Trivia Browser
subdirectory_arrow_right Yum Yum Cookstar (Game)
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Yum Yum Cookstar appears to have been made as some kind of contingency over Cooking Mama: Cookstar's infamous legal disputes, being made by the same developers and publishers and having gone on sale on Steam a mere week before Cooking Mama: Cookstar was withdrawn from sale. While it is not known to what extent Yum Yum Cookstar is based on Cooking Mama: Cookstar, it does have a substantial difference in gameplay, having a psuedo-rhythm element that does not exist in the latter game.
Some prints of the box art have a printed sticker noting the game's connection to Cooking Mama: Cookstar, in spite of the controversy. The official website, TikTok account, and trailers for Yum Yum Cookstar proclaim the game to be made by "the creators of the best-selling hitgame[sic] Cookstar" (without acknowledging the Cooking Mama series by name) and use the slogan "This ain't your mama's kitchen!". The veracity of the claim of the first Cookstar being a best-seller is not known as sales figures have not been released.
Some prints of the box art have a printed sticker noting the game's connection to Cooking Mama: Cookstar, in spite of the controversy. The official website, TikTok account, and trailers for Yum Yum Cookstar proclaim the game to be made by "the creators of the best-selling hitgame[sic] Cookstar" (without acknowledging the Cooking Mama series by name) and use the slogan "This ain't your mama's kitchen!". The veracity of the claim of the first Cookstar being a best-seller is not known as sales figures have not been released.
Steam page with release date:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1827430/Yum_Yum_Cookstar/
Article about Cookstar being withdrawn, note the release dates:
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-i-cooking-mama-cookstar-i-to-be-delisted-following-court-ruling
The TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@cookstar/video/7150753875803311402?lang=en
Box art scan with Cooking Mama: Cookstar sticker:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/switch/328786-yum-yum-cookstar/boxes/908306
Yum Yum webpage:
https://galaxygames.co/yum-yum-cookstar/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1827430/Yum_Yum_Cookstar/
Article about Cookstar being withdrawn, note the release dates:
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-i-cooking-mama-cookstar-i-to-be-delisted-following-court-ruling
The TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@cookstar/video/7150753875803311402?lang=en
Box art scan with Cooking Mama: Cookstar sticker:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/switch/328786-yum-yum-cookstar/boxes/908306
Yum Yum webpage:
https://galaxygames.co/yum-yum-cookstar/
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According to art director Ikeno "Daigo Ikeno" Metaka, Dragon's Dogma's cover artwork was inspired by the Japanese covers of Dragon Quest, and also Dragon Quest II, because of the pawn placement on that cover. Both covers were illustrated by Akira Toriyama, and this information was revealed after his death was announced in March 2024.
Daigo Ikeno tweet:
https://twitter.com/goidanokei/status/1766244020274200862
Article by a Dragon Ball fan website compiling over 100 tributes to Akira Toriyama:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240401173328/https://www.kamisama.com.br/mais-de-100-homenagens-ao-falecimento-de-akira-toriyama/
https://twitter.com/goidanokei/status/1766244020274200862
Article by a Dragon Ball fan website compiling over 100 tributes to Akira Toriyama:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240401173328/https://www.kamisama.com.br/mais-de-100-homenagens-ao-falecimento-de-akira-toriyama/
subdirectory_arrow_right Mario Bros. (Game)
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Mario & Luigi, with their appearances from the promo art for the Atari 2600 version of Mario Bros., are featured on the box art of 32-in-1, but no Mario-related games are included. The rough drawing of the art, believed by some to be a rough sketch for, or traced from, an "Atari Advantage" poster promoting the Atari 7800 and other products, led some to believe the compilation was a bootleg.
