!
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posted by Grant on August 20, 2007 12:13 PM in Rant
Some lady named Paige MacGregor over at a website called Film School Rejects posted an article a little bit ago about why a Thundercats movie must absolutely be made. Remember a while ago how I told you to stop thinking that everything made in the 80s was the height of entertainment? Yeah, here's a great example of that. It's so bad, in fact, that I'm not entirely sure it's not supposed to be satire. Somebody please tell me if it's supposed to be satire.
Go ahead over there and check out the article then come on back and read the rest of mine. I'm gonna be a mean horrible person and completely deconstruct and destroy her reasons. Why? Hello, and welcome to the Internet. That's what we do here. Also, feuds are good for generating traffic.
continue reading "See this? This is what I was talking about."
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posted by Grant on July 30, 2007 12:08 PM in Geek Culture
In 1981, the pinnacle of automotive perfection was achieved. No one has ever come close to getting anywhere near that level of awesome when it comes to making cars. But alas, only 9000 of these wonderful machines were produced before the factory lines were shut down forever.
With only 6500 left on the road today, they are a dying breed. One Texas auto mechanic bought all the leftover parts from the shutdown and uses them to service, repair, or completely rebuild these amazing cars.
But the parts are indeed limited and they're down to about only 200 of the proper engines, and they're not going to last much longer.
However, this enterprising car company has decided to take it upon themselves to start buidling the vehicles completely from scratch, starting in 2008.
That's right folks, as early as next year, you too can purchase your very own, brand spankin' new De Lorean DMC 12!
Now I just need to scrape together about $45,000.
(Link via LA Times)
(Visit the new DeLorean Motor Company)
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posted by Chris on May 10, 2007 1:49 PM in Geek Culture
Hellooooo, childhood. A recent trip to the 7-11 has revealed to me that Topps is selling a brand new series of the ever-horrible Garbage Pail Kids cards. Back in the day these puppies would get you in so much trouble at school... they were often gruesome depictions of some sort of sad fate a kid had. Usually relating to boogers or vomit. Literally they are the pinnacle of juvenile humor and I was more than happy to plop down a cool 99 cents in order to relive the magic.
The new edition boasts not only sticker versions of cards, but this new technology called "magnets". Just reading the word "magnet" as a child got me excited, so putting GPK (as it's known in the streets) together with magnets was like seeing the face of God as he looks down on you and says "you are my most precious creation". Ok, that was a bit of hyperbole.
I was very pleased to see, upon ripping open the pack like a 12 year old, that the art is the same super high-quality painting style. There's no stupid CG art. There's no fancy graphic enhancements - it's old school all the way. In my pack I received the ever humorously titled: Zack Snack, Slam-Dunk Dylan, Molly Pop, Yo-Yo Joe, Over Eatin' Ethan and Marty Mucous. Seriously. Who comes up with this stuff? It's almost like those mortgage banner ads you see online everywhere... with a dancing cowboy tattoo on someone's arm talking about mortgages. It makes NO sense. I was very pleased to see that every one of my GPK cards had some sort of depiction of body fluid, usually boogers. Cause kids LOOOOOOVE boogers. It's like comedy kryptonite to them.
The real gems of the pack? What is on the BACK of the cards. Every other card features a small comic that would make Bazooka Joe look like Akira. They even include fortunes on the bottom like FORTUNE: Your clothes are tasteful! Because you spill food on them.
What.
The comic I feature here in this image (click to zoom) features a brilliant parody of Spongebob Squarepants named Grunge Bob. Because he lives in a TOILET. GET IT?! But that is not what I want you to look at. What I want you to look at is the little blurb about butterfly pee. What? That combination of words didn't make sense to you? I know. Just read it.
I know, I was stunned too. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. If you can find them, I highly recommend picking up a pack and reliving your childhood. Now if you excuse me, I have to go find places to put these stickers (on a garbage pail maybe?).
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posted by Grant on May 1, 2007 2:10 PM in Rant
As a child of the 80s, I grew up watching the cartoons that defined our generation at the time. I'm sure a good percentage of our listeners here at the ol' Dubya Jee share a similar history. And as geeks, we paid a lot more attention to our cartoons than the average kid. Like video games came to be, toons were an escape for us. We had our He-Man, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, etc. We had a giant proliferation of toys to go with our favorite shows. By most accounts, the 80s were the golden years for cartoons. Well guess what, those "most accounts" are dead wrong. That's right, I said it. I am getting sick and tired of all these 80s kids declaring that "all cartoons today are crap" and that everything we grew up on was vastly superior to what is on now.
That line of thought is patently wrong and I'll tell you why.
continue reading "Take off your rose-colored nostalgia glasses."
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posted by Chris on August 24, 2006 10:58 AM in Rant
Now, anyone who has read this site, listened to the podcast or has a fully functional cognitive center of their brain knows that I am a huge Nintendo fan. I genuinely believe that Nintendo consistantly produces the best quality first party games, and they are the company I always turn to first when I want to have video game related fun. If it were socially acceptable to wear green tights, I wouldn't be made fun of day in and day out for my fashion sense. Something has been cinching up my tights recently, and I wanted to share it with you in rant form. Nintendo is being retarded.
According to Matt Cassamassina from IGN the other day, there were rumors that Nintendo was going to announce a version of Kid Icarus for the Wii - Link.
