Late realizations

[BIL]

Today I learned the garbage compactor monster from Star Wars was actually a kidnapped Force priestess named Omi, who only wanted to baptise Luke per the tradition of her people, having recognised him as potent in the ways of The Force. You thought it was some feral squid-beast subsisting on the sewage of the Death Star, didn't you? LMAO!

#killallmice #fuckmickey #mickeygrabbedmybutt

Hang on, now you know too. I'm sorry. To make up for it, I will suggest the Vader Down miniseries! It's good ol' swashbuckling space fantasy, I thought so anyway. Dr. Aphra's a fun and interesting deuteragonist. Vader pulls off some impressive but not inane stuff. The original cast aren't shat upon (it takes place between SW and Empire, and was published back before Luke's mysterious destiny turned out to be "deserter coward betrayer"). I'd watch a movie of it!

Spoiler

Maybe it's godawful fanfiction to hardcore SW geeks. Oh well. I bet they hate that lousy space squid book too.

[WelshMegalodon]

What was the point of throwing out all the old stupid shit if they were going to introduce their own stupid shit anyway?

"We noticed that fans hated the dumb books about Darth Vader's Sith amulet and saving space whales, so here's an ugly 3d animated television series with rejected concept art and saving space whales."

[null1024]

Today I learned the garbage compactor monster from Star Wars was actually a kidnapped Force priestess named Omi, who only wanted to baptise Luke per the tradition of her people, having recognised him as potent in the ways of The Force. You thought it was some feral squid-beast subsisting on the sewage of the Death Star, didn't you? LMAO!

...man, I thought you were just screwing with me, and unfortunately, I looked it up.
Apparently this is actually a fucking thing.

What the hell.
who writes this

[drauch]

Everything's got a story now, like that little bat fuck that gets the blood drink for like half a second. I'm sure the first Dewback they show also has a story how it was hand-raised by X character and then adopted by X sandtrooper. It's good when you don't get to use your imagination! More time to CONSUME.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Ugh, there seems to be this western obsession with fanfic-style writing where every single thing has to be given some kind of deep, meaningful explanation. Sometimes weird stuff happens, and it is what it is.

The mystery of Darth Vader was ruined when they attempted to flesh out the character's backstory when really, they didn't need to. In creating a backstory, one that was atrociously written and presented, they forever ruined the mystique of the character. But you can't cash in on imagination!

[BIL]

...man, I thought you were just screwing with me, and unfortunately, I looked it up.

Same! Truly beyond parody. It reminded me of Mischief Maker's The Shining Alpha Zero

Here's my backstory for Alleyway Bum from The Terminator, or to give him his proper name, WINSTON STANLEY.

Winston was an MIT grad working for the Pentagon's AI weapons division in the early 1970s. Blessed with unrivaled genius, and keenly aware of the danger posed by artificial intelligence... but cursed with violent IBS! A nascent Skynet, seeing Winston's cautionary writings and ingenious cognitive failsafes, scans his medical records. In a year-long chain of product tampering, it ensures his coffee will be laced with horse laxative on the most critical day of his young career. Having explosively shat himself all over Betty Ford, Winston loses a key promotion and turns to booze, his warnings of machine-led genocide now less-indulged by his arrogant superiors. A tragic downward spiral leads us to that fateful alleyway in the early hours of May 13th, 1984.

Somewhere in time, a naked Kyle Reese roots through the darkness in search of pants. He will find them, on the person of one WINSTON STANLEY - Skynet's first victim, and its first nemesis!

Jimmy: call me. I'll option you TERMINATOR: THE PANTS-SHITTING MACHINE for free, provided you keep insulting Timmy on twitter.

[Jonny2x4]

I only just realised (was flat-out told, actually!) that David Patrick Kelly played both Jerry Horne from Twin Peaks, and the WARRIORS, COME OUT TO PLAY-EEE dude from The Warriors!

