Thank you, TVTropes!

Oh crap, I think I’ll die now.

Hitler wants to try out Kinect, learns he can’t, and then gets the RROD. Ain’t that fantastic? Take that, sucker.

Wow, this blog is almost dead! I don’t know if there’s still anyone reading, but whatever… I just found out these hilarious Hitler parodies about Kinect and the Red Ring of Death and thought it’d be nice to share them. Of course it’s less tasty (and a bit weird) if you actually understand German. But even if you do, that’s worth the watch.

So Hitler is a casual gamer. If you’re unfit and have shitty videogame taste, then you’re probably a lot like him:

My own rant about Kinect here. Guess what, this is probably not the last one. 😛

Now Hitlah gets the infamous RROD (sorry, but you deserved it dude!):

Yeah, Hitler’s life sucks.

I personally never encountered any problem with the RROD, since the Xbox 360 we have at home is the new Slim model (ya know, the one that proudly claims “Kinect Ready” on the box…), which apparently doesn’t do it anymore. Glad they fixed it. Today’s systems should really be as reliable as the old ones, otherwise it’s not serious… Come on Microsoft, my Atari 2600 and Sega Master System still work perfect after 30 and 25 years so what’s the problem with you? And that goes for you too Sony fuckers, like you’re not ashamed to ask as much as $150 to fix that annoying YLOD you are responsible for? At least Microsoft offers a good customer service, they fix it for free. Dammit.

So, no RROD so far but quite unsurprisingly, most of my NESes do the Red Blink of Death. One of them recently recovered from it, and I got another one that should work, although it’s still dismantled right now -need to paint the chassis and change the LED before being able to try it out. Yup, it will be a custom NES! That’s all I can say at the moment, but I’m eager to complete this project and maybe make a tutorial about it. More news soon.

Last note: I know I’ve been writing a lot for Soru’s Den lately, but I’m likely to post more often on NC in the future, so stay tuned! 8)

[BTW, want more Hitlah parodies? You got the choice.]

Now this is a really scary NES…

What do you think about this NES mod? The doll bust looks sort of creepy with her blank expression and all these cables (I think they’re linked to the top of her head). Sadly I don’t know who made this, but it rocks -although it’s nothing I haven’t seen before, seeing this concept adapted to an NES is weird enough to simply make me love this.

Priceless Duck Hunt glitch

As annoying as the hyper-sensitive NES pin connector may be, some glitches are really fun. I came across this priceless one on this page. Of course these glitches are real, and were also featured in the awesome AVGN glitches video -you should watch it if you haven’t already!

Displaying FUCK instead of DUCK… What the duck?

The more HIV you get, the more you are a good Fuck Hunter.

I’ll give you my best advice: if Duck Hunt offers you to go for a fuck, your cartridge probably needs a good cleaning.

Song of the week #3

Back to the 90s! Am I the only one who thinks Haddaway’s What is Love sounds awesome in Mario Paint Composer?

You may as well want to check the original music video.

Latest news on Akiko Shikata’s Ar-Tonelico III solo album: title, tracklist, and limited edition bonus

… but still no cover art.

Some news on Akiko’s solo album to come on Sep 29. Thanks to her official page, we know a bit more about this release… So finally, unlike what I wrote here last week, it’s not gonna be a best of. It will feature 6 new tracks, including the eponymous song 謳う丘 ～Ar=ciel Ar=dor～ which seems to be the extended version of 謳う丘～Harmonics TILIA～.

志方あきこ – 謳う丘～Ar=ciel Ar=dor～ / Akiko Shikata -Utau Oka~Ar=ciel Ar=dor~
Published by Frontier Works
Release Date: 2010, September 29

Here’s the final tracklist:

１．謳う丘 ～Ar=ciel Ar=dor～ / Utau Oka~Ar=ciel Ar=dor~
２～５．各神話イメージソング / Kakushinwa Image Song
６．Ec Tisia ～Tarifa～

The limited edition (ref. FCCM-0327) will come with an A5 Ar-Tonelico booklet for 円2625 (duh. I was sure expecting something more exciting, but I’m still getting this version no matter what~) 😛
Of course, a regular edition will also be available (FCCM-0328). It will be a little cheaper (円2100), with no bonus.

