Edit: Erm, well, about that Henry VIII thing below...it was suggested to me on the forums that images of Henry VIII holding objects in his hand that resemble turkey legs are actually very common and the site I linked is likely a hoax intended to sell T-Shirts. Well, I'm leaving the update there anyway but I removed the link. Certainly don't need them making money off my gullibility, heh.
Just a couple of things I wanted to mention...nothing big:
Q: Why didn't you answer a question I asked on YouTube?
A: I can no longer comment on YouTube videos. I can still upload videos, but whenever I try to leave a comment, I get a weird message from YouTube saying I have to link my account to a different account, which I will not do.
Q: Why haven't you answered my email? Why is there no longer a contact email on the site?
A: I actually haven't answered any emails from people I don't know in well over a year. I was getting way too many emails from people asking me to critique their websites and listen to their podcasts even after repeatedly saying on the front page that I would do neither. Also had things like people claiming to be game devs emailing me and there's really no way to verify those people are who they claimed they are, and even if they were game devs, I believe it's a huge conflict of interest for game critics to be talking with devs on a personal level.
Q: But how can I contact you if you can't reply on YouTube and no longer have an email?
A: If it's really important and you're not a game dev, nor asking me to critique a website or listen to a podcast, use the forums or Twitter:
Another weird little update, this time about Secret of Mana (again). This isn't anything earth-shattering, but I didn't know until recently that many people have either never seen the Iffish/Dinofish "defending" animation or many people who had witnessed it only saw it once and assumed it was a glitch or they imagined it. Some people have discovered the sprites amongst the graphics in the game's ROM and assumed they are unused.
However, this animation is 100% used and can be seen in the game:
It's a little tricky to get them to do it, but for a good chance at seeing it, try damaging one and then back away from it. It might back off and go into this "cowering" animation, sitting there forever like this until something prompts it to move again.
Here's a video of it:
As to why this animation is so rarely seen, our main theory is that these enemies have extremely aggressive AI and are constantly trying to attack you. So, it's not very often they'll try to defend, even after sustaining damage.
This is an unusual update that has nothing to do with video games, but I want to post it anyway.
Recently, I became aware of something called "The Mandela Effect" where people believe something happened or existed that never did. It's named after the phenomena that many believed Nelson Mandela had died in prison in the 80s or 90s when he actually didn't pass away until 2013.
One of the most common "Mandela Effects" is the controversy over whether or not a painting of Henry VIII holding a turkey leg existed.
We're not 100% sure if this is what people are actually remembering or not, but Pero Velasquez from my forums found an image of a painting from 1870 by Marcus Stone that could be it:
(Click for full size)
It's called, "Henry VIII And Anne Boleyn Observed By Queen Katherine"
We believe the object in his hand is actually a fan or possibly a hand mirror, but at such a small resolution it could very easily be mistaken for a turkey leg. Perhaps this image was used in some schoolbooks or art books where it would also be scaled down?
If you think this is what you saw, then we can thank Pero for solving the mystery.
A double rainbow appeared in the sky near our house approximately 24 hours after Pepper's passing. It was Pepper saying goodbye. We watched until both rainbows were gone.
Remembering Pepper
Pepper had this trick where she would paw at a box of tissues to get my attention while I was on the computer. I tried getting a video of it, but to my surprise, she meowed and pawed at my chair instead. One of the most adorable videos I've ever managed to capture of our little pudding.
My little angel and best friend passed away today. We adopted her in December 2008. We were unsure of her age as she was a lost stray that someone had abandoned. She had the gentlest, sweetest personality of any cat I'd ever met. She was tiny and soft and cute. She was like a living teddy bear. Her name was Pepper, but we called her many nicknames, such as "Bean" and "Bear" because of how she looked.
Her favorite thing in the world was to cuddle with people. Before she lost all ability to walk, I would often wake up in the middle of the night to find her cuddled with me in the bed. And if she saw me sit down, no matter where she was in the room, she'd come over to cuddle, like so:
I only hope she knows how much we loved her and that she has gone to a better place.
I'm turning back the pages
I want to see you before I should go
We've been through many stages
I'll remember all those good times we've known
And now that we've come this far
If I could wish upon a star
I'd want to live life again
This time, with you, from start-to-end
We're turning back the pages
I want to realize the truth I couldn't see
Somewhere through the ages
Our paths will cross again, eventually
Time changes all things known
Leaving not an unturned stone
We had forgiven our past
Everyone deserves another chance
Fate intertwined our course
Even though our time was short
Sometimes there are things in life
That are worth giving a second glance alright...
