PixlBit

I just finished reading volume 1 of the original TMNT comic. What a fun read! I am now a firm fan of TMNT and will be checking out the games when I get a chance. At the end of this volume, which came out in 1990, there was this video game ad, and since I have to save any video game ad I come across, I scanned it. It's an ad for the 1990 NES game, Phantom Fighter, a ninja fighting game based on the Japanese film Mr. Vampire. Here's the scan:

Everybody loves swagoo. Such a tastey dish. Pic below:

So I just heard this compilation of 30 Rare games will be available August 4th. I'm real excited and I think I'll get an Xbox One finally to have this, but I'm wondering, will it be available as a digital download? I've looked all around and I can't find out. I'm seriously considering going all digital downloads for games on the new systems. It'll save space in my apartment already crammed with games, plus I'm ready. I bucked the idea of digital download for games for a while but now I don't think I care anymore. It's just the way the world is going, and I just want to play the games. I don't care if I can touch them or not. 

Musically this year seems like the end of a lot of things for me. Most of the 80s groups I followed either became too pop for me or just got less interesting. I think the only two albums I listened to that year was Prince's Batman sndtrck and Pete Townshend's Iron Man musical. I even remember carrying a copy of the Iron Man musical with me to a field at school and reading the liner notes. Grunge may have begun this year with Nirvana's Bleach and Soundgarden's Louder than Love. I got both these albums along with Rush's Presto today. See pic below:

Monday, Mark and I beat the Ender Dragon in Minecraft. That was a crazy, crazy time. First I used the Eye of Ender to locate the underground stronghold that houses the End Gate. Then we had to get 12 Eyes of Ender to put in the End Gate to activate it. Then upon entering it we realized there was no way out except to die or beat the Ender Dragon, which looked really formidable. You have to destroy eight crystals put on high pilars of unbreakable Obsidian first. They heal the dragon. Then you go to the central nest and the dragon attacks you. Well, the dragon, and his Ender Men henchmen, are always attacking you, but now it flies right down and lands. Now is the time to attack it.

Gerald: Sure you will. Let me introduce you to the man with the silver knuckles. 

I filled my swag bag a little early this week and came to a decision. It's no use looking for specific music in used bins anymore. I rarely find what I'm looking for and it ends up amounting to a lot of wasted time. I'm tempted to buy via download, but I'm not that discouraged. I think, I'll just do my search and destroy missions less fequently and pick up anything interesting instead of looking for specific titles.

This week I'm celebrating 1988 in the arts. In retrospec, '88 was a pretty good year, but at the time I was not involved in consuming media all that much. I was at college in upstate New York kind of isolated from a lot of stuff. Plus, I was going through an anti-TV phase and steered away from any fellow students who watched their favorite shows everyday. I wanted to get away from the life I led at home: school, TV, homework, bed. Yuk! I grew to hate that routine, and I still do. But I'll try and remember the good stuff here below. 

I brought over to Mark's place several arcade collections I had today: Data East Arcade Classics for Wii, SNK Arcade Classic Vol. 1 for Wii, and Taito Legends vol 1 for Xbox. The Xbox game wasn't backwards compatible with 360, so I put that aside. Then I got a bug to play Culdcept Saga instead, and when I did, I realized I could update my rig shot with the new TV. Pic below:

This is going to have to be done in three parts. Sorry for the length, but it's impossible when you're playing retro arcade games. You can rip through so many of them so quickly. They were designed to be played in less than five minutes at a time. What are modern games average play time, ten, maybe fifteen hours (not counting phone games of course)?