Never underestimate the cleverness of the internet. When a situation arises, the talented masses put forth the most savage humor out there. We can't resist showcasing some of these video game memes on our page and even creating some ourselves.
I'm all for a good romp through numerology, but this one's gotta be about Midnight Mutans for the Atari 7800! Taylor Swift loves to hide Easter eggs in all of her projects, appearances, and social media. Fans are going wild trying to decipher everything around her Midnights album release.
Yeah, we still think it's a video game release (maybe some music too) and it will happen when it damn well pleases :)
Bro, just buy the Evercade. You'll love it. There's a handheld and a console version. One on the go and one for the big living room TV.
Fortunately, he has a really helpful girlfriend. She can explain it...
"OK.YEAH, BUT NO. IT'S LIKE THAT BUT DIFFERENT. THE EVERCADE PLAYS RETRO GAMES, BUT IT CAN PLAY ANYTHING. OTHER GAMES. YOU KNOW. STUFF. BUT THE GAME CARTS HAVE MULTIPLE GAMES. NOT JUST ONE. SOME HAVE MORE THAN OTHERS. ONE HAS ONLY TWO. A LOT OF THEM HAVE SEVEN OR EIGHT. BUT MAYBE LESS. OR MORE. IT ALL DEPENDS. SO YEAH. NOT JUST ONE GAME. IT'S A HANDHELD, BUT THERE'S A CONSOLE TOO. THE CONSOLE HAS TWO GAME SLOTS. THE HANDHELD DOESN'T. IT HAS ONE. SO YOU CAN PUT TWO GAMES IN THE CONSOLE. YOU CAN ONLY PLAY ONE. BUT THERE ARE TWO. IT'S FUN."
It's 2022. One year past the Trump-led insurrection on the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the election confirmation. It was an all out riot to gain access and potentially take hostages and execute Pence for not rejecting the election results. Rioters broke into offices, stole artifacts, and smeared their own feces on the walls. Does this sound like patriots? Like anyone who is fighting for the common good?
They were directed to the Capitol and riled up by a desperate President who was on his way out of office - impeached twice. A single-term loser desperate to stay in power. Trump's administration was corrupt, resulting in more indictments than any other President. Let's not forget the 35 rape allegations against him - some from children. Yeah, he was pals with Jeffery Epstein.
As a narcissistic sociopath, he harped on trite issues of interest to himself, with no regard for anyone else on the planet. Barely able to communicate verbally with his fourth-grade vocabulary, he couldn't even handle the standard press conferences with journalists. Instead, he liked to call into Fox News and let them entertain his blathering nonsense.
He weakened our nation on the global stage ad brought our nation's democracy to the brink of destruction. He pushed the agenda of the ultra-rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. He is a danger, a criminal, and deserving of life in prison. That will never happen. He's far to valuable to the corrupt Republican party that can use his stupidity to foster their corrupt agenda of bolstering Christianity for all and white supremacy. We live in dangerous times where a corrupt few are setting the agenda for the millions.
Donald Trump is human garbage and deserves to wither in prison.
For decades, the powerhouse sound of Judas Priest came from dual guitars. Originally Downing and Tipton mastered that sound, but they dropped from the lineup. Glen due to health reasons and KK due to frustrations. Ritchie Faulkner and Andy Sneap entered the picture and the band forged on with their signature sound.
Just before heading out on their 50th anniversary tour, the band announced they would tour as a quartet - one guitar. Fans went nuts! How could they play the songs everyone expects with a single guitar? Some suggested backing tracks, but the decision itself made little sense. Then conflicting stories arose. One said Sneap was too busy with production gigs to join them. Another said Andy felt snubbed by the band for this decision.
A week later, the band announces they will tour with Andy Sneap and their signature dual guitar sound. The conflicting stories and sudden turn-around on touring as a quartet... strange things are afoot at the Circle K. I hope there isn't any in-fighting issues that might derail their tour.
Teddy Ruxpin was an animatronic toy released in 1985, by Worlds of Wonder, and went on to achieve critical acclaim and even "Toy of the Year." The first version had a cassette player embedded in his back. Pre-recorded taped could be inserted and the stuffed bear would have conversations, complete with animatronic motions of his eyes and mouth.
