61 Frames Per Second : fandom

Automated Musical Mario

Amber Ahlborn — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Probably something like a year ago I came across an amazing video on Kotaku. It was one of those self playing Super Mario World levels but this one was also musical. Alas, the video seemed to break on the page and there wasn't a YouTube version in existence yet. Ultimately I forgot about it. However, I've rediscovered this amazing little novelty and thought I'd share the love.

Keep in mind that nobody is actually playing this, all of the action is automated using Mario's momentum and reactions to obstacles. I don't even want to think about how much tinkering with timing it took to create this. I'll just say that I'm very appreciative of those wacky people out there who have the time and patience to create these masterpiece oddities.

Related Links:

Fandom: Gone to the Movies

WTFriday: The Mario Paint Music Showcase

I Only Took Piano Lessons as a Kid.

Pre-Internet Fanboys

Cole Stryker — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

A few weeks ago we talked about whether or not fanboyism was worse today than before the Internet. Well, here's an example of some pretty vicious fanboyism from USENET, courtesy of 1UP's Retro Gaming Blog. Some people weren't very impressed when Nintendo Japan unveiled it's Super Famicom:

To describe it [and I HOPE it was a mock-up because even though Im really not a nintendo fan, I dont want to see anyone get slaughtered the way nintendo looks like their going to get slaughtered] its looked to me to be about 30-40cm by 25-35cm by 5cm. It was stark white, made of some very cheap looking plastic. [unlike the nice IBM creme brown of the SF] and had these god awful square brilliant blue buttons on the control deck. I havent seen anything that cheesy since the Atari XEGS. I hope it was a mock up. Somebody tell me it was a mock up.

Pretty harsh words for the now-universally lauded SNES. Others were more positive:

SMW is an utter delight. The worlds you travel thru in the game are really big and varied, and there seem to be many hidden tricks/goodies for you to discover. The graphics are not as flashy or spectacular as those in Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis, but they have do have a very charming quality to them. I have a feeling that this game only scratches the surface of what the Super NES can really do. (. . .) Anyway, for those of you who still enjoy/would like to get back into Nintendo games, I think the Super NES should not be passed up.

Sounds like pretty typical fanboy fare. Maybe a little tamer than what we see today, but I'm willing to bet that USENET's user base was generally made up of more mature individuals. To have access to USENET was to be well-educated, forward-thinking, and tech-savvy. Not so with today's Internet. Still, an interesting snapshot into the evolution of modern fandom.

Things I Didn't Know Existed: GoldenEye: Source

Bob Mackey — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:00:00 GMT

No matter how snobbish we may act about it today, if you had friends and access to video games in the late 90s, then it's likely you spent an inordinate amount of time playing GoldenEye for the N64. It's really nothing to be ashamed of; after all, until Halo came out, GoldenEye was basically the only FPS in town for consoles. Today, however, it's little more than a curious relic. Anyone going back to GoldenEye more than a decade after its release shouldn't be surprised by the slow, swimmy movement and awkward shooting mechanics of Jimmy Bond--remember, the N64 controller had no second analog stick. This means that returning to GoldenEye for an N64 nostalgia trip might not be the greatest of ideas--unless, of course, you seek out alternative methods for playing the game. And this is where GoldenEye: Source comes in.

In case you weren't aware (and I wasn't), GoldenEye: Source is a total conversion package for Valve's versatile Source engine that apes the classic N64 FPS with the benefit of modern graphical and control standards. And if having a free, playable version of GoldenEye available for your PC isn't enough to make you start polishing your golden gun (sorry), perhaps this trailer for the newest beta will stir up some Bond love deep within your loins (again, I am sorry).

Go here to check out GoldenEye: Source. And let's pray that lawyers don't have a problem with any of this.

Related Links:

Movie to Game to Movie: Goldeneye
The High Cost of Gaming: Free Radical, Creators of GoldenEye, Close Doors
The Strange Case of Hype

Fandom Unplugged: The Beginning

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:26:00 GMT

“Fandom,” that which compels us to gravitate to others who enjoy our pursuits (video games), can be a difficult thing to tolerate thanks to a certain percentage of maniacs. You would be amazed at how heated a debate can get if it's about whether or not Miles Edgeworth from Phoenix Wright is circumcised. We witness these baffling arguments, and we swear we'll never get so passionate about such stupidities. But the very next week, we lose ourselves in a message board argument and pound out words like “GAYlo” before we pull back the reins and gape in horror at what we've become.

Why do we fall so easily? Is this what comes of the Internet and other technologies that save us enough time to wonder with friends in Brazil about whether or not Dr Light built Roll with certain “hardware?” Or is fandom just part of an ancestral grouping instinct that dates back to a swampy era wherein our ancestors declared everyone to be either “Crug” (“Part of my awesome tribe”) or “Flarth” (“Part of that other, lamer tribe”)?

Game-based fandoms are among the largest on the Internet. Gamers took to the onine world with ease to eke out cheats and fellow fans, whereas grandma was perfectly happy for the Petunia Club to continue its weekly meetings in the Church basement. Video games have always been at the cutting edge of technology, and technology changes quickly. But even riding the edge of the wave won't guarantee that you'll wake up tomorrow in Disney's Word of the Future. Gaming fandom and its accompanying drama long predates the Internet, dating back to the ancient days when we communicated through smoke signals and skin drums.

Okay, nothing like that. Still, pre-Internet fandom was thick with drama, even though arguments were printed through Letters to the Editor that were delivered by old men mounted on racing snails. In the coming days, I'll be looking back at the evolution of gaming fandom, with a special emphasis on how I remember it: the letters to magazines, the schoolyard gatherings, the thrill of seeing Mega Man X art in Nintendo Power and knowing that there were in fact other Mega Man fans out there, even if I couldn't converse with them immediately.

Provided you're old enough to know that the Internet wasn't with us in Eden, what do you remember about the dark ages of gaming fandom?

