Kiddy?

During an archive cleanup earlier this year, I discovered a complete backup of all my older blog iterations. I've been and still am steadily integrating all of them into this version of the blog, so I've got posts running from 2001 all the way up to today. Kind of shocking and nostalgic to look back on it. And realise I have changed a bit. (Maybe not that much, though.)

One of the things floating around on its own in the many folders was the image below, and considering today is rather auspicious for all kinds of pranks, I thought I'd post it again.

If you've frequented some videogame forums in the early '00s, you may have seen this before. Back then I didn't only love Metroid, I also had (and have) a weak spot for its Famicom/NES "sibling" Kid Icarus. With the Internet slowly coming to grips with the idea anyone could just post anything, not just facts, I whipped up a quick promotional image for a pie-in-the-sky Nintendo Gamecube iteration of Kid Icarus during a discussion of most wanted games or something like that. I think I posted it on the EDGE forums and not yet on its spiritual successor rllmuk.

Whatever the case, some videogame websites picked this up as being a legit image (the Japanese blue Nintendo logo made it look more official) and it briefly spread around. I think at one point even IGN posted about the image. At which point I replaced it with a disclaimer attached that it was a fake.

The idea behind the image was that if the Zelda franchise was set into motion by its Triforce of Power, Wisdom, and Courage, Kid Icarus could do the same with its Three Sacred Treasures: Courage (Mirror Shield), Hope (Wings of Pegasus), and Love (Light Arrows). The "Kiddy?" tag-line was mostly there to refer to the exhausting discussion about Nintendo being for kids while making a clear reference to the game's (English) name. Something that exploded after The Wind Waker was announced and people clamoured for a more gritty and realistic version. Of course, the monkey paw curled on that one and we got Twilight Princess in the end.

Looking back on it, I should have changed the logo to red (as the Kiddy-reference only works for the English name, not the Japanese one), but I guess the blue was more convincing in the end. Apparently this is from December 24, 2002 based on the date I tagged it with. It would take roughly another 10 years for Kid Icarus: Uprising to actually appear on Nintendo 3DS.

Good things come to those who wait.