#:: also . actually using anime icons perhaps? i like how he looks this season plus its like 3 new smiles to add to the collection

[distrxst]

pride month giyuu GONE FOREVER

[attract-mode-collective]

Back When YouTube Superstardom Simply Required A Giant Earthbound Cartridge Costume

So yeah, Christmas is here, which also means that New Year is just around the corner… thank God.

Considering how have happy memories from the year 2017 is so few and far between, how about one from 2007? Back when being a viral sensation on YouTube simply involved rapping in the middle of a parking lot, while dressed upon as an Earthbound cart.

Ah, such innocent times. How they are sorely missed.

Back to the here and now; this particular holiday is all about coming together, even if it means putting aside our differences, with the hope that some form of common ground can be found. Which in turn may become a basis of a long-lasting relationship.

That’s basically the message I get from this old Rez ad, circa 2001; the PS2 version was their first third party release (via shmups)…

Speaking of the Dreamcast; that recently posted concept video for a third Jet Set Radio that never materialized has gotten me to revisit the original (via kazucrash)…

Here’s a JSR illustration that’s totally new to me (and I’d like that I’ve seen every last bit of officially imagery, though I will admit that I haven’t dug as a deep a hole as I have for Gradius; via sixteen-bit), so perhaps it’s new to you as well?

Another game that deep dives into Japanese urban youth culture is The World Ends With You, and syncopatedid tried doing a side-by-side comparison of the in-game locales with their IRL counterparts not long after the release. There was a two year difference, so not that much had changed…

Meanwhile, in Russia, fgsshinyhoard explains: “Samus Aran amiibos can open the ticket barriers of Moscow Vyacheslav train station, without needing a ticket. This is due to an oddly specific RFID in the amiibo that just syncs up correctly enough to the train station’s own reader…”

Though back to the streets of Japan… well, more like the rooftops… and back to the Dreamcast; here we have my fave part of Project Justice (via kazucrash once again)…

Meanwhile, in another high school, a whole other battle is about to take place (via lunaticobscurity)…

Seriously, there is no better mix than Japanese video games and Japanese high school girls, both circa the 80s (via charliecoffin)…

Last time we saw the now iconic Super Famicom box art reemerge as a sweatshirt from King of Games, though you can apparently purchase a few Ronnie Araya’s designs, which applies the same approach toward a variety of other hardware, on shirts as well…

On a related note, here’s what the Super Famicom looks like, x-rayed (via tvgame)…

And here’s an inside look at the instruction for T&C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage (via thevideogameartarchive)...

Sticking with sports, I wonder what the rejected shots of these two English football players, getting chummy with a Game Gear, looks like (via sonicthehedgeblog)…

I too would like to say congratulations to Dr. Robotnik (that’s actually a pic of “Britain’s most notorious prisoner”, Charles Bronson, who just got married; via saintdane05)…

And here’s Dr. Eggman trying to slim down before his wedding day, btw (via muffin-expert)…

Back to the Dreamcast once more; I for one could not have been more disappointed with its version of KOF 99, due to its polygonal backgrounds. Cuz but as kazucrash demonstrates (oddly enough, given his super positive portrayal of the DC), the sprite work was positively insane…

Before King of Fighters, there was Fatal Fury Special, and this bit of nuttiness (via rhade-zapan)…

Sticking with fighting games, thewaragainstgiygas presents a #OnePerfectShot of Ready Player One…

Apparently Godzilla has hit boxes, at least according to hitboxesonstockimages…

In response to this picture that was hung sideways in McDoanlads...

... we have the following response from hinaofficial…

The following is a perfect example of why gamingtranscribed is my new fave tumblr…

I will never grow tired of this sight gag (via bluephobos)…

Courtesy of videogamesdensetsu comes a curious example of a fake game preceding a very real thing. Which in this case, is the concept of super deformed Street Fighters going at it…

Meanwhile, oldgamemags recently posted a letter that appeared in the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly that I can clearly recollect…

Speaking of Pikachu (via haebane)…

Another fave blog of mine is dedicated to the town of Scarfolk, in North West England, and I could not have been happier to see video games make an appearance earlier this year…

At the end of the day, when all is said and done, no matter how cute the denizens of Animal Crossing might be, they are still filthy animals (via hellomathieu)…

Whereas Kat from Gravity Rush manages to make her dwelling, which is down in the filthy sewer, not only clean & tidy, but also cosy & appealing (as evayoblog also notes)…

