I think it really REALLY sucks that there are no cartoons on from 2PM to 5PM on network TV. I know that it’s been like 10 years, but it just hit me pretty hard. When Nikoh comes home from school, he’s going to flip on the TV and see Judge Joe Brown. He’ll never know a FOX KIDS CLUB. That breaks my heart. Some of you may know that I am considering going back to television. That rumor is true. TV sucks now. I want to make it better. I was very successful this year in making my place of employment fun again. So much so that they have me an award. That’s right. I’m instructor of the year, homie. I’ve vowed to take on less time consuming projects this year, and have a little more time to myself. Returning to TV is just what the doctor ordered. Want to read into my anger and depression?

Follow this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekday_cartoon

Pretty sad, huh? While I’m not 100% sure when my new show will air, or what time it will be on, it’s going to be great fun.

I found this awesome scan of a FOX KIDS CLUB magazine cover form 1993. It’d be funny to sad it choked me up a bit if it wasn’t so sad. Fun fact: I payed homage to Michael Flannery in an episode of one of my old shows. (sidenote: spellcheck suggested I change Flannery to Flattery) Here it is -

I’ll keep you posted on the show happenings, but for now…I’m going to post things that will maybe make you smile and remember hitting the TV after school.

<3 I love everyone right now. <3

Just wanted to pop in and say, “YOU’RE NO STREET FIGHTER!”

I feel awful today.  I hate when people cry and complain on the internet, so I’m not going to be a hypocrite, but trust me when I say that I am exhausted and spent.  I’ve been doing fine lately.  Everything is going well.  For some reason, today, I just feel…bad.  I have a ton of things to do, and I need a break.  Thankfully, it’s almost the end of the fall teaching quarter, and a winter break is just ahead.  I’m fairly certain no one reads this blog or ever checks in on it, so if I veer into a bit of hypocrisy, no one will ever know or point a finger my way.

(insert rant about poverty in America)

I started to type out a really sad story, but then I removed it.  I have a better idea. BRB

Moved for the 2nd time in one year.  I am so happy to be out of an apartment.  Sure, the drive to work is longer, and the bills are higher, but nothing can compare to having your own house.  We moved to a small town that they’re calling New Richmond.  Maybe some of you have heard of it, but let me be the first to tell you, there is nothing NEW about New Richmond.  I mean that in a good way.

I hate the term “rural”, but I suppose that’s how you could describe my new stomping grounds.  It’s about 10 miles off of the main highway, and there seem to be more deer signs than stop lights.  It’s quiet.  When we were sealing the deal, the landlord made sure that we knew that “just up the road” lies a small shopping center.  Cool.  Not one to let this kind of curiosity linger, we went to check it out.  To my surprise, they had a lot of the same stuff that was just around the corner from our old place.  McDonalds, Gold Star Chili, and Frisch’s Big Boy!  What more could you ask for?

First stop was Big Boy for lunch.  Something was a little off here.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it just seemed…old.  I wasn’t 100% certain if the place hadn’t been remodeled in 20 years, or what the deal was, but something was off.  After sitting down, and talking to Jeni, she agreed that this was not your average Big Boy.  Now, before I tell you what I believe it was that caused this flutter in my brain, I’m still not 100% sure if it is the sole reason.  You just have to eat here and experience it for yourself.  Anyway, the place was COVERED with Halloween decorations.  Not just a few spider webs here and there, I’m talking full blown party time.  Your probably thinking I should have figured this out right away, but here’s the thing…these decorations HAD to be 25 years old.  They were the cardboard window clings that depicted stuff like airbrushed vampires and werewolves.  It was quite surreal.  I’m also pretty sure that most of the wait staff had been employed there just as long.  Our waitress was probably in her early 30’s, and I’d bet money on the fact that she has been working there since her junior year of high school.  You guys have to eat here… Frisch’s Big Boy Restaurant - 1050 Old US Highway 52, New Richmond, OH 45157 (513) 553-4144 -

Up next!  The actual shopping center!  What we have here is pretty standard for the most part.  The grocery store, which is called River Town IGA, is not your everyday Super Wal-Mart.  It’s just a grocery store, exactly how I remembered them from my youth.  The funny thing is, I was pretty sure IGA was all but extinct as a grocery chain, which makes this place even more spooky.  I have nothing too much to say about it, other than it’s fairly expensive and small.  I’d hit it up for an emergency spinach dip run, but other than that I don’t think I’d be doing my regular grocery shopping there.  Plus, they’re rather expensive from what I hear.

