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Next month Japan Post will issue 10 stamps based on Patlabor, the iconic mecha manga and anime. This comes as the latest installment in their heroes of anime and manga series. We’ve previously covered the launch of Mario, Evangelion and Resident Evil stamps. It seems only Japan has caught on to the fact that the only people who collect stamps are obsessive freaks so you might as well cater to their tastes huh?

[Japan Post]

Hello again! Hope you didn’t miss me along with this section of DDN! I come with an upgraded version: This time I’m going to capture myself playing the games I like and I want you to know about. How’s that, huh?  I’m such a good fellah, I’m sure you’re gonna love it!

I’d like to start this new section with one of my favorite fighting games (and almost the only if not THE only 2d sprite fighting game for the Gamecube): Capcom Vs. SNK 2 EO. For the ones who don’t know about this one, this game features a clash from your favorite fighters from the SNK fighting games (mainly KOF but some others make it to the game) and the other half of the cast from CAPCOM games. A nice touch in this sequel is that you could select among 6 different “grooves” or styles of play (like Advanced or Extra in Kof ‘97 and ‘98 but more specified) so you can choose who you play with but how to do so.

In this quick match I set up I’m the 1P, using Haohmaru, Hibiki and Athena. Difficulty is level 8 and I’m playing a standard Arcade mode. Wait for the surprising finish!

Liked it? Thought so. Expect more of these Velcor-Video-Veracities sometime later! Peace!

Remember when video games were not the scapegoat for violence and murder? When video games where fun for the whole family, toys for kids to enjoy. It was a simpler time, a kinder time, it was around 1988.

Here’s an Inside Edition piece from back in ’88 with Howard Phillips on the Nintendo craze that was taking over the US.

Always remember, you are the Mario brothers and don’t you forget to state that next time you commit a violent crime obviously inspired by video games.

Maybe you were a bad enough dude to rescue the president, but are you man enough to program in FORTH? FORTH is a programing language from the 70’s and this is the cover of a book that teaches you how to use it to program on, you guessed it, the Atari.

More importantly, it teaches you how use FORTH to become a mini-hulk with a huge package and a killer moustache, ladies in vinyl underwear dig the moustache. I don’t think current consoles can do that!

Last Saturday 15th of March Video Games Live gave its first performance in Mexico as well as its first performance with a student orchestra. Our very own Velcor being a music student fought for a spot on the show, read on to find out how it is to be on the inside of the beast as well as my account of the event as just another fan.

Velcor’s Account:

It all started in Ensenada, Baja California, a small city 4 hours away from the city where the concert was to be held, and also the place most of the members from the orchestra and choir were from. It was about 3 weeks ago that I heard from one of my classmates that Video Games Live was recruiting members for the orchestra. Inquisitive as I am, I asked him if there was room for one more voice at the choir (I’ve been a bass voice on various performances before so I was confident I’d do a well job); Yes, he replied, so as soon as class ended, I dashed to talk to the school’s administration and asked them about being a part of the show.

After some mean stares and threats to their physical integrity sweet-talking they didn’t seem to have any objections (smart choice). And so I was in and on my way to being part of this video game music phenomenon.

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Video Games Live! ABSOLUTE COVERAGE!

Those old school games sure had weird premises, hadn’t you noticed? I mean, Pac-Man, its a game about popping pills and eating ghosts and fruit! What the fuck is up with that? Where did these people came up with such ridiculous plots? Well, lets remember this was back in the late 70’s and mental… enhancement was in vogue. The guys from Cracked and comedy troupe Those aren’t Muskets! teamed up to bring us a look at how these great classics may have been born. Comedy gold ensues. Click above to watch it!

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How It All Began: Video Game Developers Conference 1979

Oh i remember this game, it was a friggin’ weird experience. Why? Well, for starters, the Ren & Stimpy cartoons are weird as they are, sometimes they make you laugh, other many times they make you feel uneasy, be it the plot that makes you go “What?”, the classic and gross super-detailed zooms, or the thing as an attempt to destroy the children of the 90’s. Well, whatever the reason you decide, Nickelodeon thought it would be a good idea to promote the series on the video game universe, and surprisingly this franchise has 10 games on different consoles and handhelds. Way to go!