For the rest and more info about Akiko’s orgel album 虹色クレヨン that was released yesterday in Japan, check out my old post.

Two upcoming album releases for Akiko Shikata

It has been only three months since the release of her second single Inori no Kanata, 6 months since the Ar-Tonelico III album, and 7 months since her latest orgel album Fluff. Apparently, Akiko Shikata suffers from a blatant frenzied activity syndrom… I’m not the one who’s gonna complain about that. My wallet does.

Nijiiro Crayon (Rainbow Crayon) will be one of these obscure orgel releases sold for real cheap in Japan, but very hard to find elsewhere…

志方あきこ – 虹色クレヨン～Orgel Arrange Mini Album～ / Akiko Shikata – Nijiiro Crayon ~Orgel Arrange Mini Album~
Ref. AURA-0016
Price: 円500
Length: 33mn
Release Date: 2010, August 14
Official Page

Tracklist:

1.謳う丘～Harmonics TILIA～ / Utau Oka ~Harmonics TILIA~
2.トキノスナ / Toki no Suna
3.EXEC_FLIP_ARPHAGE/.
4.Au GuMu
5.EXEC_EP=NOVA/.
6.Ec Tisia
7.ネジマキ鳥と我楽多ノ森 / Nejimaki Tori to Warerakuta no Mori
8.虹色クレヨン / Nijiiro Crayon

The second release, published by Frontier Works, will be an Ar Tonelico best of (or sort of, since new songs are also expected). No cover art nor tracklist for the moment.

志方あきこ – アルトネリコ3 イメージCD 謳う丘 / Akiko Shikata – Ar tonelico III Image CD Utau Oka
Ref. FCCM-0328 (regular edition – Price: 円2200)
Ref. FCCM-0327 (limited edition – Price: 円2600)
Release Date: 2010, September 29

Wow. Shikata Akiko-san is definitely not a lazy ass.

Good ol’ NES is not dead…

So, I finally couldn’t resist and placed my order on Retrozone. Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril and Mystic Pillars shall be mine in no time! Bwahaha!

Brand new NES carts in 2010. It’s, like, heaven.

Both of these brand new, original NES games were developed by one-man team Sivak Games. This genius does everything, from graphics and music to assembler programming. Holy shit, I’d sure like to be able to do that! 8)

Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril happens to be the first platform game to be released on the NES in 15 years, and seems pretty much similar to Megaman in many ways. Not bad, huh? This ambitious game includes over 550 rooms, 30 enemy types, 8 bosses and lets you choose between 5 difficulty levels. No less.
Battle Kid was sold out shortly after its release a few months ago. Now that it’s available again on Retrozone, I wasn’t gonna let it go.

Mystic Pillars was made by the same guy, and it’s a Tetris-like. Oh geez, I LOVE Tetris! According to the preview, the game looks pretty nice and colorful and just like the original Tetris, it features custom difficulty settings and music themes. Looks awesome so far, can’t wait to play.

I had originally no intention of purchasing anything else than Battle Kid, but as I was checking their other games Mystic Pillars caught my attention. Because it was a Tetris-like! Not to mention it was made by Sivak too, and seemed real fun. Shipping remained the same whether I was buying it or not anyway. Sigh, shipping overseas is *so* expensive.

* hope my NES works hope my NES works hope my NES works *

Battle Kid gameplay preview (click here to watch it on NESguide):

Mystic Pillars preview:

Song of the week #2

After Chihiro Onitsuka, something different, but still folk-ish. This week I chose a Canadian band, Great Lake Swimmers. The fantastic song Your Rocky Spine is from their album Ongiara (2007). Very nice band! This song is my favorite of theirs, but I strongly recommend their albums -they’re worth it.

