R.I.P. Davy Jones. 
LVLs. Contributors
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All posts for the month February, 2012
Music Wednesdays – The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer”
Posted by Nester on February 29, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/music-wednesdays-the-monkees-daydream-believer/
Music Wednesdays – Jose Gonzalez’ Take on “Teardrop”
Jose Gonzalez did Far Away for Red Dead Redemption, but he’s a great singer/songwriter beyond that exquisite song, too. This cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” shows off his interpretive skills, and he has done a wonderful spin on the well-covered tune in my opinion. Neat video, as well. This is off of his album “In our nature.” Great disc, worth a listen. Happy leap year!
Posted by WildcatJF on February 29, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/music-wednesdays-jose-gonzalez-take-on-teardrop/
Leap Yearly Whose Line? – Superheroes, Scenes from a Hat and Hollywood Director!
Three special games that relate to “leaping” for you on this bizarre anomaly we live every four years. Enjoy!
This one does feature an unfortunate skip in the middle – just know that Brad got decked by Colin. :p
Posted by WildcatJF on February 29, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/leap-yearly-whose-line-superheroes-scenes-from-a-hat-and-hollywood-director/
Artistic Discussion – The Good and Bad of Gaming Box Art: 2/27/2012
Good – Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii, XSEED/Namco Bandai)
XSEED seems to have a solid knack of selecting excellent art assets for their covers, with Fragile Dreams serving as yet another perfect example. It has a wonderful sense of mood thanks to the excellent coloring and detail, the two main characters are lovingly accentuated, and the logo, while a bit too wiggly for my liking, is not blocking any prime art real estate. In short, another great box.
Bad – Freestyle Metal X (Xbox, Midway)
Ugh. This is attacking one of my phobias – eyeballs. XD But beyond that creepy sensation this box gives me and me alone, it’s not really all that hot. It’s featuring a rather unappealing “big-head-cheat” motif for character design, and it forces the viewer to suffer it three separate times! There’s very little to entice me to look further at this box – it’s about BMX apparently, but its “XTREME” attempt to win over my gaming dollar does not work. It’s unappealing, unattractive and unlikable.
Posted by WildcatJF on February 27, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/artistic-discussion-the-good-and-bad-of-gaming-box-art-2272012/
Wildcat’s Art Sunday – The Last Story Fanart
Click to see the full size:
I think this is pretty self-explanatory – I had a lot of fun drawing this. With all this school stuff entering my life, my art has definitely taken a back seat, so it’s great to find some time to do some art. 
Thanks again, XSEED and Nintendo!
Posted by WildcatJF on February 26, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/wildcats-art-sunday-the-last-story-fanart/
Gamer’s Playlist – “The March of the Black Queen”
Continuing from a couple of weeks ago, here is Queen’s complex “The March of the Black Queen,” which was the namesake for the subtitle of SNES strategy RPG Ogre Battle. It ends abruptly, as it originally segued into the next song on the album.
Title: “The March of the Black Queen”
Artist: Queen
Composer: Freddy Mercury
Posted by Nester on February 26, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/16359/
Looking Back – 1986 is Updated!
I’m on fire, apparently, and I’m really getting into writing these awards, with a particular high note thus far with the ones I’ve done for 1986. I think I’m getting to the point where I am feeling much stronger about the topics at hand due to prolonged exposure to them – it’s one thing to say I like a game from 1984 I discovered relatively recently (Balloon Fight) to being able to rant about a game I’ve never liked since I was young (Trojan). So, I think these awards are really, really insightful into my gaming psyche. Anyway, I rant about Trojan quite a bit, praise my first best heroine Sayo-chan (Pocky), and marvel over the stunning Darius poster.
Maybe I’ll actually write a new article in this series soon, too.
Posted by WildcatJF on February 26, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/looking-back-1986-is-updated/
Weekly Whose Line? – Three-Headed Broadway Star
Here’s a great game I don’t seem to post much of. Enjoy this cheesy rendition. 
Posted by WildcatJF on February 25, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/weekly-whose-line-three-headed-broadway-star/
Gaming TV From Yesteryear – GamePro TV, 1997
A few years after the original GamePro TV went off the air, it returned for a short time in the later 90s with a much different format. It eschewed the hosts and set in favor of a somewhat more journalistic approach. Although I feel it lost a lot of its personality, and resembled more of a promo video.
This episode aired in early 1997, and features coverage of the winter CES, as well as a competition in John Madden Football. There are also a couple of segments for Star Wars: Dark Forces and Star Wars: Shadows of the Emipre.
More formal reviews include Tobal No. 1 (PS1), Perfect Weapon (PS1), and Ten Pin Alley (PS1), as well as very short previews of City of Lost Children (PS1) and Final Fantasy VII (PS1).
Part 1:
Click the link for the rest!
(more…)
Posted by Nester on February 24, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/gaming-tv-from-yesteryear-gamepro-tv-1997/
Gamespite’s Thomas Nickel Discusses Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
The Super NES fanfare is still rolling at Gamespite, with a neat article on Quest’s Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. I need to give this a shot myself some day (I have one of the 25,000 SNES cartridges!), but I’m not too sure how its battery is holding out. Perhaps the Virtual Console would be a better option. XD Anyway, worth a read if you dig the franchise at all (or are interested in a unique strat-RPG!).
The art for the tarot cards is interesting – I’ll have to add them to March’s Misc. Imagery update.
Posted by WildcatJF on February 24, 2012
http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/gamespites-thomas-nickel-discusses-ogre-battle-march-of-the-black-queen/
