Pacman Fever

I listened to Jawbreaker's Dear You for the first time in about 10 years today on my way to eStarland. During the 8th track, “Lurker II: Dark Son of the Night” some of the lyrics caught my attention:

“A can of dinner. Hard to get a rise. Hook up the Sega. Have sex alone.”

Turns out Blake Schwarzenbach, the singer and guitarist for Jawbreaker, is quite the video game fan. In 1997 he reviewed Pandemonium (review), Independence Day (review) and HeliCOPS for GameSpot.

This made me wonder what other video game references are there in music. I can only think of a few

Notorious B.I.G. - “Juicy”

A classic for all hip hop fans. Biggie famously rhymes “Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis when I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this.”

The music video even shows Street Fighter 2 being played on a Super Nintendo!

Del the Funky Homosapien - “Proto Culture”

A video game and anime fan? Del covers the Wex, Gex, Klonoa, Capcom, Donkey Kong, Rival Schools and even Xenogears in this song. See the end of the post for the complete lyrics.

Placebo – “Bigmouth Strikes Again”

Placebo's (unfortunate) cover of the Smiths “Bigmouth Strikes Again” changes the lyrics of the songs from “As the flames rose to her roman nose and her hearing aid started to melt” to “As the flames rose to her roman nose and her Megadrive started to melt” to make to more relevant to the 90s.

Buckner & Garcia - “Pacman Fever”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGSFk-vCqU

This one does not need an explanation, The whole song is a testimony to the joys of playing Pacman.

I’m sure there's many more songs that reference videos games but those are all that I can think of at the moment. As a closing, here a picture of Tupac and Suge Knight playing Sonic 2.

Del the Funky Homosapien - “Proto Culture”

Let me tell you about the Proto Culture
If you don't know the culture here's the whole structure
We've had enough of the lackluster, trust us
We get the kind of games you can't rent at Blockbuster

Game related, raise it bit by bit
Yo D, link up the cable we'll go hit for hit
Phantasma plasma particle beam means I have you
On the run, the rendered effects hot like magnas

I play games by Capcom with a power glove strapped on
On any platform, I don't spend my dough on Phat Farm
Video games, I got many to play
Before my life expires to fill my desires

Mastering your hardest boss, shattering all stars across
Ain't hard to cross the finish line, floatin' on Daytona
Wex, Gex or Kloana, I get 'em all at cost
RPG, Platform we transform like Macross

Rival schools, Batsu purchase you ought to
It came with one free CD, it's like I bought two
I hope they make part II for Dreamcast
'Cause games I've seen in mags, you won't believe they have

Getting callouses turning over asteroids, graviton bombs destroyed
Getting moms annoyed, now I'm hacking Nightmare Creatures
Their features splattered across the screen
It gets more clean each year

I remember, my homie Ed Coats had the most
A Colecovision, every week I'd visit
Playing Donkey Kong Jr., Venture, Rock and Rope
Games I thought was dope while my mom's was watching soaps

I'm on the next level
I got a double barrel shotgun in the Doomworld
Waiting on the next devil, armor's low, check the arsenal
Rupture the main conductor playin' Disruptor

I remember Ninja Gaiden finished it finally
With Ramone wouldn't answer the phone
This was before getting blown, I own the first Nintendo Power
With the maps of Zelda help me conquer in an hour

Let me tell you about the Proto Culture
If you don't know the culture here's the whole structure
We've had enough of the lackluster trust us
We get the kind of games you can't rent at Blockbuster

Hey KU, you know my SEGA collection is massive
Got all the past hits and classics
Herzog Zwei now Panzer Zwei
Originality that made me a fan today

It's Pandemonium, it's like Toys R Us
Flippin' the next Saturn game brings out the boys in us
It's poisonous taking out the boys in blue
In Grand Theft Auto, snatch a Rolls Royce to use

Yeah, I'll admit PlayStation improved
Come visit Feudal Japan with me and Tenchu
Bushido Blade 2 with sword play so accurate
Mega Man Legends but I had to buy a map for it

