YPB: Vidya Game News – June 30, 2016

- The Nintendo 64 turned 20 last week, which led to retrospectives from plenty of places, like Nerdist and Tech Insider.

- The fine folks at Shmuplations are dong the lord’s work, as they’ve unearthed an old interview from developers on Super Mario Kart. You can read it here.

- The new Toejam and Earl game has gotten more funding, and it’ll see a console release! Read more about it in a piece by Brandon Orselli from Niche Gamer. And, check out our episode on the original!

- RZA will be doing some music inspired by old Atari games, which actually sounds kind of cool. Read more on Billboard here.

- Good news, everyone! Adventures of Mana, a 3D remake of the old Game Boy game Final Fantasy Adventure, is now out for the Vita. Read the release from Sony here. It’s the first game in the Secret of Mana series, which we covered in the past.

- From MCV, via Famitsu, the new Harvest Moon game for the 3DS is #1 on the Japanese sales chart. It’s scheduled to come out in America at some point in 2017.

- It’s short notice, but Nintendo is hosting a festival in Montreal this weekend! For more details, go here. And if you’d like to head Down Undah, there is an 8-bit festival in Melbourne later in July, according to Time Out Melbourne.

- Yougurtland is partnering with Nintendo.

- A Final Fantasy VII version of Monopoly is coming out in April 2017. It’s by Merchoid, and you can read more on Examiner.com here.

- A Kickstarter campaign has been launched for a “complete remake” of System Shock. Read more on the project page here.

- The producer of the Tetris movie now claims it’ll be a three-movie series! Yikes. Read more on Empire.

- The Angry Video Game Nerd re-visits Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES, 10 years after he first covered it. Check out the video here. For James and Mike Mondays, they played Alex Kidd in Miracle World.

ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…

- Star Fox 64 came out this day in 1997. And hey, we reviewed it! Check out our show here.

- On June 29 in 2000, Icewind Dale by Black Isle Studios was released by Interplay. It was a well-reviewed game based on Dungeons and Dragons.

- In 1996, Bruce Jenner’s World Class Decathlon came out for the PC. It was 20 years ago Jenner won a gold medal in the decathlon, so, that was kind of weird.

Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Inexplicable TV Review: American Dad, somehow the best MacFarlane project

The Smith family.

I’ve always had a soft spot for American Dad, the animated show that was Seth MacFarlane’s first sort of spin-off after the (eventual) success of Family Guy. But while I loved the initial pilot episode, with the world’s oldest dog, it sometimes slips from my attention, and then I scramble to catch up on episodes.

Unlike Family Guy, which has gotten more disgusting as its gone on, American Dad has mostly stayed at the same “ew” factor. Yes, there are lowlights, like when Roger decides he has to go live in the South to become a real country singer. But for the most part, the show stays focused on the Smith family’s exploits in the D.C. area.

It’s interesting how the two shows have developed. Family Guy is almost nihilistic in its pursuit of gags and jokes. There’s little continuity from episode to episode, and things just get more crude and “shocking” as time goes on.

The problem I’m alluding to from the quote usage there is that because you know the show is going to go for the most horrible thing, it’s seldom surprising when they actually do it. Family Guy has also shifted away from the experimental vibe it has a few years ago, when it was doing bottle episodes and murder mysteries. (By the way, it makes me feel old that I’ve been writing about this show on-and-off for six god damn years. Holy hell.)

American Dad has essentially slotted into the role that The Cleveland Show used to take, a show that I liked. There is just a bit more of a focus on character development vs. gross-out gags. It probably helps that American Dad is now on TBS, which cares a little bit less about ratings than a traditional broadcast network like FOX.

One trait from Family Guy that is still used strongly on American Dad though – unusual voice acting choices. You wouldn’t expect Patrick Stewart to be on this show, but he’s always great as CIA director Bullock, and they get him to say some ridiculous things. Then again, he was also great on Extras.

Want to support Steve’s blogging? Then purchase something via the Amazon clickthru link for Your Parents Basement, Steve’s other project! To read all of Steve’s past Inexplicable Movie Reviews, click here! For Inexplicable TV Reviews, click here! For Inexplicable Video Game Reviews, click here! And for Inexplicable Book Reviews, go here!

Steveats: BK finally hits orange gold with Cheetos

Debuting a new, semi-regular feature! I tryout questionable food items so that you don’t have to in… Steveats. (Note: Title developed in about 10 seconds of brainstorming.)

It only took Burger more than a year of disgusting tinkering, but they finally stumbled upon a golden vein of fast food deliciousness, thanks to stealing / borrowing concepts from other disgusting food companies. The Mac n’ Cheetos are pretty friggin’ delicious and exactly what you’d expect.

I’m not even someone who enjoys Cheetos, but I’ll admit

that I came into this item with high hopes because it’s basically copying the format from the Taco Bell and Doritos mash-ups. I don’t really like Doritos either, but the Cool Ranch taco shell offerings at Taco Bell are excellent “fuck it, I’m hungry and want something bad for me” foods.

Likewise, the Mac n’ Cheetos just use the snack item as a thin crust for the macaroni and cheese. According to the Burger King website, they’re put into the fryer, but the bites didn’t really taste all that deep fried to me. They are also not nearly as gooey and creamy as the promo pictures would

have you believe, but in actuality, this is a good thing, because it makes them way more edible.

Let me be clear – These aren’t the next great fast food item. You only get five of them for $2.50ish, and they’re strictly a side item, as they wouldn’t let me add fries and a drink. However, they’re pretty perfect as Drunk Food, or as the proverbial Extra Item when getting a value meal, and you feel the need to make sure your stomach REALLY hates you the next day.

This is supposed to be a limited time item, but much like the Doritos-Taco Bell tacos, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Mac n’ Cheetos stays on the menu permanently. They’re also “only” 310

calories, according to the Burger King menu item info, so it won’t completely tank your calorie intake for the day to give them a try. Again though, this is probably something that you’ll know you’ll like or hate just from the name and description.

Want to support Steve’s blogging? Then purchase something via the Amazon clickthru link for Your Parents Basement, Steve’s other project! If you have a request for a future Steveats, leave it in the comments on here or on my Facebook. To check out some of the past Steveats, go here!