Messages

361

Game Blog / E for All Photo Spread - Day 4

« on: October 25, 2007, 04:54:15 PM »

These folks all trust the fungus, even on an early Sunday morning.


Some shots of the crowds and steps before we all got to enter the hall.

We're waiting....

I do believe this is Ness from the first day.  Franklin badge!


Note the Ness tattoo.  I'm 98% sure that at e3 2006, the TMK crew sat behind this guy during the Nintendo press conference.

I ran into the fellow on the right many, MANY times.


I saw this guy's shirt, and I just KNEW...

These fellows were far too enthusiastic.

Just for Deezer, more shots of games and stuff.

Classically trained. 'Nuff said.

You might recognize these folks from my pictures of the media hospitality room on Saturday.  They were enthusiastic to see me, and wore the stickers on their foreheads for a good chunk of the remainder of the day.

I want this shirt, but I must confess it probably looks better on her than it would on me.

It's PAUL GALE again.  I kept bumping into him... and folks with their heads being devoured by Pac-Man.

Fungus -- she trusts it.

Awwww....

That sneaky Paul guy is back, along with some new friends.

Everyone has cooler t-shirts than I do.

That's one hip red tie.

This guy's company makes giant, dome displays.

Fungus stickers go well with dark jackets.

See the guy on the right?  Guess who is he in costume as...


Princess Peach.

That's just disturbing.

Insert witty comment here.

Most of the really neat t-shirts you see all came from the Nintendo World Store in New York City.  (Shakes fist.)

Cute little Bowser plush.  I have two just like it.

Note how one member of this family group doesn't trust the fungus.

So, I ran into some more girls from the PMS Clan.  Naturally, they love the fungus.  The third girl, however, was a bit more enthusiastic.


This lovely lass asked for an additional sticker for her husband at home, and THEN decided that all the ladies of the clan NEEDED to display their trust of the fungus.



She then decided that the folks running the HP booth (which the PMS girls were staffing) also trusted the fungus:



One PMS girl was busy demonstrating something, but we got to her later...

Trust the fungus? Of course they do!

This guy needed a red mushroom to go with his shirt...

When I saw the NES controller around his neck, I knew he needed a sticker.

MARIO!  (Or an approximate fascimile thereof.)

Oops.  I appear to have forgotten to rotate these fellows... that or we had another earthquake.

Someone didn't want their face in the photo.

Kilted guys MUST trust the fungus.

This shirt caught my eye... and it turned out the guy in the shirt was part of the Indie Games display.  He proceeded to lead me to these fine folks...

... who, of course, trusted the fungus.

Proud of the trust, he is.

Back in the media center, I ran into this fine fellow while we were discussing the general lack of media presence on the final day.  He was happy to show his fungal trust.

TANOOKI!

This fellow is sporting one of the t-shirts Nintendo gave away during the week.

Custom French Mario-esque shirts.

What's cooler than a dad with a Mario shirt?  (Well, he could be an older brother or demented uncle, but I prefer to assume the direct family connection.)

Just in case you were wondering how to play the new Fire Emblem game...

It's truly scary what happens when you have a Pac-Attack.

This may be the first, and last, time I ever see Ice Climbers cosplay.

I'm not entirely sure why I have two pictures of this guy, but I do.

Why should YOU join the ECA?

We got that elusive PMS girl at last.

All good Toadettes trust the fungus!

Guys in HP booths will be forced to trust the fungus, thanks to the PMS girls.

We need more gals with Peach t-shirts.

This lady told me she is a total Legend of Zelda junkie.  We had a debate on the matter of Shiek and whether shiek is female (which SHE IS, as she's Zelda in disguise) or male (yeah, right).  She was unenthused with my reasoning for shiek being female.  We also discussed Link's possible love interests.

NOA employees trust the fungus.  Would you expect anything less?

A bad photo of one of the banners hanging around the room.

This feels like some sort of growth chart.

This charming Nintendo booth lass manned the Fire Emblem displays, which were sadly underutilized during the course of the show.  Whenenever I passed her way, I did my best to cheer her up.

Everyone, TRUST THE FUNGUS!

Tanookis are so nice, we snapped 'em twice.

These guys were trying to drum up interest in their booth, which sells certification programs for game testing.  I'm not sure there's much of a demand for that, but they had vibrant displays.

This woman seemed a bit confused when I asked if she trusted the fungus, but she perked up nicely when she received the sticker.

You can't beat the classics.

Nintendo girls love the fungus!

