PixlBit

A part of me isn't surprised. Video games have been an ever-shrinking part of Konami, which owns a chain of successful health clubs, slot machines, and a hugely popular CCG, and I imagine those businesses give Konami a better return on their investment to boot.

Still sad. Konami was right up there with Nintendo and Capcom on the NES, and they were the only third party company worth a damn on N64, when every other Japanese publisher was a no-show. It sucks that the game industry is seemingly being divided between the console makers and a triopoly consisting of three of the blandest, dullest third party companies out there.

Natsume's HM game is actually pretty good, just not as graphically refined as Story of Seasons. Also, Natsume has taken more of a SimCity/Minecraft approach to differentiate their games from the more story- and character-driven Marvelous games. HM: TLV still has all the social stuff though. I'd like to see both approaches continue.

On the AVGN, it's fun seeing all the old games, and honestly, I enjoy his over-the-top ranting and crude antics. They expressed the way I felt about some of those games back in the day. He also worked with Howard Scott Warshaw, the programmer of the infamous Atari 2600 E.T. (and the much better-received Yars' Revenge).

I'd say try making your own YouTube channel. I don't understand phenomena like PewDiePie myself (I find Let's Play videos with commentary annoying for the most part and refuse to watch them, including PDP's) but maybe it's worth giving a shot. You might be the next viral sensation.

The Zelda courses in Mario Kart are cool, and the Nintendo outfits in Bayonetta 2 made me love that game even more. My favorite Nintendo bonus of all time, however, is still Link in the Gamecube version of Soulcalibur 2. MGS: The Twin Snakes also had some neat Nintendo-related content (like Psycho Mantis detecting save files for Nintendo games). I also rather liked the giant Gamecube that appears in the Sylvarant Base in the Gamecube version of Tales of Symphonia.

Yeah, I do too. First fruit snacks that come to mind off the top of my head are Fruit Roll-Ups.

We had fruit snacks when I was a kid, of course, but I preferred chocolate anyway.

Awesomesauce! I was afraid the last game tanked the series for good. Hopefully this is a sign of more RPGs to come.

Keebler sells its own chocolate Thin Mint-like cookies called Grasshoppers. I think Walmart's product is probably meant to be a store-brand product version of those more than anything.

I did skateboarding once in awhile but wasn't great at it. I don't like the sensation of being about to fall or having stuff fall on me. I had enough difficulty handling a kayak when my wife and I went kayaking at La Jolla in San Diego in 2013.

It was my pleasure as an officer and a gentleman, old top. :)

1UP's end was more due to managerial incompetence on the part of Ziff-Davis/UGO/IGN than anything else. The big exodus of 2009 (the UGO buyout and the death of EGM) was the beginning of the end. It marked the exodus of most of the long-time staffers like Shoe, Crispin, and others. Sam Kennedy, Jeremy, and others tried to soldier onward but it wasn't the same.

And to be fair to 1UP, Jeremy did publicly address Mackey's behavior, and I feel it was a sincere effort. The original problem should never have happened, of course. At that time, though, I'm sure they already knew that they plug was being pulled.