Category: Musings

About Adrian Carr’s “Day Of The Dumpster” Director’s Cut

Source: https://morphinlegacy.com/2024/05/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-day-of-the-dumpster-original-cut-released/

For those who missed it, Adrian Carr – director of a number of early Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episodes, including the first – had recently released his original cut of “Day Of The Dumpster.” And it’s an interesting curiosity piece if nothing else that includes a new Youth Center scene (that was only seen once ages ago at one of the very first Power Morphicons), a different morphing sequence, and even a different Megazord battle featuring a monster that wouldn’t make a “proper” appearance on the show until one of the later episodes.

It’s an interesting piece of business that serves as that middle step between the original pilot episode and the eventual final product… and if nothing else, any time there is new footage released that hasn’t been seen before is always something to be cherished. The bit in question may have been seen at a convention ages ago, but now many more can check this out. It’s worth a look to see what could have been.

20 Years Of Nerd

May 2004 is the month that marks the 20th anniversary of James Rolfe’s Bad NES Games: Simon’s Quest video that was produced back in 2004, which pretty much gave birth to the Angry Nintendo/Video Game Nerd. I’ve been trying to nail an exact date on when it first appeared or came to fruition, but have uncovered many conflicting results. Youtube says one thing (though to be fair, they didn’t start up until 2005 and both Bad NES Games videos were uploaded in 2006, so that didn’t help.) The Cinemassacre website says another while the Cinemassacre wiki says something else entirely. So I’ve been trying to nail the exact date and came up empty… so we may as well call this the month of Nerd, even though I’m not going spend a whole month celebrating Nerd… this one post and the subsequent video reviews will have to suffice.

Besides, I’d much rather May be the month of Nerd than the day of Star Wars… because at the very least, the chances of a good Nerd episode these days is more likely than whatever crapshoot comes out of the Disney+ camp.

Case in point, the Nerd did post a new episode earlier this week as he plays other Castlevania titles and ponders if they’re better than Super Castlevania IV. I liked the video, it was more reflective and introspective than the usual Nerd stuff, and makes one of the better Nerd episodes that I’ve seen in years. I will certainly preach to the choir and say that it was a far better outing than the last episode where he was reacting to some weird furry hentai game with a horse… what even the fuck was that crap?

Naturally, as is often the case with these things, his conclusion has brought up a bunch of controversy and questioning of James Rolfe’s Castlevania fandom because he prefers [REDACTED] over this and that, to which I say… kindly fuck off. If Rolfe prefers [REDACTED] over your no. 1 pick for greatest Vania EVAR or some bullshit like that, that doesn’t make him any less of a fan than Joe Schmoe hugging their Alucard inflatables while wetting themselves over someone putting their beloved Symphony or Rondo on the [REDACTED] IGA pedestal. I hate to break it to you, but not everyone is going to agree on which Vania is the best. People can enjoy the same things for different reasons and it doesn’t make them any less of a fan of said things because they don’t meet with your lofty standards of fandom.

If you’re offended over someone saying your favorite game isn’t their favorite game or that your best game isn’t their best game… then maybe the problem is with you and not them. Like what you like and let others like what they like. No need to be a c**t about it.

Same thing with the Nerd himself. I feel that his recent stuff isn’t up to the standards of his first few years’ worth of videos, but others could feel differently. I can question why people enjoy that stuff, but I’m not going to begrudge anyone for still following his stuff. If anything, I applaud the man for still maintaining a strong following after all these years. Sure, he has his ups and downs, but the man is still going today after all these years long after his contemporaries had dropped off the face of the Earth. Regardless of what you think of the content as of late, that kind of longevity is to be commended and I tip my hat off to him for lasting as long as he has.

I know some people are expecting some sort of long, drawn-out commemorative essay on the Nerd and his impact and such, but I honestly don’t have much to say about the guy. I don’t watch his content as much as I used to, I’ve sort of moved on from that whole angry reviewing phase unless I’m revisiting old Armake21 videos because those still hold up, and when it comes to influences, I’m more influenced by the likes of Classic Game Room, Ashens, and a couple others than the Nerd himself. With that said, however, the fact that the guy is still going after all this time… again, not everyone tends to last that long doing the same thing over and over. He’s still doing Nerd. He still has a following. And that’s a feather in his cap that no one can take away.

So yeah… happy 20th, AVGN… even though technically you weren’t called that until eighteen years ago, but now we’re arguing semantics… or maybe we’ll just have another anniversary celebration or something. Who knows? Anyway, here’s to another 20 years of bad games.