I fence Hyo to get a Neo-Geo
For Samurai 64 in full rendered splendor
Rival counter and enter, my sword in his innards
My joint was being Leonardo wuppin' on Splinter

I gotta get Xenogears, that's the type of game that relieves my fears
Get it from overseas to here
I gotta get Psychic Force, authentic arcade that I can endorse
They got me liking imports

I'll need to be at the next E3
What's the next CD? I need to see, me and D signing checks
Let's float overseas, mingle with game companies
Giving tips to Capcom and SEGA, you can't front on these

To anyone who knew me better
Know I chose Saturn first 'cause it's 2-D heaven
Bernie Stolar dropped the ball with the RAM cartridge
X-men Vs. Street Fighter could've expanded the market

Marvel Vs. Capcom beyond fathom
Tell the truth, PlayStation ain't ready to have em
Come on I'll bring the onslaught, Alpha and Omega
Khaos Unique brought to you by SEGA

Let me tell you about the Proto culture
If you don't know the culture here's the whole structure
We've had enough of the lackluster trust us
We get the kind of games you can't rent at Blockbuster

Atari 2600 Arcade Sticks

Just because we don't have it listed on the site, doesn't mean we don't accept it as a trade-in. Case in point? These Atari 2600 'arcade sticks.' Around 30 years ago, some gamer with his state-of-the-art cartridge based Atari 2600 decided that he wanted to feel like he was at the arcade. This gamer, having at least a working knowledge of carpentry and other crafts, set out to create what can only be described as the first home arcade stick. 10 or 15 years afterwards, he dropped it off at our store and a few days ago, we unearthed them to be enjoyed once more.

Gorgeous, isn't it? While nothing more than a standard Atari 2600 Joystick set into a piece of wood with a bit of metal trimming, it serves the function of an arcade stick. The bottom half of the joystick juts out about half an inch, but the length of the piece of wood is balanced so it gently leans forward in perfect arcade orientation, providing a place to rest your hands when you hold the joystick.

The second one of these is much less impressive and much less comfortable to use, just because it's far too narrow. Perhaps it was intended to be balanced on the knees of the player as he sat on the couch, or maybe it was built for a child. However, you can't deny the ingenuity of the person who crafted these prototypes.

The Best Pokémon Games

Yesterday, we gave away a pack of Pokémon Cards--and not the trading cards. No, this was a pack of 52 cards featuring pictures of various Pokémon. In order to generate a few responses, we asked people what their favorite Pokémon games were. (Here is the Facebook post if you want to chip in your two cents)

As expected, the results were enormously skewed towards the original Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue on the Game Boy, both of which were released in 1998 here in the US. There was also a fair amount of love for Pokémon Yellow which allowed Pikachu to follow you around, and the numerous updated versions like Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, and their recent enhanced remakes, Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver.



Surprisingly enough, there was also some love shown for the Pokémon Trading Card Game on the Game Boy, Pokémon Stadium on the Nintendo 64 (which had the awesome feature of letting you use the Pokémon you'd captured on your Red/Blue cartridge), Pokémon Puzzle League, even Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team on the Game Boy Advance.

But one that stood out for us was the mention of Pokémon Snap and Hey You! Pikachu. The former was a revolutionary "photography" game with gameplay that would later be revisited in the PS3 exclusive, 'Afrika' and, to a lesser extent, the photography elements in the 360 exclusive, 'Dead Rising.'

Was Pokémon Snap a particularly good game? Yes, if you had a marginal interest in photography and Pokémon. As for Hey You! Pikachu, it used a microphone peripheral similar to the Seaman game on the Sega Dreamcast, though it was not implemented as well and we have to say we preferred our quirky man/fish on the Dreamcast to Pikachu on the Nintendo 64.

