MIXED BAG. ANIME CO-PILOT #2 ACE ATTORNEY!

attorney [at-ur-nee]

noun

1. A lawyer.

I have a little history with the Phoenix Wright series. In fact...

 PHOENIX WRIGHT MIXED BAG LET'S PLAY

... I played the first case with my friend Zach on my youtube channel back in 2014 when I gave that a go. It was actually a lot of fun! The characters are fun, the music/design is decent and the writing is pretty funny.

The portable series found on Nintendo handhelds involves solving puzzles and cases as Phoenix Wright in order to save your defendant. That, of course, isn't really a defense attorney's job in our world but the universe that the games take place is a little silly. It would seem perfect for an anime series but the biggest case against it being made into an animated series is that the games, save the flashbacks, primarily take place in the less-than-action packed courtroom. So, when I saw there was a new anime based on the series, I was a tad leery.

The first episode is a very conservative take of the first case in the game series. It introduces Phoenix Wright, his mentor, and his defendant (his friend Larry Butts). They introduce a couple of new details but it is mostly a simplified version of the case. It was a very safe take with bland 3D background, boring voice acting, and a pretty weak pace. But then the anime tapped into the over-the-top nature of the show...

... and if it can tap into that more, I think it has a chance. The best parts of the games are when characters have full on freak-outs and meltdowns. The first example of such a reaction, combined with the weird logic of the Ace Attorney universe's bizarre legal system were the most amusing part.

Despite this strong conclusion, I gotta...

PASS.

Still, if you're a fan of the game series or this sounds compelling, give it a fair trial on Crunchroll now.

WORD OF THE DAY! 4/26/16!

A FOX IN SPACE - S 01 EP 01 

"DON'T CALL ME STAR FOX!"

barrel roll [behr-uhl-rol]
noun
1. An aerial maneuver in which the airplane makes a complete rotation while maintain forward momentum at all times.

I featured these cool independently produced fan animations based on the Star Fox characters last year and, finally, after years of hard work of "Fredryk Phox" and his comrades, we have an episode length pilot. And it is fantastic.

They took the characters and setting of the Star Fox franchise, animated them into a more adult style reminiscent of the jazzy Fritz the Cat meeting Bojack Horseman's dry wit and rolled up together in a way that is so good you'd swear you were watching the pilot for a new Adult Swim show.  The music and voice acting just add to the aesthetic of this brilliant piece of hand animation that was clearly a passion project. I really hope there is more coming and just hope Nintendo or someone else doesn't kill it. This is why the internet exists.

THIS.

And it comes out right on the heels of a new Star Fox game (which may or may not be one of the worst disappointments of the year) and a Star Fox anime short (which is so-so). The latter of which you can enjoy in the link below!

BONUS: STAR FOX ZERO ANIME!

MUSIC MON! JONTRON & YUNGTOWN ARE SPACE COWBOYS!

JONTRON'S FIREWORK COVER

The first video in today's queue is the fantastic cover of Katie Perry's Firework by Jontron. It's been a long time coming-- like five years long time coming-- since Jontron first teased his audience with an incomplete cover at the end of his Dino City video from 2011. It is a pretty great cover and the video is electric thanks to the collaborative efforts of a bunch of talented animators.

On a side note, we are stuck with Katie Perry's Firework until we die thanks to it being a fun pop song with a theme that can easily be tied into every 4th of July firework celebration from now until the end of time. I dunno if that's good or bad, but it certainly is a thing.

TWILIGHT PRINCESS RAP - YUNGTOWN

Twilight Princess's HD remake came out for the Wii-U and I bought it but... I haven't played it yet because I promised myself to finish some of the other games I've bought before I do so. I beat Pokemon Blue's 3DS shop remake and currently I'm working my way through the main storyline of Fallout 4 with my character Patagonia O'Brian.

But I can't wait to play Twilight Princess again. It's my favorite 3D Zelda game.

COWBOY BEBOP FILM OPENING SEQ.

Cowboy Bebop is one of the best animated series ever made. I got my parents to watch it with me when I got it on bluray and the animated film, from which this sequence is from, is a fantastic example of animation that is hip, stylish and has scenes constructed with such hypnotically smooth movement that it is hard not to admire it. Check it out.

BONUS: JONTRON: DINO CITY BRO!

FTW FRIDAY! BETTER NERF YODA! SPRITE SUN FIZZ OP!

SPRITE SUN FIZZ 90's COMMERCIAL!

The most disturbing part of this commercial isn't the giant eye balls on the mascot, it isn't that he chases them, it isn't just the general gross nature of 90's style CGI, it isn't the mystery of sun-themed orange drinks or even the just overall meh-ness of 90's fashion.

It's that Sprite filmed this tragedy and put it on TV.

GAME GRUMPS SUPER MARIO MAKER #17 YODA JOKES!