A floor mural that was finished just in time for day 4.

Spare E for All ID badge holders being given away on the final day.

These guys finished off my TMK sticker sheet!  TRUST DAT FUNGUS!

More free E for All Badge Holders.  I wonder how many they made?

362

Game Blog / E for All Photo Spread -- Day 3

« on: October 22, 2007, 12:30:32 AM »

Just getting ready to start another exciting day of fungi folk collecting.  Please excuse the strangeness of the first picture and the difficulty of seeing the second.


Yep, well all just love to trust the fungus!

Ever wonder how you control Super Smash  Bros. Brawl using just a Wii Remote?

Tommy Tallarico and his close, personal friend Becky Young trust the fungus!

I'm telling you, ladies love Yoshi.

That's a Mario t-shirt I haven't seen before.

There's a funny story behind this... when I saw this guy's shirt from an angle, I thought it was a Zelda t-shirt.  After asking him if he trusted the fungus, I realized my mistake.  Luckily, he DID trust the fungus.

A young Zelda trusts the fungus.

A group of fungus loving folks... and that guy on the far right is starting to look familiar.

I thought this was a neat t-shirt.

This guy told me he made this Mario hat out of a Mario pillow he bought somewhere... so, if you find any large Mario hat pillows, it IS possible to hack them into functional Mario hats.  This guy revealed that he practiced on his Luigi hat first...

So yes, I need to write something here...

I really must say that these two don't object to the fungus.

Anyone want to translate these for me?

It's lunchtime in the media room, and these ladies all love that fungus!

These nice folks enjoyed sticking TMK stickers on each other's foreheads.  I have their website URL around here somewhere, but now I can't find it... hopefully they'll visit and let me know!

I really liked this guy's shirt. Reminds me of my wallpaper.

MB is going home.  Let's wave goodbye!

The fungus, let us trust it.

This nice lady is from GameQuest Direct. They have a new site set up and consumer buying goodies and all sorts of stuff, but I didn't sign up for it.  That made her sad.

These guys are wearing the special Super Mario Galaxy t-shirt that was given out at a SMG/SSBB stage demo I missed.  Sigh.

The Fungus is among us.

These folks came all the way from Alabama -- presumably not just for this show, but I wasn't sure.

This would be an unnamed person who may or may not be a NOA employee and is not being named.

Look -- this Link(ette) trusts the fungus!

Remember, when the camera flashes TWICE...

Link plays Link's Crossbow Training. (The game's pretty good, actually.)

This guy got a TMK sticker from me back at the Wii Launch Event at Universal Citywalk -- it's on his wallet.  He asked for a new one.

Yoshiiiii.

363

Game Blog / E For All Photo Spread -- Day 2

« on: October 21, 2007, 11:59:41 PM »

Day Two Begins... and my lens is smeared.  Don't worry, it clears up soon.

This is Paul Gale. I kept running into him.  You'll notice that.

Waiting for the convention room to open.  I met all these folks waiting...

These folks are standing in a big line while I'm in a tiny line upstairs.  I think they were chanting for some reason.

Deezer told me to get more game images.

Don't make him go Zelda on you.

More stickers.

This is MegaByte playing against someone.  Why is this newsworthy?  Let's zoom in on the opponent's lanyard...



Those Nintendo girls just love the fungus.

Perrin Kaplan trusts the fungus!

Some of the Brawl decorations hanging around the room.

More Nintendo booth decorations.

She manages to pull off a DK tie with sunglasses.

Chris Kohler, star of Wired's Game|Life, takes the time to appear in a picture here on TMK.

Rock out with a Guitar Hero guitar while you TRUST THE FUNGUS.

That t-shirt he's wearing was given out by Nintendo in their special Brawl arena area.

The ladies seem to enjoy Yoshi shirts.

Some company trying to sell giant, truck-sized video displays had this "Graffiti Me" whiteboard set up near their display.  Sadly, no one drew on it... until I took some initiative.  Later that day, it was covered with stuff... and most of my stuff was gone. Sigh.

Two thumbs up!

Don't they look happy?

Konami folks trust the fungus, too.

There was a story here, but it escapes me at the moment.


Never stop trusting that fungus, guys.

They are quite happy with their mushroom stickers.

This booth had Mario Kart RC cars and slot cars. They were zipping around the floor at times.

Even guys with t-shirts based on games that predate the fungus still trust in it!

Another Nintendo gal proudly sporting her new sticker.

Four swords!

I believe this guy got a sticker when he asked what they were.

