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Project Unity stuffs 20 classic consoles into one: if you can't play it, it's probably too new (video)
Most gamer who want to play with more than one or two vintage console platforms often turn to software-based emulators that may or may not be above-board. How about stuffing all of the authentic hardware into one controller and one base unit? Modders at Bacteria's forums have developed Project Unity, an attempt to natively address 20 consoles across 17 actual platforms folded into a single device. The gamepad, arguably the centerpiece, includes two each of analog sticks and directional pads, along with multiple shoulder buttons and a central button grid that can either be used to steer an Intellivision or fill in for otherwise missing controls. Stuffing the unique controller hardware into one gamepad obviously presents problems with board sizes and the laws of physics, so much of the relevant circuitry sits in modified NES cartridges. Our only dismays are the lack of original Xbox support and the slightly imposing challenge of aggregating and modifying that much classic gaming componentry in one place -- if you're more concerned about convenience in your retro gaming than preserving the original feel of that Sega Master System or SNK NeoGeo, though, you've just found Utopia.
Super Mario's Wacky Worlds should have stayed buried
Well, here's an unexpected treat for your Labor Day: A peek at a Mario game you've probably never heard of and almost certainly will never touch, Super Mario's Wacky Worlds. If the video we found at Unseen64 is any indication, it's likely for the better. Created for the ill-fated Phillips CD-i by Novalogic, SMWW took Mario out of the Mushroom Kingdom (bold!) and plopped him in real-world locales like Egypt (puzzling!). Though touted as a successor to Super Mario World, it seems this would have been lucky to have been a successor to Hotel Mario.
Top 5: Worst. Cutscenes. Ever.
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Top_5_Worst_Cutscenes_Ever'; According to Activision (and after all, they made Pitfall!), video games will "eclipse" all other forms of media. Head honcho Mike Griffith went on to say that "Movies, recorded music and TV - these are all stagnating or contracting entertainment sectors." I'm not sure how much I agree with that statement. Strictly in terms of cash flow, it's already happening. Gaming is a fairly pricey hobby, and it's been outpacing the other forms of media for several years (in terms of growth). Yet I have a difficult time imagining a time where video games are everyone's preferred form of escapism. Although their respective industries may see drastic changes with direct, indirect, or unrelated connections to gaming, music and film will always have a place. As much as I love gaming, it's not rare that I find myself preferring to zone out with TV or just listen to music and read instead of playing a video game. What I do see is a further merging of the three into ubiquitous, all-purpose media devices. Microsoft and Sony currently do this, and it's only a matter of time before Nintendo catches up. While most households currently don't rely on gaming consoles as their sole provider of film / TV and music, I imagine that this will change. Perhaps the mediums will start to bleed into one another. With Metal Gear Solid blurring the lines between game and film and Audiosurf doing the same for games and music, perhaps media will merge and propagate a completely new and unique form of entertainment. Interesting stuff. What was this Top 5 about, again? Oh, right: cut scenes. A lot of them stink. Here's the 5 worst ones. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Mario and Link's youthful indiscretions
This GameDaily article on "Mascots Gone Wild" exposes some of the horrible things done by Nintendo's flagship characters (and friends) back when they were young, and needed the money. We're all quite familiar with the CD-I Zelda games, of course, but we haven't talked so much about the similarly abysmal Hotel Mario, also for the CD-I. "There's no jumping, no shell squashing, no recognizable Mario gameplay whatsoever – just opening doors and going through corridors." Mario's other miscellaneous fringe material -- when he taught typing, was missing, and presided over a gallery of board games -- dominates the list, with appearances from other marred Nintendo characters, including Donkey Kong. Amusingly, Conker makes the list for his Game Boy Color game Conker's Pocket Tales, which failed to be filthy.
Friday Video: You must eat swords
The horrific animated cutscenes from the CD-I Zelda games are hilarious enough without any help-- honestly, the only way we can even begin to accept that people made these, and then watched them and decided they were fit for release is if we believe that they did it as a joke. We've embedded the original cutscenes from Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: Wand of Gamelon, and the less-common live-action (!) Zelda's Adventure after the break, just in case you haven't seen them.Those are provided as background for our Zelda Week Featured Friday Video: a mashup of scenes from Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: Wand of Gamelon called "Swords for Dinner." It takes the unintentional humor found in the original videos' weird, jerky animation and pointless dialogue and makes it into a screamingly hilarious story that is only marginally stranger than whatever was happening in the real videos.