This may be the funniest bit of Game Grumps in a long time or I just really, really, really love Star Wars-related humor & silly voices.

HRRRRRRRRRNGH! FUNNY JOKE!

TEEMO VS. ALL:

BETTER NERF IRELIA or IRELIA UNCHAINED

[insert League of Legends in-jokes here]

MUSIC MON! EZREAL AND LINK FIGHT MURLOCS!

FALCONSHIELD- ARCANE SHIFT!

Ezreal is one of the most iconic League of Legends characters: his combination of abilities and style make him a rather fun take on the magic rogue archetype and his flexible nature means he has seen a fair bit of play at all levels of skill. That and he has a fantastic generic anime hero voice. So I like that.

STARBOMB- 2ND BEST ZELDA RAP EVER!!!!!

Next up is the latest official Starbomb music video and it is a sequel to the BEST Zeld Rap EVER!!

And this seems like a good time to discuss an exciting game rumor: the newest Zelda game teased for the Wii-U has most likely been delayed to be a release title for the next Nintendo console (to be announced at next year's E3) and that has led to many wondering if maybe, just maybe, another Zelda game is due to get an HD remake. Specifically, Twilight Princess. And, while TLoZTP is apparently not regarded as a favorite title in the series, I'm gonna blow some mind and admit that I still haven't beaten Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask or even Wind Waker. But I have played and beaten Twilight Princess three times on Wii. It is my favorite 3D Zelda and, honestly, I could dive into all the reasons but I should probably save the full write-up for later, but here a summary of my feels:

Twilight Princess is the best controlled 3D Zelda game with interesting characters, dark mysteries to solve, and a lot of cool mechanics/puzzles that make it my favorite game in the series to go back and play (besides Link to the Past). And my favorite Zelda character, after Groose, is Midna.
 

FALCONSHIELD- GWWLRRGHH!

[INSERT MURLOC NOISES]

WORD OF THE DAY! 10/13/15!

chibi [chee-bee]
noun
1. Japanese slang. A short or small person or animal. It has gained popularity as slang for something small in stature in anime or manga.
adjective
2. Japanese slang. Of or related to something small and/or cute in stature/design in anime and manga.

EX. This is ain't no chibi sized amiibo update! In fact, it is quite bulky in the numbers department: with a three pack of Retro Amiibos and a whole cast of other whacky Nintendo characters that means, as of this video, I am only missing one released Smash Bros. amiibo.

WORD OF THE DAY! 9/24/15!

MEGA PUNCH!!!!!

RICH EVANS VS. ALL OF POKEMON WISDOM

dominant strategy [dom-uh-nunt-strat-uh-jee]
noun
1. When one player's course of action in a game is better than any other course of action, no matter how their opponent's may play or the challenges that the game puts before them.

EX. I'd like to think Rich is eventually gonna run up against a Pokemon that easily can withstand against his Charmeleon's Mega Punch, as the move is relatively strong at low levels but completely mediocre past a certain point, but something tells me that over-leveling a single Pokemon and knocking the crap out of everything in your path is the dominant strategy in the first series of Pokemon games.

Heck, Pokemon has always been easy. It's a game you play while you watch TV or take a poop (we've all done it). You have to add Nuzlocke Challenge restrictions to yourself to make it anything but a cakewalk, especially not that they added EXP Share that makes leveling your entire team a breeze. What do you guys think? Should they add a supported Nuzlocke Challenge mode? Or maybe just a harder difficulty for veterans?

MUSIC MON! EVEN MARIO AND LINK SPIN TO WIN!

FALCONSHIELD- SPIN! (LOL SONG: GAREN & KATARINA)

I like the idea of the characters in League of Legends having a variety of simple and complex relationships that come out as subtle interactions in the game, but it could go so much further to immerse players in the story side of Summoner's Rift and the world of Runeterra:

• The easiest and most obvious addition would be to patch in more audio interacctions between characters. EX. Garen & Katarina could flirt (with deadly intent) when near each other and could have unique taunts when the other dies. "I love to watch you spin."
• Costumes and other optional stuff to pair them up visually. EX. If Garen gets a skin that depicts him as a super hero, give Katarina a matching super heroine or, even better, supper villainess skin.
• We need more flavor pieces to read and more videos to watch to get us into the currently disjointed story. EX. Instead of just having Gangplank not be dead, try to give us a little less narrative dissonance.

What do you guys think?

FRANCIS SINGS THE MARIO THEME!

I both love and hate Mario Maker. I love building stages and playing creative stages. On the flipside, I hate not having as much control as I would like when building stages and playing lazy or broken-difficult levels. Have you played any cool levels this week?

DID YOU KNOW GAMING?: ZELDA MUSIC!

Zelda has some of the best video game music.

That is all.

Wanna fight me on it?