Oh goodness, how do I even begin to describe the pharmacy next door.  Well, for one, it’s not just a pharmacy, it’s also an ice cream parlor and soda fountain.  We needed to get our little guy some fever medicine, so we had business there, and while Jeni was waiting in line, I decided to check out the small school supplies section that they had.  For some reason, I either didn’t have my phone or I was in such a state of shock that I didn’t think to take a picture, but that doesn’t matter.  You still wouldn’t believe me.  They had the exact same Trapper Keeper, pens, and folders (depicting scenes from BATMAN FOREVER!!!) for sale.  I was in the 6th grade.  I was 12 years  old.  I am now 29.  They still have these for sale.  What kind of time warp am I living in.  See, if you know me and read the things that i talk about, you know that I’m super nostalgic and love all of the great things from my childhood.  But this…this is just weird.  I didn’t even think about buying them.  It just didn’t seem right.‎  I just…I don’t know what to say.  Wow.

How can I top that?  There is a Family Dollar next door.  Am I going to go in and find action figures of the Undertaker in his old early 90’s trench coat and black hat?  Huh?  HUH?

Well look at that.  They sure did!  This is the new WWE line from Mattel called “Entrance Greats”.  At the way low price of $10, I had to pick it up.  It’s a great figure, and probably the first wrestling figure that I’ve bought in 5 years.  It’s quite good, and the likeness, scale, and overall quality is so much nicer than the old Jakks Pacific stuff.  I had such a fun time with this, and displaying it in my new studio room, that I’ve actually started picking up some of the new Mattel figures when I can.  Toys are fun.  Thank God I had a little boy.  I don’t know what I would do with a little girl.  Nikoh, Christmas is going to be just as awesome for me as it will be for you.  Take care everybody!  Come see me in my new house!

I spend a lot of time reading the “Games that Pushed the Limits” articles on Racket Boy. I absolutely love them. It got me thinking about games that really wowed me during their heyday. Right now, there is rarely a home console experience that generates a wow factor for me. Not because the game isn’t any good, or that that story is bad or whatever, it’s just that I’m pretty sure we’ve reached a standstill in technology without plunging into full-on virtual reality. No one uses that term anymore. I thought for sure that by the time I had a real job I’d be gaming with a helmet on. Nope. SO! Lets take a look at games that made my jaw drop to the floor!  I am going to do mini reviews just like the old lazy editors of favorite 90’s game magazines.  Enjoy!

NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (NES)

I was way too young to understand what was under the hood of my little gray carts to know that through programing tricks and whatnot what was possible to achieve.  All that I measured a game on was the GamePro scale - GRAPHICS, SOUND, CONTROL, and FUN FACTOR.   But mostly just graphics and sound.  The one game that continues to blow me away to this day in terms of “I can’t believe that this is an 8-bit game” is Sunsoft’s BATMAN: RETURN OF THE JOKER.

