Play Defender In The Weirdest Location

Using a rather clever browser hack, someone's programmed a playable Defender clone into a favicon. If you don't know what a favicon is, it's that little 16 by 16 pixel graphic that appears in address bars and browser tabs. See that pink and chartreuse "K" up there? That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

And if you don't know what Defender is, it's a classic sidescrolling arcade shooter released in 1980. Head on over to the Defender of the Favicon site to check it out. Won't take but a minute and fellow web developer types might just get a kick out of it.

Defender of the Favicon

Ex Journey Frontman Says Journey Arcade Game Was "Dumb"

As a wee lad, I thought the Journey arcade game was just shy of the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Not only did the Midway game feature eye-melting digitized black and white graphics, it had a cassette player inside that played "Separate Ways" when you beat the game's five levels. Plus you were in space. Space! I was pretty easy to please back then.

One individual who didn't think quite so highly of the Journey arcade game was Steve Perry, former vocalist of Journey. He says he was against it from the get go, in a not exactly new interview with GQ magazine.

Sony's Retro Cell Phone Gaming Campaign

In Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment is launching a special iMode cell phone site that allows users to download classic PlayStation titles for their mobiles. Dubbed "PlayStation Masterpiece Appli Special Campaign", the limited time dealio runs from July 3rd to September 30th for the following games: RPG Arc the Lad, dice game XI[sai]DX and puzzle game I.Q. Intelligent Cube. Those who are members of Sony's iMode site can download the games for 0 points to boot! (The monthly fee is ¥315 or about US$3).

iモード「SCEJ」にて名作アプリが0ポイントで配信開始！ [Dengeki Online]

Preserving Our History: Good Games Never Go Out of Style

Our disturbed friends at Retro Sabotage are all suspender-popping about their 20th sabotage since the site launched shortly before New Year's Eve. Remember, these are flash games that play normally (or close to it) before something goes horribly, comically wrong and beyond your control.

The latest is the "Missile Command Docudrama" although its message is, surprisingly, kind of serious. Tof from Retro Sabotage explained to me in an e-mail: "We wanted an "anti-sabotage" to celebrate the 20th release, and it's kind of a mirror to Mockumentary (though we got mails of people who somehow believed in that one)."

In the past I know we've linked to some of their other clever redos of classic arcade games. The Xevious Autopsy in particular is worth a look, and I think it's new since RetroSabotage last got a mention here.

Missile Command Docudrama [Retro Sabotage]

Roomba Modded Into Pac-Man Awesome

Thanks, Barts!

More Japan Only Games Coming To American Virtual Console

The ESRB spilled the beans on more than just ASH - Archaic Sealed Heat today, as a bunch of new Virtual Console candidates were given ratings for the Wii. A duo originally released only in Japan, Sega/NCS's side-scrolling, Mega Drive-era shooter Gley Lancer and Konami's Famicom platformer Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa have been cleared for North American release, nabbing E10+ and E ratings, respectively.

In addition to those Hanabi Festival-caliber releases, Sega's platformer Alex Kid in Miracle World for the Sega Master System and Jaleco's City Connection for the NES were also rated as Wii VC candidates. In other words, everything you've been asking for from day one!

Nintendo's Famicom, that was a great console. A great console with some crazy peripherals! While our presence was graced with the badass of the Power Glove reached foreign shores, some of the truly nutty ones (like the Coconuts Japan pachinko controller or the JoyBall thing) never did. Just think if we had a shot at the one-handed Ascii Stick controller, developed especially for RPGs, or any of the Hori-produced Famicon controllers! Click the gallery below and imagine.

Famicon Controllers [Controller Hell via Sankaku Complex]

Xbox 360 Looking for the Twister of the 21st Century

Microsoft hasn't forgotten that despite their successes they are still the "challenger brand" in the video game industry, Jeff Bell, Microsoft's corporate vice president of global marketing for Interactive Entertainment Business, told members of the Electronic Gaming Summit today.

After walking the audience through his personal gaming history, which started with Pong in his early teens, Bell talked about gaming generations and how Microsoft works to extend their reach in the industry, reminding the audience that the Xbox is still the new guy in the console wars.