More info on “The Cold Embrace of Fear” single

As promised, some news about the upcoming Rhapsody of Fire single (or mini-album, whatever) to be released on October 15: The Cold Embrace of Fear -A Dark Romantic Symphony-.

The rumors are confirmed: according to the band announcement, it will include a single song, 35-mn long and made of several distinct parts (7 to be exact) just like pretty much every long song of theirs. According to Luca’s saying, it will be “very symphonic”, filmscore-like, and narration as well as spoken parts are to be expected. (can you believe that -a real story presence and voice actors, just what was missing on the album! Gonna be epic, no doubt!)

They also revealed the cover art, still by Felipe Machado Franco *cough cough* and well… it kinda sucks… again, some bad, very bland-looking photomanipulation. I still like this one much better than the artwork he did for The Frozen Tears of Angels, though 😛

Eeeh… is it just me, or that wolf at the bottom -or whatever it’s supposed to be- looks like some giant hairy dick? I almost thought of Krauser at first…

Song of the week #1

“Ibara no Umi” (Sea of Thorns) by folk singer-songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka. From the album This Armor (2002)

I came across this song just a few days ago and I’m mesmerized by its soothing beauty… so pure and dreamlike.

The Battle of Olympus, a classic on the NES

This game is in my wantlist. The gameplay and graphics kinda remind me of Zelda 2, and it’s probably as frustrating because for what I remember it was really hard… it was a great game nonetheless. I can’t wait for the day when I can play it again.

EPIC GLITCH OWNED GANON (AKA: Beating A Link To The Past in 5 mn)

Yes, you can do it! You-can-beat-the-fucking-game-in-five-minutes. FIVE DAMN MINUTES. And I’m not kidding.

In fact, anyone can. You probably thought you knew every tip and secret about ALTTP already, maybe not this one… here’s the ultimate glitch:

Simple as that! You don’t even have to fight Ganon… Pretty amazing, huh?

In case you wonder what happens after, here it is. That’s even more scary than the speedrun thing.

Fuck you, Ganon.

AVGN needs a scapegoat

Time for a little fun. How about some Bugs Bunny’s Birthday Beating?
This is one of my fav AVGN videos and I can’t get tired of it.

You want just the beating? Here you are!

Also don’t forget to watch the epic sequel: Bugs Bunny’s revenge in Crazy Castle. The nerd’s having a hard time in that one…

Rhapsody of Fire to release new mini-album in October

So after 4 years of silence, followed by the recent release of the (amazing) new album, the best Italian band is back with a brand new release. They definitely seem to be back to a normal schedule again, and that’s good to hear.

The Cold Embrace of Fear will be a 35 mn-long mini-album. No more information about the tracklist or artwork is available for the moment. Some suggest it will be a 35mn single song… that would be new for the band, and could come out great. Their longest song so far is Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness with an approximate length of 20 mn (19′ and something actually). And this song was truly a masterpiece, so my expectations are high for this release.

Apparently, you can already pre-order even though the release date is set to October 15. That’s 3 months ahead…

Hoping for more news very soon. Wait and see!

The difference between good and bad J-music

“Scarborough Fair” live performance by Emiko Shiratori and her daughter Maika Shiratori.

Underage band AKB48. Ironically, they are far more famous and better sellers than the artists above…

My ears need something epic…

By some amazing coincidence, both of my favorite artists -that I’ve been respectively following for 3 years, and almost a decade- happened to release new material within a period of two days, between April 28 and April 30 of this year. And although the first is releasing music regularly (despite the fact her indie albums are somewhat confidential, which I find rather regretful), the latter hadn’t been releasing anything for 4 years… So, what were the chances? Anyhow, I like the two of them very much and got my hands on the limited edition for both. It is very likely that I will review these albums sooner or later on this blog.

