Work continues on the site change of 2023. I’ve been moving content around and will be removing it from this site and redirecting it to the new ones once they are in a ready state.
More on that for January.
Below is the December YouTube music playlist.
Weekly Finds
I pull a lot of the items about gaming and movie news here from a number of sources: The Atari Age forums, Retro Indie News, Time Extension, IGN, Retro Hour podcast, Itch.io, Facebook, Twitter, etc. What shows up here will change weekly depending on what I happen to find in the wild. I try to include the original sources in the links.
Embracer closes Free Radical, laying off 80 employees (GamesIndustry.biz)
I use the previous week’s post as a template, and often I (sadly) do not need to change some of the news segments because Embracer is laying off teams and closing studios left and right during their restructuring.
Free Radical Design reportedly closes its doors | GamesIndustry.biz
E3 is Officially Dead (Game Developer)
It’s been a long time coming, but E3 is officially dead.
Hasbro lays of 900 MORE employees (Reuters)
Weak toy sales are killing Hasbro’s workforce. 900 more employees were laid off by the company.
Hasbro to lay off 900 more employees amid weak toy sales | Reuters
Charles Band & Robin Sydney Finally Wed (People)
Sadly, a lot of the “news” I post includes lay offs and other crap that is all-around terrible. So I was pretty happy when I saw that Charles Band and Robin Sydney finally tied the knot. They’ve been together for 15 years. It’s good to have a little good news to share!
Filmmaker Charles Band Marries Actress Robin Sydney (people.com)
Daily Drop Roundup
You can get daily drops in your socials wherever you live. First Facebook link is the the Nostalgia Drop page, and the second is to the group. The group is more fun.
December 10th, 2023
Sly Fox – “Let’s Go All the Way”
Scented Markers
If you never sniffed a scented marker in school, you are either 1) a good little boy or girl who won’t flirt with drugs or 2) a liar. These were such a treat that teachers and parents, worried about the effects of markers getting kids high, tried to ban them from the classroom.
Little Nemo: The Dream Master (1990)
Little Nemo is a surreal dream platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System. As Nemo tries to save Dreamland, he jumps and bumps his way through more and more surreal landscapes!
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Terms of Endearment (1983) is the 30 year story of a sometimes strained relationship of a mother and daughter through adversity and triumph. If you need a good cry, this is a great movie for it.
December 11th, 2023
The Mamas and the Papas – “California Dreamin'”
Glue on Hands
This is one of those “what were we thinking?” things I remember from grade school. Take Elmer’s Glue and cover your hands. Let it dry. And then dare the kids to eat it. Or just let the normal paste-eaters do their thing. At least Tide Pods look tasty. This looked like dead skin.
Mischief Makers (1997)
Mischief Makers (1997) is a platformer for the Nintendo 64 from acclaimed studio Treasure. While known largely for their shooters, they made some excellent platformers like Dynamite Headdy and Gunstar Heroes. Mischief Makers continues that tradition.
The Time Crystal (1981)
The Time Crystal (1981) was my jam as a kid. I wanted to crawl inside of a pyramid and go back in time in full football gear and romance a princess. Well, sans football gear. I had a crush on Olivia Barash (Baket). 8 year old me didn’t realize she was 16 because: Movie Magic.
December 12th, 2023
Real Life – “Send Me an Angel”
Sega Nomad
The Sega/Genesis Nomad was released in 1995 and designed to play Sega Genesis games on the go.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987) was the much less-successful follow-up to the OG tLoZ. The switch to a platformer really rubbed people the wrong way, making it feel like a regression in large, open world console games. I loved it,. It was hella fun, haters be damned.
Firestar (1984)
Real talk: I had a crush on Drew Barrymore as a kid. Pretty much like everyone else. She was right around my age and cool as hell. So when I saw she could start fires with her mind, I was even more smitten. Oh, and I dug Stephen King, too, so that helped.
December 13th, 2023
WAR – “Low Rider”
Be Kind… Please Rewind
The most ignored slogan in history. Well, probably second to “Just Say No.” Be Kind…Please Rewind stickers were plastered all over VHS tapes. And no one ever rewound them…until Blockbuster and Hollywood Video started fining for not hitting rewind.
Jill of the Jungle (1992)
Jill of the Jungle was a 2D side-scrolling platformer by Epic Megagames. You know, the company that prints money with Fortnite? It has been released on GoG.com. It’s a fun little platformer for those who love a look back into early-90s PC games.
Dreams (1990)
Dreams is Akira Kurosawa’s magical anthology that tells stories of childhood, spirituality, art, death, and transgressions against nature. It was the first film in 45 years that he was the sole author of. It was based upon his recurring dreams.
December 14th, 2023
Shocking Blue – Venus
Blockbuster Video
Once upon a time, in a land of distant make believe, there was a place called a video store and it rented boxy video cassettes with movies on them. This magical place also sold expensive microwave popcorn and candy like a movie theater. It was called Blockbuster.
Ninja Gaiden (1988)
Ninja Gaiden (1988) felt like a giant middle finger to the video game rental market. With cool levels, sick ninja moves, and frustrating bosses, it was super cool. And quite hard, but not in a frustrating Battletoads way. Just a hard difficulty way.
Wild at Heart (1990)
Wild at Heart (1990) – Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern are the sanest members of this David Lynch joint. Lula runs off with Sailor and her mom hires weirdos to kill him. As usual, Willem Dafoe pulls off a wildly unhinged character. No one does wonderfully unhinged like Dafoe!
December 15th, 2023
Steppenwolf – “Born to Be Wild”
Chatter Telephone
When a kid hands you the chatter telephone receiver, even the hardest of the hard cases say hello and order tea for their niece’s princess tea party.
Legacy of the Wizard (1987)
Legacy of the Wizard (1987) is part of the Super Chinese series of games, and one of the only ones to make it to America. Using different family members, pathways under the house must be navigated and puzzles solved. Each member has unique abilities to aid in the quest.
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Wes Anderson’s first full-length flick was, as usual, based on a previous short he wrote. It introduced the world to his visual style and pointed prose. Three friends try to stage a robbery… and it goes about as well as expected.
December 16th, 2023
Paul Simon – “You Can Call Me Al”
Iran Contra Scandal
Oliver North and others illegally sold arms to Iran to fund the Contras, and anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua. North’s hottie secretary Fawn Hall was caught shredding documents and smuggling them in her clothes. In 2015, North posed next to a shredder for a Twitter photo.
Super Mario World (1990)
Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo is one of the absolute best 2D Mario games on the planet. And as much as I love Super Mario Bros 3, I have to admit that SMW nudges past it by a hair. Okay, a little more, but that’s mostly because of Yoshi.
Buffalo ’66 (1998)
I remember seeing this kidnapping/family drama in a Boston art theatre with a friend when it came out. We then went to the Littlest Bar and had a drink before seeing a bum giving another one a hummer and screaming “what are you lookin’ at?” That was a good night.
Weekly Tears
Andre Braugher (1962-2023)
Andre Braugher was an actor known for his performances as police officers on Homicide: Life on the Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He was a constant high-point as Captain Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
He passed away on December 11th, 2023.
Shirley Anne Field (1936-2023)
Shirley Anne Field was a British actress known for roles in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Alfie, and Santa Barbara.
She passed away on December 10th, 2023.
Essra Mohawk (1948-2023)
Essra Mohawk was a singer-songwriter who wrote songs for Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Frank Zappa. She sang for Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street.
She passed away on December 11th, 2023.