Cassettes had two tracks for stereo (left & right) sound. The Teddy Ruxpin tapes used the right track for audio and the left track was a control track used as a data stream for the animatronic facial expressions. This allowed the toy to move it's mouth only when speaking. This was pretty clever for the average mid-eighties toy and made the experience more realistic than other toys.
You could easily put in a standard cassette with music, thus Teddy could rock out to your favorite metal band. The only drawback, despite listening through a cheap speaker in a stuffed animal was that the cassette player detected standard tapes and ignored the left track. Alas, Teddy Ruxpin would not lip-synch along with Rob Halford.
Not long after, WOW overestimated his popularity and over extended themselves on parts and inventory. Teddy Ruxpin had a pretty long run as the product was bought by other companies, including Hasbro. But Worlds of Wonder did alright since they also became the exclusive distributor for the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
I remember the days when stereos were either those all-in-one units with the turn table on top or a sleek stack of components inside a clear lucite enclosed rack. Mine was an all-in-one stereo, but I loved copying my LPs to cassette so I didn't damage my vinyl. It got the job done, but I was jealous of my friends who had those glowing EQs and flashing lights dancing behind those clear magnetic doors!
Of course this pre-dates all the funky Bluetooth speakers we see littering retail shelves in the electronics aisle. In my day, electronics were the focus on an entire store, not merely a section or aisle within a box store that also sells fresh lettuce and tube socks. Stereo sound was once sought after in the form of quality components and careful selection of speakers. Yes, speakers plural. You bought two of them!
I have two stereo setups from long ago that still work and when you crank them up, a room is wonderfully filled with sound. Try that on the average Bluetooth speaker - all you hear is a tin-sound with far too much treble. Kids today have been led to believe that MP3s on your phone sound great when ported to one of these modern speakers over Bluetooth. Sorry. They sound like crap. Good sound is about moving air. Your phone is not a stereo.
I grew up with an Atari VCS (2600) and loved it's blocky games, especially the arcade ports. It was a great game console to have as a kid. Roll forward forty or so years and the Atari VCS is a much different beast. Today, the Atari brand is owned by a holding company who brought a modernized version to marked, still under the VCS name, and installed Atari Vault to stoke it's retro vibe.
It's a strange console today and I'm not sure what to make of it as most of it's capability can be found in a single-board computer for a fraction of the price. It's nice to see the Atari brand in the news, but their days of successful game consoles passed many decades ago. Love their effort, but Bushnell's Atari was a much different company.
In year's past, it's been fun to watch videos of morons fighting over the last "sale item" at a box store. Most shoppers know the best pricing is a few weeks after Black Friday, yet they still go shopping a 2:00AM to save a few bucks on an appliance. The crowds and checkout lines are enough to keep me home.
In a country where you have to tell people that a global pandemic is deadly serious, you know traditions will be hard for idiots. Thanksgiving gatherings are a bad idea because the Coronavirus spreads easily indoors and very often elderly family members are present. So why was it just days before Thanksgiving was formally announced as a bad idea? Plans were already in place.
This makes me wonder two things:
Scientists saw this coming. Why wait to the last minute to cancel Thanksgiving gatherings?
Why hasn't Black Friday been canceled in retail stores?
Tough choices. Riddled with pros and cons where would you want to spend your quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic? Keep in mind the Orange Liar-In-Chief keeps flip-flopping from basic failure to an outright desire to kill us all!
You may be stuck indoors for longer than you think. Choose wisely.
Years behind schedule, Atari is now leaning on the Coronavirus pandemic to buy more time for their poorly managed video game console release. I almost believed them when they offered a December 2019 release, but said they needed a few more weeks.
As the upcoming Intellivision Amico is gaining interest and momentum by sharing game trailers and info, Atari is hibernating and trying to get people excited by a still image with mis-spelled game titles. Face it - Atari is never going to release a game console. They've tried hardware in the past and failed. They are simply ruining the Atari brand name, but conned backers to give them $3 million to do so.
Dolly Parton unintentionally created a viral meme by showcasing the different photos she's used as profile pictures on her social media accounts. She captioned it, "Get you a woman who can do it all," and off it went!
This trump photo looks staged. He wouldn't have the patience or intelligence to be of any value to a precision military operation. He's a game-show host.