Akiko Shikata – Inori no Kanata (祈りの彼方, The Other Side of a Prayer)

Single with DVD – 4 tracks
Genre: Medieval/Neofolk
Released: April 28, 2010

Rhapsody of Fire – The Frozen Tears of Angels

Album – Limited Digipack Edition – 11 tracks
Genre: Symphonic Power Metal
Released: April 30, 2010

Both of these albums are fantasy-themed, with well-crafted symphonic arrangements. Epic stuff. Thus, I highly recommend them if you like the genre.

Passed the final exams. Got my diploma. Life’s great.

Just sharing my enthusiasm.

I’m so friggin happy at the moment. I have been anxious about that matter for a while, as I was actually expecting to get my results much sooner and wouldn’t receive them (and you know how annoying it is…) Finally, they decided to land in my mailbox on Tuesday… end of the suspense. YES, FINALLY! 😀

Okay, to be honest, that wasn’t that of a big surprise. Despite that unusual amount of stress on the previous days, I was kind of confident this year, due to my work and the feeling most of the tests went smooth or sort of. Still, I can’t deny it’s a relief, a big one.

So I eventually made it to that long-expected arts diploma from the Sorbonne University of Paris. It’s my first diploma. Until last year, I never thought I’d make it this far. I feel proud.

Now I’ll celebrate by playing videogames all summer. Haha. Soon time to think about the future, which, given the not-so-good status of employment today, makes me feel kind of anxious. AGAIN.

8-bit memories…

If you ever owned a Game Boy in your life, is it possible that you never played Super Mario Land? Well if it is the case, you really missed something. This game is a classic. It was launched at the same time of Nintendo’s portable console, in the holy year of 1989.

To me it is a special game, because it is the first videogame I ever played in my life. This was in 1989 or 1990 -can’t remember for sure-, and at the time I was either 6 or 7. Why am I even writing this? Believe it or not, but I haven’t played the game again for twenty years -until I got it from second-hand very recently, a few weeks ago only.

Of course, it was quite a special feeling playing this game after such a long time. For instance, I had completely forgotten the sprites were so tiny, and the graphics so basic, probably because I didn’t give a damn at the time -and honestly, who did? In 1989, Super Mario Land and the Game Boy were just awesome for everyone! As for the game itself… first time playing it after 20 years I was like “OMG, the Koopas explode!” I had forgotten this, too. This is so different from the other Mario games… And all of a sudden I remembered how stunning it was playing this game for the first time in 1989. These great childhood memories were back!

Another thing I remember: I got pretty clear memories of its sequel, Super Mario Land 2 (also a great game), which I used to play later in my life -used to own the game until I lost it, something I’m not proud of… :S SML2 had pretty neat graphics for Game Boy standards. It was awesome as well and is still high on my wantlist, but I happen to love the first one just as much. Despite its simplicity, it is in fact equally fun, and I always have a great time playing it.

I mean, everything about the game is amazing: eargasmic sound effects and themes, a well-thought level design inducing a lot of fun, and perhaps the most important of all, the gameplay is just perfect. A perfect gameplay: this is not something you can say about that many games, right? Well, that’s mainly why the Mario games rock.

Also for what I can recall, at the time I pretty much sucked at it. To be honest, I can’t even remember if I was able to beat the first world. Maybe I did it once… still loved playing it. It’s kind of funny when I think of it today. Well, I was a child and it was my first videogame… so many great memories! Something else I must say, even today, I hate World 3! The enemies are so annoying and it’s actually not that easy to beat. Oh well. I’m telling you, Super Mario Land is pure win. And when I play it now, I got this strange feeling of being both the kid I was and the adult I am today… Maybe that’s what I love about retrogaming. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. That kind of thing that, in my case at least, really helps you through life, by making you feel that pure, simple, innocent joy again. Ironically though, it also makes you sad all these great moments are over… But when we choose to play these old games, don’t we all yearn to become that child again? IMHO, I believe there’s a part of that kid in all of us.

Shit. I still can’t believe that was 20 years ago.

It’s scary.

So hi folks…

First post… so what am I supposed to write here? I’m just another retrogaming freak and I yet have to write something on the profile page. Posts to come will be more interesting than this one, I promise.

By the way, I’m Soru.