9/30/2007 - Super Mario Galaxy Trailer : RETRO Version

I don't own a Wii, but if I did, I would probably get Super Mario Galaxy. It wouldn't be because I am eager to see how the Wii controls would work for a Mario platformer. In fact, I'd be apprehensive about how the game plays based on the videos I've seen. No, I'd buy it just to say that I have every Mario platforming game for every Nintendo system I've owned: Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and 3 for the NES, Super Mario World 1 and 2 (Yoshi's Island) for the SNES, and Super Mario 64 for the N64. The NES and SNES games are definite classics and have reached legendary status in their genre, while Super Mario 64 pretty much defined how 3-D platforming should be like. I don't have a GameCube, so I can't really give a review of Super Mario Sunshine, but from what I've seen and read, it was only an evolutionary step up from Super Mario 64 (and heck, the name sucks).

It's actually heartening to hear that Super Mario Galaxy is the "first true successor to Super Mario 64" because that means they've acknowledged Sunshine's shortcomings, and it means that Galaxy had better be that damn good. I mean it had better be a revolutionary step up from the N64 and GC games, rather than just Mario Sunshine with a better name and Wii controls. I would just hope it had the same kind of magic all the older Super Mario games had. Being a nostalgia junkie, I couldn't resist highlighting this next video that's similar to that Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer made with 16-bit sprites. Of course, this one is for Super Mario Galaxy:



I do have one question, though: WHERE IS LUIGI?

9/29/2007 - Can't Tase This

Well, that didn't take long! I knew that sooner rather than later, someone would remix the "Don't Tase Me, Bro" cry from that idiot Univ. of Florida student into some kind of comedy or music video. Since the video was already comedic in its own right, a music video does seem more appropriate, wit a little help from M.C. Hammer:

9/28/2007 - University of Florida student Tasered

Ahh, the college years... you have to appreciate the freedoms you are given in a college environment. Freedom to choose your classes, freedom to travel, and being able to talk like an idiot and have it labelled as "freedom of speech". Take the moron who was all over the news recently for asking inappopriate questions at a Senator Kerry forum and then being tasered after resisting arrest. In high school, he would have probably given a script to read instead of being able to ask his own questions. Outside of college, one would hope that his questions would be prescreened before allowing him to ask them.

But within the college bubble, displays of this kind of idiocy is normal... in fact, it's almost celebrated. When you're just one out of thousands of students, you have to find a way to stand out to be a "big man on campus". Fortunately, it's easier these days to stand out with a video camera and YouTube. To attract massive hits on YouTube though, you have to be even more outrageous because you are one out one hundreds of thousands. This University of Florida student decided to do just that by wildly resisting arrest and inviting the use of force, knowing that all of this is being taped. For being a moron, that might have actually been a smart thing to do.



Heh... you can't help but root for the cops in this video. Especially after the "don't tase me, bro" exclamation.

9/27/2007 - Chris Farley SNL Outtake Clips

Even though I did not watch it much, I think the Saturday Night Live era from the early 90s was the best. They had so many great comedians/comedic actors like Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, David Spade, Adam Sandler, and even Will Ferrell. People may not consider the late Chris Farley to be a comedic genius, but he was sure fun to watch. He was never ashamed that he was "the fat guy" of the show and used his portliness to great comedic effect. His manic presentation would often cause the other cast members to chuckle during a skit, even if they weren't supposed to. It's really too bad he passed away at such an early age. I'm not dying to watch "Tommy Boy 2" or anything like that, but his movies and skits would definitely give me a chuckle or two. Here are some funny outtakes of him on SNL:

7/25/2007 - Atari 2600 Double Dragon

If you were to play any Atari 2600 game right now, you'd probably wonder how anyone could play such a primitive game with such simple graphics and sound. Well, believe it or not, a lot of people did in the 80's as it was THE hot console of the day. What made it popular? Well, it basically pioneered the concept of having interchangeable games by using cartridges. Before then, you'd have game systems that played one or two games using dedicated hardware for unique controls. For example, there were shooting games that used a light gun and Pong-type games that used a paddle. The problem was that you'd have to pay a heft price for each kind of game because it was part of the hardware package, and you'd have to swap out one game on the TV for another each time you wanted to play something different. Having a central console with a universal controller that played swappable cartridge games changed all that, offering value and convenience.

What was the 2600 capable of? Well, if the programmers were clever, it could offer a fairly decent arcade translation. So many early arcade games made it over, such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders. Some 8-bit games made it over too, such as Donkey Kong and Pole Position. The big question is, can it handle a 16-bit game? Well, one attempt at it was the translation of the arcade hit, Double Dragon. How did it do? Surprisingly well:



As you can see, you can make out your fighter (Billy or Jimmy) against some of the classic Double Dragon foes. For example you can distinguish Williams (he wields the knife and bat) from Linda and Abobo, who can throw a barrel. Graphics aside, how do you change a game from having two attack buttons to only one button on the Atari controller? Take away the punch, of course... and I'm guessing you double tap the joystick and press attack to do a jump kick. Double Dragon was never the most complex game out there, but it's still pretty cool that the 2600 managed to get a port of it.

9/24/2007 - Ode To A Superhero

This Weird Al song is not as great as his Star Wars Episode I song, The Saga Begins, but it's still good enough to feature here. It's a song about the first Spider-Man movie and the YouTuber here made it into a music video which serves as the introduction to Spider-Man 2 (note the credits interspersed in the video). It's a good edit job with the Weird Al lyrics, footage of Spider-Man 1, and the actual credit sequence of Spider-Man 2 combined all together seamlessly.

9/21/2007 - Hare Hare Mario

Excuse me if I totally geek out right now. You know I've been highlighting these Super Mario World mods that show "self-playing" levels and the Hare Hare Yukai remixes that are also popular on YouTube. I never thought the two could combine into a mashup. So imagine my delight when I saw that a modder did just that:



That is simply one of the greatest things I've ever seen. Not only is it a decent self-playing level with some intricate cause and effect happenings, but it's all synchronized to the tune of the Hare Hare Yukai! I can only imagine just how long this took to map out each note of the song to the appropriate sound effect in the video game. And then to force the sound effect to play in a self-playing level? Damn.