Trump previously lied about eliminating Isis, why would anyone believe anything he says. He's a little man-child desperate for attention and praise. He does nothing praiseworthy and is the single greatest threat to our way of life. He represents everything wrong with the balance between government and the people.
Thanking Donald Trump for eliminating terrorism is like thanking Ronald McDonald for inventing cheeseburgers.
Atari fans embroiled in the Atari VCS crowd funding of $3 million for a new game console are divided into two camps. The die-hard fans who may not know that Atari is simply a holding company that manages licensing deals. And gamers who are tired of rendered photos and no game-play footage. This doesn't add up to a successful console launch.
Personally, I don't think Atari has a clue how to deliver a game console. They have a history of abandoning hardware. Just ask anyone who crowd funded the Gameband watch. I ordered one of the classic joysticks... December will be an interesting month for Atari.
Aren't those initial conversations sweet as you get to know each other. Then you discover a majority of the population is either lying or deluded. Instagram doesn't change your life. You alter the facts until you can live with yourself.
I grew up with a passion for GI Joe which led to a myriad of other action figures. Then I grew older. Became and adult. Got a job. Still loved action figures :)
As an adult, I realized I'd never outgrow toys especially when they are made for adults. Toys have reached epic heights when you can buy a life-size Terminator. That looks like fun, but why stop there? If you have the money, there are a lot of action figures for adults!
If you need something to do on September 20th, here are two very diverse activities that may suit you. Nintendo is dropping their scaled-back Switch handheld console, called the Switch Lite.
On the same day a potentially large group of idiots are planning to take part in storming Area 51, in the Nevada desert, to get a glimpse of an alien.
On the other hand, perhaps this all means the Nintendo Switch Lite uses alien technology...
Xbox exclusivity doesn't last forever.... Cuphead is coming to Nintendo's Switch!
It started with Atari and led to Nintendo and Sony, but Microsoft has never entered my gaming realm. Rare Replay and Cuphead are the two games that had me on the edge of buying an Xbox of some sort.
The Rare games will probably always elude me, but now that Cuphead is coming to the Switch, all I have to do is wait for the physical release.
Life is good, but now and then you gotta take a hard right!
Having grown up in the limelight of the 80s arcade era, we had arcades in every town and games scattered around most restaurants. I feel fortunate these days to have as many arcades as we have in my area. In these scarce times, it's important to drop some quarters when you have the time.
When complaining about the Wii U and praising the Switch, few notice they had many of the same titles at launch.
Of course it wasn't long before some folks began complaining that the Switch was little more than rehashed Wii U games. When it comes to random aggression, you really can't please everyone... because everyone wants to me angry and complain about something - anything.
Improvise! Never leave the team hanging.
When the team is in danger, it's time to splice a few wires and get back in the game!
Princess Peach is swell and Mario is determined to rescue her, but can she compete with Bowsette?
After discovering a Magic Crown enabled Toadette to take on a more human form, the internet began wondering who else might benefit from this ability. Bowser seemed to prevail and Bowsette was "born". Cosplayers have been doing amazing things with this concept!
Can Aquaman truly be appreciated if you haven't seen the prequel?
I like to see movies in their timeline order. Despite prequels coming out years after an originally successful movie, I still want to see them in order at home on DVD. However, I'm not sure it applies to Aquaman...
Alas, this movie was awful. With tangents going nowhere, it was very similar to those made-for-TV Power Ranger movies. Ugh!
Today's Supreme Court - powered by beer
Confirmation of that dreadful idiot to our nation's highest court shows the greed and corruption present in politics. This is also a reflection on how little any politician cares about the people who elect them.
The story is set during the Christmas holiday, but the story has little connection the way traditional Christmas movies do. However, Die Hard is an awesome film and fun to watch time and time again. With that in mind, we say Die Hard is a Christmas Tradition!
The release of Fallout 76 seems so bug ridden, it's gone from store returns to class-action lawsuits.
Ordinarily, anything Kirby inhales can be used to his advantage. Not the dase when he inhales a buggy video game that's the technical equivalent of garbage.
Black Friday is chaotic and every year statistics reveal prices are lower a few weeks closer to Christmas. When I see the crowds and how rude and unruly they become, I'm happy to stay home - warm and playing video games.
