You think you've seen Super Mario 64 before, but have you seen Jason play Super Mario 64? No? Good. Because that's what will be played tonight, for this week's Monday Night PlayBit. Expect an two and a half hours of Super Mario 64, for some classic 3D platformer fun. Please note that it is unlikely Mario will ever attain 100 coins in a stage in this MNP, so a lot of the boring parts won't occur. Hooray! Click through for the replay! Also note next week, there will not be a Monday Night PlayBit. Sorry for the inconvenience. To make up for it, there will be a Tuesday Night PlayBit, which will occur on Tuesday night, believe it or not, and will feature Jason and Chris (and maybe Bradley) playing through a portion of Ratchet & Clank: All4One to kick off the busy holiday game season.
Previously in the Travel Log: I went through the palace of Boletaria with confidence and defeated Phalanx, the first boss. Read about my triumph here.
Previously in the Travel Log: I took my first steps into the punishing world of Demon's Souls. You can read about my missteps here.
It’s 2:00 AM, and I really want to play Dark Souls. I don’t know if it was all the podcast talk lately, or the twitter buzz, or that Quick Look on Giant Bomb, but I want this game. But wait! I own Demon’s Souls, and I’ve never actually played it. I think I’ll pop it in. It can’t really be as tough as people say, right?
Before it does that, Jason hits on some other recent news. Steve Jobs has passed away, and so the first few minutes of PB & Jason are devoted to some of the accomplishments he and Apple have made over the years, as well as his influence on the gaming industry. After a few minutes, the conversation shifts from Jobs to Apple's new iPhone 4S and what gamers should expect with it. Following all this, there's naturally some Club Nintendo criticism, and even the mention of the currently potential Republican presidential candidate and his relationship to Pokemon! Finally, after all this, Jason describes his perceptions of the competitive Brawl community and their impending ban of Meta Knight. PB & Jason 59 wraps up with the illumination of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2's story mode.
At the time of this post, Metroid: Other M is the leading candidate for this week's Monday Night PlayBit. However, there are several other options. A Boy and His Blob, WarioLand: Shake It!, and Xenoblade Chronicles number among them. Shadow Complex is another possibility on a different console, as is Mega Man X 2. One thing is certain: This week's PlayBit will begin at 8 PM EDT and end at 9 PM EDT. It's another "short" PlayBit, so join us for an hour-long glimpse at one of these games... Better yet, let me know which one you'd like to see me play! Edit: A surprise, last-minute vote chose a different game. Guess which one?! Starting very soon!
This week the show is officially over the hill. To celebrate they do what all grumpy men do and launch into some bitching over HD remasters and how developers are cutting too many corners.
Today is the 15th anniversary of the Nintendo 64 being released in the United States. It was the first console I got around launch time. My mother got me one from someone she worked with no longer than a month or so after it first came out. The N64 is a darling to Nintendo fans and to those who love games with a whimsical quality and an emphasis on multiplayer. I have a, shall we say, complicated impression of the Nintendo 64, but one that is shaped by great memories of playing great games with my friends.
While the title is based off of Namco Bandai's upcoming October release, Go Vacation, don't be fooled! PB & Jason is more than a summer stay at a resort or a monster. Also covered? Trenched, aka Iron Brigade, R-Type and the virtual console, Pietriots and their wall of diversity, the upcoming Playstation Vita Japanese launch, and the Amazon Kindle Fire!
Why would I play Metroid: Other M as this week's Monday Night PlayBit? It's simple: I never took the time to get through the game before. More than that, from what I saw, I really felt like the game got shafted upon release. See, Other M took Samus's stoic, unfeeling, powerful character and made her into a more realistic person. People were used to Samus being about the Power Suit, but most neglected deep thoughts about what was underneath. Am I just trying to look sophisticated, or is there something meaningful behind what I'm saying...? Click through to watch the replay!
Friday is now upon us and you know what that means -- it’s time for another fun filled installment of Missing in Action!
This week's PB & Jason is filled to the brim with exciting content! PixlBit is turning 2! There are more details out there about the Playstation Vita! Facebook is changing, and so is the iPhone. Super Mario RPG! TwinBee and the 3D Classics line! Star Fox 64 3D voice acting and online! Metroid: Other M! Click through to get all of this amazing PB & Jason content aaaaaaaaand MORE!
I have a pet peeve that goes along the lines of this sentence: “It’s good, for its time.”
You don’t have to tell me that I am a year late. I already know that. Mario’s 25th Anniversary has already come and gone, and Nintendo’s other big franchise is celebrating its 25th this year: namely, the Legend of Zelda. Yet you already know that by now, so you are probably asking this question right now: “Matt, what the hell? Why are you doing a Mario retrospective when you could be writing about Zelda?”
I broke two controllers while playing Mega Man II as a kid. Specifically, I broke two NES controllers playing Heat Man’s level in Mega Man II. Even more specifically, I broke two NES controllers while doing the “Hell Blocks” portion of Heat Man’s level in Mega Man II. That particular stage summed up perfectly what the words Nintendo Hard really meant to me. You needed patience, quickness and the ability to predict the future. It also didn’t hurt to have a couple of extra controllers lying around the house, you know, just in case.
Nick: As I read through forums and websites, I often see complaints of Wii third party support. I think everyone forgets something pretty critical:
Back this week, Nick, Chessa, Jason, and Nate are joined by Joaquim to talk about the latest developments over at the house of Mario. Given the recent news coming from the Nintendo 3DS Conference, the crew couldn't help but discuss the 3DS once again, though some discussion of Skyward Sword precedes, given its strong showing at the conference.
See this week's MNPB again, for the first time. It's A Boy and His Blob, the game about a boy and a blob from outer space! Also, there are jelly beans. Next Monday night? Metroid: Other M.
While there's a lengthy discussion of how I believe Nintendo can genuinely find an audience in today's video game marketplace, don't be fooled: PB & Jason has a lot more than that!
Thanks to our friends at Sony and Access PR, we have a few codes to giveaway for the now active beta of Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One! By now, you've surely had a chance to check out this great series and should be just as excited as we are for the up-to-four player co-op available in All 4 One. The last entry in the series, A Crack in Time, showcased just how far the series could go, and thanks to this unique opportunity you now have your chance to check out where the series will go next ahead of everyone else.
When people said that the 3DS was just like the Virtual Boy, I laughed them off. Yeah, they both have a 3D gimmick, but neither is truly comparable… or at least that's what I thought. While the two may share some rudimentary similarities, they are similar because they both suffered extremely botched launches – the worst in Nintendo's history.
Tonight's Monday Night PlayBit is beginning a little bit later than MNPBs usually do: 9:00 PM ET. Why? The PlayBit will last two hours, and then we'll be covering Nintendo's 3DS event as it happens at approximately 11:00 PM ET! Tune in for everything tonight!
Welcome to PixlBit’s inaugural edition of Missing in Action, a biweekly series that takes a look into the games and franchises of days gone by with an eye for bringing forgotten gems back from the dead.
But first, this week there is a bit of discussion on a few other topics: Team Meat! Fox News and "green" games! Rock of Ages!