Related Links:

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon, Part 1
Brave New Super Mario World
Fandom: Gone to the Movies

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon Part 3

Amber Ahlborn — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Continued from Part 2...

John - I'm with everyone else: very little has changed from the old days. Everyone loves competition, it's exciting, and even if we lived in a world where there was only a single console, devoted gamers would find something to argue about elsewhere (in publishers, in creators, wherever they can find it.) And they do. The number of these angry, "fanboy voices" out there is exaggerated by the nature of dialog on the Internet too. The vitriol is noticeable, but what percentage of Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii owners are actually in the pissing match? We're talking about close to fifty million people worldwide there.

I think the other thing to consider is the inevitability and appeal of the console war as a narrative. Right after the game market crash in '83 and right when multiple multi-game consoles became available in the US, Europe and Japan, a new audience was born. Consumers not just invested in the games themselves, but everything about games, from the businesses making money off games, the creators behind games, to the secondary/collector's market for games. Professional sport is a great corollary for video games in a lot of ways, in the way it threads a story around its stars, trades between teams, and the management/ownership of franchises. That narrative fuels enthusiast culture, and that culture demands it. Hell, everyone in this conversation knows about many more games than they've actually been able to play, and more about game culture than they've probably experienced first hand. We all love video games but, and I suppose I can only speak for myself, part of my investment in games comes from engaging the narrative of the medium's history and current landscape. The console war is part of the story that keeps gamers hooked. And just like with sports, people choose their side. Like Cole said, people throw fists in Pennsylvania over the merits of the Steelers and Eagles.

Joe, your point about games being "a young person's passion" is a great one in light of how console fandom is changing right now. The 61 FPS crew's shared generation sits around and couches console war talk around the schoolyard because we all grew up in that atmosphere, but that same audience is well into consumer adulthood at this point. Yet console allegiance persists in the public, and I think it's precisely for the reasons listed above re: narrative.

Shit. I'm ranting.

My question back to everyone else: where's the portables war? Why isn't there constant forum battles over PSP and DS and why weren't there Game Gear/Game Boy/Lynx fights back in the schoolyard?

Derrick - But weren't there portable fanboy wars? I remember friends with Game Gears who thought they were so much cooler than those of us with our Game Boys, but all that pride faded away when they realized that more color came hand-in-hand with nonexistent battery life. After that, portable gaming was pretty much exclusively Nintendo's field and nobody questioned it until the PSP, which is without a doubt a more powerful and more technically impressive piece of hardware than the DS. I remember my college roommate Max getting a launch PSP and flaunting it. Such a smooth, shiny screen, it could play movies and mp3s and hey look, Lumines! Again, he thought I was crazy for buying a DS instead. And then I showed him Electroplankton and Mario Kart DS. And then he sold his PSP for a DS. That was not my intent, I just wanted to show him the DS was fun without being as fancy. Well, okay, maybe I wanted someone to play Mario Kart against and for more people to buy Electroplankton.

Taking the New York City subway every day, I see a lot of PSPs. Next to the myriad of iPods in seemingly everyone's pockets, the PSP is the most popular personal media player on the street, but that's exactly the difference. An overwhelming majority of PSPs I see on the subway (because I always sneak a peek) are being used for watching videos or listening to music, only occasionally for games of Madden or Final Fantasy (arguably the games I see the most on them). It actually becomes difficult to remember when I'm commuting like this that the DS is without a doubt the market leader because I hardly ever see them. I think alot of this has to do with who is on the subway, primarily adults who want entertainment not in the form of Pokémon. The PSP markets itself as more mature, more modern, and more urban. I love my DS, but my favorite games for it are all decidedly cute, and yeah, sometimes I get a little embarrassed to play them in public (particularly the upcoming "The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity", which I'm totally buying next week).

As for the Lynx, why not bring up the fan support for the Jaguar and 3DO while we're at it. Oh yeah, because there was none! BOOSH!

Nadia - Very little has changed in terms of gamers' attitudes. We were whiny little shits on the schoolyard, and we remain whiny little shits on XBL and message boards. Therein lies the small difference, I think: our fights used to be limited to the schoolyard and occasional visits to a friend who pledged allegiance to the "wrong" console. Now we fight our wars on the Internet, and I think we're all familiar with John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

That makes a difference, too: we don't even have to look someone in the eye when we stand up for our Wii, nor do we risk a punch in the nose. It's not a case of game fans getting nastier because "these damn kids today don't know their manners." The fights have just escalated because we can have them at any hour of the night, and we can put on a mask during battle.

John, I have definitely seen my share of handheld fanboyism. I know in Toronto the DS is definitely the system of choice for the subway, though I've seen my share of PSPs too. But most of the current-gen handheld wars were fought ages back. By now, there's little reason to pit the DS versus the PSP: both have such a different library of games that it's literally impossible to compare them side-by-side.

This, by the way, is why I don't understand the hatred towards the Wii, other than some irrational floating fear that *all* gaming is going to descent into waggle-casual hell. There are games for my Wii that I enjoy playing, and when I'm done with those, there are plenty of other, very different games I enjoy playing on my Xbox 360.

Someday, the good citizens of Game World will realise that most of us have better things to do than judge each other by systems of choice. Even so, the fighting is curious, isn't it? The days of one-console houses are mostly over, yet we keep on sniping at each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

People do certainly like to snipe. The fact that your global neighbor has one system and you have another does no harm to you and yet fanwars break out all the same. Humans are strange, strange little animals. The drive to join one group and attack another and the shield of Internet anonymity seem like primary causes of the degree of vitriol we see today; but we all seem to agree that vitriol has always been there, boiling beneath the surface. That concludes this edition of 61FPS Roundtable. Don't feel the discussion has to end just because I wrote a concluding paragraph though! Feel free to add your own hypothesis on the Fandom Phenomenon in the comments section.