These stickers were fairly popular, as you might have noticed by now.

SNAAAAAAKE....

I want a Triforce emblem sweatshirt.

Hey, it's Luigi!

Yeah, I know, it's Trevor Belmont, but still...

So I went to offer the gal with the Zelda handbag a TMK sticker, and everyone else demanded one too.

EA producers ALSO Trust the Fungus.

1up!

David Hayter, voice of Solid Snake, trusts the mushroom.  MB and I are backstage at Video Games Live.

This is Video Games Live... they had a Cosplay parade thing before the show.  That appears to be Fox McCloud holding Kirby.

364

Game Blog / Re: Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Some Notes from my Playing Today

« on: October 19, 2007, 02:56:45 AM »

Samus definitely has the Fusion suit because I played with it.

Well, that's annoyingly weird.  Why in the world doesn't Peach have her Daisy outfit?

[SINGLE GREATEST GAMING COSTUME OF ALL TIME]

365

Game Blog / E for All Photo Spread -- Day 1

« on: October 19, 2007, 02:56:04 AM »

My hotel room. Aren't you excited?

The first person to TRUST THE FUNGUS and receive a TMK Sticker.


MegaByte and his Nintendo World Report buddy Steven Rodriguez arrive at the convention center. Aren't they looking chipper?

Another happy recipient of a TMK sticker.

He, too, trusts the fungus.

Two, count them, TWO Fungus Fans at once!

Even Destructoid trusts the fungus... even if I didn't see it on him later during the day.

How can a guy with a shirt like that NOT be a member of the Mushroom Kingdom?

MB says this is someone I should know about. Sadly, I lost his note about the name of this person.  I believe this person shows up later in different garb.  MB will have to update me on this.

So it's a bit blurry... the lighting was bad.  That's Phillip  from Advanced Media Network... those wacky AMN guys even posted about it in their forums.

Boy, I think I need to reconsider my choice to be in all these photos... I look crazy, and I'm not the guy wearing a DK tie.

Even folks from 1up.com trust the fungus!

Nintendo gals and TMK -- a perfect blend, like pizza and cardboard boxes.

Yes, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man love TMK too...even if their handlers wouldn't let them wear the sticker.  We know they really love us.  (Oh, that's Chris Glass from DMG Ice in the last picture.  He took a lot of these pictures for me while I was chatting with the lovely folks in all the photos.  He's long-suffering.)

You know, I'm going to have to learn about smiling for a camera and properly timing my speaking, or I'll keep ending up with photos in which I look vaguely like Wario in Brawl.

People of all ages trust the fungus!

Hey, NESS TRUSTS THE FUNGUS! (Did you ever doubt that, really?)

Lunch time.  Note the giant table full of boxed lunches?   It's thirty minutes after lunch started and they're still on the table.  E for All <> E3.

Who's this man who trusts in the fungus so? Why, it's Rusel DeMaria, author of many fine video game history and information books (including Hi Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games).

All of these fine folks met me, chatted, took TMK stickers and posed for pictures.  Hi, folks!

If you wait in some tiny bleachers, you get to play four player Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  If you win in your four player tournament, you get to play on THE BIG SCREEN with other winners.  Here you can see MegaByte's back as he prepares to face off in a BIG SCREEN TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS.

I'd have more about this, but it was my turn to play on the other side, so I ran off.
Cosplayer time.

Yes, E for All had a "Cosplay Parade and Photo Opportunity".  Here we go.  Please excuse the lousiness of the pictures, but the front of the stage area was filled with a high school marching band.



I bet you thought I was kidding for a moment, didn't you?


You may have noticed, amidst those rather lousy pictures of folks in Zelda/Spiderman/Castlevania/FF7/Kingdom Hearts/Destructoid (that shouldn't count)/Generic Anime characters, something special.  The SINGLE GREATEST GAMING COSTUME OF ALL TIME:

Yes... that's a BOO COSTUME!

(Sadly, the cosplaying fellow said he "didn't trust the fungus".  Personally, I think he was just staying in character...right?)

We're just one band of happy, mushroom-loving guys.

Even if your skull is slowing mutating into Pac-Man, you can still take the time to trust that fungus.

The folks in the Nintendo booth really love that fungus.  I mean, it makes sense and all, but it's still rather touching.

Scurvy knaves from regions unknown trust the fungus, and that's not a gaffe.

  Oh, look -- a super blurry picture of a new Wii system box.  Note the prominent Wii Sports logo on it. (Trust me, it's there.)

