contra
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Ninty NES mints box; retro fresh breath
Continuing the trend of placing the iconic NES controller design on practically everything you can imagine, here's a packet of NINTENDO POWER MINTS for your bad gamers breath. C'mon, just because Contra is addictive doesn't mean you have to go in for the whole "we're men with guns, we don't care about our dental health" thing.[Via Wonderland]
Manly site lists 10 manliest games of all time
We've grown to understand the internet is full of crazy places; if you can imagine it, there's a site for it. So we were perhaps a little taken aback -- but not outright shocked -- when we stumbled across Arthur's Hall of Viking Manliness, a site about (you guessed it!) being manly. With thoughtful articles like "Spreading the Gospel of Chew" and "Women Who Smoke are Whores," Arthur's Hall is not for the unmanly.How exciting then, that they've focused that same manly acumen to lift up -- with huge, sweaty, rippling biceps -- the "10 Manliest Video Games Ever" from obscurity into whatever part of Valhalla is reserved for such notable artifacts. The list itself is notable for its sheer size. At over 4000 words, it's a manly screed in defense of games with a certain amount of manly violence and difficulty, with an admitted 8-bit bias. Why an 8-bit bias? Because "modern manly games like God of War are only pretenders." Got it, wimp?Their choice for manliest game ever: the classic, 8-bit shooter Contra ... now you're talking manly. The manly way to play it: no Konami code, no Spread gun, just two shirtless dudes, with pixelated abs so hard they look like they were carved from stone, hanging out in the jungle together ... what's not manly about that?[Via Destructoid]
So Dark the Contra of Man
We have to thank our readers for picking our absolute favorite webcomic this week. Steve Napierski of Dueling Analogs deserves a round of applause for showing some artistic merit and creativity in using The Last Supper to recreate the cheat code of old (which, if you haven't noticed, is portrayed by the hands of all characters in the picture).Second place goes to VG Cats' love-hate relationship with Nintendo and third can be claimed by Penny Arcade and their look at E3's Kentia All-Stars. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know (via comments below, preferably) of any game-related webcomic you stumble upon this week!
Behind the Music: Contraband
Jeff at Shame Games conducted an interview with Bryant Williamson of video game cover band, Contraband. They talk about the makeup of the band (2 guitars, bass, drums, and 2 dedicated Contra players) how they learned the songs, how Contraband is a side project to their real band, Cinemechanica, why Contra works for this sort of thing, and why they weren't happy about that video that was getting around the web (hint: they say it didn't rock hard enough). Bryant says they're going to record a better version in February, so you'll be able to get the authorized Contraband runthrough/rock session and he also dropped that they're planning another side project. Two words: Mega Man.(Note: The interview is presented through a flash app at the top of the page, or use this direct link(mp3).)[Thanks, Jeff]
Contra plus band = Contraband
Possessing one of the greatest band names ever, Contraband performs music from the game Contra while playing the game on a screen behind them. The video proclaims, "they beat the game in under 27 minutes." Our very own Ross Miller wrote, "These guys are sick they're so good - never have had to use a continue in all the time they've done these gigs, as far as I can tell.) There's a reason why the Konami code is ingrained in every gamer's memory banks: Contra is hard as hell! Joystiq salutes you Contraband.(Warning: link goes directly to a .mov file)[Thanks, jah75157]