Related Links:

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon Part 1

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon Part 2

Design Resurrection: How Capcom Finally Proved That It’s Game and Not Graphics That Matters

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon Part 2

Amber Ahlborn — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Continued from Part 1...

Bob - I agree with Joe’s statement that the Internet has enabled fanboys to grow louder and more irritating thanks to how simple it is to find a group of like-minded idiots to justify your ill-formed opinions. I’m not sure if the whole console war thing has gotten worse; it’s just that fanboy battles tend to leak into even the least insane parts of the Internet. If anything, I think this generation has made it even more difficult for console war arguments to exist, due to the similarities of the 360 and PS3 hardware. It’s not that they’re exactly identical, but aside from a few exclusives (which are growing fewer as the economy begins to plummet), we’re seeing a lot of the same games spread across the two non-Wii systems. And if we discount the games, I’d say that the features of the 360 and PS3 make them about even—they each have their own unfortunate drawbacks that put them on equal ground in my mind.

When I was a kid, I happened to be a Nintendo fanboy. I’m not trying to justify my own preteen stance here—I’m now console neutral—but in the 80s and 90s, Sega and Nintendo offered two very different types of games, and I was more a fan of Nintendo’s design philosophy before I even knew what design philosophy was. Right now, I prefer the 360, but I can’t say my life would be much different if I had bought the PS3 instead; most of the games I’ve played since I first entered this generation of hardware have been available for both non-Wii platforms.

Of course, you probably noticed by now that I’m putting the Wii in a league of its own; this is because any kind of console war has been completely irrelevant to Nintendo’s system. And, if anything, the Wii has proven the irrelevance of console wars as a whole. When it comes to pure eye candy—seemingly, the entire basis of console warfare—the Wii is vastly inferior to the PS3 and the XBox 360. But that certainly doesn’t stop Nintendo from steamrolling the competition on a monthly basis; it’s really in a league of its own. As the economy necessitates more and more cross-platform titles, and as the Wii (and the DS) prove the uselessness of online arguments, I think there’s going to be far less motivation out there for console warfare. But let’s not forget that loudmouth idiots like to be loudmouth idiots regardless of the circumstances.

Derrick - I don't have an XBox 360, and I can justify that decision with plenty of "sound" reasons (red ring of death, disc scratching, paid online play...) but ultimately, I admit, it's a case of fanboyism. For as long as I can remember I've been an Apple supporter and, somehow, that ingrained in me a deep-seated disdain of all things Microsoft. I'm certainly happy with my PS3 where I enjoy multiplatform goodies like Burnout Paradise and Soul Calibur IV as well as Sony exclusives like LittleBigPlanet and Eden, and yeah, it does irk me that I'm missing out of truly cool pieces of software like Braid and Castle Crashers, but I just can't bring myself to support Microsoft enough to buy their box. I play it at friends' homes and at developer demos where the 360 is the rig of choice, but sixteen years of Apple fanboyism just won't allow me to get behind any Microsoft machine myself. I game in constant fear that someday I will be forced to swallow my pride and admit that Microsoft has the best games that I need to play, but thankfully that day has yet to come for me and I can keep on being close-minded.

Still, though, I don't bash the 360 the way the people we're talking about do. I sure hate their marketing, which brings to mind the juvenile, extreme ad campaigns of Burger King, Mountain Dew and Sega Genesis, but I can't hate them just for that. Hell, even Nintendo sunk to that level for their "Play It Loud" campaign, which tarnished some of their best games ever with hilariously inappropriate marketing.

I agree with Joe and Bob, as I'm sure we all do, that the amplified fanboy hate these days is due in no small part to the post-modern wasteland we all live on, the internet. We get more "news" about these companies delivered to us daily, more ammunition, more kindle to stoke the flames of our fires. Remember when we only got information about games and game developers and publishers when we searched it out in specialized magazines? Magazines that had to deal with the time of reporting, editing, printing and delivering, as well as the constraints of space provided to them by the money of their advertisers? We don't have need of that anymore, not when developers have blogs, fansites run press releases and trailer comparisons, and forums have outright flame wars. Did Star Trek nerds fight Star Wars nerds as vehemently in the pre-internet days as they did in the early internet days? The amount of time between the distribution of information allowed for a cool-down period, where people could become level-headed about whatever rivalries they had. I guarantee that if the Montagues and Capulets had blogs, Italy would have burned down.

Related Links:

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon Part 1

The Mother 3 Strategy Guide: Fandom Done Right

Fandom: Gone to the Movies

Roundtable Discussion: The Fandom Phenomenon Part 1

Amber Ahlborn — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Have you ever been a fan girl/boy? I certainly used to be a Nintendo fangirl during the 16-bit era but steadily grew out of such blind loyalties as I aged and picked up other game consoles. I do remember casting the occasional disparaging remark at Sega and yet I also used to play a friend's Genesis on occasion and he was always wanting to rent RPGs for my SNES. Naturally I felt I had the superior system and recommended he trade in his Genesis for one, but Sega directed insults aside, I don't recall tearing into him personally for his choice. Is fandom viciousness worse today than it ever was in the past? Ben Dutka at PSX Extreme, in an article he posted last month, seems to think hating has steadily been on the rise and fans have been raging with greater than ever intensity. Such tribalistic behavior has been an interest to me for a while now, but rather than dive into this topic alone, I thought I'd invite the rest of the 61 FPS crew to come along for the ride.

Welcome to what I hope will be the first in an on running series of roundtable discussions, where I and my fellow bloggers will take turns presenting all manner of game related subjects, from the serious to the silly, and examine their whys and wherefores. Join us today for a look at the phenomenon of fandom and whether or not we think such favoritism is pulling fans down into the dark side of fanaticism.