-Flying Omelette, "Turning Back the Pages", c.2000
Although I am using this front page as a blog of sorts, I'd like to make it clear that unless I ask for something specific here, I'm not answering emails at this time. If you have something really important to say, it can be said on the forums.
In addition, I'd like to specifically address the problem of emails that appear to be little more than thinly-disguised ads for people's podcasts. There have been a significant number of emails like this the past couple of years. I'm sorry to say this, but no one here is going to listen to your podcast. If you're so desperate to get someone to listen to your podcast that you're emailing this website, then you need to find something more productive to do.
There was what appears to be an early draft of the cover art featured on a Jaleco ad poster. Careful inspection does reveal that the sword is cutting directly into the dragon's chest, and a trickle of blood can be seen pouring out.
Aside from the overall lower quality, there are several other notable differences. The dragon is standing on its own tail, and Astyanax is in turn, standing on it, too. I also can't seem to make out any arms on the dragon, which would be consistent with the game's final boss, although that dragon has wings instead of arms. Also notice the lack of the castle turret on the left and the pose of the figure inside the crystal ball is different.
While this does confirm that my friends saw an alternate version of the artwork, I wouldn't mind if someone who has a better scan than this one I found on ebay could provide it.
Look at the ending screen of Secret of Mana. The stars, moon and time
of day change almost every time you beat the game. I wonder what determines the sun, moon, stars and time you get?"
Here are three examples from the above image search, showing a crescent, full, and half moon, and different star arrangements:
That is definitely odd. If this has been noticed and documented anywhere else before, I surely can't find it. I'm guessing there's some kind of timer on this game that might determine the status of the sky in the ending, but I don't know that for a fact.
Astyanax:
Three people on my forum claim to have seen alternate artwork for the NES version of Astyanax:
I don't remember seeing this myself, but upon reviewing the actual box art...
...there is definitely a suspicious dark spot on that dragon's chest near the sword. For whatever reason, this has me intrigued. Has anyone else out there ever seen an alternate version of this where the dragon is bleeding? B&W or otherwise? And if so, do you have a copy of it? Because I couldn't find it anywhere online.
Super C:
Buried in this game's NSF, I discovered several unused sound files of a voice singing "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" at various speeds. Was this just something to test the game's sound during development or was Konami actually planning to have voices sing along with the music? I guess we'll never know for sure.
Robotrek:
I seem to be the only person on the entire internet who knows about this, besides my friends that I've told about it. No FAQ or anything I've ever looked at for this game mentions it.
There is a 500 GP hidden in a vacant spot in the middle of Rococo Town. Just stand in the right spot and search and you'll find it.
Also, awhile ago I ran an article on the mystery of Scrap B. With the help of someone from another message board, my friend and I figured out what to do with it and how it closes a loophole in the story. It's kind of long and complicated to explain it here, so I'll just link to the two topics in which we discussed it:
As mentioned in the second topic, I have a strong belief this was originally meant to be the only way to get the Little Robot. Learning the skill out of thin air instead of from reading a book like almost every other skill in the game seemed like a last-minute fix when the developers realized how difficult finding Scrap B and figuring out what to do with it on your own is.
The Randomizer and the Memory Card have been reinstated because of some problems removing the code caused with the site layout. Unfortunately, the more complicated a site's code gets, the easier it is to break things when you make changes.
Be aware that there are some broken links in both things and I don't have time to fix them right now.
FlyingOmelette.com is on indefinite hiatus. Due to a lack of interest in writing for this site and decreasing amounts of free time, my heart is just simply not into it anymore. I had a really rough 2014 that in some ways doesn't want to end. Rather than deal with the completely unrewarding stress of running a website in a world that no longer cares about them, I have decided to step down and not pretend to be doing something I'm not actually doing anymore.
The Randomizer is gone, due to lack of interest in keeping it updated and the fact that some of the code was broken and never fixed. The Memory Card is gone, due to lack of interest in updating it when sites disappear or fall into "Dead" status or "Update Limbo".
Even if by some miracle I do return someday, the RSS feed will be discontinued, as I have absoltuely *0* evidence anyone actually uses it.
It's been a great 20 years, but that's really just too damn long to be running a website.
December Capsule Reviews are up. There isn't a lot because I spent much of the month playing the Shadowgate remake and watching the first season of Cheers.
