The Tanooki » Christian Ponte

Donkey Kong pops up in California grocery store

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:00:47 +0000

Not far from the store that featured Mario, some grocers/gamers were inspired to create their own pixel art using 12-pack boxes of pop (or “soda” if you’re weird). This one’s a bit more suspicious though, as some of the boxes in Donkey Kong’s arms are obviously suspended over air. Did they empty boxes of the product just to glue together for this display? Or maybe DK is just so strong that his biceps can overcome the force of gravity.

Either way, you’ll also notice that a barrel of Crush is conveniently located below DK. How cute.

Pixelated Geek

FFXIII director would like to remake Final Fantasy VII

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:30:41 +0000

It’s become a broken record. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama would be eager to undertake the remaking of a franchise classic. All the same, people at Square Enix saying they want to remake Final Fantasy VII is like me and the rest of the world saying we want the Cubs to win the World Series. At some point, they’ll need to stop saying they’d like it to happen and just make it happen.

“If we had the manpower and the time to work on a project. If we were to remake Final Fantasy VII with the quality of Final Fantasy XIII it would become a tremendous project. If we can get the number of people we need by all means that would be the one I would really want to remake.”

Granted, if we actually do get a FFVII remake, I’m going to demand remakes for FFVIII and FFIX. Then maybe an HD version of FFIV, FFX, and FFIV. Of course by then, we’ll all be harping on Square Enix for making nothing but remakes. I guess there’s really no pleasing Final Fantasy fans.

PlayStation Universe

Gamers get hammered with Mario

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:00:35 +0000

How productive are you when you’ve had a few too many? RedHerring1up apparently decided to take all those bottle caps and create some pictures out of them. The one above is obviously of Mario, but you can check past the break if you want to see RedHerring1up’s Red Mage.

I’m going to assume these caps were collected over a long period of time, from several people, and assembled while sober. Can you imagine if that weren’t the case? I’ve seen this much alcohol lead to fun personalities, making dinner re-appear, and even babies… but pixel art? That would be awesome.

Flickr

Molyneux: Fable III needs to “surprise” you

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:30:12 +0000

Chrono Cross. Majora’s Mask. Sonic and the Secret Rings. All titles that sought to break from convention and distinguish themselves from their predecessors. Were they good changes? Was it worth it to shake things up in order to keep the games fresh? Peter Molyneux is apparently thinking along those same exact lines for Fable III.

“We could make Fable III like any sequel. Surely we know what the world is now and the game mechanics. You know, ‘now is not the time to experiment.’ But no, I think my point is that we need to surprise people.”

At the same time, many developers say this, and yet a large portion of gamers aren’t sure whether to believe that Fable III will differ from precedent to the degree that Molyneux is implying. Do you think Fable III will be all that different? Do you even want it to be all that different?

Switched
via Destructoid

K’Nex helps Pokewalker gamers avoid walking in public

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:00:48 +0000

Some people are really lazy – so lazy that they’re currently trying to find ways to get out of walking. The new Pokewalker pedometer that comes with Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver is so ridiculously simple that you can carry it around with you as you walk around your school campus, around work, jogging around the block or at the gym, or heck even while jogging in Wii Fit (2 games at once? madness!).

Yet, I’ve heard of people trying to attach their Pokewalkers onto things like fan blades, power drill bits, and even hubcaps – a lot of people recently finished or started their spring breaks recently… I wonder how many tire rotations you can get from Chicago to/from Urbana-Champaign? Anyway, here’s the first I’ve heard of people so lazy to walk that they’ll actually take the time to build a contraption to get out of it.

How about you? Are you walking with your Pokewalker, or are you finding new ways to cheat the system?

YouTube

You can break bones playing God of War III – Literally

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:30:04 +0000

It doesn’t take a look at my Twitter feed to know that many of you are playing God of War III these days (though it does serve as a constant reminder). As you keep playing, be careful. Know that the game poses a slight chance of physical injury. The image above comes from an actual physician.

“I had a patient who was so caught up in playing God of War III that he rolled over his hand with his knee and broke two fingers. The radiograph is attached (with his information omitted and arrows that point to the fractures). First time I’ve seen such an extreme gaming injury.”