GRAPHICS: The animation is top-notch.  Everything from the cape movement to the head turning.  There was a version on Genesis that didn’t even come close.  I still get chills thinking about it. 5/5

SOUND: Everyone thinks about Konami and Capcom’s legendary 8-bit jams, but Sunsoft is sorely overlooked in my opinion.  The tracks definitly don’t scream “Batman”, but they do make you wanna do the Batusi.  (UalueUalueUalue) 4.5/5

CONTROL: This isn’t your typical beatem up.  Batman has a gun, and the gun can be powered up like a rail shmup.  (think Gradius or IKARUGA)  While not very Batman-like, it’s still really impressive.  It controls well, and never gets really frustrating.  4/5

FUN FACTOR: This is where is gets tricky.  For such an amazing presentation, this game is BRUTALLY difficult.  My good pal Andy bought this for his birthday back in ‘92 and promptly returned it the following day.  This game will beat your ass.  Does that really make it not very fun?  Kinda.  Use Game Genie codes.  2.5/5

If you get a chance, at least mess around with this one.  The first Batman game from 1990 is awesome, and it’s so strange that they went in this direction for a sequel.  Is it a sequel?  Is this canon with the Burton Batman universe?  Now that’s an interesting thought.

I’ll be back with an SNES, GENESIS, PSX, SATURN, and OTHERS article.  Take care, don’t loose your hair.

I ordered a GoBots DVD today. I am also losing weight. You guys aren’t missing much.

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

I want to be as skinny as the guys in the H&M posters at the mall. I also REFUSE to jiggle. The day Nikoh lunged for my boobs was the day enough was enough!

My goal is 170! GO! GO!

This year has been filled with lots of ebay auctions by yours truly.  I sold pretty much every game cart that I owned for the NES, SNES, and GENESIS and replaced them with SD card cartridges. (see krikzz.com)  Some games on the SNES however, can not be played from the SD card due to a lot of SNES games making use of special add-on chips.  It’s been a goal of mine to collect the games that wont run on the SD card, and I’ve gotta tell ya, it’s been a blast!  I never thought that I’d be digging through bargain bins looking for copies of BALLZ 3D and PGA TOUR GOLF, but you never know when one might have the urge to play some Mode-7 golf.  My newfound interest in this collecting hobby also led me to the world of game reproductions.  To sum it up nice and sweet, its a hobby that consists of burning unreleased or foreign translated games on to an actual cartridge for play on real hardware.  A novel concept, but with my flash cart, I can pretty much run the translated and unreleased roms from the SD card…or so I thought!  There was one great gem that made use of the SUPER FX chip, that has become quite the popular reproduction cart to own!   Of course I’m referring to the unreleased SNES masterpiece, STARFOX 2!

There are several ways to obtain your own cart, and after scouring through a few retro gaming forums, I came across a fine gentleman who made one for me at a really reasonable cost!  To protect his identity, I’ll refer to him only as ‘Z-MAN’. I managed to pick his brain for a special interview for my site, that answers some questions about the hobby and the retro reproduction scene!

Hey! Thanks for making Star Fox 2 for me! How did you get involved in this hobby?

Actually, Star Fox 2 is one of the reasons I got into making these carts. English translations of Star Fox 2 and Star Ocean, at the time, were only playable on emulators unless you put them on a cart yourself. So since I had a massive “I want what I can’t have” syndrome, I was heavily motivated to make these carts for myself. Really, I just wanted to play these games on real hardware. I’m not a big fan of emulators, as far as enjoying a game from start to finish goes. As soon as I hinted toward trying this out, a lot of people showed interest. I decided to make these carts for other retro gaming enthusiasts, and it took off from there.

Star Fox 2 is just one example of many games I read about in gaming magazines that never quite made it to the shelves. If I had to pick a few holy grail titles, I’d say mine were Sonic X-treme on the Sega Saturn, Capcom Fighting All-stars on the PS2, and FX Fighter on the SNES. Are there any games you hope turn up at a yard sale or a flea market some day?

LOL, Well I always have the day dream where I find a NES World Championship cart at a yard sale. Not too many canceled games that are noteworthy in my opinion. I mainly focus on making games that were never officially released outside Japan, but have since been fan-translated. The SNES has, for example, many great RPGs that never got released in the USA. Star Ocean being one of them.

I understand that you don’t really take orders or operate a webstore, but sites like gamereproductions.com , nesreproductions.com, and retrousb.com seem to have quite the selection. Have you ordered any of the products from any of these sites?