If the following gif from prostheticknowledge doesn’t convince you to contribute to their Patreon, then I don’t know what else to say…

You know, it just dawned on me that the Super Fami driven cover of Last Christmas that I posted… well, last Christmas… was published the day before George Michaels’s death…

Which ride do you prefer? This super deluxe Ridge Racer set-up (via peazy86)…

Or this truck with the Legend of Zelda inspired paint job plus mud flaps (via retrogamerblog)…

So yeah, I never really gave Final Fantasy 7 much of fair shake. Was never all that interested to be honest. That was, until I saw these gifs (via ethernalium)…

I will never pass the opportunity to post video game related Archie image (via arcadezen)…

2017 will always be the year that finally gave us a Goemon & Ebisumaru X Beavis & Butt-Head (via midnitesurprise)…

Time for yet another friendly reminder to jump on that Fire Pro train if you haven’t done so already (via shadgandel)…

And time for yet another friendly reminder of bat-sh*t bonkers professional wrestling was during the late 90s (via n64thstreet)…

It may not play nearly as well as the games it helped to pave the way for, yet the importance of Pro Wrestling for the Famicom cannot be overstated. At least its commercial has aged like fine wine (via charliecoffin yet again)…

And back to shmups; this holiday season I made a bunch of RetroPies for a client, so he could give them away as Christmas presents (since SNES Classics are still in short supply). And the one game I try out first is MUSHA…

Though I will also play some other game at random, which is how I recently came across Majyūō: King of Demons. It’s definitely recommended (via bizarrobrain)…

titleknown asks: “So, FromSoftware Muppet game when?”

As part of my continued effort to play something Christmas related this time of year, something other than Christmas NiGHTS, I finally have something new! And yes, am late to the Boogie Wings party, but I guess that’s what I get for not following games-are-art closely…

For those of you reading this who are still in the midst of holiday travel, I have to ask: see anything comparable this (via geekybasket)?

If you happened to get a Wacom tablet this year, and you also have a copy of Okami HD, a FYI (via goldenserker)…

Now, if you didn’t get what you wanted, you can always hunt whatever down on eBay, Though I recommend Japanese sellers only; aside from the fact that their used games are on par with factory fresh here in the US, they’e also super friendly and will often include handwritten notes plus other goodies (via tangobunny)…

But if you do get something, and I’m talking about a game that’s on a cartridge, I would recommend not blowing on it. Unless you live in a post nuclear wasteland, where there’s sand everywhere, like in the world of Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star (via charliecoffin one last time)…

And if you happened to have gotten every game you wanted, great! Just don’t over do it (via relatablepicturesoflisasimpson)…

I began this post with an Earthbound/Mother related vid, and I may as well end with one as well. Take it away SilvaGunner…

[UPDATE: 12/25/17] Alright, it’s 11:15PM EST, which means less than an hour to go before Xmas ‘17 is finally done & over with. But this other SiIvaGunner Christmas medley is simply too damn good to sit on till Xmas ‘18…

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.

[brokehorrorfan]

Interview: Ted Raimi (Ash vs Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Darkness Rising)

Cult actor Ted Raimi discusses his new film, Darkness Rising, which hits select theaters and VOD on June 30. He also talks about the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead II and his recent return to that universe on Ash vs Evil Dead. Perhaps most exciting, Raimi reveals exclusive details about his upcoming feature directorial debut, a psychological horror film titled The Seventh Floor.

Can you begin by telling us a little bit about Darkness Rising and how you got involved?

Darkness Rising was a good script. A friend of mine, Austin Reading, directed it. We've worked together in the past on a few things, and he’s a good director. He asked me to do a cameo in it. Normally I don't do those, but I really liked the script, and I like Austin's directorial style too, so I said yes. It's a good, spooky haunted house movie. There's a lot of those, but I think this one's unique. The cameo that I do is a period piece, so that made it doubly interesting.

I'm sure you get approached for horror movies all the time. What attracts you to a particular project?

Any number of things. Artistically, if it's something that hasn't really been done before. Haunted houses are certainly nothing new, but it's how this one approached that was very original and great. Typically, if they're not friends handing my scripts like Austin did, they need to get you on a scary level that is a genuine fright. Cheap scares are easy. Monsters popping out of the darkness is a simple thing to do. Jacques Tourneur, this American director who pioneered that, has been imitated so many times we've forgotten where it originally came from.

