Me on a swing

To those of you who came here expecting to see me in a sling: Sorry.

To the rest of you: Enjoy this rare glimpse of my rear end!



This photo was shot--by my sister-in-law--during our recent family vacation, by the way. All six of us were walking through a park (I think) in Leaven- worth, Wash., when we came upon a swing set. Being the juveniles that were are, David (the hubs) and I raced toward and jumped into the swings. Thankfully we didn't break either of them!

Since the photo above doesn't show my face, I'll share one that does. I'm all the way on the left, wearing the same outfit seen in the first pic (hopefully both photos were taken on the same day?), while my mom is over my right shoulder, my dad is over my left shoulder (in the baseball cap) and David's dad is all the way to the right, shrouded in shade.



So, there you have it. I know none of the above has anything to do with gaming, but I thought some of you might be interested all the same.

More like Angry Kirby Mass Attack, amirite?

I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but for some strange reason Nintendo of America's designers are seemingly unable to produce a piece of Kirby box art without making the little pink blob look angry.

In fact, I'm pretty sure "angry Kirby" has shown up on all North American Kirby game boxes with the exception of Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Well, it seems that trend will continue with the upcoming DS title, Kirby Mass Attack (Atsumete! Kirby in Japan). Here's the cover of the Japanese version of the game, which hit the streets a few weeks ago:

And here's the cover of the North American version, which will be released on Sept. 19 (pre-order it here):

Although I generally roll my eyes at Nintendo of America's obsession with turning Kirby's smile into a frown, I'll refrain from doing that in regards to the cover art above--which I find quite captivating despite the main character's furrowed brow.

Someone really needs to make Famicom Gamer and Mega Drive Gamer magazines, too

As much as I love PC Engine Gamer magazine, I really wish someone would follow in publisher Sunteam's footsteps and produce similar online magazines focused on the Famicom, Mega Drive and every other 8-bit and 16-bit system, too. While I wait for such 'zines to materialize, though, I'll continue flipping through the latest issue of the aforementioned PC Engine-focused publication (the cover of which can be seen below).

Those of you who are at all interested in NEC's little white wonder, as I like to call the PC Engine, should read it (here), too, as this issue includes a "final countdown" of the system's 10 best continue/game over screens, a quick peek at a trio of in-the-works homebrew titles and reviews of Atomic Robo-Kid Special and Ys Book I & II.

A sneaky peek into one Japanese game store's retro section

True story: I've spent waaaaaay too much of my free time over the years searching Flickr for photos of Japanese game shops.

As such, I did a little "gay geek jig" when I discovered a post titled, "Anatomy of a Japanese Video Game Store's Retro Section," at one of my favorite sites, Famicomblog.

In said post, blogger Sean walks his readers through Fukuoka's Omocha Souko game store in both words and photos. Discussed (and shown) during this walkthrough: The shop's Dreamcast, Famicom, Gameboy, Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Nintendo 64, PC Engine, Saturn and Super Famicom sections. (The pic below is of the Famicom section, by the way.)



Stats of note: The Famicom section is the largest in this particular store (the Super Famicom unsurprisingly comes in second), while the Neo Geo section is the smallest.

Sean has published a series of similar posts that focus solely on the Famicom sections of Fukuoka's many game shops, by the way. Check them out at your leisure here.

I love air, too, Susumu Hori

You know how I mentioned a few days ago that I'm itching to finally play a Puzzle Bobble title? Well, I'm feeling similar "symptoms" in regards to the Mr. Driller series--especially after laying eyes on the following illustration, titled "i <3 air," produced by artist Dan Taub (aka 1oddgent):



Framed copies of this cute-as-buttons print can be purchased for just $20 from the 1oddgent etsy shop. Also available for a song from said shop: Framed copies of a similarly fantastic Tanooki Mario print.