…Makes you wonder how exactly this guy was playing the game. Maybe he was playing Twister at the time? I honestly can’t even imagine it.

Gizmodo

SEGA looking to sequel-ize Bayonetta, AvP, Alpha Protocol

Christian Ponte — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:00:29 +0000

Bayonetta was fantastically received by reviewers and consumers alike, so it’s exciting news to hear that it may be getting a sequel. SEGA West’s Mike Hayes mentioned that Bayonetta, along with other recent/upcoming titles from the publisher, are likely to get follow-ups.

“We want to get the core games right before anything else. We’ve got our shooter with [Aliens vs. Predator] and our RPG with Alpha Protocol – we really want to make those into franchises. If you think about it, we can sequel-ise Bayonetta, AVP, Alpha Protocol and we can make a hit of something like Vanquish. Add that to Football Manager and Virtua Tennis – we actually have a broad portfolio.”

For those wondering, Alpha Protocol has yet to be released, scheduled for a May 27/28th release in Australia/Europe and a June 1st release here in North America.

On top of that, Hayes commented that SEGA would like to take their Total War strategy games in a whole new direction. Not sure if this means the 20th century, the future, or even just a revamp of the gameplay itself. We’ll just have to wait and see.

CVG

Castlevania headlines EU Nintendo Shop for 3.19.2010

Christian Ponte — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:45:08 +0000

It’s mostly a DSiWare week (big surprise, right?) in Europe, notably the launch of Nintendo’s own Photo Dojo. On the Wii, the classic Castlevania: Rondo of Blood heads to the Virtual Console just as it did in the States earlier this week. Be sure to browse through and see if there’s anything to your liking!

WiiWare
Muscle March (Namco Bandai) – 500 points

Virtual Console
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (TGCD, Konami) – 900 points
Milon’s Secret Castle (NES, Hudson Soft) – 600 points

DSiWare
Car Jack Streets (Tag Games) – 800 points
Flashlight (Kaasa Solution) – 200 points
Flips: The Enchanted Wood (EA) – 500 points
Libera Wing (Pixel Federation) – 800 points
Photo Dojo (Nintendo) – 200 points

NintenDaan

10K Yellow Gold Mario Pendant Heavily Discounted on Auction

Christian Ponte — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:30:03 +0000

Have $2,600 lying around? Well you’re in luck! So Icy Jewelry is offering this unique Mario pendant for just that much, a whopping 71% off the retail price of $9,000. What is it that you’re getting at this bargain price?

It’s a 4.25CT pendant featuring 10K yellow gold and natural round-cut canary diamonds, weighing 31.6 grams and measuring 2×3.25 inches in size. On top of that, appraisal comes included with your purchase. Not being much of a bling-bling guy, I haven’t the slightest idea what I just typed out there for you, but even I’m “ooh-ahhing” at the details.

Actually, I’m hoping to move out to the Los Angeles area soon. Maybe sporting one of these bad boys will help me fit in.

eBay Auction
via Kotaku

EA proclaims Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as March’s best-selling title

Christian Ponte — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:30:02 +0000

Yeah, they know March isn’t over, but Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has sold so well since its launch that it seems safe to claim the title. In fact, the game already holds the honors of being the best-selling game on record for the month of March in both North America and Europe, selling over 2.3 million copies across all platforms.

Were you playing of St. Patrick’s Day? Then you contributed to the 2.9 million hours of online play logged that day alone. In fact, initial online demand for the game after it first launched overwhelmed EA’s servers, but the franchise’s executive producer, Karl Magnus Troedsson, assures fans that EA and DICE have brought enough servers online to satisfy demand and will continue to make sure everyone can play. They’ve had up to 230,000 concurrent users at a single time so far, and there are still many who will be spending some spring break time with the game.

If you haven’t picked up the game already, you might have even more incentive soon. If you receive/received a VIP code with your game, you’ll be able to download two brand new multiplayer maps on March 30th for free. If you didn’t get a code, you can purchase one online for just $15.

The Xbox Domain