I’ve bought the NES PowerPak from Retro Zone, and I want to pick up the SNES PowerPak eventually. I’ve never ordered any repros though, as I can make them myself. I talk with the owner of gamereproductions.com fairly often, him and I share ideas and such. Most people in the repro community know each other, whether they’re friends or foes. I, myself, try to keep a low profile.

Retro gaming as a community seems to be a thriving scene. Where do you see the hobby heading 10 years from now? Perhaps replacing the optical drives on the PS1 and Saturn to run disc images? I can dream, right?

Keep your fingers crossed LOL. Well there’s clone NES/FC console, and now clone SNES and Genesis consoles, so I would suspect seeing more clones down the road. That is, if Sony will stand for a clone PS1. Let’s just hope that by the time these consoles are hard to find fully functional, good alternatives and fixes will be available for us. The retro gaming community is huge, with a lot of smart people. There’s the semi-new SD serial port adapter thing for the Dreamcast that let’s you play game images from it, and I’ve seen some pretty wild things done with Saturn’s cart slot. So given the time, I’m sure we’ll see some pretty cool stuff for our beloved retro consoles.

But I find it funny to think that there are kids now, who’s first system might be a 6th or 7th generation console. 10 years from now they might be looking back at the PS2 like I look at the NES now. Will they still be playing their PS2 and become retro gamers? Will the NES be too archaic for them to even bother with? Will pre-NES video games be like something out of the stone age to an even newer generation of video gamers?

What advice would you give someone who wanted to try a DIY reproduction cart from their garage?

Well the first thing I tell every one that asks me this is, don’t try it unless you’re experienced working with electronics and soldering. Plenty of people think they can do it if they try, and end up wrecking carts and throwing them in the garbage. That’s the last thing we want here.

Thanks for your time and my awesome Star Fox 2 cart!

No problem. Hope you enjoy playing it!

I will never throw away anything that I have taped on TV.  I know that’s probably crazy, but I can’t help it.  I own a DVD player, but I hardly ever re-buy DVDs that I already own on VHS. It’s just that I love old videocassettes. It’s occurred to me that perhaps this isn’t the best idea in the world - DVD picture/sound quality is better, you get extra features, and truth be told, they aren’t much more expensive than their VHS counterparts a lot of the time. Still, I can’t bring myself to buy ‘em. I’m VHS-obsessed.  Every now and again I’ll go flea marketing to see what kinds of treasures I can dig up.  The best kind include commercials.  You’d be surprised how many people sell boxes and boxes of shit that they’ve taped off of TV.

Most of the time, my finds are garbage.  It’s usually someone who taped the Grammy Awards or soap operas.  They’re usually worth it for the commercials alone, but that’s about it.  I still do it to this day too.  I actually had to resist splurging recently at an antique barn aptly named “Antique Barn”, but I had a feeling they’d still be around 20 years from now, which would be the next time I go back.  Plus, could I ever be as lucky as I was the day I found a stack of World Championship Wrestling tapes circa 1990/1991?  Never.  Not possible.

This was a great period for WCW.  They had Sting, Luger, Flair, The Steiners, Arachnaman, Big Josh, and…Z-Man?  Okay, so it wasn’t GREAT but it certainly wasn’t awful.  1993 was probably the greatest year for the Turner-owned company, and you could see some of the greatness that was building up at this point.  One of the tapes that I discovered that day was a WCW 1990 Year in Review special on TBS.

Before I talk about the great significance of this tape, and prove why the title of my article isn’t merely a nonsensical immaturity, I have to tell the backstory.

I am the wrestling fan I am today, thanks to my lifelong pal Andy.  Now, I’m positive I’ve mentioned Andy several times on the site, but I need you to know that once he got me hooked, it’s the glue that kept our friendship going.  Every time wrestling of any kind was on TV, Andy was on the other end of the phone either during or after the program.  One Saturday night, I had to miss a WCW show, but I wasn’t too worried because I knew Any would fill me in.  I wasn’t too concerned anyway.  While I enjoy all wrestling, I certainly partial to a guy named McMahon.  Anyway, old age has kept me from remembering the finer details of the following phone conversation, but let’s just say it was the next day.  It probably went a little something like this -

MOM: RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICKYYYYYYYYYYYY.  TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEPHOOOOOOONE!!!

