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32 in 1
32 in 1 (1988)
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.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Artwork/Illustration, Box Art, Bundled/Pack-In Game, False Advertising, Merchandise, Unused Character
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month March 13, 2024
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Bionicle Heroes
Bionicle Heroes (2006)
subdirectory_arrow_right Bionicle Heroes (Game)
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If the player beats the final boss, Vezon, and gets 100% completion, a bonus cutscene will play. At the end of the cutscene, a whirlpool can be seen forming off the shore of Voya Nui. This acted as a hint towards the next wave of Bionicle toy sets in 2007, which featured a prominent underwater theme with new characters like the Barraki and the Toa Mahri.
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100% Completion, Advertisement/Commercial, General, Merchandise, Teaser
person Venomspino calendar_month January 18, 2024
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Bionicle Heroes 100% completion cutscene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYiduky1nR0

Brickset database entries for Bionicle 2007 wave:
https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Bionicle/year-2007
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994)
subdirectory_arrow_right McDonald's (Collection)
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Attachment A concept document for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 shows that Knuckles was originally going to be able to walk up walls and ceilings instead of just climbing walls, and break down walls with a whirlwind attack rather than his fists. The McDonald's Happy Meal toy of Knuckles included in their Sonic 3 promotion, which is a wheeled toy that pilots a cloud, may be a leftover of this unused character trait.
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Artwork/Illustration, Character Design, Development, Early Idea, Leftover, Merchandise, Theory, Unused Content
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month January 11, 2024
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Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (2018)
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Bonus Content, Meme, Merchandise, Regional Difference, Release Difference
person Kirby Inhales Jotaro calendar_month December 26, 2023
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Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V (1992)
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Attachment The translation group RPGe's 1998 English translation of Final Fantasy V is considered to be one of the most widely-played and influential fan translations in video game history. It gained this reputation because it released before Squaresoft's first official translation in Final Fantasy Anthology in late 1999, and despite RPGe primarily consisting of inexperienced teenagers, it was regarded as a better translation than the official one, leading many Western players to first experience the game through it.

The first translation attempts stemmed from widespread confusion over Squaresoft not releasing three FF games in the West: Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, and FFV. Their decision to release Final Fantasy VII internationally under its original numbering after Final Fantasy VI was released in the West a few years earlier as the "third" game in the series also contributed to this.

The co-creator of RPGe, named Shadow, was inspired by an incomplete FFII translation by users Demi and Som2freak (the latter having later lent Shadow tools to work on FFV), and started translating FFV by making flashcards for which hex code corresponded to each Japanese and English character in the game's data. He promoted his efforts online using photoshopped FFV images and recruited other users to create RPGe, including translator David Timko, and a computer engineering major named Hooie who also asked Japanese instructors at his university to help translate some enemy names. RPGe's plan was to directly edit their English script into the text files of a ROM of the Japanese version, but their work was slow and tedious due to them having little experience with fan translations and being out of touch with fledgling emulation communities. This lead to technical issues with their text and sprite editing software, and English characters being poorly displayed under conditions that were originally designed for larger Japanese characters. The group also suffered from internal factionalism, and since Shadow promoted himself as the public face of the project, he found that he could not handle the attention and controversy that came from how seriously he took the project and RPGe itself, seeing the translation effort as a vital service to the Squaresoft fan community. After Demi published a lengthy post parodying Shadow, he "snapped" and left RPGe. The co-founders of RPGe would also eventually step down, but other users would take over and start their own work.

A user named Myria, who had argued against RPGe's hex editing approach to no avail, split off from their efforts beforehand to work on a separate translation. Sharing similar setbacks to them, she gradually parsed through the code used to handle the text files, and edited it so it could recognize English characters of different sizes and fit more in a dialogue box. Som2freak helped translate the script for a time, but then left the project after bringing on a new editor, named harmony7, who started heavily revising Som2freak's translations to his chagrin despite seeing several issues with it.

One of the most controversial aspects of the translation was the main character's name. Squaresoft's later English translation named him "Bartz", but RPGe's translation named him "Butz", which many joked sounds like "butts". Myria claimed that Butz was the most accurate translation based on documents and official merchandise using it "the way we'd written it" (for reference, the Romanized version of the Japanese name "バッツ" comes out as "Battsu"). However, Butz is used in real life as an actual German surname with a different pronunciation, the vowel being an "oe" sound like in the English words "put" and "good". Therefore, Bartz would make more sense to match up with the vowels in the Japanese name than Butz, and also fits better as a German first name since Bartz is a pet name for Bartholomäus (Bartholomew).

