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Old people play video games. By old, maybe that means sixty years old? Seventy? How about 99 years old. More »
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In Super Mario Bros., the "A" button is jump, and the "B" button is run or shoot fireballs. It wasn't always that way. More »
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Super Mario Bros. was originally released in 1985. Televisions were different then — blurry and fuzzy-like. Thus, seeing the game on a HDTV makes Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto feel slightly embarrassed. More »
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SEGA isn't the only company disowning vintage consoles. Starting October this Halloween, Nintendo Co., Ltd. will no longer provide hardware support for the Famicom. The console was originally launched in Japan back in 1983, and Nintendo continued to service the machine all these years. With the rise of the Virtual Console and original Famicom parts becoming harder and harder to locate, Nintendo had decided cease repairs. What's more, Nintendo Co., Ltd. will no longer repair the Super Famicom, the Nintendo 64, the Gameboy and the Gameboy Pocket. Virtual Console or not, this strikes me as sad. More »
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Bring on the saccharine cuteness! Idol Haruko Momoi covers popular anime songs via the Nintendo Family Computer on her new album Famison 8BIT. In case you are not familiar with Haruko Momoi, she's a Japanese voice actress, nerdy and gave herself the nickname "Halko," which was inspired by 2001's HAL. Have a listen for yourself here. Not bad, but I don't think I could make it all the way through in one listen. Brian Ashcraft More »
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You know, I've seen "tiny" Famicoms and "normal" ones. It's the medium-sized ones that are new to me. You? Brian Ashcraft More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=229562&view=rss&microfeed=true In 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros., which went on to become the best-selling video game of all time. If you were alive at that time, chances are you played Mario—especially in Japan, where almost every household had a Famicon. Well, every household except Japanese comedian Shigenori Yamashita's. (He even admits to never touching a Famicon!) Years later, here Yamashita is, playing Super Mario Bros. for the first time, discovering mushrooms, Goombas and Question Boxes. Hilarity ensues. Brian Ashcraft More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=183583&view=rss&microfeed=true Even if it's a medley of classic Famicom tunes, even it's got people singing in Japanese, and even if it sounds pretty good, one thing does not change: I loathe acappella. Brian Ashcraft More »
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Retro gaming/candy store Haikara offers up a Super Mario Bros. card case. Sure, we've seen this kind of dealio before, but those were official Famicom cases, produced by Bandai. This one's probably just a sticker someone slapped on a Muji business card holder. Beaucoup street cred, kiddos. More »
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This picture was taken by Hokkaido-based blogger David Anderson at his local used retailer Book-Off. The thing that's so wonderful about this pic ain't the pretty colors, but the fact that those cartridges are dirt-ass cheap. Hello retro paradise. More »
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Short for "Family Computer Allround Series," Famidas is a directory of famous Nintendo characters. Entries include the character's profile, abilities, back-story and other related info. Interviews with the designer and programmer appear when possible. More pics of the tasteful cover after the jump. More »
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Starting this month, pre-orders are being taken for Super Mario stamps. The stamps will be released at end of May. A sheet of ten 80 yen stamps goes for 3, 150 yen (US $26) and includes a special case. These can be used to send actual letters in Japan. Not that you'd actually want to use them or anything. More »
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Japanese comedian/poet/actor/writer/director/painter Beat Takeshi released an insane Famicom game back in 1986 called Takeshi no Chousenjou ("Takeshi's Challenge"). How insane? The title tells players, "This game is made by a man who hates video games." Takeshi no Chousenjou puts the player through hell like forcing the player to sing karaoke continuously, stare at a blank monitor, pilot a plane that can't go up and hit the final boss 20,000 times. Brilliant or sadistic? See for yourself in this Takeshi no Chousenjou clip. More »
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Think clearing Super Mario Bros. in five minutes is cool? A Japanese gamer has upped the ante by finishing Mario Bros. without collecting a single coin. The game documented his superplay in detail as he made it pass World 8-4 without a single gold coin to Mario's name. Check out images after the jump and see the lengths he had to go in order to end up penniless. Let's see it again, but do it in under five minutes! More »
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From Godzilla to Gradius , GameHistoryBook Nostalgia has a monster list of Famicon games from back in the day. Click on the katakana characters to scroll through the list and find more Ultraman games than imagined. The site is assembling as many titles as possible, so there are the missing ones with "wanted" written in English. The site also has a list of PC games. Only gripe is that images are displayed only as teeny-tiny thumbnails. Big JPEGs would have been lovely. More »
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The Canadian-born, Tokyo-based, Nintendo musician 6955 is preparing for a European tour. He usually tricks out Gameboy Pocket Cameras, using the hidden sub-game called "DJ Mode" and mixes his music in real-time. His latest weapon? A Roland TR-606 juiced with eight Famicoms. He's got an MP3 up of old skool NES stylings. Think Grand Master Flash meets Megaman, complete with record-scratch sounding laser beams and beatboxing explosions. Says 6955, "It's inspiring to see how far you can push something that wasn't mean to be pushed." Sounds pretty cool too. More »
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Need I say more? More »
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