I myself realized that Windows from The Thing and Fox from The Warriors are also played by the same actor just recently. It may had been mentioned in a "where are they now" video I was watching. Not sure which is a worse way to go: getting burned to death or run over by a train (well, that was some cheap double in a bad wig, but still).

[BIL]

I myself realized that Windows from The Thing and Fox from The Warriors are also played by the same actor just recently.

God damn! I remember hearing this in RedLetterMedia's Re-View episode of The Warriors (or was it The Thing?), but I must've subconsciously filed it away. Another "how'd I miss that?!" for sure. He even occupies very similar positions in their respective stories, as the hapless "kid brother" type who meets a sudden gruesome end.

Crazy how facial hair can age some guys up (Jonathan Frakes / Riker comes to mind).

Not sure which is a worse way to go: getting burned to death or run over by a train (well, that was some cheap double in a bad wig, but still).

Both are horrific, but given Windows' extended mauling and probable infestation by The Thing, on top of being immolated, I'd go with the train. I'd stand up and try to make it hit me as cleanly as possible for the big KO, don't wanna go under the wheels. Kinda like Bill Burr talking about doing a diving header into the shark's mouth at the end of Jaws. Then again poor Fox pretty much got chucked under it, sheeit.

[Jonny2x4]

He even occupies very similar positions in their respective stories, as the hapless "kid brother" type who meets a sudden gruesome end.

Fox was actually the protagonist in the original script for The Warriors (hence why he's the one who witness Luther shooting Cyrus), as well as Mercy's love interest, but the director thought she had better chemistry with Swan and rewrote the story on the fly, so the actor ended up quitting the movie in protest. That's why in the scene when they killed him off, they had to use a (rather obvious) body double.

[BIL]

Jeeze, interesting... I'd never have guessed any of that. Must've sucked for the actor, but I think they made the right call on Swan. It's a very comic-booky movie as it is, so I liked that the protagonist was a relatively subdued type. He had a couple great lines.

"I just hate seeing anything go to waste." Aww.

"Yeah, I guess we could run a train on ya." Smooth!

[copy-paster]

If you see the sky in Metal Slug 1's mission 3 after you fight Allen, tiny Dai-Manji can be seen flying on-screen.

[Sumez]

What the hell.

I'd say you were shitting me, but then I found this thread: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthrea ... nd-rooster
I haven't been able to find any decent footage of it, but I think it might be the white smudge moving across the screen around here? https://youtu.be/eCJ44ZX53y8?t=101

EDIT: Seems several of the comments in that video are about that UFO, too

[BIL]

I was surprised to hear about that too! I've never seen it myself but I can totally believe it, given the insane detailing of those games... MS1 in particular.

Was a little bittersweet to learn recently that the fish thingy seen at the very end of Metal Slug 3 was going to be the next game's antagonist force. I thought it was just a hapless sea creature that got bonked on the head by Fio's revolver.

Was recently discussing the pastiche of all pastiches MS4 with a friend, who reminded me that its return to relatively mundane army battling was actually a stark change of pace after the rising insane fury of X and 3. It made me appreciate 4's lack of scale a bit more, although I'll always wonder how Nazca/SNK planned on topping the MSX/3 arc, or if they even intended on trying.

I'd say you were shitting me, but then I found this thread: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthrea ... nd-rooster

Nice little read, that thread.

Typing on fumes, I was compelled to look up this auld classic. Not N-G.com but close! SUPER ACTION SCAMMER ALERT

[copy-paster]

The human fish thing was indeed scared the hell out of me as childhood, just like how Shin Contra's buttface shows up right in the player's face.

Next game's antagonist force? You mean MS6? Because MS6 takes place after 3 though.

I honestly don't get the hate of MS4
sure it doesn't have new sprite and such making it like licensed MS romhack
but level design and enemy placement is tightly paced and perhaps better than previous games
For example previous MS levels only gets really hard on final mission, but 4's early stages is full of deadly corners and dangerous encounters
and I agree that MS4 is perhaps callback of MS1 sans mission 4, that one still have zombies and mummies.

