Talk about your guilty pleasures. Tonight Super Mario Bros: the movie came on and I HAD to watch it. It's been years since I've seen it and all the while I kept flashing back to my youth (all those years ago.) I think this is how older people feel when they watch Star Wars. I was such the worshiper of these two plumbers and their pixilated princess. When I was a babe I watched She-ra, as a child I played with Mario, now I like Sailormoon. Some things evolve very slowly. It's funny that at the the time I never wondered whether I would regret spending my childhood hunched over a game control trying to kill a giant turtle, yet nowadays I go into a giant flaming fit of existential angst over every bleeding minute of my life. On Saturdays I would go to the skating rink, whisk around in circles bouncing to that funky early 90's music, play hokey-pokey with the employees, vying desparately against my fellow skaters for that precious wooden token which would earn me a free Coke from the Concession Stand. Nectar of the gods, flat though it was, and afterwards I would roll over to where people too cheap to rent a locker would pile their shoes, going through their stuff and seeing of they had anything worth taking. It wasn't until years later I learned what the word "concession" meant. After this, I would wheel over to where the arcade games were lined up against the wall and watch all the change-savers play Godzilla vs. King Kong or some such heathen thing. For me, Mario was my Game and I held no false games before Him. I wonder if some day I'll regret spending my entire adolescence hunched over the PC typing my soul into the void. Probably not.

-- Frostbite (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), July 01, 2000

Answers

Yeah, I was quite the hard-core gamer in my youth, although Sega was my drug of choice. Was it all a waste? Hmm... I like to think that a good life, like a good movie, does not *always* require a purpose or direction.

-- Paul (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), July 01, 2000.

I'm starting to agree, though a few years ago I wouldn't have... I too was an avid game player in my youth, mainly Mario and Final Fantasy, the latter being the only one I ever indulge in anymore.

-- Matthew Rebholz (matrebholz@yahoo.com), July 01, 2000.

ATARI still rules nuff said, however what ever happened to the Aon Flux game idea? That would have been great! The true Laura Croft, come to think of it, I think Aeon would just kill Laura. Thanks to PC and all for bringing Aeon to me!

-- UnknowN (writeunknown@email.com), July 02, 2000.

Mmm, yes... I think I actually saw that movie, too... hey, anyone remember the Mario Bros. television show? Or the Mario Bros. scratch cards? With the stickers and the little "top secret tips" column? Oh my...

I have both the original Nintendo and Sega machines. Phantasy Star for Sega has gotta be the greatest RPG of all time! I also remember staying up all hours of the night with some friends, some caffiene and the good ol' NES trying to beat games like Crystalis, Zelda, Blades of Steel, Bubble Bobble, Rygar, Metroid, Punch-Out, etc. I still fire up my old videogames every once in awhile (hell, it beats shelling out $400+ for the latest polygonal real-time simu-pro ultra super 3D version of the same bloody thing.) If you really wanna take a trip down memory lane on this subject, browse through The NES Enshrined sometime. The webmaster seems to overdramatize everything, but that's what I like about it.

-- eskimonkey (eskimonkey@hotmail.com), July 03, 2000.

Welcome back, Frostbite! Ever hear of Kangaroo, it was not available much, but I thought the graphics were the absolute cutest of all the games to play, (I'm sure you guys are all thoroughly nauseated, but I'm a sucker for 'cuteness', sorry) but then, ever see Peter Chung's picture? Cute! Kangaroo's video noises also were the cutest, and this was no adolescent pasttime. My soul is still not emptied into the void, and yup, I think Laura Tombraider had better watch out if she ever sees Aeon, Laura looks too much like the bourgeois to me anyhow, I'm mean those outfits she wears are strictly from the "Banana Republic" stores. Give me a break.

-- Barb E. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 03, 2000.

I do remember the Super Mario Bros. TV show. I hated the live-action opening but was quite a fan of the cartoon. I watched the "Zelda" series as well, but thought the interpretation of the characters was annoying and repetitive ("Excuuuse me, Princess!" - remember that one?). Wow, haven't thought of any of that stuff in quite awhile... heh.

-- Matthew Rebholz (matrebholz@yahoo.com), July 03, 2000.

Memories... Looking back on this retired wrestler "Doing the Mario" (yes, I still have some of these episodes on tape. Happy little otaku me) I begin to suspect that perhaps this was Japan's first step in an apocalyptic revenge for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Phase two was Pokemon. Quiver in fear of phase three. Who's YOUR favarite Pokemon? Mine's "Dimethyl Bisulfate", the cute, chirpy one which melts at room temperature. I've never heard of Kangaroo. I never had a long enough attention span for Zelda (the game, not the show.)

-- Frostbite (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), July 08, 2000.

This is way, way, way off topic, speaking of Hiroshima, there is an animated film made years ago, in Japan, of the bomb dropping and what it did to people, and it's a masterpiece. I'd like to know the name if anyone out there can tell.

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 12, 2000.

Hmm... it may be "Barefoot Gen". I found a review of it here:

http://www.coastnet.com/~greywizard/rev132.htm

(I'd link to it, but I don't know HTML)

-- Paul (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), July 13, 2000.

Now, no hard feelings, but I have to say this: does no one else feel the least bit perturbed that anime, the characters, they all resemble each other, from one story to another, the faces are so similiar. The mark of a good artist is that they create their own, Peter Chung did. His art is totally original, agree?

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 13, 2000.

I don't think anyone can be totally original, but yes, Chung's work is distinctive. As is anything that dares to break the Disney/Don Bluth mold. That's the double-edged sword of Western, adult animation: it will always be original so long as it remains a niche genre. Japanese animation, on the other hand, is big business, and with that come compromises. If you make characters too stylized, you risk alienating some of your audience, so most Japanese animators play it safe, at least visually.

-- Paul (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), July 14, 2000.

Besides, don't all Japanese people look alike?

-- Paul (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), July 14, 2000.

Hey you paul i resent that remark! lol!

-- Lady Morgan (Aeonfluxfan1@aol.com), July 14, 2000.

You mean like all 20 million of em, don't worry Paul, they don't get too mad at this sort of joke, nice knowin ya!

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 14, 2000.

GRRRRRR!!! HEH JK! LOL

-- Lady Morgan (Aeonfluxfan1@aol.com), July 14, 2000.

However, back to your original comment, good point made about it being big business, and the compromise factor, makes a lot of sense, there's a lot to be said for remaining close to the formula that sold, look at Rap music for example. That's why I commend Peter Chung.

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 14, 2000.

Not that I would put anime in the same category as Rap, it certainly has more merit than that, the stories alone are more clever and sometimes the art is very impressive.

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 14, 2000.

Heh, just riffing on what you said about Anime characters. Anyway, I remember reading that it's very difficult to get a filming permit in many big cities in Japan, including Tokyo, this might explain the popularity of realistic Anime like Perfect Blue. I wonder how Alexander did over there...

-- Paul (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), July 15, 2000.

Yeah! Good thought, how did Alexander do over there?

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), July 15, 2000.

How is Alexander doing anywhere?

-- William (stateofflux@yahoo.com), July 17, 2000.