Amber – I'll kick things off here. On the issue of fans putting down other systems and games, I don't think things have actually gotten worse. When I was a Nintenerd I could certainly spew out some insults towards Sega and later Sony if I was provoked. I'd say it's absolutely hardwired into human nature to be tribalistic: have Us VS Them tendencies. You pick the group you want to identify with and everyone not in that group is an Other, to be looked down upon or outright vilified. We've been doing it throughout history with everything from nationalism to religion to sports team loyalties and yes, even consumerism. It's a behavior people have to grow out of by working towards a broader mindset and realizing that type of loyalty really isn't remotely beneficial. All you're doing is creating artificial limitations. There's nothing wrong with having a game preference but what's the point of being hostile to all of the other choices out there?

Joe - I agree with you that things haven't gotten worse. I think the phenomenon this writer is describing is a combination of a few things that are going on these days. Not all of them are new.

First of all, the spewing of heinous rhetoric regarding consoles you don't own is of course not new to this generation--the last one had plenty of that, too. This piece looks all the way back to the 16-bit era to find a time when "things were different." And it's true that perhaps a lot of us didn't experience the same kind of bile back then that we sit through now.

There's two reasons for that. First of all, we weren't experiencing the totality of the dialog back then. Battles regarding the 16-bit systems were the sorts of things that were handled in schoolyards, where the people talking probably knew and grew up with everyone in the nearby vicinity. That group is quite a bit smaller than the one that talks about these things on the Internet these days, so now we all get to see every opinion--and the ones that are the most hateful are the ones that ring in our minds, so.

That hypothetical schoolyard group also has a different dynamic from Internet forums, though. I think that's what we're really seeing. It's pretty well acknowledged that the combination of the insecurities of youth and the exuberance that comes with anonymity results in a sea of angry profanity. And video games are, among other things, a young person's passion. More than that, video games as played on the one console your parents were willing to buy you when really, you wanted all of them--that's an experience exclusive to young people, and one that breeds this kind of feigned contempt.

That's what's new here. The emotion behind the argument is the same as its ever been and ever will be, until either the one-console future or a utopia where we're all grown-ups that make terrible decisions with our money.

Cole - Any time that people pour a lot of emotion and money into a hobby, they want to justify that investment by convincing themselves and others that it was worth their while. This phenomenon isn't limited to games. Anyone who went to a rural high school can probably remember a time when someone got beat up for bashing Ford or Chevy. Living in Pennsylvania, I remember fights breaking out during Steelers v. Eagles games. I also recall fisticuffs over Metallica vs Megadeth. It's about personal branding.

We all do it. People who have no personality often identify with corporate entities like Macintosh, Nike, or Rolex. It's an easy way to identify with a social group. It helps you feel like you're a part of something bigger than yourself. It helps ward off existential despair. It helps you forget that you're going to grow old and die someday, alone and unloved.

Um, anyway.

When someone attacks your personal brand, it's like they're attacking you. When someone bashes Nintendo, and you've invested literally thousands of dollars and literally thousands of hours consuming Nintendo's products over the years, well hell, they may as well tell you that your mother's a whore. You begin to get that nagging feeling. Maybe I should have done something with my life. Maybe I really am a failure.

If fanboys are more rabid today (Jo did a good job illustrating why they probably aren't) I think it's only because today's internet provides people with a louder megaphone with which to proclaim their mouth-breathing rhetoric, and people feel like they have to be all the more caustic in order to be heard above the rest.

Continued in Part 2

Related Links:

The End of Time and the Beginning of Fan Drama

Ranty McRant Rant: Fan Boiz 'n Girlz

How Deep Are You Into Fandom?

Sonic the Hedgehog Fans Really Exist

Bob Mackey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Sonic the Hedgehog is a joke. That is his only function. Whenever I'm writing an article/blog post/grocery list, some burn on Sonic the Hedgehog will inevitably appear on the page. I can't help it; the series is such an easy target that jokes about about cross-species love and stretchy-armed werehogs are starting to come into being of their own accord. But even though Sonic may be have the least dignity of any video game character next to Duke Nukem, he still has his fans. Fans that feel so strongly of their love that they're willing to show you the results of their devotion while wearing a t-shirt made 16 years ago. I will show you such a fan. Thank god YouTube allows us into the bedrooms of sick individuals, where previously only social workers were allowed to tread.

I still have to wonder just where these people come from. I mean, I have similar love for certain franchises, but I'm at least willing to admit where the fuck-ups are. Also, the decorated walls of my room are not the last thing a woman sees before she becomes part of a homemade skin suit. I'm not saying all Sonic the Hedgehog fans are cannibalistic, homicidal psychopaths, but I believe the burden of proof is upon them. Prove me wrong, Sonic fans. Prove me wrong.

Note to Sonic fans: This by no means implies that you should contact me.

Related Links:

Sonic Unleashed is Filled With Lies
The Aberration of Sonic
Trailer Review: Sonic Unleashed

The Baa-ad Neighbours of Animal Crossing

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Game Boy Advance aside, Nintendo was irrelevant in last generation's console race. Now that they've discovered the secret of turning wary parents into gamers, it's necessary to hate their success.

If you can't bring yourself to do that much, make sure to at least get a good laugh at Nintendo's expense once in a while. An incident involving Animal Crossing: City Folk and Animal Crossing: Wild World is a good place to unload a chuckle if you haven't had one in a while.

Nintendo's oversight is funny for more than one reason. The incident affirms humanity's tendency to fall towards dickery if the consequences are low. We well know that the sunny and unassuming town of Animal Crossing is ripe for teenage jackasses with the digital equivalent of spraypaint. Its tamed inhabitants live a zoo-like life, oblivious about the hard falls life offers to their cousins in the frozen arctic, the teeming jungle or even the urine-sprayed back alleys of the inner city. You can teach the good creatures of Animal Crossing bad words, which they will eagerly use to salute you, themselves and each other.