These two young ladies trust the fungus. Isn't that wonderful?  The one on my right appeared to have been up to something crofty earlier that day.

This is a picture of myself with a mushroom gal and her identical twin sister.

I bet you wish you had a cool DK tie like this guy has.

Actually, maybe I could snag an extra one for a prize or something like that. Hmmm.


You know, I'm not made of witty catchphrases and slogans.  Just because I haven't used any so far doesn't mean that I'm not tired of trying to.

TANOOOKI!

It's amazing how people pop out of the woodwork when they realize you are giving stuff away for free.

This nice young lady is trying to hide her face so she won't get in trouble. Did it work?

It's a Metal Gear print in the Into the Pixel exhibit.

No, that's about all there is to this.  I was asked to take it, so I did.

If I had won a game of Halo while at this booth, these nice ladies would have given me a free iPod carrying case.  I don't own an iPod, but still, it would have been nice to have.

Here I am at the 1up booth.  See that lovely lady posing next to me?  She lost her badge earlier that day... then I found it under a sign.  Here we are after she was reunited with her badge.


Here's one of her co-workers. He let me know that she had been losing stuff all day -- even her airline boarding pass!

These nice ladies of the PMS Gaming Clan wanted me to join The ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association).  I'm not sure the ECA is for me, but I promised to look into it.


Awwww.... aren't they a cute couple?  They said they'd come back tomorrow in a new set of matching Mario-themed t-shirts.

Kong....KOOONG!

366

Game Blog / Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Some Notes from my Playing Today

« on: October 19, 2007, 01:40:54 AM »

So, I played it quite a bit today... some thoughts and observations:

* Peach's "Daisy" outfit is currently missing. She has the Daisy color scheme (brown hair), but no texture changes (daisy earrings, different crown, etc..) like in Melee. This seems like an odd omission.

* Regarding Samus and Fox's "alternate outfits" -- I'm going to have to check into this tomorrow, but I didn't leave the expo with that impression at all. While I'm hesistant to say much about Samus (I'll try her color scheme out tomorrow, although toggling through the colors showed NO alternate textures or designs, JUST color schemes), I do know I saw Fox in the "Star Wolf" coloring... and frankly, the only difference I saw was the color scheme. If Samus has a Fusion Suit, it should be obvious, and I'll look for it tomorrow -- otherwise, well, I think the reports of "different costumes" at this point are merely different color schemes. Dark Link appears to just be a different color scheme too.

* Multiple taunts are fun, but I can't tell if there is ANY way to CHOOSE a taunt in Wii Remote play. This might be a problem, as some taunts have lag (Mario's growth).

* Still not sure about Mario's FLUDD. It seems to be called by D+B when standing, but I'm not entirely sure what makes it later vanish OR if you can do anything else with it after it is called. You can't seem to drop it as an item.

* Peach feels more "floaty". Her hip smash attacks have little white flash heart animations.

* I really, REALLY hate Wii Remote controls.

* Classic Controller is growing on me, but I still want the Wavebird.

* Adventure Mode looks neat -- they were showing various Adventure Mode clips. Wario appears to be a total jerk in this game.

Overall, the game FEELS like an enhanced SSBM as opposed to "a brand new game" -- adventure mode and the like will take care of that, though.

IF it's true that there are no alternate costumes at the moment... I find that rather significant. Removing Peach's "Daisy" outfit really makes no sense at all... if that's gone, it would seem MORE possible that there is a universal "second costume" or "costume selection" option for ALL the characters coming later. But, well, speculation.

Oh, another thing -- Final Smash attacks generally seem WEAKER than we are all expecting them to be. Avoiding or surviving the attacks isn't impossible by a long shot. The game seems very well balanced even with the Final Smash attacks... Stationary Final Smashes (like Mario's) can be avoided if you are quick, Speedy Final Smashes (Super Sonic) are hard for the player to control, etc..


Summary of New Adventure Mode Stuff (from David's Memory)

* Donkey Kong stage (Donky and Diddy) : Bullet Bills blast into an island. DK and Diddy begin fighting stuff. Level begins. Giant goomba boss. Etc. etc. Ending cutscene -- DK and Diddy find bananas, then BOWSER appears and growls at them.

