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[The invisible playground at the root of Pianta Villiage...]

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TalkBack / The root of a Mario level...

« on: October 04, 2002, 10:00:37 AM »

The invisible playground at the root of Pianta Villiage...

Ok, so it's not a "playground" per se, but it's freakin' cool nonetheless.

While trying to guess which episode 100 gold coins were on Pianta Villiage (which might be the least fun I've had with a videogame in years), I found myself sliding down the tree trunk.  I usually just consider it a lost cause, but I was especially frustrated so I spastically jumped and and twisted.  Amazingly the  usual "fall" didn't happen.  I was somehow able to slide and jump all the way to the bottom to an invisible black platform at the bottom of the level.

WORD.

As you'll see in the video, you can look up at the underside of the villiage which has to be a good 1/2 mile away.  You can also look outside the borders and see Pinna Park from semi-underneath.  And the coolest thing is, you can't fall off.  It's a boxed in invisible mess of mario fun.

Let me finally add that it could take you 1 try to recreate or 30.  It's not easy.  The first mushroom I slide down in the video, you actually want to land on - and then try jumping towards the root and butt-stomping before the "fall" takes over.  Also, if you're trying it on a level with your waterpack - DONT USE IT.  It's like an automatic "fall" inducer.  You gotta do it old school...

Giddy-up

[Damnit, Louie go away. Sorry 'bout that. Click here to find Louie's footage on the Planet GameCube DVD.]

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TalkBack / LOUIE TEH CAT IZ ON TEH DVD!

« on: August 25, 2002, 09:52:05 PM »

Damnit, Louie go away.  Sorry 'bout that.  Click here to find Louie's footage on the Planet GameCube DVD.

Pretty self-explanatory for this Easter egg.  ITZ TEH LOUIETEHCAT FOOTAGE!  Louie isn't the most thrilled cat in the world when he sees the suitcases come out.  Billy was filming the final minutes before his departure to LA, and sure enough, Louie's gotta be there.

Highlight Starfox's face in the 2nd picture of "Billy's Pictures" and see what Louie had to say about Billy's departure.

[Revealing the 4th Easter Egg, also reveals just how scary fanboys can be...]

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TalkBack / Hunting Shiggy...

« on: August 18, 2002, 06:29:52 PM »

Revealing the 4th Easter Egg, also reveals just how scary fanboys can be...

I was relatively cool at E3 2002.  I had been there before, and was very focussed on the DVD and the shots I needed to get.  That all changed when I saw the opportunity to meet Shigeru Miyamoto.

I threw my camera to fellow staffer Mike Kielas and he captured me shaking Shiggy's hand as he went offstage at the press conference.  It was perfect.  What wasn't so perfect was the guy who bumped into Mike while he was showing the footage to someone and he erased every second of it.  (sigh)

So we both went back ot the room and swore we'd track him down again.  Unfortunately he was backstage, and we couldn't just barge in and start shooting...or could we?

After a few minutes of waiting, I finally turned to Mike and said:  "I'm just goin' in, start taping and see what happens".

What happened was incredible.  Not only was he completely cool with it, he offered to go back onstage next to the Nintendo sign so I could get a good picture.  Then, as if this wasn't enough, the man says "I love Planet GameCube" for us.

ARE YOU FRIGGIN' KIDDING ME!?!

Unbelievable.  A moment I'll never forget, and neither will you now that I can reveal how to see it on your Planet GameCube DVD:

On the picture entitled "Shiggy rockin' the Mario", from the BACK button, press up and highlight the dot of the "i" in Nintendo.  Hit Enter.

Giddy-Up.

Easter Egg #5 Next Week!!

[Take a sneak peek at Nintendo setting up their booth...]

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TalkBack / 3rd easter egg revealed!

« on: August 11, 2002, 06:39:59 PM »

Take a sneak peek at Nintendo setting up their booth...

...and a bunch of crates.

I figured you wouldn't click if I lead with "CRATES CRATES CRATES!!!"  Billy psoted about 50 pictures of crates the Saturday before E3 and though his excitement was genuine...well, we love you Billy.

Anyway, your Planet GameCube DVD grows ever richer as secret after secret gets revealed.  Take a quick glimpse at some pre-E3 shots by going to "Billy's Pictures" and highlighting the white circle on the hanging dice in picture 2.

The infamous behind the scenes footage of meeting Shiggy next week!

[Just when you thought you saw it all...]

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TalkBack / What's this? MORE secret DVD footage?

« on: August 04, 2002, 03:04:16 PM »

Just when you thought you saw it all...

A few weeks back we told you where you could fins over a minute of secret Gift Pia footage hidden on your Planet GameCube DVD, but that was just the beginning.  There are 9, yes 9 little bits of goodness locked away and over the next several weeks I'll be telling you how to find them as well as giving you a little insight on what they're all about.

The 2nd Easter Egg is a little mischevious jab at our beloved BILLEH by Mike Hrusecky and myself.  I asked Mike if there was anything horribly embarrasing we could put on the disc, and he came through with shining colors.  I'll let Billy take it from here:

The infamous “shoulder incident”

 

When I was younger (8-16), I used to do a lot of springboard diving. I threw out my shoulder when I was diving once and ever since, if I move a certain way, my shoulder can dislocate at very unexpected times.  It is extremely painful, and very different than Mel Gibson portrayed it in Lethal Weapon.

Now on to the clip.  I was walking out of the Shigeru Miyamoto round table at Spaceworld last year, when I saw the whole Nintendo executive staff. I thought it would be a great addition to the Japan Experience video I was shooting so I whipped out my video camera.  I had my backpack full of about 40-50lbs of crap in it, and the backpack was on my bad shoulder, and my camera was held with that same arm. I moved the absolutely wrong way. Bam. My shoulder pops out right in front of Peter Main and associates, and I captured the whole thing on camera.

I don’t think I could explain the embarrassment and pain I was in all at the same time.

Peter Main actually helped me get my backpack off, as did George Harrison. Ironically, they'll never forget me, or Planet GameCube.

 

Ironically, I didn’t even know this would be on the PGC E3 2002 DVD.  We had planned to do Easter Eggs from the beginning, and only one person had access to this footage, and that was the Japan Experience producer, Mike Hrusecky.  When I got the beta of the DVD I didn’t even know it was on there.  Once Adam told me where all the Easter Eggs were, I searched through them, and at that moment found out that it was on there.  I actually wanted it removed, but I was persuaded to keep it on there.

 

I guess it just goes to show that no matter what happens to us, we’ll do anything to cover Nintendo.

 

A word to the wise….if you haven’t seen this clip yet, it’s kind of nasty.  You can actually hear the crunch. This little morsel can be accessed on the PGC DVD by clicking on my left eye in the picture of where I’m sticking my tongue out at the Nintendo Press briefing.

Enjoy.  Look for Easter Egg #3 in one week.