Even the money-loving Tom Nook is very innocent. Upon hiring you for odd jobs when you first arrive in town, he allows you to write an ad for his store. Playing with marquees is generally a job left to trusted higher-ups since the working world is full of people who just can't help shouting that the store is hosting a "SPECIAL" wherein "TOM NOOK JERKS OFF ANYONE FOR TEN BELLS." I imagine employers might even exercise further caution if their signs and ads were capable of automatically traveling virally through Internet connections. Heck, Old Man Nook doesn't even check your work. He trusts you and he knows a hard-working (wo)man you would never steer him wrong.

I imagine Nintendo's thought process was somewhere on the same line: Why double-check our press copies of Wild World for possible invasions of profanity? Surely anyone who plays Animal Crossing has a pure heart and rolls hoops and drinks lemonade, right?

Right?

Related Links:

Animal Crossing City Folk: Nintendo At Their Worst
Miyamoto Is Concerned About Excessive Violence in Games
Many Colors in the Hardcore Rainbow

Fandom: Gone to the Movies

Amber Ahlborn — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Video game fans are something else. I've been a gamer since forever but despite my long term interest in the industry, I'm simply not at the level of people who create self playing Mario levels or sprite based Flash movies. These are the super fans who have talent (and a lot of time) on their hands and aren't afraid to use their powers for the forces of geekiness.

Today I simply must pay homage to the creation of one “Alvin Earthworm” who has brought us Super Mario Bros. Z.

Check out the first three episodes:

Super Mario Bros. Z takes the characters from the Mario and Sonic universes and mashes them together with a Dragon Ball Z inspired plot line, and it works freakishly well. Everything about this series has been polished to a shine with impressive sprite animation, sound, and clever writing. So far the series is up to episode 7 and it really does keep getting better.

You can find the full complement of episodes at the smbz homepage or just Google Super Mario Bros. Z to find them hosted all over the place; a good thing since the fan site has been crushed under the weight of its own popularity a few times already.

The only bad thing I can say about Super Mario Bros. Z is it's sure hard to wait for the next chapter. I know these are a lot of work and I appreciate your dedication Mr. “Earthworm”. So, when's episode 8 coming out?

Related Links:

How Deep Are You Into Fandom?

Brave New Super Mario World

The Mother 3 Strategy Guide: Fandom Done Right

Mega Man Fan Movie Trailer

Nadia Oxford — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:25:00 GMT

Okay, well...

So...

Um, I really do admire the gentlemen who play Thomas Light and Albert Wily in this upcoming(?) Mega Man fan movie. Imagine asking your dad to roleplay as a dude who hangs out with a giggly female robot all day, or as a power-hungry German man (anyone who speaks German can't be power-hungry). Imagine his reaction.

"You want me to do what? While wearing a lab coat?"

I'm also digging the designs for the original six robots. Looks like someone spent the extra thirty cents on the fancy brand of tinfoil.

I've seen a lot of Mega Man fan movie trailers come and go. I kind of hope this project sees its way to fruition just so I can stop feeling I belong to the most shiftless fandom on the Internet.

The Mega Man Robot Club
Mega Man 9 Goes Back To Your Roots. Way Back.
The Delights of Continuity in Mega Man and Abroad

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Stupidity

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:47:00 GMT

The Legend of Zelda cartoon was one of the more competent game-based television series to foul up the '80s. That's not saying much, I suppose, especially when you recall some of the show's more ridiculous traits. Here's ten minutes of The Legend of Zelda, as collected and sewn together by The Switcher. Guaranteed to make you cringe and say, "Oh Christ above why did I love this? No wonder nobody ever came to my birthday parties."

I don't think I was ever aware that the Zelda cartoon had a considerable amount of innuendo. Dude, Link tried to ambush Zelda on her bed. If I were the king, I'd turn that impish rogue out on his bum and just set down some fly paper around the Triforce of Wisdom.

Related Links:

16-bit Morals: Sonic Warns You About Uncle Ernie
Seth MacFarlane Animates Mario Short
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Why I Let Termina Go Squish

The Protomen: Making Two Old Men Awesome Since 2008

Nadia Oxford — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:39:00 GMT

Over the years, Capcom has attempted to add depth to our robot hero, Mega Man. I mean, they've really attempted it, God bless 'em. Even though the end product reads like a story written by a ten-year-old science fiction fanatic with ADD, we shall give Capcom an A for Aeffort.

But even though we have a good idea of Mega Man's inner workings (gears, bolts, some black stuff), what do we know about his creator, Doctor Light? I mean, we know his hair and beard are poofy like some anime Zeus'. We know that he likes a pipe now and then oops wait not in America. We also know that his inventions, however well-meaning, initiated vicious wars between humans and robots that spanned across generations.

Oh, but we don't talk about Dr Light's little "oops." Shhh, look. Look over here. Look at this cute little robot dog. Hold still while it eats your skull.

I am an unapologetic fangirl of The Protomen, the fine lads who constructed a Mega Man rock opera. The first album is about Protoman defecting to Doctor Wily's band of killer robots and Mega Man trying to convince his brother through song (unsuccessfully) that he is a good boy. The second album, coming...soon, I imagine, is a prequel with special emphasis on Wily and Light and certain events that cause humanity's spin down the toilet.

I've listened to three leaked songs: "Breakin' Out" (available on The Protomen's website), No Easy Way Out and the hella rad "Father of Death." Going by the lyrics, a young Dr Light is distraught over horribly failed attempts to set things right in a doomed city. Meanwhile, Wily tries to make off with Light's girl, who snaps back that she is loyal, always, for "If the shadow blacks out the sun--there will be light." Excuse me, I need a cigarette.

It's all overblown in that lovable style of The Protomen, but it's just so danged cool at the same time. Will this lovely bit of Opera finally give us the reason why Dr Light wears slacks and Dr Wily wears jeans? What horrible story of heartbreak is behind this fashion...choice?