[BIL]

I thought the fish monster was kinda cute, all " -o- " like it'd just woken up - certainly didn't think it was meant to be an enemy. If anything I thought it was an anti-pollution message to go with the traditional "Peace Forever!"

Actually the "just woke up" thing is horrifying, never mind. I wonder if Nazca would've gone with some kind of Atlantean super-technology, with the Rebels throwing their lot in with the enemy (again) to cover the conventional military angle.

Or maybe a new human antagonist group. I'd like to think the sacrifices of MS3's ALL ABOUT LOVE weren't in vain. ;-;

It's something I wonder about, having recently gotten back into the Nazca/SNK trilogy. Whether the shift from 100% army to more and more weird shit was a good idea is debatable, but regardless, the sheer effort they put into never rehashing themselves was formidable. I particularly like how feral MS3's opening stage is, god-awful mutated shit all over the place. In a less self-aware game it'd be some b-horror flick stuff.

As blasphemous as it sounds, MS4 was actually the first one I played in-depth, due to its PS2 conversion getting a surprise NTSCU release (albeit double-packed with MS5). Going back to the Nazca/SNK trilogy, I was on one hand stunned at the boost in artistic quality (there was no replacing those guys), but also surprised at how mild their difficulty curves are compared to MS4, which unmistakably wants you dead by the second boss. So I've always liked the fourth game as "licensed ROMhack / Hardtype" affair.

To be honest, these days it's kinda fun spotting where they stitched everything together from. My favourite is the Panther Slug, aka one of the hundred-odd slavering mutants burnt alive in MSX's subway!

It's a little vague (second-hand descriptions of interviews, AFAIK), but here's where I read about MS4's planned fishmen antagonists. Lots of interesting stuff hinted at there, I've meant to investigate properly.

[Mischief Maker]

"The Matrix," the first one at least, is a big metaphor for the experience of coming out as trans.

So many supposed plot holes seal right up and weird details gain meaning when viewing the movie through that lens.

That's why the "Agent of the System" Smith always leaned into dead-naming Neo (Miiiiiiiiiiister Anderson!)

[copy-paster]

Super Darius was released earlier than Darius Plus, SD released March '90 while DP was 6 months after it. And both games (and Alpha) was outsourced by Bits Laboratory Inc.

Mega Drive port of Darius is now really a thing, I remember it was in-development few years ago in Hideki K's twitter. With help of Sega, Taito, and M2 this miraculous port now comes to fruition thanks to fan-made MD development kit. It's now part of MD mini games list and teh ROMz also leaked too somewhere so playing on emulator is possible.

[FinalBaton]

Fuck me >_< I've just now realized that Quartet's theme is an obvious tip of the hat to this part of Van Halen's Jump.

2:32 to 3:05 : https://youtu.be/VaTtYIosT_o?t=152


WHY didn't I pick this up before... *shakes head*

[BIL]

Haha, somehow never caught that one either... I was just thinking of that game's music today, while reading of M2's current and future exploits with Toaplan. They did a killer double pack on PS2 SEGA AGES with Quartet and SDI. The former has such a wistful sound to it... I try not to do nostalgia but god damn, just listen to that warbly sound. Epoch-defining.

SDI has some good stuff too, almost Galaxy Force II-esque with the slap bass killing. SYSTEM DOWN is ice cold. Such an eerie atmosphere, that game. Nothing recognisably human, just satellite machines up in space doing their thing shooting down nukes.

Oh cool superb cover!

[FinalBaton]

Had forgotten there was a Sega Ages port of Quartet! interesting. Is it considered solid and runs at 240p?

Yep that's one tune for the ages. Cosmic anthem if there ever was one. I hope that's what the aliens find first when they study us I love that other tune's name too :"FM Funk". Pure distilled essence of the meaning of ass-shaking FM Synth VGM.