PlayStation 3 Wireless GT Ferrari 430 Scuderia Cockpit

That product title is a mouthful, but the product itself is worthy of that distinction. We've never seen anything like this new racing wheel and pedal set from ThrustMaster. When you think of racing wheels for video games, what comes to mind? A disembodied wheel and a set of pedals, right? Combine that with a table of reasonable height and you have a relatively close approximation to real driving.

The Famicom to NES Converter

by Thomas Mellott

As you may be aware, Japanese Famicom games use a 60-pin interface while American Nintendo Entertainment System games use a 72-pin interface. While these differing interfaces obviously make it impossible to use a Japanese game on an American console there is not actually any region coding on the cartridges themselves.

The Sega DreamEye

As any Sega fanboy will tell you, Sega has usually been ahead of the pack when it comes to technological advances. The Sega Saturn was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in terms of hardware, and the Sega Dreamcast was on the cutting edge of technology when it first came out.

Are your NES games worth more than you think?

by Thomas Mellott

I’m sure many know about the more common Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge variations such as the original Metroid being available with two different labels or The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link both being available in gold or grey plastic, but are you aware of the more sought after variations that collectors will sometimes pay more for?

Gran Turismo 5: The X1 Prototype

OK. It's almost here. It was supposed to be here at eStarland this weekend, shipping out already for a November 2nd release date. But, in their endless pursuit of perfection, Polyphony Digital pushed back Gran Turismo 5 for what will, hopefully, be the last time.

“Get a silk bag from the graveyard duck to live longer” - Castlevania 2 NES

As much as I love classic games, I sometimes wonder, if anyone ever proofread the translation in any of the games. There was so little text in many of the games; I cannot fathom how the publishers would not have at least dedicated some time to edit the translated text.

There are two prime examples of this that I can remember from playing the NES during my childhood. Metal Gear and Castlevania 2: Simons Quest. Even at 5 years old I knew the dialog made little sense.

Metal Gear was relatively the better of the two in the grammatical sense. I can only remember four errors in the dialog

The Guards saying: “I feel asleep"
Snake stating: “Uh – oh! The truck have started to move!”
And two of Big Boss's radio messages:
“First, attempt to contact missing our “Grey Fox,” then try to find the Metal Gear.”
“Now, locate the Grey Fox’s hidden cells, check the way! Over.”

Castlevania 2’s dialog made little or no sense. The game was very open ended and one of the few was to actually progress in the game without a strategy guide was to talk to Transylvanian villages whose English was obviously not their first language.

One clue a villager gave really stuck in my head:
“Get a silk bag from the graveyard duck to live longer”

I’ve always read this has if I needed to get a Silk Bag from a graveyard duck in order to live longer. But alas, there is no duck in Simons Quest, but there is a graveyard with a silk bag in it. That only leaves one explanation, the clue should read:

“Get a silk bag from the graveyard.” AND “Duck to live longer”

The second half of the clue should be interpreted as “Crouch to progress further.” This makes a reference to a part where you much crouch with a crystal to reveal a secret staircase to one of the many mansions in the game.

Then there’s always the “You now prossess Dracula’s rib.” Simons Quest doesn’t just have the wrong tense. It flat out just has the wrong words.

Speaking of errors:

I love the NES power glove… It's so bad

NES Power Glove is so hard to come by around here at eStarland. The second we get it in stock, it sells out. I’ve always wondered what people do with them. Do they keep it as a collectible item? Do they actually PLAY with something this bulky, uncomfortable and impossible to program? Or do they just want to be as awesome as this guy:

I’ve never understood why they sold out so quickly. Can you really experience ULTRA video game action-adventure with the power glove as it states in the box? Do “ultrasonic sensors” send wavy light ways to my TV to make game images move as my hand moves as it shows on the box?

I guess it doesn’t. But these questions where answered when I saw Shaun Phase from Temp Sound Solutions play live with a Power Glove on:

Then it hit me, the NES and its culture isn’t just in our memories. It’s all around us. There’s a huge community that embraces the old NES days and celebrate it. And I ask you, what do you think of the Power Glove? What do you use it for?