The bulk of Myria's technical work ended in October 1997, with harmony7 still working to revise the entire script until something unexpected happened. An early version of the fan translation mysteriously appeared on a Geocities website with others taking credit for it. This prompted RPGe to release their work up to that point as "v0.96" on October 17, 1997, with the final patch eventually being released in June 1998. The translation patch received acclaim for its technical aspects and near-professional writing quality, and influenced other players to become translators, including Clyde Mandelin who would later create the English fan translation of Mother 3. Squaresoft never contacted RPGe about the translation, and while their 1999 localization of the game was seen as inferior to RPGe's, Myria would later opine that Square Enix's 2006 localization in Final Fantasy V: Advance was better than theirs. Myria continued hacking and reverse-engineering games and eventually earned a job at an undisclosed major video game company.
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Cancelled Release, Complaint, Development, Emulation, Etymology, Fan Translation, General, Leak, Merchandise, Mistranslation, Modding, Name Change, Parody, Real Life, Regional Difference, Social Media, Technology, Website
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month December 24, 2023
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PaRappa the Rapper 2
PaRappa the Rapper 2 (2001)
subdirectory_arrow_right PaRappa the Rapper (Franchise)
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General, Merchandise, Music
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 12, 2023
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Franchise: PaRappa the Rapper
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The PaRappa the Rapper anime had a highly troubled production. The series was aimed at a younger audience than the games' developers wanted due to teenagers not buying toys and the characters were aged down as a result, series character designer Rodney Greenblatt was given very little input on the series' stories or art, despite having to make new character designs every week (noting that characters often appeared off-model), and the series failed to garner an audience due to being aired at an awkward time slot where it would often be delayed for baseball games. Greenblatt speculated that the drama over the anime's production led to the PaRappa franchise being put on its currently-ongoing hiatus.
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Artwork/Illustration, Complaint, Hiatus, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation, Theory
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 12, 2023
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De Blob 2
De Blob 2 (2011)
subdirectory_arrow_right de Blob (Collection)
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Attachment A TV adaptation of the de Blob franchise was in production around 2010 to be aired on the SyFy TV channel on a new children's block, which would've used Blob in its branding. This deal got so far that SyFy Kids' logo was included on trailers and promotional items for de Blob 2. Due to the sequel's underperformance, the cartoon would be cancelled, and given Blob's prevalence in preliminary branding and the lack of knowledge on what other series were being planned if any, the cartoon's cancellation likely also led to the SyFy Kids block being cancelled too. SyFy Kids would later be revived in 2013, but airing on the Asian and South African versions of KidsCo with a lineup almost entirely comprised of reruns and syndicated programming.
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Cancelled Release, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation, Opening Logo, Sales, Theory, Unreleased Content
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 29, 2023
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Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (2022)
subdirectory_arrow_right SwordQuest: AirWorld (Game), Swordquest: Fireworld (Game), Swordquest: Waterworld (Game), Swordquest: Earthworld (Game), Swordquest (Collection)
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Attachment The SwordQuest series was a series of 4 games developed by Atari, each one having an associated contest to win a one-of-a-kind item from the game made of real gold by finding clues in the game and using them to uncover hidden messages in the attached comic book, then coming to Atari headquarters to compete in a contest version of the respective game. The advertised prizes were:

•Talisman of Penultimate Truth, Earthworld's prize
•Chalice of Light, Fireworld's prize
•Crown of Life, Waterworld's prize
•The Philosopher's Stone, Airworld's prize
•The Sword of Ultimate Sorcery, the grand prize

Halfway through the series, the video game crash of 1983 hit, and it was put to a halt, leaving Airworld, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery unreleased. The Chalice of Light is the only item known to still exist, with all others being believed to have been melted down at some point.