I'm happy to let someone else get punched in the face over the last 4K TV. I don't need that hassle and I'll be sleeping in.
It always seems like a great idea. Pick out a classic fright-fest or maybe a modern horror film. I actually get stoked for a good scare on Halloween. Then the creepy music starts, a squeaky door hinge lets out a squeal, and the creepy music takes on a manic tempo - going faster and faster.
I press "eject" and in goes It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and I get into the spirit of things with the Peanuts gang.
Once the creepy music speeds up, I switch over to The Great Pumpkin and celebrate with the Peanuts Gang.
Shredding the Atari 5200 Joystick... Banksy style
Graffiti artist Banksy's recent shredding was a surprise to those attending the Sotheby auction of his "Girl With Balloon" piece. Banksy had embedded a shredder into the frame and it shredded the image during the auction.
Nike's "JUST DO IT" campaign took a turn when they put Colin Kaepernick front and center. He was the first to "take a knee" during the national anthem at football games. His protest was about wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities. Trump decided to call him unpatriotic and co-opt Kaepernick's protest for his own selfish agenda.
Bob Woodward's book about the Trump White House, titled Fear, is making the rounds and it paints a bleak picture of distrust and stupidity running rampant. An anonymous op-ed in the New York Times stated there are several high-ranking members of Trump's cabinet who remain in their jobs to save the country and our national security from the foolish whims of our angry-toddler president.
White House officials referring to themselves as part of the resistance, made me think of John Connor's powerful quote from Terminator Salvation.
Jabba The Handbag
Whoever had the presence of mind to see Jabba and take the photograph is an extraordinary person.
Taco logic
Never underestimate the power of tacos. Don't waste time discovering your feelings or searching for answers. Resolve you issues with tacos.
If a situation can't be fixed with tacos and retro gaming... it's not worth fixing ;)
Face it, the $3 million Atari crowd-funded will never result in a new game console
I love the Atari I grew up with. They were innovative, clever, and built an empire. The holding company that owns the Atari brand and is trying to reboot the brand with a new game console are nothing like the original company. They simply own the brand now and have nearly ruined it with vapor-ware and bad ideas.
Their track record on prior hardware projects borders on fraud and they have struggled to do anything to promote and protect the brand they purchased. Atari was awesome around 1980, but have faired poorly under new owners in the last few decades. I went so far as to order one of the sexy new VCS joysticks, but I know it is money down the drain. That's how Atari rolls in 2018!
They'll probably spend the $3 million on Ostrich jackets and disappear into the Matrix...
Rudy Giuliani tweets One Word
Everyone close to Trump seems to be bat-shit crazy. From press releases to tweets, these guys just don't make sense.
Trumps lawyer-of-the-day, Giuliani tweeted the word, "You". Just you. Nothing else. No explanation. Much of the internet began re-tweeting songs beginning with "You" while others took to different interpretations. We decided to relate it to one of our favorite under-appreciated Nintendo consoles - The Wii-U :)
SEGA Out Run: Kendall Jenner Edition
When Kendall Jenner splashes her Instagram with car pics, I'm all over it. She has an insanely cool car collection, from sleek super-cars to 60's muscle cars. She has exquisite taste in transportation!
Today she uploaded her shoes as she hopped out of her Ferrari. Not the usual pic that gets my attention, but these high heels had big flames extending off the back of each heel. Seeing this along side the Ferrari brought Out Run to my mind.
These are the kind of shoes you wear when you know you're out front and hitting every check-point. I need a pair of these to sharpen my Out Run score...
New aliens... ancient aliens. There are no aliens, dammit!
When Mulder says there are aliens - there are aliens.
When Giorgio Tsoukalos, from History Channel's Ancient Aliens show, says it was aliens. It is definitely not aliens.
Physical media takes up space, but it offers many benefits!
I forget about many of the games I've downloaded onto my 2DS and Switch. Sure, I recall a lot of them, but it's fun to look through my carts and discs. I sometimes have a particular game in mind, but I may find something I'd rather play as I browse my collection.
After a few video games on a Friday night, I love to flip through DVDs for a film that will perfectly cap off the night. Or going on a road trip... gotta snag some CDs! Searching through physical media is fun! It's stimulating. It exposes me to my collection with each pass in ways that a listing on a digital device just won't.
