But I did have the friend who kept saying, "Wait till you see this bit..." about everything.

I played Fallout 3 on a leap of faith. I rarely like games in first person. Nobody could explain to me what the fuss about Fallout 3. What hooked me were the pleasure of discovering stuff and the sense of humour. It was hours later that I'd realised I'd enjoyed the shooting all along without thinking about it!

I was naysayer too! If you're going for MH3U I do really recommend sticking with it for a while. You won't understand the gameplay choices they made like the lack of a life bar, etc. until you're really immersed in what they're trying to do with the feel of the hunt. It takes hours until you get to that 'Oh!' moment…

And this is why I keep coming to this website for some damn honest reviewing.

I remember playing a weird version of Mario Bros 3 on my friend's NES. Maybe the cartridge was pirated or some weird Asian translation but koopa was spelled "Kuppa". It wasn't until years after that I knew what a kappa was, the turtle creatures from Japanese mythology. I don't exactly remember when they started…

I didn't know Robotnik was always called Eggman in Japan! You think 'Robotnik' might have been a liberty translators took with the instruction booklet and promotional materials?

I'd missed that entirely, having only played it on DS. Never had an N64; played all its games elsewhere. Nobody's pinpointed when the name change happened for me before. Thanks!

And why is Princess Toadstool now Princess Peach and how does it make sense thematically?

No.

Never before have I been this thankful for the internet.

If you had a blog about this stuff, I'd read it before watching these films. I don't agree with some of what you say but what you say is very sound.

There couldn't be a more appropriate choice to draw this comic.

So happy other people agree! I've only been saying Skullomania and Garuda since the first expansion.