That said, things that really scare me I love to consider. For example, one of my favorite horror moments of all time is in a movie that is mostly terrible: The Amityville Horror. It's a dreadful movie; I'm not a fan of it. But there's a scene where the guy who wants to buy the house goes to the bank and get gets like $78,000 in cash - remember, this is the '70s - and he puts it in the library. He walks next door to talk to the owner and says, "I'm ready to make you an offer." Then he walks into the other room and the money is gone. That is absolutely frightful. Your whole life is gone. Your family is in trouble. That's true terror. If scripts can approach something in that manner, that excites me.

You appeared on Ash vs Evil Dead last season. How did it feel to return to the Evil Dead universe after all these years?

It was fantastic! It was like a high school reunion, but with new kids that I hadn't met yet. All my old pals were there - Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless and a lot of the crew and the producer, Robert Tapert - but then there's these new guys, played by Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo. Those guys are just tremendous! They're like the next generation of Ash. It was great to work with everybody. And I got to put the monster suit back on, for better and for worse, as well playing Chet Kaminski.

What was it like to get back in that Possessed Henrietta costume?

Trepidatious, but glad I did it! There's a new team in New Zealand that recreated Mark Shostrom's amazing original creation along with the guys from KNB special effects. They did a good job. It was challenging. It was still just as hard as it was 30 years ago, but I'm glad I did it. It turned out good, and we had a good time making it. Bruce and I were there again, 30 years later. It was the weirdest deja vu. The cabin was the same, we were in the same costumes. It was like we had gone forward in time 30 years. Usually you want to go back, but we went forward. It was weird!

Was it strange to be on an Evil Dead set without your brother Sam Raimi in the director's chair?

No, not at all. It's still his vision, but now there's new directors that have their own vision to add to it. It makes it very refreshing.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead II, which remains one of the best horror sequels of all time. How do you feel reflecting back on that time in your life?

Good! That was my Screen Actors Guild card intro. In those days, you had to have a line in a feature film that was also Screen Actors Guild, so I agreed to do that movie. I thought, "This will be an easy way to get my SAG card." But it was, in fact, that hardest way I could have ever done it. It was the equivalent of, say, there's a train that goes underneath the Alps from Italy to Austria. You can take this train. Alternately, you can hike the Alps all by yourself in bare feet. And I went, "Oh, I guess hiking the Alps in bare feet must be the way to go!" So that was that.

You voiced two characters on Buddy Thunderstruck for Netflix. What was that experience like?

It was great. Those guys at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios are terrific, immensely talented. That show was written by a guy named Tom Krajewski, who really wrote some fine episodes and very funny dialogue. It was great, because it’s stop-motion animation and all done in Burbank, California. Normally, these days cartoons are all outsourced to India, China, places like that, but this was done frame-by-frame in Burbank, just like Disney used to do in the '20s. It was cool. I really felt like I was working on something iconic. I thought it turned out very good.

Plus, it's nice to do something that's kids-friendly for once in my life. Usually, everything I do you can't show kids - except for maybe a couple of Spider-Man movies, and even those are a little scary for the young ones. I've got cousins and nieces and nephews that can actually watch something I did, as opposed to, "Well, when you're a little older, you can watch Uncle Ted's stuff!" [laughs]

I know it's early, but have you heard anything about a second season of the show?

I haven't yet, but Netflix is very, very quiet about their shows. We can't get a peep out of them. I think it has something to do with how they aggregate their ratings; I don't really understand it. I have not heard anything, but it certainly seems to be a popular show. Fans approach me about it when I go to conventions. It was a lot of fun. I was very grateful to have done that. It's nice to not shave and get in a booth and drink coffee and do your lines. It's incredible that you don't have to go to set and do all that stuff. It was fun.

As someone with your longevity in the industry, do you have any advice for upcoming filmmakers or actors?

Always try to make the make the greatest movie you possibly can. Don't make an okay movie just to make a movie. There's enough crap out there, and your movie will get lost, and you will be known as a mediocre filmmaker. Make the greatest movie you can. If it falls flat on its face, well, at least you tried.

One other piece advice: don't ever try to be a cult filmmaker or cult actor. The audience decides that for you. There's nothing you can do about that. A lot of people have tried to be a cult actor but failed in one way or another. Some actors desperately try to be as strange and as outlandish as possible. It's not that they're bad actors, but it's not up to you. I tried to do the best I could, thinking I was a pretty straight-ahead actor, and all of a sudden I was a cult actor and doing conventions and all that.

