Rhindle The Red

And a heartbreaker for the dragon fans out there as Peter Pepper throws salt in the eyes of Grundle the Green Dragon and moves on! (In fact, it went so late that I forgot to update yesterday. Good thing it wasn't back to a tie by this morning!) So, this week it's the Garriot Division's turn. Q*Bert vs. Major Havoc The orange blob of Q*Bert tries to jump all over Major Havoc. Bounty Bob vs. The Mad Bomber They both know a thing or two about explosives, but who will win out, the spelunker of Miner 2049er or the villain of Kaboom!? Pac-Man Jr. vs. Frogger Can the junior dot-eater succeed where his simian counterpart failed? Can the star of Pac-Man Junior survive his face-off with good old Frogger? Rhindle the Red Dragon vs. Dig Dug The strongest of Adventure's dragons tries to avenge his fellow dragon's loss, but can he withstand Mr. Driller's papa, Dig Dug? (Don't let your natural and understandable affection and good feeling towards the poll runner influence your decision. Just remember he cares deeply for each and every one of you and wants nothing but your happiness in life.) And the brackets:

As a buyer, I won't intentionally bid on an item unless they take PayPal. There's too much hassle for anything else. It's either take extra time to go buy a Money order and wait for it to get to the guy (at least three days), mail a check and wait for it to clear (could be ten days) or pay instantly. That's the thing that makes me use PayPal. I do the vast majority of my selling through amazon.com. I'm sure if I looked into it I could find hundreds of horror stories about them, too. These things happen. But if you want to be able to sell things and not actuall take all the steps necessary to create a true business (merchant accounts, tax numbers, income tax forms, etc.) you need someone else to handle these things for you. Educate yourself, follow all the rules and if something goes wrong, fight like hell.

The square sqeaks out a victory! I was pleasently surprised to see Luigi have such an easy time with DK, Jr. and I thought Dirk would put up more of a fight. Anyway, it's time for tier 2 of the Miyamoto Division Winky vs. Evil Otto Smile, darn ya, smile! It's the battle of the big grins as Venture's intrepid explorer takes on that spooky happy face from Berzerk. Roderick vs. Bentley Bear The star of H.E.R.O. can brave the depths of the caverns, but can he face a cute, crystal collecting bear from Crsytal Castles? The Bartender vs. Mario Serving up drinks in Tapper! may not be enough to stop Donkey Kong's dynamic hero. Grundle the Green Dragon vs. Peter Pepper The green bad guy from Adventure stands before the chef from Burger Time and asks, "Who you calling a duck?" And the brackets:

So, it's on to the second tier of the Shodown! Fun! Anyway, I really thought Stanley would win that last round leading to a DK3 rematch, but it was not to be. Well, on to the matchups! Pac-Man vs. The Jousting Knight The yellow pizza Pac-Man goes point to point against Joust's Knight. (Although rumor has it the Knight will be the first to the silver screen.) Sinistar vs. Dirk the Daring HE LIVES in Sinistar, but can he hold off the man who dared the Dragon's Lair? Donkey Kong, Jr. vs. Luigi It's the battle of those "other guys" as the hero of Donkey Kong Junior must battle the green-clothed second star of Mario Bros. Coiley vs. The Hero It's the best known of Q*Bert's enemies fighting off the star of Adventure. And the brackets after tier 1's completion:

Well, we had an upset last week, as KC Munhkin couldn't hold off that wacky Wrong Way. The others went to the favorites. This week, we finish up the first round. Agent 17 vs. Pop Flamer The spy who loved Elevator Action against the flame-throwing mouse of Pop Flamer. Ms. Pac-Man vs. Panama Joe The first video game babe, star of Ms. Pac-Man fights off a case of Montezuma's Revenge. Stanley the Bug Man vs. Sir Dudley Dashly Everyone's favorite star of Donkey Kong 3 takes on the explorer/star of Jungle Hunt. Donkey Kong vs. The Ladybug It's the namesake game as Donkey Kong's villain goes up against Ladybug's star.