RICKY: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!

(that was unnecessary, but exactly how I heard it in my head)

RICKY:  Hello?

ANDY:  Did you watch WCW last night?

RICKY:  No, I was playing the Turtles arcade game while eating a Turtles pudding pie.

ANDY:  Ric Flair pooped his trunks.

RICKY: LOL

ANDY:  I am dead serious.  He was wearing pink tights and he stained them in the middle of the ring.

RICKY:  Are you sure it was poop?  Not like, dirt or something.

ANDY:  I’m positive.

RICKY:  Did you tape it?

ANDY:  No.

RICKY:  Wow.

The thing is, years later, even into our twenties, we always talked about that match.  I think even as we grew older, we started to question the story.  I mean, I had no reason to think that he was lying, but would they really televise a match where the Nature Boy (WOO!)  soiled his tights?  My answer came to me on the WCW 1990 Year in Review Tape.

You have to understand the shock on my face when I saw Ric Flair wrestle Brian Pillman in pink tights.  I couldn’t believe it.  Is this it?  Will I finally know the truth?  Lets take a look!

The match is pretty good.  The young underdog against the seasoned veteran.  As you can see in the closing moments of the match, Pillman has mounted the top rope and is about to do his nickname justice.  We’re a good 15 minutes into the match at this point, and so far, after sitting really close to the TV and starring at Flair’s ass the entire time, I begin to give up hope.  Pillman is about to hit a big move, this is going pretty long for a TV match, and the story, while crazy and outlandish, just can’t possibly be true.

Pillman lands the flying cross body from the top!  It’s over!  What an upset!

Pillman has the leg hooked!  Referee is in position!  Flair appears to be struggling, pushing, grunting, trying to reverse and turn this around!

OH.  MY.  GOD.  I am speechless.  Seriously, this is the kind of stuff people make up on the playground.  Remember my article about video game urban legends?  This is unreal. After all of these years, I finally have an answer.  A gross, disgusting, vile, nasty answer.  He actually did it.  Ric Flair crapped his pants in the middle of the ring against Brian Pillman in 1990.  The proof is quite literally in the pudding.  Say what you want about the man and his recent personal struggles, but after reading this I dare you to challenge me in arguing that Ric Flair is the greatest of all time.  He’s done it all in this business, including pooping himself in pastel pink trunks on TV.

I would imagine that anyone capable of reading this site on a regular basis is exactly the type of person who has their share of urban legends. This site is a confessional as much as it is a place to read about the latest incarnations of Mountain Dew, so in the comments, tell me about the weird stuff you’ve wondered about through the years.

Spring time sucks. There is rarely an April/May when I don’t fall in to a HUGE funk. I don’t really know when or how this started, but it was probably the the year I got the Rocky V soundtrack in my Easter basket. I’m trying to think of ways to make this particular season as painless as possible, and like someone battling depression with medicine, I’m occupying my free time with nonsense to make it through these mucky months. Want to join in on the nonsense? Dr. Ricardo has the cure!

1.) EAT GOOD STUFF. - http://tokyocincinnati.com/ The wife and I try to make it out once a week for sushi. This place is hands down the best in the city. They have a spicy tuna with tempura flakes all bundled up inside that makes the mouth water. You could have had your car towed and your bank account overdraft and still forget about your problems with this magical roll. Trust me, I find ways and angles to pay for them. OH! Also, Thurday is 1/2 off day!

2.) TRAVEL - I’m going to Tennessee this weekend. Not the most exciting excursion of all time, but it’s good to get away. I just got an invite to my 10 year high school reunion. The organizer, Jill, is also a graphic designer like myself. She travels the globe and keeps a blog called ‘Jaunting with the Kerr Sisters‘. I write about toys and Sega Genesis. My life is awesome.