The day came and went, and no announcement was made. Now, we all know that Nintendo is making a Kid Icarus game for the Wii. The be-winged Pit is in Smash Brothers Brawl, and Nintendo is always more than happy to continue franchises. People eat up new Mario, Zelda and Metroid games, so why not capitalize on that? They are in the business of making money, after all. I know I am going to be first in line to get the Wii, Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime 3 on release day. So why am I angry? Because of the pandering. I HATE BEING PANDERED TO.
As a child of the 80's, I feel my nostalgia is being exploited a wee bit too heavily these days. Sure, as a kid I loved watching Transformers and Ninja Turtles on TV while wearing my Super Mario 3 Underoos (they had sparkles!), and I am sure I would get a couple warm fuzzies from seeing a live action version of Optimus Prime rolling down the street. But from the Transformers movie being made by Michael "Explosions Give Me Erections" Bay, to the new CG Ninja Turtles that look like a cutscene from a PS1 game, to Hot Topic video game tees with stupid slogans on them to Family Guy disintegrating into a series of obscure 80's references, people have figured out that this kind of thing makes money. Gobs of money. Hats made of money. And we eat it up as if it were Mario shaped candy (which is probably delicious, by the way).
Nintendo is great at making original games, especially recently. Off the top of my head I can cite Pikmin, Nintendogs, and Drill Dozer. There are a couple of excellent new games for the Wii announced, like Project H.A.M.M.E.R., Elebits and the like. But Nintendo keeps bringing back franchises. Is this a bad thing? More often than not, I say yes.
The Metroid Prime series was really successful, so has been the Zelda series. But what about Star Fox? Once Nintendo let other companies grasp their beloved Furry Franchise, it went to crap. Mario Party is another franchise that just needs to die. Look at other companies, like Capcom and the Mega Man series. What the crap happened there?! Capitalizing on nostalgia is an easy way to get people to buy games. Us 80's kids will just look at a remake based on something we remember waking up early Saturday mornings to play and drool, slap down our money, and eventually be disappointed the majority of the time.
Nintendo could do a lot with the Kid Icarus franchise, sure. It could end up being a brilliant, mindblowing game, revitalizing the franchise much like Capcom did with Resident Evil 4. Or, it could also suck as hard as Star Fox Assault (ouch!). The development time being spent to make a crappy franchise game could be spent making a truly inspired new game that doesn't give us the nostalgia warm fuzzies, but gives us satisfaction in a wholly new way, like how new and fresh rolling stuff into a ball felt in Katamari, like how crazy fun shredding on a playskool guitar to Ziggy Stardust is in Guitar Hero. The Wii is inspiring game developers all over the world to think about games in a new way, and Nintendo is banking on old franchises? That just shows a lack of faith in their product to me.
What I am saying is that the Wii has a lot of potential. There is the potential for success, and potential for failure. I don't think that Nintendo should rely so much on rehashes of franchises using the Wii controller. Make something incredible and new, and quit banking on my childhood. That's the easy way out. I'll buy it, but I won't be happy about it.
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posted by Chris on May 18, 2006 2:06 PM in Rant
I don't know how I feel about the New Super Mario Bros. I picked it up the other day, very excited about this release, it is the first new Mario platformer (where it is just Mario + Luigi) in about 15 years. There was an interview with the director in Nintendo Power last month which was less than encouraging, he didn't seem to know his own characters (saying that the Koopa Kids were in the game when in actuality it's just baby bowser) and stating odd reasons for artistic decisions (the 3d polygon graphics were used because it was "easier").
After seeing more gameplay video on the official website I was convinced that the game would be worthwhile, and I got very excited about playing a great Mario platformer again. But now I'm not so sure.
Granted, it is a fun game. It's challenging and fun in true Mario style, but there is something off about it. It seems to pander too much to our nostalgia without offering anything new, fresh or engaging. One of the things that made the Mario series so special in the past was the exploration and the feeling of being rewarded for diligent secret block searching. There are secrets in NSMB, there are new power-ups and items, but something just seems off. The pandering gets to me. The sound effects are mostly original sounds from the NES days and the music is remixed old tunes with weird sound effects layered over. Would someone picking this game up who had never played the old NES games be put off by the retro sound effects? Would they wonder why the game has such poor audio on purpose? Hearing the original coin up sound is neat the first time, but after the 5000th time it gets a bit annoying. The music leaves much to be desired, as well. There seems to be one overworld and one underworld song and they just loop over and over again. What happened to the great atmospheric tunes of different worlds in the Mario universe? If I go to a desert level, I want a song to help me get into the spirit of things, I don't want the same song to follow me from the snow level, or from the grass level.
The graphics irk me more than anything else. The polyons are just plain lazy, why couldn't the game just have beautifully drawn sprites? Super Paper Mario, coming soon for the Gamecube, takes the lazy route by using pre-existing Paper Mario sprites but looks gorgeous. The polygonal effects just look horrible scaled on the small screen and make the hit detection awkward and frustrating.
The play controls feel odd as well. One of the huge things about Mario games is that the play control is always tight, smooth, and very well done. There is something loose about this game... I don't remember if this was the case in older Mario games, but if you get Mario running one direction, he just keeps running with a bit of momentum, you can literally let go of the control pad and just jump if you are fast enough. This leads to sliding around and inaccurate jumps - death for platform games.
There are many fun bits to the game. It is challenging, like I said, and holds some unlockables and surprises. Something about it is just strikingly unremarkable to me. It feels like it is fun, and I will enjoy playing through it, but once I complete it I will never come back to it like I used to with the NES games.
Have you played it? What do you think? Leave a comment or send it to our mailbag!
--Frodo
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