If you ask any of my friends, they will tell you that I do my best to finish the hell out of games that I like. If you give these same friends a few pints of beer, or perhaps some money, they will tell you that I also have a crazy imagination and that it gets away from me at times.
Happy April Fool’s Day!
Toronto Thumbs is not actually moving.
It’s hard to pull pranks on people these days, what with everyone being so savvy due to osmosis from being on the internet all the time. I had to try something, though! I actually got the idea from Shaun, who -hopefully- got my e-mail about the previous post.
Toronto Thumbs will remain at its current location, and will continue to bring you news and reviews as best we can. In the hopper are some reviews for God of War III and Pokemon HeartGold, as well as some interesting articles that we’re sure you will like.
Stay tuned!
It’s Saturday night. Adam is playing Deertase 2: Reindeertase and upon finishing each fight, is opening a lot of empty treasure chests.
SHAUN: Wow, you’re getting a lot of empties.
ADAM: Yeah, ’cause you’re a dick!
While browsing through some character art from the upcoming game Rabbids Go Home I came across the above image of two Rabbids. One’s wearing a lacey thong while the other is looking down into its boxers, and I’m not sure which is funnier.
The Rabbids’ sense of humour is at times more than I can handle, but after spending some time looking through the game’s artwork, I’m really looking forward to getting some hands-on time with the game. From what we’ve heard it involves the stealing of stuff to make a pile so that the Rabbids can climb it to reach their home: The Moon.
When asked how they felt about having their home world bombed in an unprovoked attack from NASA today, they replied with this.
Check out our Rabbids Go Home gallery »
On the Team Fortress 2 website, Day 7 of the update hype has revealed that Jarate, once an April Fool’s Day joke, is going to be a reality.
What is Jarate? It’s Jar-Based Karate. While not a substitute for the martial art, it’s apparently an effective tactic in which the Sniper throws a jar of urine that splashes on impact. Enemies hit with it take 35 per cent more damage for a time period, but can wash off the ill effect by jumping into water. But wait! There’s more: Jarate can short out cloaking devices on enemies and put out fires on teammates.
For the record, Jorge predicted this April Fools joke would become a reality in S02E02 of our podcast, and we kinda didn’t believe it could happen. Jorge, we owe you one. Please, put that jar of pee down.
Greetings listeners, er, readers… This is the Manic Gamer! In written form, no less. I would have preferred to deliver another spectacular radio broadcast to you loyal members of the gaming underground, but it seems the ever-sensitive city of Toronto is on full alert, cracking down on the type of offensive game-related anarchy that is disintegrating our culture, which I revel in bringing to you whenever possible. Delicious isn’t it? And since they haven’t caught on to my system of carrier pigeons quite yet, I have found the means to send thoroughly researched but hastily written notes that I’m sure someone at Toronto Thumbs will make semi-legible in time to publish.
And while I’ve got your attention let me pose the question that burns within me today, does anyone remember Chrono Trigger? I mean do you really remember? Do you remember how it brought together that “dream team” of talent from archrivals Square and Enix? And considering what resulted from that experiment, shouldn’t the merger of those two companies have since resulted in a gaming renaissance? But it hasn’t really worked out that way has it? And I for one, felt challenged to find out why.
This is no lie: I yell at cakes at cake boot camp, where I teach.
You may have seen this in the comments last week, but if you didn’t, here’s my take on “Still Alive.” It’s a tribute to what may be my favourite drink from the pop machine here at work:
I’m awfully thirsty
My throat is an awful, parchy mess
It would be great to get me some refreshment!
I’ll check in my pocket,
Perhaps I will have some change to spare
To use inside the pop machine
That’s just a few steps away…
It’s a cold container packed with very cold drinks
And it sits right next to the aluminum sink,
Oh what joy I have a loon,
This is surely a great boon,
I can use it to get FIVE ALIVE….
The Nintendo Entertainment System is the console that revitalized home gaming in the 80s. Get ready to own it again.
As cool as the Virtual Console is, there’s no denying that for all its super emulation, component output, and steady flow of downloadable games, nothing can come close to the feel of the original systems. In particular, I’m talking about the NES.
But there’s good news if you’re among the many who’d love to own a mint condition NES again (or for the first time). For the system’s 25th anniversary (which is July 15, 2008), the Big N will be releasing a “Limited Collector’s Edition” replica of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The console will come with two controllers but as of yet there’s no word on which games will be included.
While part of the reason for the release of this 25th Anniversary console is to commemorate a giant in the gaming world, one can’t help but wonder if Nintendo’s hidden agenda is to help combat the rise in popularity of cheaply-made NES clones.
In its heyday, the Nintendo Entertainment System sold well over 61 million systems worldwide. Unfortunately due to inherent problems with the console’s design, not many of them could withstand repeated use of the front-loading, supposed “zero insertion force” cartridge mechanism. This resulted in undesired wear on the pin connectors: a problem that many tried to solve by blowing on the cartridge contacts.
Nintendo is addressing this problem in the Limited Collector’s Edition by eliminating the press-down part of the cartridge insertion. While this may deter some hardcore old-school gamers, Nintendo’s North American President Reggie Fils-Aime has his own spin on it:
This image just about says it all.
While technically not a Flash game, Off Road Velociraptor Safari is a game you can choose to play in your browser (with the unity web player) or you can run it right from your desktop.
The game involves you playing as a velociraptor while driving around in a Jeep. The object? Do stunts and kill other velociraptors. Sounds ludicrous enough as it is, but there’s more to it. You can kill the poor dinos by running into them or you can pull out a giant spiked ball-and-chain melee weapon and drag their carcasses around after you’ve run through them with it.
For a web game, it certainly boasts some impressive PlayStation One-era graphics and some very cool physics effects, too. Parts of your vehicle fall off with the damage you take, and the raptor carcasses behave realistically enough to make you kind of feel bad for hitting them.
LINK: Off Road Velociraptor Safari
There are over 20 deleted scenes from Professor Layton and the Curious Village hidden somewhere on Toronto Thumbs.
One of the deleted scenes from Professor Layton and the Curious Village has been found! It’s an outtake of one of the conversations Layton and Luke have about a cat playing with a mouse. Check it out!
Local legend has it that there are over 20 such deleted scenes hidden throughout Toronto Thumbs. They’re hidden so well that even we do not know where they are anymore. How did we get ahold of these? No one knows for certain. But in all likelihood, some mischievous staff members might have been bored and decided to make them up. What better way to pay homage to one of the best DS games ever?
Don’t forget to check out our Resident Evil 4/Professor Layton wallpaper and our Layton review, too.