Okay, last week went straight to the favorites. This week, we kick off the Bushnell Division. Pitfall Harryvs. Jumpman The titular star of Pitfall! takes on the "other" Jumpman. Yorgle the Yellow Dragon vs. The Mindmaster The last (or first, depending on your POV) of the dragons of Adventure squares off (get it?) against the guy who dared you to Escape from the Mindmaster. KC Munchkin vs. Wrong Way The star of KC Munchkin! that the courts said copied "Pac-Man" in the "wrong way" faces the villain by that name from Q*Bert. Last Hope of Mankind vs. Harry Hooligan Robotron: 2084's plucky little mutant hopes to wipe out the thief from Keystone Kapers who you probably didn't even know had a name. And the current brackets:

Well, I thought that the beautiful Kimmy would do better against that grizzled old Miner, but there's something to be said about gameplay, I suppose. Finishing off the Garriot Division: Pac-Man Junior vs. Horrible Hank Pac-Man's firstborn, star of Pac-Man Junior up against the "big gorilla" or Beauty and the Beast. Frogger vs. Short Order Sam The star of Frogger takes one step at a time against the chef from Pressure Cooker. Rhindle the Red Dragon vs. Lord British Adventure's "fiercest of them all" takes on the master of the lands of Ultima. Dig Dug vs. Wizard of Frobozz Dig Dug's spelunker tries to take out the crazy wizard of Zork II. And the current brackets:

I try to give particularly close competitions as much time as possible, but it's after 11:00 pm EST and the people have spoken. Pick Axe Pete goes down in the first significant upset (not #9 beating #8 like last week). Ah, well. Better luck next time, Pete. This week, we kick off the Garriot Division: Q*Bert vs. Pepper The organge blob with legs, star of Q*Bert battles the "devil or angel" star of Pepper II. Spyrus the Deathless vs. Major Havoc The villain of Attack of the Timelord! faces off against the action hero of Major Havoc. Bounty Bob vs. Kimmy The spelunker of Miner 2049er against the babe of Space Ace? The Mad Bomber vs. Glass Joe The crazy terrorist of Kaboom! tries to take out the pushover opponent of Punch Out!!. And the brackets:

Our first upset last week (if a minor one) as Evil Otto gave Proteus an old-fashioned beat-down. This week, it's the second half of the Miyamoto Division: Pick Axe Pete vs. The Bartender Pick Axe Pete's titular star against the beer (or root beer) slingin' star of Tapper. Mario vs. Bongo The Jump Man of Donkey Kong takes on the copycat great ape of Congo Bongo. Grundle vs. Vali It's not that easy being the green dragon from Adventure, but can he take the warrior of Ice Trek? Peter Pepper vs. Mappy It's a tribute to Ratatouille, as the chef of Burger Time tries to eliminate the rodent star of Mappy. And heeeeeeeeere's the bracket!

Obviously (since I'm the one who nominated him), I respectfully disagree. He's not a person, but he is a character.

We start in on the Miyamoto Division this week. Winky vs. Zaxxon Intrepid star of Venture takes on the giant robot of Zaxxon. Proteus vs. Evil Otto Fathom's aquatic shapeshifter squares off against the horrible bouncing smiley face from Berzerk. Roderick vs. Blinky It's the hero of...well... H.E.R.O. battling one of those "ghosts" from Pac-Man. Bentley Bear vs. Exodus That crazy gem-collecting teddy bear from Crystal Castles matches wits with the evil computer/demon thingie from Exodus: Ultima III. And here's an updated bracket, as well.

Donky Kong, Jr. vs. Rockford DK's little boy, star of the self-titled Donkey Kong Junior squares off against that diggin' fool from Boulder Dash. Luigi vs. Pengo "Player Two" steps out of Mario Bros. and faces the penguin star of the eponymous Pengo. Coiley vs. Mother Kangaroo It's the Animalympics all over again as the snake villain of Q*Bert does battle with the matronly star of Kangaroo. The Hero vs. Clyde The square-jawed (well, square everything) star of the classic Adventure tips his sword against the non-rhyming "ghost" of Pac-Man.

And here are the brackets again. I'll update this as the results come in.