MIXED BAG. UNBOX-KING #25 STAR WARS & AMIIBO UPDATE!

I promised a video for today and, like my mailman, I deliver the goods with a merch breakdown from my Star Wars Sep. 4 haul and an amiibo update that I think you guys'll appreciate!

MIXED BAG. UNBOX-KING #25 MARIO MAKER & AMIIBO WAVE 5B!

Today was a great day for Amiibo collecting! I thought it would be scary, I thought I would be having to shop online, and I thought I was gonna miss out on many amiibos-- I was wrong! I only had to go to Target and Toys R Us and I got all of the Wave 5B amiibos I wanted. I also picked up Mario Maker. I want the rest of the Smash Bros. amiibo, Shovel Knight and Tom Nook. Which amiibos do you want to see/collect?

BONUS: MARIO MYTHS w/ SHIGERU MIYAMOTO!

MUSIC MON! GAME OVER FOR BANJO AND SLOWPOKE?!

INSTALOK- GAME OVER (ORIGINAL LOL SONG)

Instalok's newest tasty tune is an excellent remix of the newest Arcade theme in League of Legends paired perfectly with some tangy lyrics and a sprinkling of retro soundbites for that extra pop!

I <3 the retro series of skins. It is a perfect example of how League of Legends skin design is such a strong element of the game's model that, honestly, just gets better and better as they create more and more intricate themed sets of skins with unique particles, sound effects and animations.

Good job, Rito.

BANJO KAZOOIE: SPIRAL MOUNTAIN WITH LYRICS

One title I am excited to pick up on Xbox One is Rare Replay, a game compilation with 30 games from Rare extensive catalog that reaches back to ZX Spectrum and goes all the way to the Xbox 360 (for better or worse)! Honestly, I am most excited to play Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie because those games, in particular, have a special place in my heart...

...soon to be revisited by many of the old Rare guys with Yooka-Laylee!

THE SLOWPOKE SONG

Last week was Slowpoke Week's anniversary and we got an English translation of Slowpoke reggae song that we got last year. That took an appropriately long time.

WORD OF THE DAY! 8/13/14!

patina [puh-tee-nuh]
noun
1. A film, incrustation, oxidization or calcification on implements with a green sheen that indicated old age and is often valued as a visual addition to an item's value.

EX. I do like the patina green colors presented on Palutena's design.

MUSIC MON! STAR FOX SMASHES THE OLIGARCHY!

STAR FOX: THE ANIMATED SERIES INTRO!

If you're a fan of animation or Star Fox, you should definitely check out the work of Fredryk Phox, who has been working on an animated Star Fox project for a long time but is finally bringing all of his effort together to present a fully animated series. You can support him on Patreon.

THE SMASH BROS. CONNECTION!

Let's take a moment to appreciate another sweet video dedicated to Iwata with this parody of Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection.

Nice.

ADHD: OLIGARCHY ROCK!

I was torn between two "politically themed" videos this week but I think this video, in the vein of Schoolhouse Rock, won out over the other video because of the edutainment value! Like many Fox ADHD videos, it is a dark commentary on the state of the world and, I mean, if you don't find it problematic that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and our democracy increasingly is controlled by a kabal of incumbents, then I envy your optimism (and this is coming from a fairly optimistic person).

If there isn't an oligarchy, it is still educational and funny! Check it out!

MUSIC MON! YOUR SPARK IGNITED? MARIO TIME!

MARIO 3 (DUANE & BRANDO ft. brentalfloss)

When Duane and Brando reunited and combined their forces, I gotta say that it was a bit of awesome news in the world of video game parody/fan music. Their rhymes always deliver a combination of slick lyrics and silly humor-- in other words, there is a lot of potty humor but it is delivered with a scamp-like quality and aplomb that sets it a cut above the rest.

And, adding in brentalfloss? That's a frickin' cherry on top!

IGNITE THE SPARK (FALCONSHIELD FT. JULIA WESTLIN)

In a beautiful and haunting bit of magic (pun intended), Falconshield has broken new ground with a video sponsored by Wizards of the Coast to promote the new Magic Origins game (free to play on iOS devices and coming to Steam, XboxOne and PS4 soon). It seems to try and capture the emotional moment of Chandra Nalaar's spark igniting-- from the anguish of her loss to the thrilling feeling of freedom that comes becoming a planeswalker.

It is a beautiful video and really has me pumped to play the game when it comes out on Steam!

MARIO KART 8 WITH LYRICS (brentalfloss)

Oh, yeah, and brentalfloss dropped a new single this week about the hazards that befall the infant racers in Mario Kart. #babydeath

That's not a Jesus. That's a jedi!

WORD OF THE DAY! 7/16/15! UNBOX-KING #21 ANOTHER AMIIBO UPDATE!

