CrystalForce & NutellaFrenchToast – The Concept Of Plastic Love

QBillion

From my pile of forgotten Game Boy carts comes QBillion. You have a top-down view of stacks of boxes. The goal is to reduce these boxes to a single flat layer. Once you wrap your head around that, it’s intuitive, but the puzzles get downright fiendish. 15 years later, the developer is gone, the copyright has lapsed, and a young developer has made a free HTML5 remake.

Yup, this is the HD version. Everything is about double the resolution of the Game Boy game. Click here to play.

Source: http://qbillionhd.com and LTD Interactive via Wikipedia and Game Boy World. I saw the screenshots in this Rock Paper Shotgun article and thought it was about this game.

Jake Kaufman – Journey into the Rift

Let’s try an audio post again. WayForward’s music composer Jake “virt” Kaufman has a series of great chiptune albums. FX4 plays like an adventure movie soundtrack with orchestral stylings and guitar riffs, but in authentic NES sound. If you can’t see the Bandcamp player, there’s a YouTube player below it that should work for everyone, even Facebook.

And now, the blog’s first block quote! From the source:

INTO THE RIFT Despite the hazards of deep-sea exploration and growing diplomatic unease, the salvage operation begins. The surface team is protected by a small fleet of hired mercenaries. Hours into the dive, they are suddenly attacked by an unknown military force, far better equipped than any provincial warlord. The attackers suddenly retreat, however, as soon as the news breaks that the wreckage has been secured.

Source: Journey into the Rift | Jake Kaufman

Kaido – Death of Stars

While looking around on pixiv and adding bookmarks, I found out that good artists tend to have really good bookmarks of their own. This is how I find stuff like Anime Galactus destroying some planets. Also, things that users tag as “Futsukushii”, “Hisense”, and “Click Recommended” are usually great picks, and this one has all three.

Actually, she seems sad about this. I guess that's where all the ice came from.

Source: 「星の死」/「カイドウ」のイラスト [pixiv] via Ask’s bookmarks via several recommendations for Ask’s art

Jet Set Radio Live

20 years ago, Jet Set Radio had us jamming to hyperactive DJ mixes as we fight the establishment and avoid getting beat up by police. The world really needs more right now, but with only one official sequel, new fans are carrying on the legacy. Jet Set Radio Live streams several Jet Set Radio-inspired radio mixes 24/7. Today is SiIvaGunner's DJ Professor K Takeover featuring music from Hideki Naganuma and Sega games expertly mashed up with their usual memes. Stay safe out there.

Jonathan Landis (@hitstun) retweeted: ⚠️ THE @GiIvaSunner 'DJ Professor K TAKEOVER 🔴 LIVE STREAM' has BEGUN!!! You can visit jetsetradio.live to be redirected or visit it directly at youtube.com/watch?v=c-yTT7… Enjoy yourselves & stay funky ya'll!

Source: Jet Set Radio Live via its Twitter via Hideki Naganuma and SiIvaGunner and its wiki

RetroAchievements for Romhacks

RetroAchievements adds Xbox 360-style achievement hunting and leaderboards to thousands of classic games and romhacks. Uncommon games often have romhacks that work with RetroAchievements. Check Romhacking.net for patches you can apply with utilities like Floating IPS. I’ve already recommended Rockman 4 Minus Infinity but it also has RetroAchievements.

Dynamite Headdy delocalization by M.I.J.E.T. (RetroAchievements) The localization we got here removed most of the dialogue, added American pop culture references, and made the annoying tower boss fight four times as long. This fan translation doesn’t do any of that. Go collect those secret bonus points.

Pulseman translation by M.I.J.E.T. (RetroAchievements) My favorite game on Sega Channel had you build up static electricity and then discharge it to attack and move around. Most of the team that made it went on to make Pokémon Red and Blue.

Super Mario Land DX by toruzz (RetroAchievements) Also Super Mario Land 2 DX by toruzz (RetroAchievements) Super Mario Land is the first game I ever beat and a fine place to get started with romhacks. This turns Super Mario Land and its sequel into Game Boy Color games with some graphics redrawn for better visibility. The RetroAchievements add some nice challenges to keep things fresh.

Extra Mario Bros. by ATA (RetroAchievements) This romhack gives Mario a dose of Metroid-like exploration with collecting keys and permanent upgrades to reach new places. It’s still Super Mario Bros., so the screen only scrolls to the right.

Umihara Kawase translation by satsu (RetroAchievements) A new Umihara Kawase game just came out and I’m afraid to start it because I get hooked on these games for a long time. We’ve got a wedding to plan! The original game’s RetroAchievements keep track of every door and backpack you’ve reached, so try to get them all.

Source: RetroAchievements, Romhacking.net, and My Life in Gaming

Gashi Gashi – E-can

The animations on pixiv are just a series of PNGs animated in HTML5. Luckily, Gashi Gashi also posted a GIF of this on Tumblr, so I'd added that here. When Mega Man charges up a shot, he starts flashing, but everything else that's the same color as Mega Man flashes too.

UPDATE: Gashi Gashi posted this animation as a GIF on Tumblr, so it’s here now.

Source: 「Ｅ缶」/「ガしガし」のイラスト [pixiv] via pixiv每周排行 – 前50

Toru Minegishi – Don't Slip

30-Day Video Game Music Challenge (Super Hard Mode) Day 4: Music from a console exclusive series From Splatoon 2 (Switch, July 21, 2017)

Splatoon 2 came out three years ago today? It’s still so fresh! I want more quirky, energetic rock like this.

Source: YouTube, challenge by OverClocked ReMix I think?, via NintendoCapriSun

Sungazer – Perihelion

I’m building a music multireddit to give me fresh music while I work, and it’s already finding good stuff! Sungazer makes the kind of electro jazz fusion that helps me concentrate. Will my multireddit continue to deliver? Repetition legitimises.

Source: Sungazer via a post on /r/ThankYouScientist

Fire Your Representatives!

Serious time here for a minute. If you can legally vote in the US, it’s your responsibility to read about your ballot and vote in the mid-term elections on Tuesday, or you have no right to complain about the outcome.

Who is your House Representative? Did they participate in the budget stalemate that shut down the government for 16 days? Did they vote for CISPA, a cybersecurity bill that would have allowed the NSA to bypass existing privacy laws? If so, vote against them and fire them. This includes every Representative from Ohio except Tim Ryan.

UPDATE: Every House incumbent in Ohio got re-elected. It’s like the whole state rose up in unison and said “Government shutdowns? CISPA? Sounds good; do more of that.” Way to fail, Ohio.

The blog will return to its regular goofiness next week.

Source: My Ballot — Columbus Dispatch Voters Guide, Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and a lot of searching; EFF helped; image from Wikipedia

Federal budget request timed out

Our federal government couldn't get their act together and agree on a budget before today's deadline. Now vital federal services have lost funding and the global economy will suffer for it. If you're in the US and your Congressmen come up for re-election, remember this shutdown and fire everyone involved.

(I really try to avoid re-posts, but Slate’s video player doesn’t work on Tumblr because Tumblr doesn’t support iframes.)

Source: Gravity trailer mashup: Government shutdown hits NASA. (VIDEO) via RT