Okay, we'll be doing four at a time for starters to keep things from going on too long. I *could* do five, but that would only gain us a week and this way makes things nice and even. So, first up: Pac-Man vs. Mr. Do The Maze Game King from Pac-Man et. al vs. the Digging Clown of Mr. Do and its sequels The Jousting Knight vs. Zachary Graves Battle of the Marginal Characters! A nameless Bird Rider from Joust vs. the all of eight pixels wide spook from Haunted House. Sinistar vs. Frostbite Bailey "I LIVE!" says the villain of the arcade Sinistar. "I'm Cold!" says the star of Activision's Frostbite. Dirk the Daring vs. Bashful Buford Adjectives galore! Dirk, hero of Dragon's Lair, its sequels, cartoons and comic books vs. Buford, star of the Intellivision "Donkey Kong" knockoff Beauty and the Beast. I really wanted to do some snazzy "VS" graphics for this thing, but I just don't have the time. If anyone wants to crank them out for any of the current or upcoming matches, send me a PM.

Well, the Qix is described as a thing, not a person or being, the Qotile is alternatively described as the collective name of the enemy or it's device that you must destroy - not as a character and the Yar is clearly indicated by the comic as being not one character, but a succession of Yars. Now, if I had needed one or two extra characters to fill out the field, I could have stretched the definition and included them, but after doing my first cut (removing anything that didn't qualify or didn't seem to qualify after careful research), I had exactly 64, so I decided to let it stand. Please know that I didn't cut them without giving it a great deal of thought. They just didn't seem to fit the intended definition of a character.

Whaddya think on both counts?

Okay, so here are the brackets. Who do you think will come out on top in each division? Who do you think will win overall?

I just want a nice big selection so people will enjoy the proceedings. Besides, I've had a bad few days, so maybe I'm just on edge. *sigh*

If they want to kill these announcements, that's fine. I've tried to get higher exposure through other means and have gotten nowhere. Last year I got grief for the the choices that made it in, yet where is everybody this year putting in their options? Nowhere. I can only assume they are unaware of the nomination process. (Probably the types of people who only look at one or two forums.) This is a last-ditch effort to get more involvement from the greater AtariAge community to make a large undertaking more open and accessible. You want to complain about that? Go ahead.

My apologies for the "spam", but I've run out of ideas to get more input. I'm planning to start things off next week, so if you want your character to make it in, now is the time to get on board. Head on over to the 2007 Vintage Character Shodown Nomination Thread and list your nominees. Please remember to read and follow the rules. Nominations that do not comply will just be tossed. (Not the whole list, only those that don't fit.)

My apologies for the "spam", but I've run out of ideas to get more input. I'm planning to start things off next week, so if you want your character to make it in, now is the time to get on board. Head on over to the 2007 Vintage Character Shodown Nomination Thread and list your nominees. Please remember to read and follow the rules. Nominations that do not comply will just be tossed. (Not the whole list, only those that don't fit.)

My apologies for the "spam", but I've run out of ideas to get more input. I'm planning to start things off next week, so if you want your character to make it in, now is the time to get on board. Head on over to the 2007 Vintage Character Shodown Nomination Thread and list your nominees. Please remember to read and follow the rules. Nominations that do not comply will just be tossed. (Not the whole list, only those that don't fit.)

My apologies for the "spam", but I've run out of ideas to get more input. I'm planning to start things off next week, so if you want your character to make it in, now is the time to get on board. Head on over to the 2007 Vintage Character Shodown Nomination Thread and list your nominees. Please remember to read and follow the rules. Nominations that do not comply will just be tossed. (Not the whole list, only those that don't fit.)

I'm planning to start things off next week, so if you want your character to make it in, now is the time to get on board. Head on over to the 2007 Vintage Character Shodown Nomination Thread and list your nominees. Please remember to read and follow the rules. Nominations that do not comply will just be tossed. (Not the whole list, only those that don't fit.)

All of the above nomintations are DQ'd cause they didn't originate in the Video Games. Proteus and Graves are okay. As far as I know they both first appeared in their respective games, so I don't see why they shouldn't count. The rest, no.