Go Nintendo

I’m going to take the time to read through that Majora’s Mask haunted cartridge story now. I got through a bit earlier, and it was reading like an episode of Are You Afraid Of The Dark. I’ll give it another chance though, as I want to at least finish the story. Hopefully you’ll like my true tale told below. Just make sure you can sleep afterwards! See you in a few, short hours.

It looks like ‘haunted game cartridges’ are going to be the next big thing on the net. First we had the haunted Pokemon cartridge story that has spawned fan-made story continuations as well as an in-the-works real-life version of that rumored game. Just earlier tonight we saw a supposed haunted copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, complete with a very long story and footage from the cart. Do I believe that there’s really a screwed up Majora’s Mask cart out there? No I don’t, but the story is still fun!

That’s not to say that games can’t scare the crap out of you when they don’t mean to. I’m not talking about survival horror games or anything like. I’m referring to those random instances where a game screws up and goes haywire on you. Those kind of things used to happen a lot more in the cartridge days. A faulty cartridge or dirty system could lead to some very strange occurrences, and I’ve been involved in quite a few…unfortunately.

The worse one that I can remember came up when I was playing Super Mario Bros. 3. It was a handful of years after the game released, but I popped it in to have another go with some friends. We played a good chunk of the day, and everything seemed to be going fine. Later on that night I had the opportunity to hop back on and enjoy a bit more. Of course, I had to be alone when the weirdness happened.

I was playing through one of the early stages when the game’s graphics glitched out on me. Enemies turned into tiled sprites, and colors were all wonky. This was not an unusual occurrence with NES games, and I wanted to see if I could ride out the glitch. I’ve managed to come out alive on the end of a rough glitch before, and this time seemed like it would be no different. I should have stopped playing right then and there. The game started slowing down, but Mario could still move at regular speed. Then the sound effects and music started to get garbled. Up to this point, it was actually kind of fun to see the world warped so badly!

I pushed on through the level, but then the game had obviously had all it could take. Mario froze for a few seconds, and then the sprite showed Mario’s feet on top of his head. Quickly after that, the TV let out a hideous scream as the game came to a complete halt. The noise that the game made when it froze scared the crap out of me. I couldn’t rush to the TV fast enough to turn it off. Thankfully, that situation never, ever happened to me again.

Have you guys had any weird instances with games you’ve played? Did something go wrong, and did you end up getting a tour through a twisted version of a game you knew well? Leave a comment and let us know the last time a game accidentally freaked you out.

A portion of a Tech-Gaming review…

For those that lived through (or can appreciate) that era, Ivy offers a gratifying experience, which charms players with a ‘just one more stage’ mentality. In an age where multi-kill perks and combo juggles rule the day, Ivy is a delightful reprieve.

Full review here

A new version of Google’s search engine was released today, and it makes searching even faster. Just how quickly can Google Instant recognize what games you are typing up? Hit up the gallery below to see some examples.

Gallery here

Monster Hunter Club Jacket (¥5,880)
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd T-Shirts (¥2,993)
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd Post Card Set (¥525)
MHP3rd Yukumo Village Manju (¥630)
Jin Ouga Kaminari Okoshi (¥525)
MH Furi Furi Mascot Keys (¥800)
Monster Hunter 2D Stuffed Animals (OMG!!! ¥1,890)
Monster Hunter Diary Clear Files (¥630)
Monster Hunter Calendar 2011 (¥2,100)
Resident Evil Archives 2 (¥2,940)
Okami book (¥1,365)
Sengoku Basara 3 guides and books (¥1,575)
Capcom Girl’s Calendar 2011 (¥2,100)

Check out more merchandise pics here

Direct link and 3 more videos here

Batman: The Brave and the bold review, video review

Direct link here

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - Developer Diary: Combat Unleashed

link

DS Games - E3 2011 - Super Scribblenauts

Super Scribblenauts - preview

Jam City Rollergirls - preview

“I am not sure if we will have another party this winter, but I can tell you now that we will announce a couple of awesome titles soon.” - NIS America Marketing Coordinator Nao Zook

NIS America fans that also love Nintendo platforms haven’t been getting much love lately. Will this pair of announcements turn the tide in our favor? I bet we find out sometime close to TGS.

Link

Here’s a rather strange, yet interesting bit of information. A study of profiles over at OkCupid has turned up something video game related. Out of the “white,” “black,” “Latino,” and “Asian” profiles that were combed over, it’s only ‘white’ men that didn’t mention video games in their profiles. The other profiles mentioned video games among their other interests. Do ‘white’ guys think that mentioning video games is a sure-fire way to miss out on a date?

link

A portion of a GamesRadar review…

You’ll love
Pee Wee to Pros just plain fun
Easy to jump in and play
Very smooth on-ice gameplay

NHL Slapshot - review here

All the major video game players have had numerous slogans over the years. From time to time, game companies have to reinvent their image to better align with the new hardware and software that they’re pumping out. As much as I love the ‘Now you’re playing with power’ slogan for Nintendo, it wouldn’t really fit with today’s market. Let’s take a look back on the slogans of some major gaming companies, and see where they might have slipped up along the way.

Article here

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II multiplayer

- camera that zooms in/out
- item drops
- No pointing controls
- Z is your shield
- B is jump
- A is attack
- No combos

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

- sketch screen’s pixel precision is very tiny
- now given 8 colors
- 165 new puzzles

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Wii)

- Some slowdown
- Each episode in the game has a fully animated opening
- Full voice acting for the game
- Voice overs during gameplay

Reader questions

- Wiimote-only setup in Other M was determined at the beginning of development

Full summary here

Auction here

Link

Direct link and music samples here

Direct link here

- Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate confirmed
- stages in a mountain area and Kyoto revealed thus far
- special features of the series will remain intact
- “players that have moved away from 3D fighting games will be able to enjoy themselves”
- developed by Team Ninja
- production and direction from Yousuke Hayashi
- no release date yet

Link

What You Need To Know About Pokemon Black/White

The Least Flattering Nudity in Videogames