From album art to video game and movie art, it's a terrific visual reminder of a myriad of associated memories. The last time I got a high score. Or the soundtrack for the last road-trip we went on. How about watching a few seasons or a favorite trilogy? Physical media has a tactile component that makes a beautiful connection between your fingers, eyes, and mind. It may sound crazy, but sifting through physical media is pure bliss!
Atari raised nearly $3 million dollars for a non-existant game console!
Atari has shown some rendered images and they have a non-functional visual mockup of their upcoming VCS console, but no proof of concept. The brief videos showing various Vault titles, is not enough to validate the console. They had no working prototype just three months ago at the Game Developer's Conference (GDC). They speak of Tempest 4000 for the system, yet the game's developer knows nothing about it and has never created a Linux version of the game.
Atari has raised nearly $3 million based on good will and nostalgia! I grew up with Atari and love their various game systems and the industry they helped create. However, the current Atari is little more than a holding company trying to make money by licensing it's IPs. Consumers don't seem to know the Atari business has been sold numerous times and it's founder Nolan Bushnell has not been part of he company for over three decades.
Still they crowd funded a new, unproven, non-existant game console that Atari won't even deliver for another YEAR! Atari failed to deliver on their last crowd-funded hardware project for a gaming smartwatch. I'd love to see them succeed, but they don't demonstrate any actions that give any hope for success. I wish them luck, but I wouldn't buy their new console until it's sitting on a retail shelf at Best Buy or GameStop.
Nerf balls ruled my childhood. Subsequently, Nerf was weaponized
Time changes everything, but Nerf certainly went through a massive shift in their product line. I remember having a variety of round Nerf balls and even a football or two. Kids don't sem to revere "the ball" as a viable toy these days. In my childhood it was a fun indoor toy that wouldn't damage things as it was thrown and kicked - for the most part.
These days, I can't even recall the last time I saw a foam ball - Nerf or otherwise. And don't get me started about squirt guns. As a kid ou could fill one at a water fountain in about five seconds. Today's super soakers seemingly hold gallons of water and look like oversized weapons from a superhero cartoon! I guess kicking a ball or playing Catch is just old fashioned these days.
Roseanne's toxic personality brought the reboot to an abrupt close
Rediscovering a new wave of fame, Roseanne Barr went back to what she knows best and managed to have her rebooted show canceled in an instant. The tragedy - beyond her toxic comments - is the loss of work to everyone involved with the show. If you've seen Infinity War (2018), this pic is a lot funnier.
Fashion Showdown: Evel Knievel versus cosplay model Joanie Brosas
Evel Knievel could make his motorcycle fly, but we doubt he could do it wearing a thong. I've had this Evel Knievel poster for decades and still remember the excitement of seeing one of his amazing stunts on Wide World Of Sports. I was obsessed with him as a kid and miss the era of daredevils.
Joanie Brosas is a cosplay model who had created many stunning Star Wars costumes and a stunning Vampirella suit that landed her on the cover of the actual comic book! Check her out on Instagram & Twitter to see what she's working on and what conventions she's attending!
Keeping up with the White House
Kim Kardashian visited the White House to meet with Trump about a Presidential pardon for an incarcerated woman. Likely a good cause, but neither of these oval office attendees have much credibility in the real world.
In light of the "reality show" nature of both Kim and Donnie, we turned it into a chicken-gobbling reveal of Atari's latest vapor-ware game console.
iHOP released an odd bit of rebranding today. They claim to be changing their name to iHOB. One has to wonder if this is some sort of marketing scheme to drum up interest in their pancake restaurants or is a big change afoot? Some speculate the "B" will stand for breakfast, but pancakes are pretty much a breakfast food, so I'm not sure that translates into a significant move.
I'm not a fan, but I love the story of the $85K he paid for an album cover photo on a project he was producing and then took this pic on an iPhone for his own album. From yanking Taylor's award out of her hands to rancid rants about slavery, this guy is wound tight. He needs a hobby - something that will take him away from having to keep up with the kardashians. We suggest some retro gaming... start with Dig Dug. Work you way up slow.
Blade is a killer, not an opener
Blade is such a kick-ass flick - love the opening scene with Traci Lords! So, while filming your unboxing video, don't use Blade. Use a nice big steak knife like the rest of us.
