Splatter in your House

I'll never forget that one morning as I was getting ready for school. I was in the 6th grade... and miserable. Middle school and high school were not happy times for me, and I dragged my feet each morning, watching cartoons before leaving for the day.

I was watching The New Adventures of He-Man when this AWESOME little spot for the TurboGrafx-16 version of Splatterhouse came on, farming all the aura possible. Splatterhouse was a game that felt like an urban legend. Either you'd seen it or you hadn't, and nobody believed you if you said you had.

ME? I'd played it at the Circle K by my grandmother's house and was blown away... and still am to this day. It's wild they allowed a game like this to happen at the time, and this particular version got some pretty crazy edits to play it safe. Still, I mentally default to this versions red horror mask whenever I think of the game.

It's the perfect way to spend an evening during the spooky season.

This Was Supposed to Be About Xevious

I'm admittedly on a bit of an Atari 7800 bender lately. You'll have to excuse me. I like the system and tend to ride it out wild hairs.

Xevious has actually been on my mind quite a bit over the past few months. I've been really enjoying Shadow Labyrinth (which reminds me... I need to get back to playing it), and since that game not only features Namco characters but actually takes place in the Xevious universe, it's gotten me thinking about it again.

While I've probably spent more time with the NES version than any other release, it's impossible to ignore the Atari 7800 port. It was one of the system's big launch titles, thanks once again to Atari's close relationship with Namco. Atari even published the arcade version here in the United States.

For years, I honestly assumed Namco had programmed the 7800 version themselves.

Much like last week's Ikari Warriors post, I decided to do a little digging.

Nope.

It was actually developed by General Computer Corporation—the same folks responsible for Ms. Pac-Man.

For some reason, I'd always assumed the 7800 version was adapted from a home computer release. Thinking about it, that's a feeling I get from a lot of Atari 7800 games. They're obviously console games, but they have this unmistakable home computer vibe to them.

I know that probably sounds a little ridiculous.

But consider Atari during the 1980s. They weren't just a console company—they were heavily invested in home computers. The Atari XEGS was essentially a repackaged computer, and the 5200 itself evolved from Atari's 8-bit computer architecture.

Really, a lot of the line between home computers and game consoles was blurrier than people remember.

The ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 were close enough in hardware that software often jumped between them with relatively little effort. Some consoles even had optional computer expansion kits.

Honestly, I think that idea deserved a bigger push.

If manufacturers had done more to market consoles as an affordable stepping stone into home computing, I think a lot more working-class families would have adopted computers much earlier.

Of course...

That probably would've upset the same gatekeepers who spent the '90s telling everyone they were idiots for using AOL because it made getting online too easy.

Oh yeah, Xevious is pretty good.

Godzilla 1954 [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

While I've certainly enjoyed Playmates kaiju offerings, Bandai's sofubi returning to US shelves is reason to celebrate around here. Godzilla Monster Series is a wonderful line of kaiju toys in a form factor that I vastly prefer and the 5" scale is absolutely perfect. These figures can really take up some room (the tails alone... ) and no detail is lost at the slightly smaller size. Not to mention... I like smaller toys. They're priced fairly too, I've been seeing them from $12 to $15 at retail. 

Some online stores are charging more, so choose where you buy these wisely. Of course the older, larger figures were only $10 a few years ago... "sigh". This is classic Godzilla as he appeared in the original 1954 movie. It's 5 inches tall with 5 points of articulation in the shoulders, hips, and tail. The colors are great. I've always loved that darker, muted shade of green. Sculpting is really well done with appreciated attention to detail. It's always great to see a Bandai Godzilla figure on a shelf and I'm elated for their return after a long absence. Nature is healing.

Xexious Promotional Video

Xevious is one of those games I wish I was good at. I can generally get a few minutes in before giving up. Sure, if I practiced more, I would probably get better and when I was younger did just that. I'd play these games over and over until I got somewhat decent and could get pretty far. Unfortunately a game like Xevious is like a martial art, you've got to keep at it or the skills will fade away. The game was originally released by Namco in Japan before Atari released it here in the states. Atari and Namco had a working relationship back then which lead to kids like myself not knowing they were different companies initially. I recently discovered this little video produced by Atari when they were introducing the game to arcades. It's a fun little look into Xevious's backstory and game play from back in the day. It's hard not to appreciate these older promotional videos these days.

Mobile Egg Gundam

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see the new Mobile Change Haro toys on Bandai Namco Play's Facebook page. In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, they're various Mobile Suits that transform in Haro's. Putting it into even simpler terms, they're egg bots. The Mobile Suits are pleasantly small and cute, almost Super Deformed. For such a silly toy, it's very welcome. They're up for pre-order on Amazon with a shipping date of 10/17/22. Just like the new series of Gundam Infinity figures, I'm assuming (hoping) they'll be showing up at Target stores soon. These little bots are too full of charm to ignore... and I may have a thing or two for egg bots.

Spatterhouse

Sometimes when I think about things I want, but will probably never have, one of those is Splatterhouse toys. If they ever did it would probably work into the PS3/Xbox360 game and not the classic series. Not that there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, I guess. Just my Splatterhouse fandom is for the old 16 bit games and that's the things I specifically would want. Sofubi, pvc, or even good old action figures. Man, would it be great.

Lupinranger vs Pataranger Switch game trailer

It's not getting released here, which is a shame because I could be that happy kid.

Splatterhouse PC Engine commercial

Splatter House comes to Turbo Grafx 16