Welcome to the 2011 Famicomblog Famicom Awards, where we recognize a bunch of stupid, offensive, confusing and ridiculous Famicom stuff and the lady on the cover of "Great Deal" gives them awards.Enough with the lengthy introductions, on to the awards themselves, in no particular order:
Category: Breaking the "Don't Make a Video Game About Bio Monsters that is named after Jesus" taboo.
Winner: Jesus Kyofu no Bio Monster
Comment: Jesus.
Category: Centering your game on 80s Heavy Metal BandWinner: Seikimatsu II: Akuma no Gyakushuu.
Comment: This is awesome on more levels than I can count.
Category: "Bro, full frontal nudity!! Seriously dudes, check this out! Awesoooooooome."Winner: Kujaku Ou II
Comment: Seriously, bro, high five! Whoo yeah! Toss me a brewski!
Category: Gratuitous and massively inappropriate use of Nazi imagery on game cover.Winner: (tie) Hitler no Fukkatsu and Sabaku no Kitsume
Comment: These are probably the biggest fails in Famicom history. Just having these games makes me feel uncomfortable. Which is a shame, because they are good games. Normally I don't feel comfortable with criticizing Japanese culture, but the casual and insensitive use of Nazi imagery that one regularly encounters here is a true embarrassment to this country. Just a few days ago one of the biggest pop bands in Japan appeared on MTV dressed as Nazis with no apparent appreciation for how offensive it was. The fact that I only found out about the incident through the foreign media and never saw a word about the incident in the mainstream Japanese press also speaks volumes. But I'm getting off topic here....
Category: Successfully resisting the urge to put David Hasselhoff on the cover of your Knight Rider gameWinner: Knight Rider
Comment: Just Kit, no David.
Category: Introducing redneck, in-your-face white trash Americana to a Japanese audienceWinner: WWF Wrestle Mania Challenge.
Comment: None needed.
Category: Making racist-sounding video games by putting "super" in front of name of ethnic group and making that the title of your game.Winner: (tie) Super Chinese and Super Arabian.
Comment: (rolls eyes and shakes head in exasperation).
Category: Ruining game by putting stupid kid on cover.Winner: Kakefu Kun no Jump Tengoku
Comment: I do not like this kid.
Category: Best display of 80s fashion crimes on game cover.Winner: (tie) TM network Live in PowerBowl, Mottomo Abunai Keiji
Comment: Hey, the pirate shirt from Seinfeld.
Category: Creepy coverWinner: Kyonshizu 2
Comment: Live photography was not a good choice for this cover.
Category: Making a game that kind of looks like a girl game, but then it, like, has the name written in these Heavy Metal type letters so it looks kind of, like, hardcore or something, but then, like its got like these fairies on it so, like, I don't know, its kind of like, confusing or whatever.Winner: Hydlide Special
Comment: Like, what is it, like, a girl game, or like a boy game or what?
Whoa, the creepy cover wins the overall prize in my book. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is pretty creepy, isn't it? Not a very good game either.
ReplyDeleteHaha, that was an awesome post, highly chortlesome! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! There are probably some other weird Famicom games out there I'll have to review sometime:)
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, Hydlide shouldn't be for ANYONE. I'll respect it for what it did to bring JRPGs popularity and prestige back in the day (in Japan, not America), but it did NOT age well. I like Virtual Hydlide on the Saturn though... not great, but not bad either.
ReplyDeleteI plugged it in for a couple minutes to see what it was, didn't like it, and that was the end of my Hydlide experience:)
ReplyDeleteIt is, however, one of the most common Famicom carts out there. Nobody seems to want one. Pretty much any time you buy a lot of carts, you are certain to get at least one copy of this game in it.
You shouldn't be upset about the titles "Super Chinese" and "Super Arabian", this type of wordplay is not at all racist or xenophobic, though your western mind cannot process it as anything else. You don't think Captain America is a racist notion, do you?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteRelieved to know that it is all in my head. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete