The Legend of Zelda - Molblin's Magic Spear is a children's book based on The Legend of Zelda. You can get more information at the Zelda Wikia. I whipped up a video version with narration by Winter11 and music from Ocarina of Time.
In addition, I made a quick DS version which doesn't have the narration but text instead as per the original storybook. A B-side from me, you can download it here: zelda_ds.zip (5MB)
UPDATE: djshok of the GBAtemp.net forums made a nice cover as seen below. Thanks! I also want to note here that "Molblin" is spelled incorrectly on purpose. The original book uses this spelling (being 20 years ago) - it is now spelled as "Moblin" in the modern Zelda universe.
Nintendo Adventure Books: Monster Mix-Up DS is a digital version of the gamebook of the same name written by Bill McCoy and published by Archway Paperbacks in 1991. It is best described by the book's introduction:
"Dear Game Player: You are about to guide me through a great adventure. As you read this book, you will help me decide where to go and what to do. Whether I succeed or fail is up to you. At the end of every chapter, you will make choices that determine what happens next. Special puzzles will help you decide what I should do—if you can solve them. The chapters in this book are in a special order. Sometimes you must go backward in order to go forward, if you know what I mean. [...] Good Luck! Driplessly yours, Mario."
Requires a DS (obviously) and a flash cart, such as an R4 or R6 Gold; or an emulator such as No$GBA (though you can't rotate the screen). Rumble feature requires a Rumble Pak. Motion feature requires a DS Motion cart or an R6 Gold, which has motion support built-in.
I scanned a bunch of retro game ads that appeared in various comic books from the 1990's - back when I was obsessed with polybags, backing boards, variant covers and keeping things mint (good times!).
To advertise a game back then, you needed to:
Use a pun or double-meaning; or
Note the game's technical prowess
While modern ads today don't really do much of (1) anymore, we still see lots of (2), which is kinda sad. Ten years on, the market is still being driven by graphics, not gameplay. Oh well.
Looking back at these ads, I was surprised that:
Some of the games even existed (i.e. never heard of them before)
Some of the games look quite good (i.e. might be worth tracking down and trying)
A lot of text to describe/explain the game
Acclaim did a lot of comic book advertising, which might help explain why they ended up buying Valiant Comics (who owned Turok, Shadowman, etc.)
Japanese Hiragana & Katakana Review is a kana character review tool aimed at upper-beginner and intermediate Japanese students. The application allows the user to review their ability to recognize each of the 46 hiragana or katakana characters from visual and audio cues. Performance is ranked by speed, mistakes made and review difficulty. The application will also highlight the user's weakest kana characters for further study. Features include voice samples from native Japanese speakers, Rumble Pak and DS Motion support. Cute bonus: the application will greet you appropriately depending on the time of day!
Requires a DS (obviously) and a flash cart, such as an R4 or R6 Gold; or an emulator such as No$GBA. Rumble feature requires a Rumble Pak. Motion feature requires a DS Motion cart or an R6 Gold, which has motion support built-in.
The R4 for Nintendo DS & DSi website are having a Top 10 DS Homebrew competition with the results based upon votes from the public. So, if you'd be so kind as to visit them and leave a comment voting for my two games Game Trivia Catechism and Game Melody Oratorio that would be much appreciated!
A disc that contains a saved replay that can be transferred onto your memory card and watched in Gran Turismo 3's Replay Theater mode. I assume that the replay (or replays) highlight the Autobacs Toyota 2000 Apex MR-S GT car - "assume" that is, because my PS2 no longer reads CDs :(
UPDATE: It's not a saved replay after all - it's a rolling demo.
Windows versions of Megadrive games Gunstar Heroes, Bare Knuckle 2 (Streets of Rage 2) and The Super Shinobi II (Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master) by Sega. They are basically ROMs embedded inside a Sega-authored MD emulator. A bit disappointing as I was hoping for a true PC conversion. As far as the emulation goes, I didn't notice anything wonky. There's a graphics-smoothing option and it has support for save-states, but any MD emulator available on the Net has far more functionality.
This is one of Uniqlo's t-shirts from their Pac-Man 30th Anniversary collection. The design isn't that great, but I bought it because there's a screenshot of Pac-Man's kill screen on the front.
Suffice to say, I was very disappointed. I got it effectively for free (using my points card and it was only 500 yen), but I've learned my lesson - read the box properly next time!
I couldn't afford the special edition Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days DSi, so I bought the Hori protective case instead. Note that the correct way to pronounce it is "Kingdom Hearts Three-Five-Eight Days Over Two" - which still doesn't make any sense. Got the Gyakuten Kenji strap from a gashapon machine for 200 yen.
This DVD-Video edits the gameplay and cutscenes from Shin Onimusha Dawn of Dreams (AKA Onimusha 4) together into a 2-hour film. The disc contains the film, additional trailers and selections from the soundtrack. The bonus disc is a PS2 CD containing one maxed-out save file for the game. At 311KB, an entire disc for just a save file seems like such a waste. Capcom make a habit out of making these machinima game-films, with Okami,Resident Evil 4 and others also available. No English, unfortunately.
Seaman 2 for PS2 has a custom controller that comes with a built-in mic - the rather long thing in the middle of it. I picked this up from a junk bin for 315 yen ($4) because it was USB and thus XP compatible. I'd been looking for a controller with a three-buttons-across layout suitable for my Megadrive/Saturn emulation needs and this controller works smashingly. You can remove the mic as well to make it less phallic.
Me wearing one of the two Tekken t-shirts from Uniqlo's Japan Game collection. I like this one because it's rather understated. You wouldn't know it was a video game shirt unless you were told otherwise - which makes you less geeky with the girls.
This is the special edition version of Pachislot Hokuto no Ken Special Edition for PS2, released only in Japan. The SE comes packaged in a record-style book case, a bonus DVD containing a playthrough of the game, and a book featuring artwork and notes. Why a slot machine game needs a special edition is beyond me, but since I picked it up for 100 yen ($1), my curiosity has been satisfied.
Anime Jo All-Star Kirifuda Taisen (Anime Girls All-Star Trump Battle) is a card game based on Top Trumps. Battle your way through eight opponents to victory in this simple but memory-testing card game. Featuring character art and music from over 12 anime series, including Lucky Star, Code Geass, Gundam, Evangelion and Macross Frontier.
Requires a DS (obviously) and a flash cart, such as an R4. If using an emulator, I recommend No$GBA, though unfortunately you can't rotate the screen :(
I'd like to thank DS Fanboy for the nod. Check out the rest of their list too - all great DS homebrew - and some that far surpass my simple efforts :) I'd also like to give a shout out to PALib, which makes DS programming easy, and in turn makes me look good!
