Many older gamers know that Nintendo used to be heavy into censorship.  Games that were no big deal in Japan had to be changed for the US releases.

Games back then were not allowed to have religious symbols of any kind when brought to the US.  Profanity was a huge no-no.  Killing, or even the mention of death was not allowed.  That is part of the reason that enemies blinked away after being defeated.  Or they used words such as “Defeat” the Goombas, rather than “kill” the Goombas.

This may also be why the whole “kiddy” image thing started.  Eventually, Nintendo had to give in and just let the blood thing go for Mortal Kombat II.

A kid who grew up in the N64 or Gamecube era probably wouldn’t know this.  Try telling an 8 year-old that at one time games did not even have ratings.

Here is a full list of Nintendo’s Early Policies: Nintendo’s Early Days 

These are not official, but they are still pretty awesome.

Lon Lon Milk!

And below, a gold bug.

This chickie sells them here: Lon Lon Milk & Golden Bug and for you Pokémon fans…Pokéball Charm. (For the four of you who actually read this site, this is not the same person who makes the ulra cool blankets.

I hope to see some more stuff like this, some of the most awesome collectibles are fan made.

According to ars technica, a study was recently published saying that logging on to someones open wireless network is in fact stealing.  This may seem obvious, but what are poor students living in apartments to do about downloading VC games? Or playing Mario Kart online? (and yes, I still play Mario Kart)

An Illinois man was arrested and fined for $250 for using an open WiFi connection without permission.  If you sleep at night with your front door wide open, expect to get robbed.  Some of us who want to keep our networks private use passwords.  I don’t really mind now that I have my own connection.  I live around a bunch of older people so I doubt any of them even know what WiFi is.  If they want to though, that is fine, as long as they aren’t some clever hacker or something.  Then again, a clever hacker can probably screw me over with or without accessing my wireless network.

In short, think next time you challenge someone to a game of Guitar Hero III online.  This may sound silly, because playing guitar hero online is not quite like lookin’ at porn.  If that is the case, then where do they draw the line?

Note: My article on this is only half serious, but the news is very true.  Read more here:  Wifi Stealing.

Who’s up for some 8-bit and 16-bit blankets? My super cool girlfriend just sent me this link to a flickr account with a whole bunch of ol’ skool gaming blankets (maybe I can talk her into buying me one).

Check out the rest of this gal’s work here: Sewing Punzie.

I’m going to look for some of her work that may be for sale. Who doesn’t want a Link or Megaman blankie?

While doing some searching for 8-bit gear and info I found this awesome Tie that I just couldn’t pass up without posting.

I definately want to order one of these, especially since I actually have to wear a tie for work.

8-Bit Tie

Last week, we took a look at the birth of the most influential console in gaming history, the Nintendo Entertainment System. This week, we will take a deeper look at the history of our little grey box and our favorite gaming company, Nintendo.

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