Related Links:

Whatcha Listening To: The Protomen (And So Should You)
Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack
Pixies Cover the Theme From Narc

Earthbound in 3D

Bob Mackey — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

With writer Shigesato Itoi calling it quits with the Mother franchise after Mother 3, it won't be long until we start seeing remakes--or maybe that's just wishful thinking. As charming as the original Earthbound (Mother 2) was, those 3D renders of in-games towns Onett and Fourside in Super Smash Bros. Melee were enough to make any EB fan squeal with glee. In my wildest of video game-related daydreams, I've often thought of an Earthbound remake, made completely in 3D, with the characters looking just like their little clay models did in the strategy guide.

Some men dream, while others do; like YouTube user cswavely, who has painstakingly rendered a few of Earthbound's town in glorious 3D. Even with that whole new axis, they feel completely authentic to the original game's stubby sprites; but I'll let you judge for yourself:

He also has an awesome version of Fourside:

As well as a super-creepy version of Threed, perfect for Halloween:

Maybe I'm misremembering my adolescence, but it feels like I've really been to these places. I'll have to check the family photo albums and get back to you on this.

Related Links:

Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack
Earthbound and Back Again
The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came to America

A Long-Scorned Sonic Fanfic Writer Seeks Redemption

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:48:00 GMT

When my husband and I got married, his dowry was a box full of video game fanfiction he'd printed out in the olden days (1994 or so). It's far more valuable than you think. For one thing, it'll start some toasty fires when the oil situation inevitably leaves us freezing in the dark. More importantly, this box is a link to the past (sword stabs logo, screen flashes). It's a link to David Gonterman.

See, fanfiction is not a new hobby that was nourished by the rise of Inuyasha. It's at least as ancient as the Bible and tales of King Arthur and Robin Hood. As long as people are pompous enough to say, "Holy crap, watch me do one better on the Word of God," fanfiction will thrive.

In the mid-'90s, the Interwebs was little more than a collection of two-meg mud huts bordering a dark forest full of gibbering goblin .gifs, but even then we had our storytellers. In an age when Sonic the Hedgehog was still worth bowing to and not a stumbling franchise living solely on the love of its furry fanbase, we had fanfic writers dedicated to the hedgehog. And the most infamous one was David Gonterman, aka "Daveykins Foxfire."

Now, fanfic was a different beast in the olden days. It was written primarily by boys, since women didn't exist on the Internet and still don't. To that effect, Sonic trashed SWATbots and Robotnik a lot more than he buggered Tails up the bum, but one thing was about the same as it is today: the majority of the fanfics were pretty bad.

But Daveykins' fanfics were the worst of the bad, a cesspool in nuked-out ruins. They were bad on a level that would fascinate sociologists; they're worthy of a multi-thousand word analysis (Oh hey, look).

One of his most "celebrated" works, Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood and Metal (also known as "BAM"--Gonterman wasn't bad with his excitement-inducing onomotopea) starred himself as a scorned student who'd just had his arm shot off by a black man who was very angry about Daveykins being white. Daveykins falls into a coma or something and is pulled into Mobius, where he quickly becomes the saviour of animalkind after becoming an anthromorphic fox. Everything Sonic can do, he can do better. This includes being Robotnik's long lost son.

Offhand, it doesn't sound like anything too wretched other than the angry black man bit, but the story paired up with other quirks to become pure Gonterman. Gonterman is a rare, rare man: no matter how much he draws or writes--and the guy certainly has a passion for writing and drawing that I envy--he never improves. He's still merrily at his craft today and he's just as bad now as he was in 1994. It's like a piece of Web 1.0 never died. Oh, and he was also in his 30s when he wrote BAM, or very close to them. The magical part about his age is that he'd ream 13-year-old fanboys when they inevitably told him his fanfics sucked.

So what does this all have to do with redemption? As weak as his skillz are, Gonterman seeks to "repair his reputation"--undo all the damage done by BAM and his other classic literature.

I wonder if it's possible. Gonterman used to be a pretty angry dude; he used to call himself the "Internet's most dangerous cartoonist." That's the kind of thing that takes more than a gas can and a match to burn away, to say nothing of angry homophobic rants in the middle of Sailor Moon fanfics.

He regrets his past actions, and I sort of do wish him luck in repairing his reputation. Bringing up the past like this probably doesn't help (oops), but it's also a vital step to repair, I think. If someone is regretful about their actions, the public should know what happened, because bad Sonic fanfic is a god damn tragedy compared to everything else going on in the world today. I've been studying Gonterman's works with a horrified fascination for years, so he kind of feels like some two-headed puppy I've taken in and watched over.

If he really wants to change his reputation, however, he should see about advancing his skills so they don't remind me of my zitty Final Fantasy III SNES fandom days.

Related Links:

WTFriday: The Adventures of Sonichu
Sonic the Hedgehog: I'm Just Not That Into You
FMV Hell: Sonic CD

The End of Time and the Beginning of Fan Drama

Nadia Oxford — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:48:00 GMT

Recent videos of Chrono Trigger DS reveal the same game we aspired to marry thirteen years ago (has it been thirteen years? Holy crap, I could've done something useful like rear a thankless teenager) but the sharp among us have noticed...ch-ch-changes. Specifically, it looks like the in-game text has been altered a bit.

This means it's possible Chrono Trigger DS will be receiving the Final Fantasy VI Advance treatment. This treatment, by definition, aspires to keep the charm of Ted Woolsey's original translation, but will still fill out text that had to be cut because of space issues or censorship.

Personally, I'm not even sure what can be restored. The blossoming shitstorm has fanned my fascination for The Chrono Trigger Re-Translation Project, a project that's considered about as useless as using an umbrella to deflect a falling piano.

Unlike most fan translations, the Chrono Trigger Retranslation Project website doesn't open up with an animated .gif of Woolsey burning at the stake. Regardless, its existence rubs me the wrong way because it's so unnecessary. The Internet is a toilet bowl brimming with Useless, but this little turnpike on the Information Highway really just gets to me. Even though the project managers acknowledge that Woolsey did an okay job translating Chrono Trigger under the circumstances, this bit of smugness gets under my fingernails:

[S]ome essence of the game was lost or altered, given Nintendo of America's censorship standards and the inability of the game to hold all the original text when translated to English.