Speaking of conventions, what are those like from your perspective?

It's a wonderful thing. You get to meet fans. When you do movies and especially television, which I've done so much of, the best you can hope for is to sit in your living room with some of your friends, drinking booze and having a laugh, and then it's all over and everyone goes home. But when you go to conventions, you get to meet the thousands of fans that go to these things, and you say, "Oh, my God! All you guys watch it, too? That's awesome!" And I'm a fan myself. Most actors go to those things I think because they have to, but on the last day I'm there I'll close up shop early from shaking hands and doing panels and stuff, and I'll go walk to the floor. I love to see all the cool stuff, because I really love horror.

Are there any celebrities who you were really excited to meet at a convention?

Are you kidding? Yeah! I don't really care about autographs personally, but I've met some icons. I just met Dario Argento. It was insane meeting him. When he was alive, I met Jonathan Harris. I used to watch re-runs of Lost of Space when I was kid, and Jonathan Harris played Dr. Smith. He was awesome, an old Shakespearean actor. Also Malcolm McDowell and other guys who I always loved as a kid, thinking, "I'll never meet him," but I've finally met them all. They were were awesome and great inspirations. Also a lot of directors, like Dario and John Carpenter, who I first met at a convention and have since spoken to many times. It's a wonderful thing. And now I'm one of them! These young actors go, "I've seen you in so many things since I was a little kid!" So I guess I'm like one of those guys I used to admire when I was kid. It comes around, and that's a good thing.

You've worked with so many great filmmakers - not only Sam, but also the likes of Wes Craven, Bernard Rose, William Lustig, Takashi Shimizu, to name a few - and I know you've done some shorts of your own. Have you ever thought of directing a feature?

Yes, I'm directing my first feature this year, as a matter of fact. It's called The Seventh Floor. Veva Entertainment is producing it, and we're pre-pro now. We don't start shooting until September, at the moment. It's a thriller. I can't tell you what it's about, but it's psychological horror. I'm very excited about that. It's not traditional horror; there's no monsters or zombies or anything like that. It's more in your head.

And this year I created a campaign for the Starz network, which was a really wild experience. If you look online, it's called the Shemps Beer ad campaign. I created it when I was shooting Ash vs Evil Dead, so it was wonderful. Rob Tapert gave me a nice chance to work with Starz, so I made this for their online presence. It was really fun. I didn't know I'd also like advertising. It's the same old story that motivational speakers always tell, but it's kind of great. Somebody says to a kid, "You like playing the trombone?" Kid says, "I don't know, I never tired it." So I tried to be an ad man, and I wound up really like it. It’s odd.

I know you can't give away any details, but are there any particular films or directors you're drawing inspiration from before you get behind the camera on your first feature?

For this one, Roman Polanski and Dario Argento. Both of those guys are incredibly influential; Roman Polanski for his ability to build tension where there seemingly is none, and Dario Argento for his filmmaking style and the speed at which the action happens. It's unbelievable. I've studied them to get a sense of it. I'm also heavily inspired by David Cronenberg. He for the same reason that I like Polanski. He's able to create such amazing moments where there is no action, but you sense a palpable tension.

If you think of Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly, you think about Jeff Goldblum transmogrifying into the insect. But if you watch the first act, there's a scene that lasts about 10 minutes where Jeff Goldblum is talking to Geena Davis in his laboratory, which is in this warehouse. Nothing happens. There's just dialogue, and yet there's something so fearful about the whole thing. It's the greatest magic trick any director has ever done. I don't know he did it. There's no spooky music or spooky camera moves, and yet it's absolutely frightening. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I've watched that first act probably six times trying to get it, but I can't. If I can recreate that to some degree, I'll be a very lucky director.

I have to say, I was excited to learn that you're getting behind the camera, but to hear you mention Polanski, Argento, and Cronenberg as influences, I really can't wait to see it.

Thank you! That's a nice compliment. You really seem to know your stuff! You really did your research.

Do you have any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?

No, just that movie. It's keeping me very busy. That, and a pipe broke in backyard, so I've got to take care of that. That's on a personal nightmare note. [laughs] Normal crap happens to Hollywood people too, just in case anyone's wondering! Fans think it's funny. They see you on TV a thousand times, and they don't know that you also go to Trader Joe's and 7-Eleven. They're like, "You do?" And I'm like, "Yeah, do you think everything magically appears in my house?" Nope! [laughs]