The Game Boy, A Hardware Autopsy - Part 1: The CPU

Neon FM

Tokyo Attack came to Matsuricon again and introduced me to  Neon FM, a button-drumming music game with some neat features. If you fail a song, the game drops the difficulty level a little and lets you keep playing. The arcade, iOS, and Android versions all work about the same and even support online multiplayer matches between them. I want to try that sometime but the closest arcade with Neon FM is in the developer’s home town of Baltimore.

I thought Orange Lounge Radio had an interview with the developer, but the wiki had no mention of it. Maybe I've got it mixed up with the Kyle Ward interview in episode 596 where he talks about ReRave's arcade and mobile versions. I'm confused.

Source: Neon FM via Orange Lounge Radio episode 524 (1h59m in) which I had to look up again on the OLR Wiki

Tenacious D – Time Warp

Hi, y’all; I’m back! Between rounds of THPS 1+2, Tenacious D rallied the troops and recorded a cover of a classic Rocky Horror Picture Show song to get people to vote. I’ve already voted, and if you’re in the US, the whole world really needs you to vote, too. Don’t let anything stop you. This country needs a jump to the left and not a step to the right.

Source: Tenacious D via Metal Hammer via looking up an Alestorm song via Alestorm’s cover of Dizzee Rascal

Jun Ishikawa – Staff Roll (Milky Way Wishes)

30-Day Video Game Music Challenge (Super Hard Mode) Day 30: Credits music From Kirby Super Star (SNES, 1996)

Our journey around the gaming universe has come back home. I had fun with this one-game-per-system restriction, and I hope some of you liked my picks. Maybe I’ve inspired someone else to try it? Please use “Super Hard Mode” in your titles if you take my challenge. I’ll be watching…

YouTube playlist All picks with descriptions Google Sheets including alternate picks

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

Mystery Skulls Animated – Ghost

Mystery Ben makes animated music videos for Mystery Skulls songs. Ghost could have been a simple Scooby Doo parody, but every second seems to have important details for TV Tropes to analyze. This attracted a far bigger fandom than the official live action music video, prompting Mystery Ben to continue the series…

Source: Mystery Ben via Anime Hell at Ohayocon 2015

GameHut Coding Secrets

GameHut is a YouTube channel run by Jon Burton, founder of Traveller’s Tales and producer of Lego games and movies. His series on Coding Secrets dives deep into the Sega Genesis versions of Sonic 3D Blast and Toy Story to explain how he achieved those great graphics. He really used all the resources to do things the hardware was never meant to do.

Source: GameHut via YouTube Recommmendations on Did You Know Gaming? videos

Grant Kirkhope – Donkey Kong 64 Soundtrack

30-Day Video Game Music Challenge (Bonus Stage) Day 31: All 30 prompts with one game From Donkey Kong 64 (N64, 1999)

Jiko points out that DK64 has a song for everything on this list. That’s a lot of music! DK64 is fun to play and fun to break.

1: Title screen music: Main Menu 2: Opening level music: DK's Treehouse 3: 8-Bit music: Donkey Kong 4: Music from a console exclusive series: Hideout Helm 5: Hub world or overworld music: DK Isle 6: Music that makes you feel relaxed: Crystal Caves 7: Music from an indie game?: Mine Cart Carnage 8: Music from a shooter (first or third person): Angry Aztec Underground 9: Music from a licensed game: uh...the N64 Logo? 10: RPG battle music: Dogadon 11: Puzzle game music: Frantic Factory R&D 12: Music that makes you sad: Wrinkly Kong 13: Music you like from a game you don't like: Bonus Barrel 14: Music featuring vocals: DK Rap 15: Boss battle music: King Kut-Out 16: 16-Bit music: Jungle Japes 17: Music you never get tired of: Enguarde 18: Music in a game released the year you were born: off by 1 but Jetpac 19: Cover of music by a different artist: Jungle Japes Underground 20: Music from a racing game: Frantic Factory Car Race 21: Music you associate with frustration: Angry Aztec Race 22: Town/village music: Fungi Forest Day 23: Underrated music: Mad Maze Maul 24: Music you constantly have stuck in your head: Snide's HQ 25: Music that gets you pumped: Rocket Barrel Blast 26: Music you like from a game you haven't played: Monkey Smash 27: Music from a handheld game: uh...Mini Monkey? 28: Music that makes you nostalgic: Pause Menu 29: Final boss music: K. Rool Duel 30: Credits music: Staff Credits

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

UberNES - Nintendo Screen Saver

If you still use screen savers, Columbus-based developer M \ K Productions has a good one for you. Nintendo Saver 2015 fills your monitors with several NES games. Each one is actually a fully-functioning NES emulator playing a replay that was recorded in UberNES, and if you like, you can pick up a gamepad and take over control of one of the games on the spot. The recorded replays include my Super Mario Bros 3 playaround and a couple shorter videos showing glitches in Super Mario Bros 1 and Mega Man 2. If you like it, maybe I’ll record some more.

Source: http://www.ubernes.com/nesscreensaver.html via the UberNES – NES Screen Saver Facebook page

Mieko Ishikawa – Trading Village of Redmont

30-Day Video Game Music Challenge (Super Hard Mode) Day 22: Town/village music From Ys III (PC-88/PC-98, 1989)

Yeah, My Life in Gaming picked this song too, but I’m not changing it now. Those nerds have lots of good picks, so check them out too.

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

Spruce Creek Fly-In Community

It’s 2015; where are our flying cars? In his search for flying cars, James May visited Spruce Creek, Florida. This village treats airplanes like cars, parked in garages and taxied right down the street to the local runway. If every town was this well adapted to small planes, we’d all be flying from place to place, right?

By the way, my Friday night stream has moved to Hitbox! I’m attacking games like Super Back to the Future II, Panorama Cotton, and Sayonara Umihara Kawase, so stop by and chat!

Source: James May’s Big Ideas episode 1

How Americans Eat Hamburgers

UPDATE: Joe Inoue deleted his video and then uploaded it again with a shameless plug at the end.

I put some ketchup on a frozen hamburger today and remembered this old video from Japanese American rocker Joe Inoue joking about how we Americans love our burgers. He went on to make some anime opening songs and a new English YouTube channel called VellySillyBilly.

Source: HOW AMERICANS EAT HAMBURGERS!!! – YouTube