In Atari 50, a game based on Airworld would see release, though it was not based on the work done for the game back in the 1980s.
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Alternate Reality Game, Cancelled Release, Magazine, Merchandise, Remake, Sweepstakes, Unreleased Content, Unsolved Mystery, Unused Items
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 26, 2023
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Poppy Playtime
Poppy Playtime (2021)
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In November 2022, the sale of Huggy Wuggy plush toys was banned and all stocks recalled by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, who stated that the toys "do not meet the requirements of the Toy Safety Regulation." The Ministry of Family and Social Services also determined that the toys "had a negative effect on the psychosocial development of children."
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Complaint, General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 23, 2023
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Disney Infinity
Disney Infinity (2013)
subdirectory_arrow_right The Muppets (Franchise)
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Attachment In 2013, around the launch of Disney Infinity, Disney merchandise artist Jim Valeri posted a set of images to his portfolio of angular figures, resembling the character models from Disney Infinity, of Muppets Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Animal, Beaker, and Fozzie Bear, mentioning that they were made a year ago and he had no clue what they were for or if they would be released. While not explicitly stated, it seems heavily likely from the timing and aesthetic that these were intended as characters for Disney Infinity who never saw the light of day, possibly due to the financial failure of the 2014 film Muppets Most Wanted.
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Adaptation, Merchandise, Theory, Unreleased Content, Unused Character, Unused Content
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 19, 2023
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Poppy Playtime
Poppy Playtime (2021)
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In December 2021, Mob Entertainment announced a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on the in-game posters. This was quickly met with backlash and negative reviews from the community (with some even requesting refunds), accusing the devs of hiding lore for the game behind a paywall. The announcement post was eventually deleted, but could not remove the NFTs as well due to the contact that had been signed, forcing them to wait until it expired.

On May 3, 2022, Mob Entertainment CEO Zach Belanger revealed in a statement on Twitter that all profits made from the NFTs would be donated to the Clean Air Task Force organization.
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Backstory/Lore, Complaint, General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 9, 2023
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iCarly 2: iJoin the Click
iCarly 2: iJoin the Click (2010)
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To promote the game's release, a line of six iCarly-themed toys from Playmates with in-game codes for exclusive collectible items was released.
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Bonus Content, General, Merchandise, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 3, 2023
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Star Fox Adventures
Star Fox Adventures (2002)
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Attachment Star Fox Adventures had a Circuit City-exclusive "survival kit" pre-order bonus which contained "Fox Fuel" soda, a door hanger, an air freshener for cars, temporary tattoos, and most unusual of all, toilet paper with tips for the game written on it.
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Merchandise, Pre-Order
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 29, 2023
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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (2020)
subdirectory_arrow_right Crash Team Rumble (Game)
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Attachment Crash Team Rumble had been teased officially as far back as Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time's release date in 2020 - first in It's About Time! where, after 106% completing the game, the player could return to the start of the game and spin Crash's TV multiple times to show a mysterious Wumpa Fruit symbol. This would shortly be followed by a cross promotional video for Uncharted, where the symbol could be seen again on a banner with the words "Wumpa League".

Later in 2021, a Game Designers Conference talk with Toys for Bob studio head Paul Yan would show two hints towards the game's existence: one on a graphic made to show the game's goals with a set of green "this game is..." post-it notes (such as "new vehicles" or "cartoony animation" and red "this game isn't..." post-it notes (such as "beat 'em up" and "open world") with Wumpa League put in the middle as a yellow "might be", obscured by another note; and a second where the screen very briefly flashes to concept art of "Wumpa League". Crash content creators and game journalists would soon receive Wumpa Fruit-shaped pinatas with the Wumpa League branding and colors, which was then followed by a set of meme tweets on the Crash Twitter account relating to Wumpa Fruit, one of which being a play on the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Pepe Silvia conspiracy board meme. Toys for Bob would later release a Crash anniversary celebration video showing the Wumpa League logo again along with a Gem variant. The Wumpa League logos would show once more in the background of a PlayStation crossover commercial. The final tease of 2021 would be in a Christmas package sent to the press which had the Gem sticker placed on the side of the box.

In 2022, the hints started rolling in again on St. Patrick's Day, when Toys for Bob posted a piece of concept art for Crash 4 edited to have four-leaf clovers littered throughout, asking players to find the seasonal hidden objects. However, the Wumpa League symbol was hidden alongside the clovers. Later, the press and Crash fandom would recieve another package, this time an Aku-Aku-branded pizza box promoting Crash 4's release on Steam, with "HUNGRY FOR MORE? TRY OUR NEW WUMPA PIZZA FOR $12.08!" written on the side - the price translating into the date of August 12, which was the date of the Game Awards, which is ultimately where Crash Team Rumble would be revealed.
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100% Completion, Advertisement/Commercial, Alternate Reality Game, Awards/Awards Show, Cameo, Development, Meme, Merchandise, Name Change, Real Life, Teaser, Theory
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 26, 2023
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Among Us
Among Us (2018)
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The Airship update for Among Us partially took so long to come out because of talks with lawyers about circumventing bootleg Among Us merchandise.