NFOMO

No fear of missing out on these programs on the Disney+ app that I’m not subscribed to. I’m sure there’s a minute part of me that regrets having subscribed to Paramount+ instead, but at the very least, I’m getting what may very well be the best season of Discovery yet.

(I say this based entirely on the fact that the show hasn’t turned me off and the overarching storyline is at least somewhat interesting. And while I do consider this to be the best of Discovery’s five seasons, it’s still Discovery when all is said and done and thus there are lots of Discovery tropes that annoy me, but I can willfully put up with to see this season through.)

In any event, I’ve had a couple people (for some reason) wonder about the new Doctor Who as well as the X-Men 97 series that supposedly serves as a continuation of the original 90s X-Men cartoon… and I can answer both with the same answer.

I have not seen them.

With Doctor Who, I wasn’t even aware that the season had started, so chances are I may have to give it a watch when I have the chance. As far as X-Men 97 is concerned, that is simply due to a lack of interest. Mostly because I only saw the first couple seasons of X-Men when it first aired, enjoyed it for the most part, and then gave up on it once Power Rangers became the thing to watch… and also, Batman: The Animated Series was also a thing… and also Spider-Man… and eventually, Superman… and… you get the idea.

Hell, I hadn’t even watched anything from the last couple seasons of the show until a few years afterwards, where I had noticed a drastic drop in the overall quality of the animation and it seemed to have suffered from the Captain Planet syndrome of cheap-as-shit animation in the latter years of its run. That said, I have been keeping up with the plot threads going on in that show and given the direction that it took several characters and some of the stories that it’s been aping as of late, let’s just say that I’m in no hurry to get back on that particular bandwagon anytime soon.

The Knuckles “Event”… Eh.

After two Sonic The Hedgehog movies – that I liked – Paramount put out a Knuckles miniseries… oh wait, it’s not a miniseries. It’s an event. Ooh… aah…

Eh…

This is a show less about Knuckles and more about some guy named Wade and his wacky Jewish family… because that’s what I want to see in my miniseries… er, I mean, event… about a giant red echidna who feels out of place and is trying to adjust to life on Earth. I mean, you get some of that here… but it’s more about Wade and his business and… Wade is not that interesting of a character.

Dude, the CG characters are the interesting critters. Those are the critters you’re building this media franchise around, not some schmuck people are going to forget about in ten years time. I want to see Knuckles in a series called Knuckles doing Knuckles stuff. This stuff… this stuff with Wade, this excuse to play every single licensed song under the sun… the bowling tournament… these other schmucks that are poor stand-ins for Knuckles… what even is this?

I’m not saying this is a bad show nor am I saying this is a good show. I’m saying it’s a show I don’t like because I thought I was getting one thing and instead I got another thing… and, well, why am I watching this?

So… yeah… not a fan…

If you have a free trial, don’t waste it on this. There are better things to watch on Paramount+. There’s a bunch of old Ninja Turtles on there you could want if you want all the 80s and 90s nostalgia you can stuff down the marble zone. All of that is better than this.

Hopefully Sonic 3 will be good.

Forever Burnt – The Latest Limited Run Snake Oil Package

Source: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/05/limited-run-games-apologises-for-shipping-3do-games-on-cd-rs

So… yeah… Limited Run… insert rimshot here.

For those who missed the news, some folks ordered limited edition physical releases of classic 3DO game “D” some time ago. And those who got their physical releases (that they probably paid a premium for in the first place) were shocked to discovered that their limited edition new release of “D” for their vintage 3DO game systems were burnt CD-Rs rather than the proper professionally pressed CDs you’d expect from a physical release, especially that which you’re paying a premium for. Yes, the company that is supposedly about game preservation is content with charging you sixty bucks for a CD-R that you could probably make yourself for pennies. Now add insult to injury, most 3DO systems can’t run CD-Rs, so now these poor people who ordered this limited run of reproductions paid x number of dollars for a burnt CD that you could probably make yourself for pennies that won’t even run on your fucking console.

I’ve only purchased one item from Limited Run… that one experience was enough to tell me that they’re not worth the effort and I’ve never been a fan of their practices. Even so, I figured that they would at least TRY to put out a quality product for the prices they’re charging. In an industry that is bullish about piracy and using copy protection methods that end up being detrimental to the people who actually PURCHASE their products, the last thing I would expect is someone with the legitimate credentials of Limited Run to think that it would be a good idea to charge premium prices for fancy packages and burn the actual software on CD-Rs.

I hear that and I’m laughing my ass off. This comes across a joke. Part of me feels sorry for the folks who bought this thing and expected more, but on the flip side, it’s only a matter of time before Limited Run dives deeper into the garbage merchant handbook with other tricks of the trade that people will complain about and eventually accept as a way of life. And if this is the future of physical media in video games… then maybe we’d all be better off in the digital age.

