This is one of those videos that feels cursed because of the seemingly new but ridiculous challenges that went into making this.  But anyway, it's done.  It's my vlog of the Edmonton (Comic & Entertainment) Expo 2019, where me and my brother got to meet Felicia Day (The Guild, Geek & Sundry, Supernatural), Jason David Frank (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, other Power Rangers series), Robin Lord Taylor (Gotham), and has an opening and closing by Veronica Taylor (original voice of Ash Ketchum on Pokémon).  Please check it out so my effort feels worth it, and please subscribe!  I'm not at 1000 subscribers yet (which I need for monetization ).

Felix The Cat

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Vorpal86's Felix The Cat (NES) maps.

Felix The Cat, one of the oldest animated characters ever, turns 100 years old this month in North America, as the US release of "Feline Follies" was November 9, 1919.  This silent-era cartoon cat moved from theatrically-released animated shorts to comic strips to television.  In 1986 and 1987, Felix The Cat: The Movie was made in Europe and released directly to video in the United States in 1991, followed by a 1992 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, where Felix must rescue his girlfriend Kitty who has been kidnapped by the Professor.

The Professor wants Felix's magic bag, but Felix refuses to relinquish it and instead uses its magical abilities to help him fight off the baddies, as it provides Felix weapons like a boxing glove up to a tank.  Otherwise, this platforming game that features a licensed character is pretty standard fare for the time, and not very groundbreaking as it is a later release for the NES, when the Super NES was already available.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable, and Vorpal86 shows love for this game, not to mention thoroughness, by mapping the game twice - each of the 23 areas in the nine rounds have a standard map but also an unmarked map with just the terrain and no items, enemies, or bonus areas.  You'll have no trouble making your way to Poindexter, Master Cylinder, and the Professor!

So to recognize the effort put into double-mapping the crazy adventure of this charming cartoon cat as we celebrate its centennial, Vorpal86's Felix The Cat (NES) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for November 2019.

George s (or his brother, I guess) submitted the screens for Columns!

Wait, by posting a link to a post about you, are you bragging that people think you cause drama everywhere you go?

Cool, what were they saying about VGMaps.com?

Here's my look at The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo And Its Games by Brett Weiss!  It's actually two volumes.  Together, they are the second of at least four publications that seek to cover the Super NES library.  Be sure to subscribe and I'll get to them all, as well as other geeky stuff, of course.

Demon's Crest

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Will Mallia's Demon's Crest (Super NES) maps.

The inhabitants of the Demon Realm fight to possess six elemental crests of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Time and Heaven.  Obtaining all of them allows access to the Crest of Infinity which grants its holder infinite power.  Firebrand - the gargoyle you might know from the Gargoyle's Quest games, and originally from the Ghosts 'n Goblins series - is the antihero you play here, as you try to stop another demon named Phalanx from acquiring the Crest of Infinity.

A sort of underrated game, Demon's Crest still manages to make it in  the initial wave of twenty Super NES offerings for the Nintendo Switch Online service.  And why not?  The gameplay is solid, the story has multiple endings, the graphics are detailed, you might even say gorgeous, despite its macabre theme.  So even though its sales back in the days weren't so great, the Switch's sales right now are awesome, so chances are, you already have access to this adventure!  Go stop Phalanx and take over the Demon Realm for yourself, if you dare!  Will Mallia's maps might help - even if the game isn't quite as gruellingly difficult as the Ghosts 'n Goblins or Ghouls 'n Ghosts games to require a guide, they're still nice to take a gander at, in that gorgeous yet ghoulish way.  Go, gargoyle guy!

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this heck of a good time, Will Mallia's Demon's Crest (Super NES) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for October 2019.

Segmented maps are fine, especially if they're segmented logically, such as how they appear in the game.

A full map would be neat.  In the cases where the water palettes are different, how would it look if you merged/mixed/averaged the colours?  You know, by transparencies or gradients?  While it wouldn't be 100% accurate pixel-wise, it might look really cool, and good enough (if not perhaps even better) for practical purposes.

I found this YouTube channel called "Abroad In Japan", which I've watched a few episodes of to learn some things about the sights and culture.  Here's a good video about what NOT to do there:

Today on reddit (which in the past few months I've used lots, whereas I rarely ever did before) I found this interesting thread: My Completely-Excessive Japan Travel Megamap, or more directly, here, a behemoth Japan map that redditor CorbeauNoir01483 made when planning a Japan trip and decided to share, because it now has way more information than one traveler probably needs.

On the gaming side of things, I heard Nintendo Tokyo (the Tokyo equivalent of Nintendo New York, formerly Nintendo World Store) is opening (or opened?) in Q3 2019, and Super Nintendo World is supposed to open at Universal Studios Tokyo next spring or at least before the Olympics.

I guess we're straying off topic, but I look forward to anything you share about your trip!

Zerker has submitted maps for Pagan: Ultima VIII (PC)!

It's definitely a different game than the previous Ultimas.  Some people dislike it but I actually enjoyed it at the time.

I'm considering going to Japan next year!  My co-worker's been twice recently and he says it's easy to get around in Tokyo without needing to know English.  (EDIT: I meant "...needing to know Japanese, as most people in Tokyo know enough English.")  Let me know how your trip goes!

So, any chance of completion of the Final Fantasy VII overworld before March 2020? 

A second Zelda YouTube video regarding VGMaps.com that I found today, but this one was actually published today!  Check it out - a speedrun done with these maps, thanks to our friend Andy Dick at Atlas Vids!

In DidYouKnowGaming?'s A Complete History of Zelda Rumors - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Remix (Part 2), published just two days ago, VGMaps.com is mentioned twice, at 5:40 (for The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening Advance for April Fools' Day 2005) and at 7:00 (for The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Hours for April Fools' Day 2008).  Almost can't believe those projects were that long ago (and that they still get brought up)...

Not my video, and not about me, but in DidYouKnowGaming?'s A Complete History of Zelda Rumors - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Remix (Part 2), published just two days ago, VGMaps.com is mentioned twice, at 5:40 (for The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening Advance for April Fools' Day 2005) and at 7:00 (for The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Hours for April Fools' Day 2008).  Almost can't believe those projects were that long ago (and that they still get brought up)...