Article on 32 in 1 featuring box art link:
https://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/32in1/32in1.htm
Atari Advantage poster:
https://www.reddit.com/r/retrogaming/comments/12al20t/the_atari_advantage_1988/
https://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/32in1/32in1.htm
Atari Advantage poster:
https://www.reddit.com/r/retrogaming/comments/12al20t/the_atari_advantage_1988/
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In early February 2024, one month prior to the game's release, multi-time WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar was removed from the cover of the "Forty Years of WrestleMania" showcase edition of the game in response to a sexual assault and sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE. Although Lesnar's name was not directly mentioned in the lawsuit, his reported connection to the case led to his removal as part of a wider effort by the WWE to disassociate from him. The cover was updated to feature a larger version of John Cena, where Lesnar used to be. Content creators who got early access to the game on February 23 confirmed that both Lesnar and McMahon were no longer playable characters in WWE 2K24. While the extent of McMahon's removal is unknown, Brock Lesnar’s data remains locked away in the game due to his matches with The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30 and Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31 being featured in the "Showcase of the Immortals" Showcase mode, and it being too far into development to remove them.
Brock Lesnar Removed From WWE 2K24 Special Edition Cover:
https://www.ign.com/articles/brock-lesnar-removed-from-wwe-2k24-special-edition-cover
Brock Lesnar's replacement on WWE 2K24 cover revealed:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-brock-lesnar-s-replacement-wwe-2k24-cover-revealed
[Below source and additional info provided by SOGESNAKE.]
WWE 2K24 Final Roster Confirms Removal of Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon:
https://www.ign.com/articles/wwe-2k24-final-roster-confirms-removal-of-brock-lesnar-and-vince-mcmahon
https://www.ign.com/articles/brock-lesnar-removed-from-wwe-2k24-special-edition-cover
Brock Lesnar's replacement on WWE 2K24 cover revealed:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-brock-lesnar-s-replacement-wwe-2k24-cover-revealed
[Below source and additional info provided by SOGESNAKE.]
WWE 2K24 Final Roster Confirms Removal of Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon:
https://www.ign.com/articles/wwe-2k24-final-roster-confirms-removal-of-brock-lesnar-and-vince-mcmahon
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The instruction booklet for the game pays homage to the video game box art style used for games released on the Sega Master System. This also ties in with the original series where the lead characters Mordecai and Rigby can sometimes be seen playing games on a Sega Master System. Series creator J.G. Quintel revealed in a 2016 interview that it was his favorite video game console during his childhood.
Instruction booklet screenshots:
https://www.reddit.com/r/regularshow/comments/s1xy0u/got_this_in_the_mail_today_the_manual_is_styled/
J.G. Quintel interview:
https://www.polygon.com/tv/2016/10/8/13210930/regular-show-video-games-new-york-comic-con-2016
https://www.reddit.com/r/regularshow/comments/s1xy0u/got_this_in_the_mail_today_the_manual_is_styled/
J.G. Quintel interview:
https://www.polygon.com/tv/2016/10/8/13210930/regular-show-video-games-new-york-comic-con-2016
subdirectory_arrow_right Mortal Kombat 1 (Game)
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According to series co-creator Ed Boon in a video/interview on Mortal Kombat's YouTube channel on May 19, 2023, Liu Kang was chosen to be on the cover of Mortal Kombat 1 to signify a new story arc, in turn diverting from Scorpion and Sub-Zero, who were regularly chosen for the games' covers.
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The US NES cover art portrays a human pilot, which seems misleading as the game's main characters, Red Baron and Blue Max, are actual birds along with the whole game taking place during World War I in the country of Bird Land which is inhabited by birds, and not the actual United States as depicted on the box cover.
Box Arts of both versions with game backstory
http://www.videogameden.com/fc.htm?skk
Bird Land, where the game takes place
https://www.co-optimus.com/game/8391/classics-arcade/sky-kid.html
http://www.videogameden.com/fc.htm?skk
Bird Land, where the game takes place
https://www.co-optimus.com/game/8391/classics-arcade/sky-kid.html
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The infamous American Mega Man 2 box art, where Mega Man wields a pistol instead of his signature Mega Buster, was not an attempt to make Mega Man appear more "edgy", but was actually born from a misconception where Capcom's art director believed Mega Man was using a gun too small to be seen in sprite form rather than transforming his arm. Artist Marc Ericksen would say to Nintendo Age in 2012:
"So we're talking about the infamous Mega Man 2 where Mega Man is actually running around waving a pistol! Okay so, the question on everyone's mind is 'how could the illustrator be such a complete idiot that he didn't realize that Mega Man had a cannon for an arm, and why is he holding a pistol for God's sake.'