* Arena - you guys know this one. Mario/Kirby, fight, Pirahna w/ Princesses, you save one, Mario goes flying away (presumably to end up with Sonic)
New Stuff: Arena, Kirby and Peach standing near each other, Zelda crawling out of her broken cage. Suddenly, motorcycle crashes into the arena. Wario hops off, pulls out a futuristic gun, shoots Zelda, she turns into a "Smash Statue" (with base), Wario cackles, picks up the statue, laughs and rides off.

I forget if anything else was really new... it showed some of the actual platforming parts... Pit fighting a giant crowd of the Eggplant-man-looking Darkness guys...

367

Game Blog / TMK Staffers at E for All

« on: October 18, 2007, 08:30:54 AM »

I'll be at the E for All show this week, as will at least one other TMK staff person.  Pictures should be coming from the event, and any small tidbits of news that can be found.

If you're at the E for All show and spot me somewhere, say hello!  Mention TMK and I might even have a small gift for you...

368

Game Blog / Silly Little Urban Jumping "Mario" Video

« on: October 14, 2007, 09:27:36 AM »

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1311048903

Isn't that cute?

369

Game Blog / Wii Ware Dr. Mario -and- Peach's Motocycle in Mario Kart

« on: October 10, 2007, 06:50:26 AM »

Screenshots of a Wii Ware Dr. Mario game are popping up, as well as a few shots from the Wii Mario Kart title, showing Peach driving about in a motorcycle-like thing of some sort.

It's times like this that I wish I knew how to add pictures to TMK.  HEEEEY, Deeezer!

370

Game Blog / Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

« on: October 10, 2007, 04:16:06 AM »

Check out the official Smash Bros. site to see Sonic knocking Mario over as he dashes about like a deranged blue spiny mammal.

Prepare to die the death of a thousand stomps, blue pretender.

371

Mario Chat / *&@#&@!!* "LOST LEVELS"

« on: October 01, 2007, 05:47:05 PM »

It's amazing what you forget after not playing a game in ages.

Things like GAMES SETTING YOUR EXTRA LIFE COUNT TO ZERO IF YOU GET TOO MANY.

There's a reason they never released this on the NES...

372

Game Blog / Re: Psst... wanna buy some $120 Mario Sneakers?

« on: October 01, 2007, 05:43:33 PM »

Is it bad that, even with no job and a kid, I am seriously considering spending money on these?

I bought'em!!!!

I seriously wanted to start a new Blog entry -- "TMK Staff Goes Insane".

373

Game Blog / Psst... wanna buy some $120 Mario Sneakers?

« on: October 01, 2007, 12:34:58 PM »

If you've ever wanted Mario themed athletic shoes and also wanted to throw money away madly, have we found the perfect thing for you.

Denim & Sole is selling a special, limited edition "Legacy X Nintendo 2007 Colorway: blue-red-black-gray" athletic shoe.  Only 400 pairs will be sold, at $120 each; to slightly offset the cost, you will also receive a "Run Athletics Legacy X Nintendo T-Shirt" with each pair of shoes.

A few more pictures are available at the charmingly entitled "High Snobiety" site.

So, Deezer... how much do we have left in the TMK treasury?

374

Latest News / Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese) released on North American Virtual Console

« on: October 01, 2007, 06:29:05 AM »

Yes, the real Super Mario Bros. 2 is being released to the North American Virtual Console this week, for 600 points.  Now you too can play the infamously difficult chapter of the Super Mario Bros. series, for a mere 100 point markup.

While later ports of the game have been released in the Americas before (as "The Lost Levels" in Super Mario All-Stars and in a rather chopped up and altered version in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe's extra mode), the original Famicom/NES version has never hit our shores... until now.

While the European VC release has disappeared from the European Shop Channel, it sounds as though the North American release will remain available permanently.

(Oh, yeah, Sin and Punishment for the N64 is available too. 1200 points, no Mario, but supposedly fantastic.  In fact, I'll probably buy that first, given that I've played the SMAS port of SMB2j before.  Beating any version of SMB2j just seems to make me never want to play it again.)

375

Game Blog / DK Barrel Blast in a bit more than a week - How Did I Miss This?

« on: September 29, 2007, 04:46:46 PM »

So I got an e-mail from Nintendo today, summarizing tidbits and such about the Wii and DS during September. Nothing about the infamous "September surprise" we may or may not have gotten, but there was something interesting in the e-mail: "Donkey Kong Barrel Blast - coming October 8th".

Now, I'm sitting here confused, as I didn't know we had a release date for the game.  I jump online to check TMK... and yes, Deezer or MB or SOMEONE ELSE better in tune with release lists has that noted.

Why do I feel like I missed some announcement months ago?