I keep teasing about having this discussion… I feel like I need to sit down and gather my thoughts on this thing… I’ve got other stuff to do first, but… sooner or later… hopefully sooner…

Nintendo Releasing A “Nintendo World Championships” Game

Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/05/nintendo-world-championships-nes-edition-launches-on-switch-in-july

Finally, a non-wrestling post.

So yes, Nintendo is releasing a Nintendo World Championships game, which seems to be a bunch of speedrunner challenges on a variety of NES games. So it’s almost like an NES Remix type of the deal, but more of an emphasis on speed challenges.

I’ve played my share of NES Remix, I liked it, but I don’t need another one like it. I would’ve preferred a release that replicated the experience of those World Championship tournaments, similar to the brief period where reproduction carts of Nintendo World Championships 1990 were a thing, but this is a thing for some folks that will be available for purchase in July.

In the meantime, I’ll hold out hope for Rad Racer to become a thing again… later.

Why Do We Need A Live-Action Scooby Doo Version Of Riverdale?

Source: https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/scooby-doo-live-action-series-netflix-1235985955/

Is the world really clamoring for another live-action take on Scooby Doo… and from the same folks who brought you all those Arrowverse things and presumably also Riverdale, so we can focus more on the relationships between your made-up original characters (DO NOT STEAL!) and less focus on the dog?

Listen, this isn’t so much outrage because that would imply some sort of emotional investment with this franchise, which I don’t have. I’m really wondering if the only reason Scooby Doo still exists is so people can make reboots of the property that people actively hate? This is right up there with all those Mickey Mouse horror movies that popped up as soon as Steamboat Willy went public domain. Who is asking for this stuff?

Oh well… that’s another series I’m probably going to forget is a thing until news of its cancellation comes up. Trust me on this; if I do re-subscribe to Netflix anytime soon, it’ll probably be for Cobra Kai.

Why No Star Wars News?

May The 4th came and went… and apparently, they announced some stuff for new Star Wars streaming shows or something like that. I wouldn’t know. I didn’t check. I didn’t care enough to look it up. So how did I celebrate Star Wars day?

I didn’t.

I spent the morning cooking up lunch, then the afternoon doing some cleaning while the Backlash show was playing in the background, and in the evening, I just did some family stuff before finding time to some quick dubs for future things. Sunday was spent with family dinner, went out for some stuff, and did other things… yeah, not the most exciting weekend, but it kept me occupied and I didn’t have to worry about any upcoming Star Wars news for things that I don’t care about. So if I don’t get excited about the things that you get excited about and this upsets you for some reason… maybe the problem is you and not me.

I don’t need a “Star Wars Day” to celebrate Star Wars or do Star Wars things. I can do Star Wars things any other day and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. There’s no one time of the year where I “need” to watch or do some Star Wars stuff. I can do that stuff whenever. Hell, I might watch Star Wars on Star Trek day… what do you think about that?

Anyway, I don’t know why I was compelled to write this blurb… I should probably tend to the pup.

THE BITE COMMENTARY #01 – The Final Word On McMahon

So, you’re probably wondering why, on the eve of Wrestlemania 40 Weekend, I’ve decided to touch on this dirty piece of business. Well, it’s pretty simple. I just finished my Ramblemania Rewind series where I just rewatched and redid all my Ramblemania musings… and while I’ve enjoyed revisiting these shows, I can’t help but feel that the experience has been somewhat tainted due to the actions of one man. And for the past couple months, I’ve been largely silent on the matter because, well, I want to keep this blog on the upbeat side of things. Talk about things I like, praise the good stuff, poke some fun at the bad stuff, and just generally shoot some breeze.

The focus of this particular post is none of the above. In fact, it is quite deprived. And it is something that has tainted a lot of good memories for me. A lot of good memories regarding a form of entertainment that has been a large part of my life for the better part of three decades. A form of entertainment that was brought to heights of popularity thanks to the vision of one man. A man who has done more to propel this form of entertainment to new heights than any man could hope to achieve. A man whose influence permeates every aspect of this form of entertainment.

A man whose legacy is forever tainted due to recent circumstances.

And I’ve been silent on this issue because, yes, I want to keep maintain some sense of fun on this blog… but also because I simply didn’t have the words. What could I say about this business that hadn’t already been said? What was I feeling about this whole thing? How does this affect a lifetime of memories, of which this man was a part of? I didn’t quite have the words… but eventually, I found a few words. And I wanted to share those words before Wrestlemania 40 took place. And I wanted to

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