What happened was I had to go down to Capcom and do a game they just got in from Japan. They had a beta version; they were in a hurry to get this thing out. So I went down there. The gentlemen was the art director was there with the beta guy and they were waiting for me and I came with my pad and they started running the game. What we saw was this little pixelated figure of the famous Mega Man running around on the screen shooting. Bang, bang, bang, he's shooting obviously like this with his arm [Marc points his arm forward]. So I said to the art director, 'what is he shooting? What is he shooting with?' The art director said, 'he must have a pistol because I don't see that he's got a rifle so he must have a pistol.'
'So... a pistol? You want me to do a pistol?' And he said, 'yeah, let's put a pistol in there.' So I did what I was told and I put the pistol in there. Add to the fact that they only had, like, a day and a half for me to do the painting and what you wound up with was not the greatest result but certainly a result that was not my fault. It was one of those things. Here's my opportunity: I'm saying to everybody now that was not my fault! Talk to Capcom about the pistol."
What happened was I had to go down to Capcom and do a game they just got in from Japan. They had a beta version; they were in a hurry to get this thing out. So I went down there. The gentlemen was the art director was there with the beta guy and they were waiting for me and I came with my pad and they started running the game. What we saw was this little pixelated figure of the famous Mega Man running around on the screen shooting. Bang, bang, bang, he's shooting obviously like this with his arm [Marc points his arm forward]. So I said to the art director, 'what is he shooting? What is he shooting with?' The art director said, 'he must have a pistol because I don't see that he's got a rifle so he must have a pistol.'
'So... a pistol? You want me to do a pistol?' And he said, 'yeah, let's put a pistol in there.' So I did what I was told and I put the pistol in there. Add to the fact that they only had, like, a day and a half for me to do the painting and what you wound up with was not the greatest result but certainly a result that was not my fault. It was one of those things. Here's my opportunity: I'm saying to everybody now that was not my fault! Talk to Capcom about the pistol."
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The Lion King 1 1/2 for Game Boy Advance was released in European territories not as as the movie's European title The Lion King 3, but rather simply The Lion King, with a large image of cub Simba added to the box art, despite not being playable in-game. The blurb does specify that the game is based on The Lion King 3 and alludes towards only Timon and Pumbaa being playable however.The original US box art could also be considered misleading to a much lesser degree. While being open about what movie it is an adaptation of and having a giant Timon and Pumbaa ripping through the paper at the top, it uses a modified version of the first film's promo art, featuring Mufasa's spirit head, with cub Simba also present in silhouette (albeit significantly smaller relative to Timon and Pumbaa than on the European box art). This imagery that was not used to market The Lion King 1 1/2 anywhere else. Both boxes' blurbs also feature a screenshot where Simba, as an NPC, is in the center.
Longplay of European version using altered box art as the thumbnail:
https://youtu.be/9dQEzwzaBVo
Both regional boxes:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/918712-disneys-the-lion-king-1-1-2/boxes/53260
European cartridge, sourced from a UK retro gaming store:
https://www.fullyretro.com/product/disneys-the-lion-king,83964390
European blurb, sourced from an eBay listing:
https://postimg.cc/f33HD2b0
https://youtu.be/9dQEzwzaBVo
Both regional boxes:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/918712-disneys-the-lion-king-1-1-2/boxes/53260
European cartridge, sourced from a UK retro gaming store:
https://www.fullyretro.com/product/disneys-the-lion-king,83964390
European blurb, sourced from an eBay listing:
https://postimg.cc/f33HD2b0
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Although Billy and Lance on the NES cover art are believed to be inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, both characters' poses and attire were based on only Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance in the movie "Predator".