"We are the challenger brand in this category, this is our seventh year really," he said. "We're coming into our eighth holiday, from that stand point we are still the newbie."

Hey! That Doesn't Look Like Jessica Alba

Here they are! Game site GamesRadar has a list of the worst celebrity game renders. And man, there are some doozies. Just check out what Jessica Alba is supposed to look like. Other sad, sad efforts include Bruce Willis, Will Smith and Mark Hamill. Though, not all the renders are bad. Some of them are pretty good! Hit the jump for our favorite.

I've been doing these Wii Virtual Console updates more or less every Monday since they started uploading games to it, and I'll be damned if I'll let a little thing like not actually updating the VC this week because of WiiWare stop me. Since there are no new games for the classic game service coming out this week, let's fill in the space with our imagination! What would your perfect virtual console update look like? Mine would go a little something like this...

Soul Blazer (SNES - 800 Wii Points): Developed by Quintet and published by Enix, Soul Blazer is an action RPG that places you in the shoes of an avatar sent down by a god to restore souls and rebuild towns. The spiritual successor to ActRaiser, and nearly good enough to go toe-to-toe with A Link To The Past.

Tiny Toon Adventures (NES - 600 Wii Points): They're tiny, they're toony, they're all a little loony, and this theme song will be stuck in your head for weeks.

That's all I need. Just those two and I will be set for weeks. How about you folks? Shaq-Fu, anyone?

Classical Gaming: A Roman Retrospective

How cute! We love it when furniture has delusions of gaming hardware. Well, the joke's on us, because this particular coffee table does triple duty, storage gobs of video game paraphernalia and functioning as a working NES controller in addition to its coffee tabling duties. Creator Kyle tipped us off today to let us know the whole thing is finished, with helpful how-to posts and video of the thing in action embedded within the celebratory completion post. He even got a girl to go near it and she doesn't look scared. Nice goin, Kyle!

NES coffee table FINAL POST!! RAH!!!! [Ultra-Awesome]

California-centric label The Hundreds—which has established a rabid fanbase in its few years on the streetwear scene—riffs some Rampage with its Summer line-up. Fans of George, Lizzie and Ralph can now hang with the Fairfax and Rosewood crowd without fear of persecution. Further proof that $30 is not too much for a quality t-shirt! Digital Gravel has it now in three colorways, if you're interested, but expect other boutique retailers to get their shipments soon.

Rampage [Digital Gravel]

This Man Paid $15,000 For A NES Cartridge

I've avoided collecting carts for a while — I always looked at them as a slippery slope, since there are just so many collectible carts out there to get. When I started, I concentrated on systems — I'm up to 130 now.

Gawker points out this neat bit of street art found in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, on 9th Street, earlier this week. Unfortunately, the art has since been removed or snagged by some enterprising street walker.

Flowing Pixels in the East Village [Gawker]

Download EGM #1 In Mint Condition

The first issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly ran back in May of 1989. But even those of us who read it probably don't still have the issue on their nearest coffee table. Now Retromags has gone back in time, stolen some poor kid's reading material and posted it out of spite. Well, that, or they paid a bit too much for an antique issue after months of searching, spent hours retouching any signs of aging in Photoshop and then made it available to us in PDF for free. You can go with whichever version of the story best reaffirms your faith in humanity and the power of the human spirit. We'll be catching up on the latest rumors about Mega Man 2.

Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 001 (May 1989) [Retromags via GnomesLair]

Key Metroid Prime Staffers Leave Retro Studios

According to report from Shacknews, three senior staffers at Metroid Prime series developer Retro Studios have left, described as being "escorted off the premises last Friday." Specifics weren't provided, but Shacknews theorizes that the move could indicate that the trio, which includes Metroid Prime 3 Corruption director Mark Pacini, is planning to set up shop outside the confines of Retro.

Pacini was quoted last summer that the Retro Studios team would be taking a break from all things Metroid, but may not have had any idea how permanent it would be for some. There have been no announcements about the Nintendo-owned, Austin-based studio's next project, but wherever the recently departed wind up maybe they'll get to put some guns on some cars.

Key Metroid Prime Staff Leave Retro Studios [Shacknews]