3.) BUY NEW CLOTHES - Nothing makes you feel better than some new swag. I’ve been digging up old NES and Transformers track jackets, which is awesome, but as the weather gets warmer I’m going to need some cooler (literally!) clothes. I found a sweet GI Joe polo for $10 on 80’s Tees (dot com), but I certainly can’t wear it everyday. I’m not sure how I’m going to really do this one on my limited budget. I pay about $8 a month to host this site. If it’s gone in a few weeks, you’ll know why.

4.) CLEAN - Spring cleaning is not just a catchy thing to say, it’s absolutely necessary. I’m happier and work harder and tend to feel a bergillion times better when my living space is clean. If only my doggie could be weened from puppy pads…

So there you have it!  That’s my list! Maybe this will help, maybe it won’t. MAYBE, you’re a weirdo who loves spring and pastels and dying eggs. Crazies. You probably have no problem eating a chocolate crucifix either. Sickos.

Alright.  This is the first real update of 2011.  I can’t complain about a thing so far.  I have an awesome baby boy, a beautiful wife, a great job, and a meaningless blog.  I have no clue what I’m going to write about, and most of the time I never really do.  I would do a review of some of the cool swag I got for Christmas, but it’s way too late for that.  Christmas was only one month ago from today, but man, it feels like forever.  The only thing really worth mentioning is my EVERDRIVE MD (all caps necessary) Sega Genesis Flash Cart.  This is real dream.  I can now play every Sega Genesis and 32X game (except Virtua Racing) on actual Genesis hardware.  I’ve re-discovered a lot of classics such as ‘Hard Drivin’ and ‘Outrun 2019′.  I love video games from all eras, but I’ve alway considered myself more of a classics guy.  My wife pointed out that I really don’t play most games at all.  I turn them on, watch the title screen, die once, and turn it off.  It’s strange but I think I’ve spent more time using the EVERDIRVE playing games that I already own in actual original cartridge format.  One of those games that I spent more time than I should have with, was ‘Batman Forever.’  What a charming turd of a game.  It uses digitized actor sprites a’la Mortal Kombat, and even copies the MK fighting controls even though it’s a beat’m up.  Or is it?  Batman Forever tries to be something different entirely.  The game throws some puzzle solving elements into the mix that are so unbelievably stupid-hard, that you can’t help but not want to continue playing.  The costumes on the actors are also so insanely bad.  I’m almost positive they’re just the foamy Batman and Robin costumes from the mall Halloween store. No joke.  Don’t believe me?  Look what I dug up!

Now, according to Wikipedia, in the PC port of the game, they wore different costumes.  I wonder if that’s true?  The only video I could find was of the follow-up arcade game that was released on PS1 and Saturn.  I do know that while the Super NES port was supposed to obviously look better, it had a loading screen message in-between rooms. Curious as to what that message was?

“HOLD ON”

Yeah, I know. Terrible, huh? Funny thing is, I did indeed own this game during my youth, but what I failed to mention was that I owned the GameBoy version. Yup! It’s every bit as awful as you would imagine, but I’m going to tell you what I’ve told you about ports like this one million times before. It’s way charming in a strange way. I love “de-makes”. I used to draw and doodle a lot in class as a kiddo. One thing that I always hoped and dreamed would happen, was that there would be one ULTIMATE video game released ON EVERY MAJOR CONSOLE PAST AND PRESENT. We all know 1993 was the year of Street Fighter II, and I, just like everyone else, was so obsessed. I would literally daydream for hours on end about what Street Fighter III was going to be like. One of those fantasies was that it would have a port on every console. I would draw concept art for characters in Atari 2600 form. I found myself buying every major GameBoy port of big arcade releases just to see how it was done. I even ate up stuff like Donkey Kong Land. It’s no surprise that I asked for AND played the heck out of the GB port of Batman Forever.

GameBoy is one thing…LCD gaming is another…(to be continued?)