Although the SNES had more than one, Veediots is the one featured here on Retro Video. Why? Well, just because it’s the one I spent more time with and has a place in my heart. . .which I tend to keep locked tightly (*brrrr!!*, the memories!). It was developed by THQ in 1993 and as expected, the game consists of 3 random episodes from the series, one stage you’re Ren, the other you’re Stimpy. But fear not, even though they’re just 3 stages, they are difficult as hell! i remember I could barely beat the first level. Man, old games were so challenging it was enfuriating at times!

Here, evagames shows us the starting screen with the sampler of the second stage.

And just for the fun of it, here’s the ending. Now I feel good about never beating it, haha! (Video by Artificialraven)

After all these years following gaming through its many many forms (mainly Nintendo’s in the console area) there’s a time when you ask yourself: “Is videogaming worth all the things I do for the sake of it?” I could do other things, get other hobbies like:

-Building miniature ships inside of bottles.

-Have a pet.

-Go to night clubs and hit on random women. . .although studies say that a lot of these will be men.

You get the idea. So wonderful hobbies this world has for us. . .and most of us have decided to go into gaming. Well, I couldn’t be more satisfied.

Shigeru Miyamoto started it and incited a bunch of others who also created fascinating worlds and characters who give us that small spice of adventure, drama, and whatnot to our daily lives, giving us hope that we can do anything if we have the correct set of mind. But Mr. Miyamoto was first, and without his idea, I don’t really know what kind of human or animal would have been Mario (And yes, it is WRITTEN that the character who would rise videogames from the flames shall be called Mario!).

I only think that, with the release of Mario Galaxy this 2007, giving some hope for the Mario-solo franchise, this character is worthy of the yearly Retro Video compilation extravaganza!

First, we’ll start with the first game with Mario in it, Donkey Kong (Video by lfrage):

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Retro Video - End of 2007 Special: Super Mario Fanservice -

Ahhh, 6th grade. .  . all the kids on town (and in the whole country!) had this moderate to dangerous addiction to Dragon Ball; not anime in general, but JUST Dragon Ball, its peak in the Z sagas. Kids would do hard to believe acts to get that one special edition poster, figure, hard to get Yokos (pogs), and in weird cases, an original DBZ SNES cartridge.

I was one of the lucky ones who had that rich friend who managed to acquire on of these last copies. Strangely enough, all the others who would get a DBZ game got the very same, DBZ Super Butouden 3. Weird coincidence.

The premise of the game is simple: The tournament takes place at the beginning of the Majin Boo Saga, with Fat Boo and Majin Vegeta as playable characters. . . and that’s it. You see, there’s not much to see in the past DBZ games, since most of us just cared if we could use Goku and make Kame-hame-ha’s like crazy. Ahh, when so little gave us so much fun.

ShiryuGL shows us a little of what this game offers: Great SNES graphics, nice music, and Big Bang Attack!

Somebody out there has decided to make Guitar hero for the Commodore 64. The dude responsible for this pretty neat feat has skills, patience and a clear penchant for wanting to rock out using retro hardware.

This is officially the most ghetto version of Guitar hero ever. Just look at those graphics!! Damn. Well, if it can output in Stereo it’ll have one up over the Wii version of the game.

[Kotaku]

I can say with the utmost certainty and a smirk in my face that if you like Fighting games, you’ve played any KOF. You haven’t you say? Well, in that case you haven’t seen the sun in the last 14 years either!

The great KOF series, starting as a revival project for SNK’s “Art of Fighting” and “Fatal fury” franchise, featured a lot of familiar faces from the SNK world, Terry “Are-U-Okay” Bogard and Ryo Sakazaki (the true Ryu clone), just to mention two of them, in this new franchise that offered a better way to make big bucks: making it yearly.

But today the topic isn’t how Kyo’s looks are influencing the fashion industry in Japan or how Ash’s emo-gay looks and combos are the cancer killing the KOF franchise; this time we talk about the characters with the best story in KOF. Not the Yashiro team in the Orochi Saga, or the other Ash team fiasco in the 2003 saga, but the Psycho Soldier team (Kensou, Athena, and as of 2007, Momoko).

Released in 1986 for the Arcade, Psycho Soldier is a side-scrolling shooter, where you get tons of power ups and shields to destroy a lot of enemies invading Japan. As you may think, the shields are the famous 4-balls protecting Athena when she does her special power in the KOF series.