SNES-era RPGs were so gosh darn playable, but I think they also owe some of their longevity to great translation. Final Fantasy VI was dark and brooding and despite Woolsey's best efforts, I sometimes felt like I was out of the loop--and there were instances where the censorship dusted the in-game content as carelessly as kitty litter covers...you know.

But Chrono Trigger is a shonen game. A boy versus a great evil. Great story, to be sure, but lacking in depth. And that was okay because the game wasn't trying to be deep.

In other words, and this may be a tremendous shock, so make sure you're sitting down and clutching something, the Re-Translation project adds nothing to the original experience. Play the ROM or read the script. Woolsey didn't alter the game's "essence." It's like saying the dub of Dragon Ball Z changes the deep message behind the series.

(Hint: Please don't make yourself look the fool by saying the dub of Dragon Ball Z changes the deep message behind the series.)

There's very little in the new script that adds to the story like the translators claim. Who really cares if Magus(-sama) makes reference to the Black Wind, the Reaper, the Devil or Black Sabbath? It all kind of stews in the same pit of Hell. It'd be different if Magus' original English text suggested that he was opening a candy store instead of trying to summon Lavos, but that's not the case.

In fact, I think there's no question that Woolsey improved the script. Frog, for example, was supposedly turned into a "buffoon" by his "mangled" Olde English, which didn't exist in Japan. Instead, he was blunt and straightforward, going as far as to use insults from time to time. Oh good, games and anime need another forgettable swordsman who cares only for his own fate.

Admittedly, Woolsey did make a couple of grand blunders. The most famous one was the Guru of Time telling the player that someone close to the party was in trouble and to "Find this person...fast." When Chrono Trigger was released, we nerds were finding our first legs on the Internet and message boards filled up with speculation over who this lost person might be. I personally thought it was somehow connected to Alphador in the Last Village. Oh, wait...the Remaining Village. As it happens , it was just a severe case of the Oopsies on Woolsey's part.

So that sucked, but when you think about it, it's kind of an elegant blunder. It made the fandom talk and speculate; how many games manage that? Nobody's going to debate anything about Final Fantasy VII's "This guy are sick" line, except maybe to wonder aloud how much alcohol was involved in the translation process.

Woolsey admitted in an interview that he had to cut out story bits, but like your mom says, the proof is in the pudding. What's gone affects very little of the game. It's nothing against the translators; they had a project and they should be commended for sticking through to it 'til the end. But I personally don't get any use out of it, so I shall go play with my yo-yo and cup-and-ball now.

As for what was cut, it looks like we missed Ayla commenting on Marle's small boobs, adding generic anime humour to what was otherwise a pretty emotional event (the Rainbow Shell sidequest). I never would have expected Toriyama to crack a boob joke. My Chrono Trigger experience is officially unfulfilled.

Related Links:

The Chrono Trigger Port: Are You Excited or Disappointed?
OST: Chrono Cross
TVTropes' "Woolseyisms"

Ne, Rokkuman! Yaranaika?: The World of Hayadain

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:16:00 GMT

Yesterday afternoon, our hero John Constantine became frightened and confused when he inadvertently discovered Mario and the Western Show. In this jaunty showtune, which is set to music from Super Mario World, Super Mario and his nemesis Bowser haggle back and forth over which one of them loves Princess Peach more (and Bowser picks his nose hard enough to make it bleed). Both seem oblivious to the fact that Peach wants neither of them. In fact, she sounds like she's on the verge of initiating that sexual harassment lawsuit that should have been filed years ago.

Mario and the Western Show is written by a Japanese remixer named Hyadain. Whereas America treats its video game remixes with the awe and dignity you'd expect with a revered hobby, Japan's remixes tend to be a bit more silly. Hyadin has become especially famous for cutting loose and giving us beauties like The World Warrior.

The World Warrior features the cast of Street Fighter. Each fighter sings about what motivates them to get their face stepped on by M Bison. True to the series, Honda says, ”Sumo is the greatest fighting style in the world!” When is someone going to conjure up the stones to tell the dude that he's the #1 choice of n00bs? Nobody who doesn't want to be sat on, I guess.

Other delights by Hyadin include Appearance of Golbez's Four Lords of the Elements and (oh God) CRASH! Let's Do It!, which is Crashman's love song to Mega Man. Don't act disgusted, you only wish you could make love to your hero while Airman fans you gently.

Hyadin's stuff isn't all about bristly guys in costumes and flamboyant robot masters, though. He's also produced the Sabin Rap, which isn't nearly as uncomfortable as it sounds.

And for all you big tough men out there who think crying is for sissies: I dare you to take on My First Friend. Do it, punk.

Related Links:

Japan Scares Me: Mario and the Western Show
The Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack: An Inside Look
What's in my MP3 Player: Kindred

TVTropes' "Woolseyisms"

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:20:00 GMT

It's rare that we give much thought to the good men and women who turn our video game text from "YOU LUCKY ARE WINNER!" to something dignified. But where there are exceptions, there is the potential for small wars. By far one of the most controversial names in game translation and localisation is Mr Ted Woolsey.

Ted Woolsey translated many of Square-Enix's best-known 16-bit works, including Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG. To give you an idea of how divided gamers are over this gentlemen, consider that Woolsey hasn't done any substantial translation work since the death of the Super Nintendo but his name alone makes people jump up and down like testosterone-driven baboons.

TV Tropes has a long and rambling Wiki entry about Woolsey, his followers and his haters. For the sake of a quick crash course, Woolsey was (in)famous for adding his own voice to his translations. This "voice" gave us something to smile at in the place of Japanese puns we couldn't understand (except for purists who can't understand why we don't think sound-alike sushi name jokes are funny). His voice also added a good deal of depth to what was, for most of us, an epic story. Final Fantasy II US had an okay thing going with illegitimate moon brothers or whatever, but Final Fantasy III US--or Final Fantasy VI, if you prefer--took on themes that were unheard of and still go largely untouched by RPGs today. Woolsey had to convey Terra's identity crisis, suicide, unwanted pregnancy and the friggin' Apocalypse while keeping the game text family friendly.