Thought about Quartet yesterday actually as I saw the SMS cart at the nearby game store. That one can't compare of course.

[BIL]

In M2's usual comprehensive fashion, the PS2 disc actually includes the SMS versions of both Quartet and SDI - I have to admit I never got around to 'em, but it's the sort of thing you can't help but admire. They did exactly the same with PS2 Space Harrier II and Galaxy Force II.

I wish more devs had taken that approach, although I guess with these all being first-party Sega games, it would've cut out a lot of potential licensing headaches. Still, the PS1's Capcom Generation 4/Senjou no Okami and Salamander Deluxe Pack are brilliant arcade ports, but they can't help feeling slightly incomplete without the landmark MD and PCE versions of Senjou II and Salamander, respectively.

Is it considered solid and runs at 240p?

AFAIK it's absolutely dead-on perfect in both games (including 4P support for Quartet, and Mouse support to approximate SDI's trackball controls), and it does indeed allow 240p (just like all of M2's AGES 2500 discs).

I'm not 100% sure about the screen options for the AGES 2500s they didn't develop, after the series got its act together with Space Harrier II. The only 2D one that comes to mind is the Memorial Collection, which I own but shamelessly never even opened (tons of stuff I've little attachment to, bit of a rainy day disc... Congo Bongo?).

Most of the other 2D stuff was M2's, AFAIK, like the absolutely superlative Fantasy Zone disc, where they actually built an arcade version of previous SMS exclusive The Tears of Opa-Opa from scratch. Crazy stuff going on in that series... I remember an interview where they joked that "2500 (JPY)" was a slight misnomer, and they should've probably sold for a bit more given the amount of work involved! M2 are treasures.

[Sumez]

Typing on fumes, I was compelled to look up this auld classic. Not N-G.com but close! SUPER ACTION SCAMMER ALERT

Wow this is an amazing rabbit hole. I'm only halfway through the thread and just when you think things can't get any better, this guy makes up new incredible tales.

[__SKYe]

Really, what a ride. How do you find this stuff?

[Steamflogger Boss]

Holy shit that was amaaaazing.

[BIL]

I'm really glad I reposted that now, it's a genuine classic.

BTW, this is the GIF that's missing from this post.

Spoiler

[copy-paster]

Famitsu gave Contra Spirits lower ranking than other Nakazato's trilogy, Here's the breakdown:

Spirits 19/40
The Hard Corps 24/40
Shattered Soldier 30/40

[Specineff]

The whole plot of ST: TNG's episode "Darmok", (Picard has to spend time trying to survive in a planet with Dathon, captain of an alien race that heavily uses metaphor and allegory to communicate, thus rendering translation ineffective), could have been resolved by using illustrations. Even stick figures would have been enough to keep them from going to such extreme lengths to establish a proper first contact.

[CyberAngel]

Okay, so there's a Soviet cartoon called "Investigation Held by Kolobki" and one of the characters ("Chief") uses a phrase that's pretty much the most famous quote of Müller from "17 Moments of Spring" series (also Soviet). It took me until today to finally connect that the two are played by the same actor!

[Sumez]

Bad Dudes actually call their zako enemies "Zako Ninja".
Makes me wonder about the origin of the term, in a video game context. Does anyone have some history?

[BIL]

Damn, never seen that screen before. Quite a romantic scene, with our buff buddies gazing over DECO's much-loved NYC skyline

I assumed zako/"small fry" crept into gaming at a primordial stage, like "boss" / ボス (earliest example I know of is Spartan X's Famicom manual, but I'm sure there are older ones). Both terms have gangland connotations natural for the classic "one man army" VG context. SNK's Yamazaki calls his opponents zako a lot.

That is the first time I've seen the term codified in-game - can't recall it appearing elsewhere, at least not in English. Cute!