Clips from Predator showing Arnold Schwarzenegger's attire matching Billy and Lance on the box art:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgzxSr6l9Y4?t=85
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7CDejp6Lw?t=115
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgzxSr6l9Y4?t=85
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7CDejp6Lw?t=115
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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One of the Krazoa shrines in Star Fox Adventures, the Test of Fear, features the only in-game appearance of a mysterious dromeosaur-esque race known as the "ShadowHunters". The ShadowHunters had a larger role in the original Dinosaur Planet. Krystal, accompanied with a LightFoot guide in place of Kyte (mirroring how Sabre was supposed to get a temporary sidekick in place of Tricky in the form of a infant RedEye within Walled City), would come across them in an area called BlackWater Canyon, which was said to be the dinosaur's sacred burial grounds, and the home of the Tree of Souls, which was said to return the magic energy of a dinosaur into the planet after their death. The ShadowHunter Tribe were the protectors of this place, with their leader being one of the SpellStone guardians, who agrees to give Krystal his SpellStone, only for his jealous son to run off with it, leading to Krystal and the LightFoot to chase after him. Eventually this leads to the ShadowHunter being trapped within the rib cages of a giant skeletal monster, which would act as the boss fight of BlackWater Canyon. After Krystal and the LightFoot defeated it, the ShadowHunter would realize that they were really trying to save Dinosaur Planet, and gave them the SpellStone, which would then be activated by the ShadowHunter leader.
BlackWater Canyon appears in the leaked December 2000 build of Dinosaur Planet, but is notably devoid of any actual design work or puzzles. The voice lines from the ShadowHunters found in this build seem to indicate a different story from what was presented in the Condensed Story; instead of a SpellStone guardian father with a jealous son, they're portrayed as brothers who live as scavengers in BlackWater Canyon, who come across the SpellStone and claim it as their own, only to come across Krystal as well as Kyte, who would accompany her to BlackWater Canyon in place of the alformentioned LightFoot tribe member. One of the ShadowHunters siblings is willing to hand over the SpellStone, but the other seems to run off with it, which leads to Krystal and Kyte chasing after him, which leads to them encountering a ghostly apparition of Kyte's mother, the Queen CloudRunner (who was killed by General Scales back in CloudRunner Fortress) who encourages them on and warns them about the angry spirits within the area, presumably referring the aforementioned skeleton monster boss (that does not appear anywhere in the leaked build). After they retrieve the SpellStone, they seem to use the Tree of Souls to activate it in place of a proper SpellStone guardian.
BlackWater Canyon would be removed entirely in the transition to Star Fox Adventures, but it seems that Rare still had substantial plans for the ShadowHunters, as an unused briefing from Peppy Hare says this:
"This is dangerous ground, Fox! The Walled City was built to hold the flesheating RedEye and ShadowHunter tribes, to ensure that they do not eat the other dinosaurs. General Scales has imprisoned Tricky's father, the King EarthWalker, within its walls. You must rescue the King and find that SpellStone. But hurry, Fox! Those nasty beasts are mighty hungry. Peppy out!"
Which seems to indicate that earlier on in SFA's development, Rare had considered having the ShadowHunters fill in the role intended for the HookClaw tribe (who had already been cut by the time of the December 2000 Dinosaur Planet build) as the secondary carnivorous antagonist of the Walled City. This of course was scrapped in the final game, where only the RedEye tribe is present.
The senior animator of Star Fox Adventures, Michael Cawood, had mentioned on his website that when animating the Test of Fear, his goal for it wasn't well defined, and he didn't have enough time or resources to request additional assets and thus had to improvise. Fortunately for him, he had access to a library of animations for the ShadowHunters that had originally been planned as enemies in the game but had never got around to being implemented past the animation stage, very likely referring to when they planned as enemies encountered in SFA's iteration of the Walled City.
Funny enough, despite having such a minimal role in the final game, the ShadowHunters were present in some of Star Fox Adventures' Japanese material, most notably on the boxart, oddly utilizing their original Dinosaur Planet renders (presumably because the GCN models were not given an official render, due to them being a last minute addition after initially being scrapped).
