Idle Thumbs 126: Old Growth Artisinal Dot

[tegan]

I hope someone sends them a manilla envelope filled with unrefrigerated hot pockets, one end stained dark with collected grease and leavings, the whole thing lukewarm and smelling strongly of pizza that's just started to go bad.

[SecretAsianMan]

According to Wikipedia, the Sonic Adventure manual was the first time Dr. Robotnik was called both Robotnik and Eggman in English (having always been known in Japan as Eggman) and referred to as Eggman thereafter.  That game was first released on the Dreamcast in North America on Sept. 9, 1999.  It was later released for other platforms, including Windows on Sept. 14, 2004.  The exact halfway date between the end of the 1996 government shutdown (Jan. 6, 1996) and the start of the current shutdown (Oct. 1, 2013) is Nov. 18, 2004.  The release of Sonic Adventure for Windows is 65 days before the halfway point between the shutdowns. 

 

Thus, I think it can be reasonably inferred that changing Robotnik to Eggman is indeed responsible for the current shutdown.

[pabosher]

I always preferred the Sonic Annual story wherein he used to be this super nice dude called Doctor Kintobor, and then had an accident with acid or something and his name inexplicably changed to Robotnik.

[Problem Machine]

*mug falls from Sonic's slack fingers, shatters on the floor, and we see the brand name on the bottom: "KINTOBOR"*

[Niyeaux]

The one time I actually send in reader mail, you guys forget to do any reader mail. Figures.

[RubixsQube]

The moment that both Sean and Chris were like "I don't like the boot" I had to stand up and walk around due to the enormity of my confusion.

 

Kuribo's Shoe is the best, guys. And I'm not just saying this out of nostalgia (also, warning, this is going to sound like I am a crazy person). Kuribo's Shoe, to me, has always represented this purity of weird vision that Nintendo does better than any other video game company. You can go too far in this direction (and many game companies do), but Nintendo, at its best, walks this line perfectly. Kuribo's Shoe is only in one nondescript level in one middle-of-the-game world, and it's never commented on, and it doesn't come up again in the entire game. The only way you can use the boot is if you happen to kill a goomba wearing it from below, and then, you get to ride in it and you can walk on spikes and stomp on spiky enemies. That's it! It's not overpowered. It's not overused. It's just a kind of weird mode of transportation for this one level. It's not in the game manual, its not even in the operations guides for the re-releases of the games over the years. It's done so perfectly.

 

I just don't know how, in that brief little encounter, anyone could say: "naw, no thanks."

 

Edit: Oh wait, Princess Toadstool definitely brings it up in a letter she sends. Ok, so the game does reference it offhandedly.

[Roderick]

Please Jake, feel free to unapologetically talk about Nintendo and not feel like you're breaking the rules. Do not be waylaid by Sean's blatant attempts to distract the situation by means of a fraudulent sneeze.

[tberton]

Agreed. I like Jake's Nintendo talk.

[Nappi]

Please Jake, feel free to unapologetically talk and not feel like you're breaking the rules. 

[plasticflesh]

 

I like how Nintendo invented a new princess to rescue.  She looks like the women trapped in crystals from Link to the Past.

 

Amazing looking game. 

[Nappi]

Mario stalking the bird (0:48) is the best thing. I never thought I would be this excited to see Mario in a catsuit.

[elmuerte]

I never liked the boot, or the statue. For me the SMW cape is the best, that's because once you master it you can complete almost all levels with no low ceiling by simply flying over it.

[Badfinger]

Artisanal is a word I hear exponentially more on Idle Thumbs than any other place combined. It's quaint.

 

 

 

 

That 3D World trailer is really good except for the part where MARIO IS A CAT.

[BigJKO]

Oh, I see what you mean. The trailer is great ESPECIALLY when he's a cat, right? That's what your trying to say?

[Twig]

Oh, I see what you mean. The trailer is great ESPECIALLY when he's a cat, right? That's what your trying to say?

Yes that is definitely what he is trying to say!

[RubixsQube]

There are a lot of neat things about the poster for the Super Mario 3D Land. Here are two:

 

1) It really looks a lot like the Yoichi Kotabe promotional art for the original NES Mario trilogy.

2) If you look up in the top right corner, above the Bowser Pleasure Island-ey area, you can see the faint image of the Comet Observatory from Mario Galaxy, which is a weird thing to put in the image. 

[plasticflesh]

The moment that both Sean and Chris were like "I don't like the boot" I had to stand up and walk around due to the enormity of my confusion.

 

Kuribo's Shoe is the best, guys. And I'm not just saying this out of nostalgia (also, warning, this is going to sound like I am a crazy person). Kuribo's Shoe, to me, has always represented this purity of weird vision that Nintendo does better than any other video game company. You can go too far in this direction (and many game companies do), but Nintendo, at its best, walks this line perfectly. Kuribo's Shoe is only in one nondescript level in one middle-of-the-game world, and it's never commented on, and it doesn't come up again in the entire game. The only way you can use the boot is if you happen to kill a goomba wearing it from below, and then, you get to ride in it and you can walk on spikes and stomp on spiky enemies. That's it! It's not overpowered. It's not overused. It's just a kind of weird mode of transportation for this one level. It's not in the game manual, its not even in the operations guides for the re-releases of the games over the years. It's done so perfectly.

 

I just don't know how, in that brief little encounter, anyone could say: "naw, no thanks."

 

Edit: Oh wait, Princess Toadstool definitely brings it up in a letter she sends. Ok, so the game does reference it offhandedly.

 

 

Some how this attention to detail reminds me of this amazing annotated review of the NES game "Gimick!".

[Jake]

Yes Yoichi Kotabe! His 2D illustration work (which I remember mostly from the marketing and manual surrounding Mario 3) seems to have slowly been forgotten over the years (as evidenced by the really gross character designs in New Super Mario Brothers) but it's clear that Mario 3D Land and World both studied his proportions and compositions really closely.

Oh shit, according to the Mario Wiki it turns out that he actually drew all of Princess Peach's postcards which pop up in 3D Land. Wow! That's why they look exactly like they fell out of a Mario 3 player's guide. Holy fuck.

[shammack]

There's a cat goomba

[SecretAsianMan]

There's a cat goomba

 

There are also cat Bullet Bills.

[Max Ernst]

Oh shit, according to the Mario Wiki 

We have lost him. He has fallen in his childhood and cannot get up.

[Twig]

This is my favorite spiral into insanity out of all the spirals into insanity to which I've been witness.

[quidnunc]

That was a good episode. It made me want to go and rate the podcast on itunes. Which I did after I sat through 5 minutes of itunes, icloud, quicktime updates

[melmer]

[Jake]

We have lost him. He has fallen in his childhood and cannot get up.

Sorry I wanted to look up that artist because I had forgotten about him. Also yes.