I told you I've got Harvest Moon on the brain (plus a Binary Land surprise)

A couple of weeks ago, I admitted to buying the original, SNES version of Harvest Moon from the clunky old Wii eShop.

In that same post, I also admitted to having the Harvest Moon series "on the brain" at the moment. Which makes sense when you consider I got the latest 3DS-based Harvest Moon title, The Lost Valley, for Christmas, then I picked up the SNES iteration and then, about a week ago, I bought a loose copy of Harvest Moon 64 from my Internet pal, Jeremy--who also goes by "Nightmare Bruce" and "the guy who runs the Ribbon Black blog."

Although I've had my copy of Harvest Moon 64 in hand for about a week now, it hasn't even sniffed the inside of my dusty Nintendo 64, as I've been too busy playing--wait for it--Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley.

In fact, I've put nearly 20 hours into The Lost Valley over the last couple of weeks, which has left me nearly no time for other games (aside from my #ADecadeofDS titles, of course). 

Anyway, the photo at the top of this post showcases how fabulously Jeremy packaged the copy of Harvest Moon 64 he sold and sent me. He included a fun postcard, a strip of adorable Mario stickers and ... some sort of "bonus gift" wrapped in sparkly paper?

Inside that sparkly paper was the copy of Binary Land shown in the snapshot that sits just north of this block of text. How cool is that? It's a fully working cartridge, by the way, and the label was designed by Jeremy himself.

Now I just need to find the time to play both of these beautiful-looking carts.

Nightmare Bruce x My Famicase Exhibition 2014 = 'Busy Planet'

My only issue with the "My Famicase Exhibition" that's been held at the Tokyo-based retro-game shop Meteor for the last decade or so: no one ever seems to turn any of the awesome fake Famicom cart labels (which serve as the event's focus) and ideas into actual, playable products.

Will blogger Nightmare Bruce buck that trend and find a way to transform his entry in this year's event, Busy Planet, into an honest-to-goodness game? I doubt it, but I'll be the first to celebrate if he does.

Although the cart label the "Ribbon Black" proprietor concocted is chiefly responsible for my interest in Busy Planet becoming a full-fledged title, I also consider its premise to be pretty appealing:



"The neighborhood is getting so crowded these days! As the only human on a planet full of new creatures, you have to try hard to fit in. Everyone may have their differences, but we can make friends if we work together!"

Admittedly, said premise is more than a tad nonsensical, but that's what's so perfect about it in my mind. I mean, how many Famicom/NES titles didn't feature wackadoodle backstories?

For more information about Busy Planet, check out this recent "Ribbon Black" blog post, and go here (or here) to see more this year's "My Famicase Exhibition" entries.

Who doesn't like muscle bears with shiny butts?

Wait, you didn't come here thinking this would be a Video Games Made Me Gay-esque post showcasing the hot, muscular bods of actual human males, did you? Or maybe you expected to encounter a post that's centered on the lascivious lads that populate Dudedle Studio's Sugar Shooter series?

If you did, please accept my apologies.

There is a muscular bear with a shiny butt at the heart of this particular post, though--although he's an actual bear (well, a cartoon one) rather than the figurative sort that make up a good portion of the gay community.

So, how many of you are now thinking to yourselves, I'll never look at Stitches (from the Animal Crossing series) the same way again? I'm guessing a good number of you.

The strip above was produced by the super-talented "Nightmare Bruce" who runs the Ribbon Black blog, by the way. Check out more of his adorable, New Leaf-inspired "This Week in Town" comics here.

Thing you have to check out today: Ribbon Black's awesome Animal Crossing webcomic

If you can, pull yourself away from your copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf (OK, so that suggestion may be aimed at myself) and take a few seconds to read through the following webcomic, which was created by the same "Nightmare Bruce" (proprietor of the Ribbon Black blog) who has been known to leave comments here.

I'd kill for a copy of Minna no Balloon Fight (if it were a real Famicom game)

See the cartridge and packaging in the following photo? They're not of a real Famicom game, sadly. Instead, they're the products of the fertile imagination of the Ribbon Black blog's Nightmare Bruce.

Although I initially wanted to strangle Bruce after coming across these creations--because, really, who wouldn't kill (or at least consider doing so) to experience a four-player "battle royal" version of Nintendo's arcade and console classic?--but eventually I got over my Balloon Fight rage and decided I was happy someone not only came up with such an idea but was able to follow through with it and concoct the box and cart seen below.



To see more photos of Minna no Balloon Fight's box and cart--and even a blurry screenshot of this faux Famicom game--head on over to the Ribbon Black blog at your earliest convenience.

Oh, and if you've like to see a handful of (also fake) screens that don't look like they've been covered in Vaseline, check out this post on Nightmare Bruce's simply AWFUL tumblog.