Oh, and he wasn't allowed to make references to anyone dying, even though Kefka remains the only Square villian who killed people like bugs for the sheer joy of it.

Woolsey was especially grand at balancing his own jokes with the original source material. Working Designs' games, as well as some fan translations, often slash and burn the Japanese story for the sake of a cock joke. Excessive swears is usually a good indication of translators taking things a bit far. "Kuso" is an all-purpose Japanese curse that shows up everywhere, but it's relatively mild ("Damn" or "Shit", depending on your mood). Things rarely get raunchier than that. Contrary to popular belief, Japan is aware of which games and shows are meant for children, and it acts accordingly.

By the way, Final Fantasy VI Advance did an excellent job touching up Woolsey's translation while keeping its friendly ghost alive. I recommend it because Woolsey was forced to cut a lot of the game text due to space constraints. Admittedly, there's some stuff there you could probably do without seeing...like Emperor Ghestal's suggestion that Celes mate with Kefka to produce magic-infused progeny for his new Empire. Go ahead and take that one to bed with you.

Related Links:

Know Your Final Fantasy IV Trivia. It Could Save Your Life.
Would You Play a Final Fantasy VII Remake? Hmmm?
Gaming on a Train: Final Fantasy IV

Worlds of Power: Books That Worried Your Parents and Pissed Off Your Teachers

Nadia Oxford — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:45:00 GMT

My weekend sojourn with Bionic Commando Rearmed's Mr Rad Spencer reminded me of all things good, pure and 8-bit. I even remembered that my husband owns most of the Worlds of Power books, novel "adaptations" of popular Nintendo games from Back in the Day™. He transferred them over to our new basement apartment home after we were married; it's a dowry my parents are proud of, I'm sure.

Alas, I cannot find the Bionic Commando adaptation, but if I were to guess, I'd say Rad Spencer wasn't allowed to shoot anyone with his awesome guns. I did find Ninja Gaiden, which is dedicated to "the Ninja in everyone's dad." Holy shit, I thought my dad just sold alarm systems. This is awesome news.

I don't know if you kids today have book fairs, but they were a staple of my school days. My generation was not in love with the printed word and teachers did their best to make sure we didn't fall into any affairs. They policed our book fair purchases, declaring comic books to be verboten "trash," especially comic books about the Ninja Turtles or that rude Bart Simpson. The cutting-edge Nintendo Entertainment System was the worst enemy of my grade school marms, so F.X. Nine's Worlds of Power was book fair contraband, too.

I think any teacher who discourages a kid from reading material aimed at him is missing the point of their job, but I have to admit that Worlds of Power is junk food for the mind. The characterisation is bad, the writing is overly-simple and the transparent attempts to avoid references to violence are laughable and even insulting. Everyone knows that Ryu's father dies at the start of Ninja Gaiden; it was console gaming's first vault into storytelling beyond Mario staggering across eight kingdoms in a heart-breaking search for his princess. The Worlds of Power books, desperate to win the approval of adult authorities (not bloody likely), minimised human deaths in its pages and in fact brought Ryu's father back to life.

No. Bad. Jesus brings forth the dead, not F.X. Nine.

I'm going to search very hard for our Bionic Commando book. If I fail, I'm sure I can find some substitutes and we'll all go on a G-rated literary journey. In the meantime, enjoy 8-Bit Lit, an excellent 1UP feature that will learn you some game novel history and is dedicated to the bionic soldier in everyone's mom.

Related Links:

Watcha Playing: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
Gone Vertical: Hands-On Bionic Commando
There Is Nothing Funny About Bionic Commando Funny Books

How Deep Are You Into Fandom?

Nadia Oxford — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:29:00 GMT

Being an introvert, mildly clausterphobic and mostly useless, I do not participate in conventions very often. But every year I schlep down to Otakon in Baltimore and enjoy myself with many good friends, only half of which are imaginary. I eat sushi, I indulge in anime and manga and I talk to Peter Beagle, the bestest author in the whole wide world (for the non-book snobs among us, he wrote The Last Unicorn).

E3 is more of a press-related event now, but during its heydey it could definitely be considered the king of gamers' conventions. E for All and Penny Arcade's PAX are even more accessible than E3 ever was, bringing nerd culture to the west coast for a couple of intense weekends. Conventions are truly unique experiences: they bring together food, friends and gobs of people who share similar interests. Conventions stir up emotions you'll never experience elsewhere and they usually stir up unique diseases as well. I remember at E3 2006 I caught a horrific case of laryngitis, an affliction I've never dealt with before. It was a lot of fun because I was working a part-time retail job at the time and my voice horrified customers and I got sent home.

Do you participate in any sort of convention, gaming or otherwise? Lots of people admit to being in a fandom and express themselves accordingly, but for some, attending a convention goes beyond the beyonds of fanaticism. The press of oily bodies, the stale smell of unwashed clothes, the rush of preparation and the let-down when it's all done...it can be a bit much for some to handle, but I enjoy going through with it.

Once a year.

If it weren't for being able to see my friends, though, I doubt I'd bother with Otakon. It's beginning to feel like something I'm getting a bit old for; those yaoi fangirls seem to get younger by the year. I don't understand. When I was 11, 12, I knew absolutely nothing about any kind of romance or sex, hetero or homosexual. I wrote fanfics, yes, but they were about Super Mario having a fistfight with Luigi.

I'm not about to put myself out to pasture yet, though. Mindless self-indulgence, here I come.

Related Links:

Mega Man 9 Box Art Is Further Proof That Inmates Have Taken Over the Capcom Asylum
Underpowered Cave Story "Ports"