Among Us creator Marcus Bromander would claim two years later in an interview with YouTubers LS Mark and Veronicaandjelly that he felt that taking legal action against fake Among Us products was a "losing battle" and that he ultimately just found them funny and thought of them as free promotion.
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Corporate Affairs, Development, Meme, Merchandise, Plagiarism, Real Life
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 25, 2023
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Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Snap (1999)
subdirectory_arrow_right Pokémon (Franchise)
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Attachment Early in the Pokémon franchise's life, the Poliwhirl line recieved a major push in marketing, comparable to that of series mascot Pikachu.

Mascot costumes were made of Poliwhirl for promotional events, the Pokémon Adventures manga featured Poliwhirl as one of Red's Pokémon, Poliwag was placed closely to Pikachu on the box art of Pokémon Snap, food and toy lines would near-consistently feature a member of the Poliwhirl line alongside Pikachu even when the pool of Pokémon was as limited as 3 or 4 (with exceptions primarily being ones that also lacked Pikachu), and, most famously, Poliwhirl appeared on the center of the cover of TIME Magazine's issue adressing the popularity of Pokémon.

This could be related to Poliwag being Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri's favourite of the original 151 Kanto species.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Mascot, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation, Theory
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 19, 2023
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Comedic video about bizarre Pokémon merchandise showing off many instances of Poliwhirl and Poliwrath merchandise - the nature of Poliwhirl's "mascot" status is discussed at the 13:06 mark:
https://youtu.be/Gri7-XW3no8

ResetEra thread about Poliwhirl that opens with multiple images of Poliwhirl memorabilia:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/pokemons-bygone-mascot.763622/

Video from a Kellogg's fan channel featuring box scans and commercials for Pokémon cereal with Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/4kEnxp0ihPI

Pop Tarts commercial featuring Poliwrath toys:
https://youtu.be/oKw6l1Skglc

Kraft Mac & Cheese advert featuring Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/Sj5lfgEz_bU

Video featuring a photo of a Poliwhirl mascot:
https://youtu.be/KR5oKvYi_PQ

KFC and Heinz commercials for promotions featuring neither, Poliwhirl nor Pikachu:
https://youtu.be/9HCDPTQGmrI
https://youtu.be/nNc1xl8uoMA

Tajiri talks Poliwag:
https://youtu.be/gplIo-J9Ttc?si=vXRHECazu6kGu4IQ&t=433
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (1981)
subdirectory_arrow_right Mario (Franchise)
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Attachment In 1983, an album was released on vinyl by Kid Stuff Records titled Donkey Kong (alternatively called Donkey Kong Goes Home), retelling the story of the video game of the same name. It is notable for not only potentially being the first time Mario was voiced (having an unknown release date in 1983, which was also the debut year of Saturday Supercade), but also giving Mario a stereotypical Italian accent with an "-a-" verbal tic as opposed to the gruff Italian-American accent that would be used in multimedia projects for the rest of the 80s (including Saturday Supercade), predating Charles Martinet's debut as Mario in Mario Teaches Typing by 8 years. According to Kid Stuff Mario voice actor Pat McBride, the reasoning for this voice direction was

"He was Mario, he had that Italian background, we knew what his occupation was, and we knew he was a really good guy, in my brain, if there were kids in the neighborhood, he’d always pat them on the head and say hi. He’d look out for everyone, so he became the real good guy."

Nintendo never gave the team behind Donkey Kong Goes Home any form of guidance for the project, and did not give any word - positive or negative - about the finished album beyond approving it.
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Coincidence, Merchandise, Multimedia Adaptation, Voice Acting
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 11, 2023
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Soft & Cuddly
Soft & Cuddly (1987)
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Attachment To promote its graphic imagery, Soft & Cuddly was sold at trade shows with a barf bag.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Merchandise
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month October 7, 2023
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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
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Attachment A promotional cookie was included in press kits for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in 2004. It was a white, round cookie with the game's logo printed in the middle and covered with small black rocks, which are possibly crystallized sugar or another candy. Its flavor is unknown, as is who baked them. One of these cookies, still in its wrapper, was placed up for auction on eBay for $129.99 USD in 2011, although by that point it is reasonable to assume that this cookie was no longer edible, and no other such cookies have surfaced online.
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Merchandise, Real Life
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month September 29, 2023
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