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Dinosaur Planet - BlackWater Canyon (December 2000 build):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVV-DQa9HOY
Dinosaur Planet (N64 Dec. 2000 Build) ShadowHunter Voice Lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK6CKH_WlTY#t=9
Dinosaur Planet Audio Reconstruction: Kyte encounters the CloudRunner Queen at the Tree of Souls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxSh9aZxYFQ
Dinosaur Planet (N64 Dec. 2000 Build) Princess Kyte Voice Lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYDXD9w4Qk4
Star Fox Adventures voice clips:
https://sf.krystalarchive.com/AdventuresVA/
Test of Fear - Star Fox Adventures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaYGdKFx4uw
Micheal Cawood explaining the Test of Fear animation:
http://www.michaelcawood.com/StarfoxAdventures.htm
JP Star Fox Adventures boxart with ShadowHunter:
https://images.nintendolife.com/be95c3553b01e/star-fox-adventures-jp.900x.jpg
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Dinosaur Planet - BlackWater Canyon (December 2000 build):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVV-DQa9HOY
Dinosaur Planet (N64 Dec. 2000 Build) ShadowHunter Voice Lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK6CKH_WlTY#t=9
Dinosaur Planet Audio Reconstruction: Kyte encounters the CloudRunner Queen at the Tree of Souls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxSh9aZxYFQ
Dinosaur Planet (N64 Dec. 2000 Build) Princess Kyte Voice Lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYDXD9w4Qk4
Star Fox Adventures voice clips:
https://sf.krystalarchive.com/AdventuresVA/
Test of Fear - Star Fox Adventures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaYGdKFx4uw
Micheal Cawood explaining the Test of Fear animation:
http://www.michaelcawood.com/StarfoxAdventures.htm
JP Star Fox Adventures boxart with ShadowHunter:
https://images.nintendolife.com/be95c3553b01e/star-fox-adventures-jp.900x.jpg
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An early version of the game's box art features Cat Luigi in a similar position to the original Super Mario 3D World box art, alongside a placeholder section for Bowser's Fury displaying the campaign's logo. The final box art removes Cat Luigi entirely to make room for artwork representing Bowser's Fury.
subdirectory_arrow_right Giana Sisters (Collection)
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Hard 'n' Heavy was originally conceived as a sequel to The Great Giana Sisters titled Giana 2 - Arthur and Martha in Future World, but was changed due to the threats the developers had received from Nintendo over the previous Giana game. Screenshots and a box art for Giana 2 exist, and show that seemingly only the character of Giana was removed in the transition to Hard 'n' Heavy, but the version of the game with Giana is not known to exist.
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The Commodore 64 version of Psycho Soldier may be one of the earliest instances of a video game character having their race swapped, where Athena is depicted as black on the loading screen and box art, while also being depicted as having a red/pink caucasian skin color in-game.
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic 3D Blast (Game)
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The European box art for Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island was not a CGI image, but rather a clay model created by Me Company, a Japanese clay studio whose in-house style involved digitizing its models and editing in elements to make them appear computer-generated.
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On the US box art for Bad News Baseball, one of the players is black. Despite this, the game does not have any skin-tone related character options, and all characters appear to be white or fair-skinned.
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The box art of the game depicts Snow White, the Dwarves, and the Evil Queen as looking like poorly modelled versions of their Disney counterparts. However, their in-game designs are all completely different.
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Despite appearing on the box art, Ed is an NPC in the game and not a playable character. The title screen rectifies this by removing Ed.
subdirectory_arrow_right PlayStation (Platform)
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104 of the first games on the PlayStation came in vertically-shaped boxes. While all of them shared a template with the square boxes that would eventually win out as the standard, there was not a standard make or material for the boxes with them potentially coming as jewel cases like the square boxes, plastic cases with cardboard wrapping, and cardboard boxes with foam to keep games from slipping - some games had multiple of these box types made. Fade to Black was the final long box PlayStation release.
Catalog of PlayStation long boxes:
https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/marino/lists/playstation-long-boxes/359078/
PlayStation box type comparison:
https://imgur.com/gallery/ygnMM
Figured out last game with the long box by going through this list, searching up their respective boxes and finding a cut-off point, which was between Fade to Black and SimCity 2000:
https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11540465#1994
https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/marino/lists/playstation-long-boxes/359078/
PlayStation box type comparison:
https://imgur.com/gallery/ygnMM
Figured out last game with the long box by going through this list, searching up their respective boxes and finding a cut-off point, which was between Fade to Black and SimCity 2000:
https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11540465#1994
subdirectory_arrow_right Obitus (Game)
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The mutant bird illustration on the box art for Sqij! and Obitus, drawn by speculative fiction artist Tim White, seems to have originated from the 1979 edition of the 1975 book Under a Calculating Star. It is unknown if either use was licensed.
Article mentioning the asset reuse:
https://www.badgamehalloffame.com/sqij/
Release date of bird cover Calculating Star:
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7807719382
https://www.badgamehalloffame.com/sqij/
Release date of bird cover Calculating Star:
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7807719382
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