Blitcast One: SNES Mouse
I never thought that I would actually have the nerve to podcast anything here at Blit, because I definitely write gooder than I talk…or are I? Regardless, I’m happy that Phil Theobald from Player One agreed to join me for a Skype chat on the SNES Mouse, since it made for a very fun conversation about a fascinating and mostly forgotten piece of early 90’s Nintendo hardware. Of course, there’s no point in discussing the SNES Mouse without also mentioning Mario Paint, the free-form creativity software that came bundled with it. Other games mentioned during our chat include King Arthur’s World, Vegas Stakes, Snoopy Concert, Mario and Wario, and Mario’s Super Picross. It’s my most…sophisticated…podcast to date. (Total Runtime: 59:44)
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Posted by Kurt Shulenberger on March 14th, 2010 :: Filed under Media
Tags :: King Arthur's World, Mario, Mario and Wario, Mario Paint, Mario's Super Picross, Nintendo, Phil Theobald, Podcast, SNES, SNES Mouse, Snoopy Concert, Super Scope, Vegas Stakes
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March 16th, 2010
I too spent a huge amount of time dabbling with the simple yet somehow magical toolset of Mario Paint. I still have a VHS tape preserving some of my original creations as well as animations inspired by the guide.
One thing you guys forgot to mention was the awesome originality on the mere title screen! Clicking on the different letters would do all kinds of interesting things and got you in the right playful mood to enjoy the game while also serving as a wordless tutorial for anyone truly uninitiated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvaOwZFWCTQ
I think it was interesting that Nintendo made the device but it still managed to feel like a console experience. I have always been a big PC gamer too, and while the SNES mouse did elevate the types of experiences you could have with the console, it never blurred the lines so far where you wished they would start porting over more PC games. PCs had certain strengths, consoles had different strengths, and Mario Paint managed to find a sweet spot to enhance the experience of the console.
(and I know this is more on the topic of Mario Paint than the mouse, but oh my god, I wanted the spiritual sequel - Mario Artist for the N64DD so baddd!)
March 16th, 2010
“I think it was interesting that Nintendo made the device but it still managed to feel like a console experience…it never blurred the lines so far where you wished they would start porting over more PC games.”
This is why King Arthur’s World is so great IMO, because it was a “PC-like” game designed from the ground up for the SNES, so the balance between precise mouse controls and console playability was much more refined than the standard ports at the time.
There were a lot of things we didn’t get to touch on (Totaka’s Song!), but I REALLY wish I remembered to mention the upcoming WarioWare D.I.Y., which seems to be very much inspired by Mario Paint!
March 23rd, 2010
Great pilot (?) episode. Came here via PlayerOne-poddy. Nicely relaxed tone in - sometimes - sharp contrast to a certain other microphone-hogging podcast about retro topics.
Will continue to listen if you continue to crank them out. Keeping the focus on a single game/piece of of hardware is good.