This week I got a video showing of the new amiibos I got and talking about their individual qualities, as I do, and a word of the day for your pleasure:

speed lines [speed-lahyns]
noun
1. An art technique where there artist/s uses lines to convey the speed of an object.

EX.

MUSIC MON! AMIIBOS, LABEEF, AND STEVEN UNIVERSE!

STEVEN UNIVERSE THEME SONG (SPOILERS)

I went to Anime Blues Con over the weekend (well on Saturday) and there were like a dozen amazing Steven Universe cosplays! It was great to see so many cool costumes inspired by my favorite new cartoon show and all of the cosplayers were really cool about taking awesome pictures(you can see a couple on my twitters).

And I'm super excited for the upcoming Steven Bomb! We get a new gem fusion, flash backs, and a new villain!

RAGING AMIIBO: MORE THAN A GAME!

I got a new Amiibo video coming out later this week and, I gotta tell ya, this is my biggest Amiibo update in a while and it has brought my total collection up to 40 unique figures! That is an insane number, really, when you think about it....

...but I kinda love figures, Nintendo and Smash Bros., so, as long as looking at these silly baubles brings a smile to my face, I'll keep collecting.

Also, R.I.P. Satoru Iwata. Leader, developer, gamer. His fans already miss his smile, but I think his works will continue to make gamers smile for generations.

"SHIA LABEOUF" LIVE -ROB CANTOR!

The meme that permeated the weekend seemed to be Shia LaBeouf's "JUST DO IT!" and I gotta say, at a convention where everybody is seemingly positive, supportive, or at least not that judgemental of the other several hundred crazy people walking around in costume (I was proud to be among them), that seemed to be a good idiom to live by.

I'll get into what I learned and enjoyed at Con in an article/video later this week but I'd live to give a short observation: I smiled so much on Saturday that my face muscles ached.

WORD OF THE DAY! 6/30/15! (UNBOX-KING #19 META KNIGHT AMIIBO...)

metagame [meh-tuh-geym]
noun
1. Any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game.

EX. Meta Knight, legendarily, was a metagame breaking character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl that, in order to keep the competitive scene interesting, was often banned from tournaments. Other examples of metagame can be found in everything from messing with the knowledge/skillset of your opponent in chess to gaming the metagame of your local Friday Night Magic by playing against the preferences of the usuals by building a deck that counters their favored archetypes.

Honestly, understanding and gaming the metagame is often the most important part of competitive sports and games these days.

WORD OF THE DAY! 6/18/15! (TOP TEN DREAM AMIIBO)

bauble [baw-buhl]
noun
1. A showy, usually cheap, ornament; trinket; gewgaw.

EX. Amiibos are curious baubles. But I can't stop collecting them:

And, apparently from the fact that Nintendo announced that every Smash character will get an Amiibo alongside Amiibo support being paired with most Nintendo first party titles, other Nintendo fans can't stop collecting them either. I mean, look at this release calendar:

E3 2015 AMIIBO COVERAGE

And so, with E3's Nintendo coverage appearing to be kaput (except for a possible surprise or two tomorrow), I want to talk about my top ten dream amiibo...sets! This list is a mess but bare with me for there are some sweet ideas here!

#10 Indie characters like Shovel Knight!

Shovel Knight will probably never get into Smash or get an Amiibo, but a man can dream!

#9 Prof. Layton and Phoenix Wright

The great lawyer and detectives are third party characters but, considering that they already have full length feature films attributed to them, their popularity makes their immortality in plastic seem inevitable.

#8 Dixie Kong and other Kongs

 Why not release all the Kong Family alongside a spiritual sequel to Donkey Kong 64?

#7 Master Hand and Crazy Hand

Why not have the villains from Smash unlock a new difficulty?

#6 Consoles and Controllers

Weird choice? I don't think so. Especially if it unlocked a game or two or something? Maybe a menu theme? Shrug.

#5 Midna, Groose and other Zelda NPCs

I realize that you nerds have your own Zelda games. Mine are Link to the Past, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Deal with it.

#4 Tanuki Suit, Cape, and other power-up Marios

Not sure what these guys would be used for... but they would be really cute.

#3 Birdo, Koopalings, Goombas, Koopas, etc.

They should make a game about Bowser's minions trying to save Bowser or make him a birthday cake or steal Princes Peach.

#2 Red, Blue, Professor Oak and other Pokemon NPCs

Um... they could make like a Pokemon Party or Board Game? I dunno, but I need OAK!

#1 Every Pokemon.

This is also my nightmare. Like this would and will cause the downfall of civilization. There are over 700 Pokemon left to make into Amiibos. At $13 per figure, that would come out to $9,100 and that's without all the scalpers ruining everyone's day!

Gotta catch 'em all. And go bankrupt.

Who did I forget? I got "nana" idea and think it would be a "popo" waste of time to try and figure-- ICE CLIMBERS! I FORGOT THE ICE CLIMBERS!