It is very important to note that this was the first arcade to feature a full-vocalized song by Kaori Shimizu. My, imagine all the stuff needed to do that in the 1980’s. Wicked. . .and you guessed right, the song is the Psycho Soldier Team song for the KOF game.

One last easter egg for the followers of the Soldiers’ adventures: When getting a certain power-up in Psycho Soldier, Kensou transforms into a dragon and Athena into a Phoenix (Connecting the dots, aren’t we?!)

Here, moffstarr shows us the first minutes of the game. I tell you, if you can play the game, do it, it’s lots of fun!

Very well, this Retro Video is quite special. Why, you ask? Ever seen Mario outside a Nintendo console? Well, I have, and it isn’t this game. Bonus points to the one who guesses which game I’m thinking about!

Mario Teaches Typing is the title of the game, and it’s basically that. Developed by Interplay and with license from Nintendo, it was created back in 1991 for the PC on MS-DOS, then released for PC and Mac in 1995. Mario goes through Super Mario Bros.-esque levels destroying blocks and stomping on koopas. But how? Each block and enemy have letters on them, so in order to make Mario move, just type the letter.

Swizzley shows us a little gameplay from level 1 and 3 from the game. Be careful though, you might want to lower the volume of your speakers since the audio devices for the music of this game are crap, but hey, you gotta give credit to a Mario game for MS-DOS. . .aww reminds me of the games I used to play in class.

As a curious fact, Charles Martinet didn’t do the voice of Mario for this game, it was done by Ronald B. Ruben.

With all the commotion on every little detail us intertubers can get before everyone else regarding videogames or movies, the word spread quickly and now we know that the remake for Street Fighter II HD is going to have a rebalanced version of itself. David Sirlin, the person who has been helping maintain balance to the Street Fighter Franchise, is now in the task of improver (does that job exists?!) for the new and hopefully improved version of this over-re-hashed Street Fighter.

From his very words, the main objectives are:

1) Make the game easier to play—more inclusive rather than exclusive
2) Make the game even more balanced for tournament play
3) Add fun as long as it doesn’t interfere with #2.

Well, there you have it, expect Sagat, Ryu, Ken, and every projectile-casting character to be nerfed up. I’m happy for that, finally I’m going to be able to use Zangief without remorse! A win forr me izz a win forr my Countrry, a win forr the Grreat RUSSIA!  (Lariats all over the place.)

Oh, and why did I put that picture? I just love how they put Guilty Gear in comparison, always gives me a chuckle.

[Joystiq]  

While fans worked their asses off to make OOT a 2d game, it turns out Eiji Aonuma, creator of most of the latest Zelda titles wants to make A Link to the Past into a 3D title, or so he said in a recent interview.

Ocarina of Time was the first title I worked on, and I was continuously tackling challenges every day during its development, so I think this is the title I feel I impacted the most. I believe that experience made me what I am now. I always think about what we couldn’t do and what didn’t work well in the previous game when we start a new title, but there’s no game that I would want to actually change as such. I have to say though, the first Zelda game that I played and felt potential in was Link to the Past. I’m actually very interested in what it would be like if we remade that title as a 3D game.

Now that sounds totally sweet but somehow I doubt Link turning into a pink bunny translates well into a 3D game.

[The Tanooki]

Released for the first time in 1987 by studio IREM, the R-type saga is the pioneer of difficulty in video game shooters. I mean, I’m a veteran in gaming, yet I still find it difficult to beat the first boss, oh I have been the touch of old-format games ;_;. Having the help of “Forces”, the R9 (name of the ship) can use the Forces plus power-ups appearing on screen, all this to defeat the crazy-shooting Bydo empire.

Having a huge and vivid legacy (9 games, last one appeared on 2007, from Arcade to Playstation 2)) and being on of the top 10 games in the difficulty sector list, R-type deserves a good Retro Video

Here, Gaian00 shows us the first stage of R-type 3 with a different soundtrack: The Tragic Prince, from Castlevania: Symphony of the night.

And for the fun of it, here’s a video from Lkynmbr24 showing us the 1st stage of R-type 3 for the SNES on Advanced difficulty. . .but playing in a very pacifist way…

Liked it? Yeah, me too, even though this game is hard as hell. Gotta keep practicing. . .

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