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.

Elsewhere, Mayle, Womb Odyssey and other excellent 'My Famicase Exhibition 2013' entries

Calling all fans of faux cartridge labels: this year's "My Famicase Exhibition" entries are now available for public consumption at famicase.com.

Surprisingly, a good number of the fake labels that were compiled for this year's event--which annually collects a mountain of made-up Famicom cartridge art and then displays them on line and in Tokyo's Meteor shop--were concocted by Western artists. Among my favorites:

Apple Pickin's--This John-Charles Holmes charming creation tasks players with picking apples "on a warm and breezy May afternoon. But only the ripest apples will do!"



Elsewhere: Labyrinth of Cemetery--Jeremy Hobbs' entry plops players into the shoes of a "lost monster girl" who has to escape the Great Graveyard or "become its newest resident." (For more information on this imaginary game, head over to Hobbs' great blog, Ribbon Black.)



Mayle--Does the idea of delivering mail to a bunch of islanders sound fun to you? If so, you'd probably enjoy playing artist Paul Veer's summery Mayle. (I know I would--even if it sounds a tad tedious.)



Witch Hunt--Only folks with hearts of stone--or a certifiable aversion to witches--could fail to be captivated by Elena You's deliciously dark label art (below). Also sure to appeal to most right-in-the-head gamers: this title's premise, which has players "navigate complex mazes and avoid capture" while attempting to escape a treasure-filled pirate's lair.



Womb Odyssey--Marc Rios' entry certainly wins the "Most Intriguing Title" award of this year's "My Famicase Exhibition." Its description is similarly intriguing, as it sends players on a "microscopic excursion into the sacred chambers of life."



All sorts of additionally wonderful concoctions can be found at famicase.com/13/, of course, so I'd highly recommend checking out the site at your earliest convenience.

See also: previous 'My Famicase Exhibition' posts

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.

LEGO GameBoy Color

I don't know about you, but I think the only way the mock GameBoy Color, made out of LEGO blocks, seen in the photo below (it's on the left) could be any more impressive would be if its screen displayed an overly pixelated approximation of one of the portable system's most popular games, like Super Mario Land or Tetris.

Of course, it's possible (perhaps even likely) that attempting such a thing would have ruined the illusion, isn't it?



To see this crafty creation from a number of different angles, check out the photostream of Flickr user lego27bricks.

See also: The million or so LEGO Pokémon posts I've published on this blog thus far