SEGA of America Sales Video - Sonic & Knuckles/32X (1994 Promo Video) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-20 | SEGA sent this video to retailers in 1994. I kept this copy from my days at Babbage's. In this video, we are told how amazing Sonic & Knuckles for the Genesis will be, and we're shown some clips from the early 32X lineup.I don't seem to recall the advertised nationally televised competition to determine the world's greatest Sonic & Knuckles player ever happening. Does anyone have any memories of this?
Bird Buddy—First Visitor (07/30/2024) Whimsical Phil 2024-07-31 | A few days ago, we picked up a Bird Buddy, a fancy bird feeder with a camera and an connected app that can identify the species of birds that come to eat out of it. Today, we got our first visitor!The app couldn't identify this little fella, which seems odd considering that its markings make it look like it's very identifiable. Maybe it just wasn't centered enough in the frame. I dunno.Hopefully more birds start to stop by soon!
Phil Occasionally Plays Rogue Legacy 2 #3 Whimsical Phil 2023-07-01 | I made it my mission this run to get the Aether's Wings item so I could start doing double jumps. And then I just kinda goofed around for a bit. No big.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Plays Rogue Legacy 2 #2 Whimsical Phil 2023-06-24 | Oof...started off playing pretty lousy this time around. Took a couple terrible runs before I got into the swing of things. I ultimately decided to chase down Maria the Pizza Girl so I can start permanently unlocking warp pads. Did I do it?! TUNE IN TO FIND OUT!!Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil(I did do it, yes.)
Phil Occasionally Plays Rogue Legacy 2 #1 Whimsical Phil 2023-06-21 | Rogue Legacy 2 was just released on the PlayStation 5, so I figured I'd occasionally stream thing along with my occasional Dead Cells streams. I got a little too cocky on my initial run here, but I did much better the second time around. Found that air dash, which I really needed.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Plays Dead Cells #7 Whimsical Phil 2023-05-04 | I didn't last long continuing the previous episode's run, but at least I got the Spider Rune before I died. I then intended to bounce out shortly after, but I ended up playing longer due to my kid hijacking my mic and going on an extended rant/lore dump.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Plays Dead Cells #6 Whimsical Phil 2023-04-26 | I intended to just pop into the game here for a minute or so to test out my new headset. It's a cheapo one, but it works, so I don't have to record my voice through the PS5 controller mic anymore. Then, of course, I end up playing through two areas and taking on the Conjunctivius boss for the first time.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Plays Dead Cells #5 Whimsical Phil 2023-04-08 | After finishing my previous run, I start a new one to go after the Ram Rune. Then, I make a very dumb mistake that cuts this run short.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Dead Cells #4 Whimsical Phil 2023-03-31 | Gettin' into them Castlevania bits for the first time. And we battle a boss—Death itself! Do we defeat him? Tune in to find out!*Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil* We do.
Phil Occasionally Plays Dead Cells #3 Whimsical Phil 2023-03-31 | In my third run, I find the Teleportation Rune and unlock the Castlevania DLC content. I'll be playing through that next time!Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Plays Dead Cells #2 Whimsical Phil 2023-03-18 | My second streaming test run. This time with me talking and people watching and everything! Pretty decent run for me being so early in the game, all things considered.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Phil Occasionally Plays Dead Cells #1 Whimsical Phil 2023-03-18 | This was my initial test run for streaming to Twitch. Nothing exciting here, I'm afraid—just a quick early run through the game.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/whimsicalphil
Blaster Master Zero 1 & 2 Collectors Edition Unboxing Whimsical Phil 2021-03-04 | Taking a peek inside Limited Run Games #73 & #74, Blaster Master Zero 1 & 2 Collector's Edition for Nintendo Switch.For more details, check out this old Player One Podcast blog post:tinyurl.com/P1Podcast41
CNN Big Video Game Hunting - F-Zero GX and Mario Kart: Double Dash (2003) Whimsical Phil 2018-01-16 | Back when I worked at GameNOW, I had the opportunity to appear on CNN a couple of times as a guest on its Big Video Game Hunting segment.In this segment, I discuss Nintendo's upcoming F-Zero GX and Mario Kart: Double Dash for GameCube.I'm not sure exactly when this segment aired. It was certainly sometime in 2003...post-E3, but before the release of F-Zero GX in late August. So...let's just say "Summer 2003."I never had a recording of this appearance on CNN, so I figured that it was lost to time, but a huge, HUGE thanks to Michael Wieczorek (twitter.com/avavii). He's the fella who found and restored this clip before passing it along to me. He is awesome.Geez...I was so young and cute.
Building LEGO Star Wars Brick Headz - Boba Fett & Han Solo in Carbonite Whimsical Phil 2017-10-20 | Update: Although I couldn’t find the piece that was missing from this set, I DID have an identical piece in a bag of extra bricks that I had handy.Boba Fett’s helmet is now complete!
Building LEGO Star Wars Brick Headz - Boba Fett & Han Solo in Carbonite Whimsical Phil 2017-10-20 | ...
My First Win at Crane Game Toreba Whimsical Phil 2017-04-14 | A short video of me winning a Snoopy pillowcase by using an iPhone app to remotely control a UFO catcher claw game in Japan. After winning, they ship you the prize, so hopefully it will arrive soon!
Tele-Doodle TV Game Whimsical Phil 2016-10-17 | Video footage of Tele-Doodle, a TV Game that I produced while working at Backbone Entertainment in 2004. The game was released by Jakks Pacific.It's a simple art program that allows players to draw with a variety of different tools (paintbrush, welding torch, chainsaw, etc.).
Super Silly Makeover TV Game Whimsical Phil 2016-10-17 | Video footage of Super Silly Makeover, a TV Game that I produced while working at Backbone Entertainment in 2004. The game was released by Jakks Pacific.It's a Mr. Potato Head-style face creation game that lets the player create all sorts of goofy faces with a variety of different parts. Their creation is then ranked by a panel of judges based on the directions given when the game begins ("Show me a happy/sad/scary/etc. face!").
Blues Room: Coloring with Blue TV Game Whimsical Phil 2016-10-17 | Video footage of Blue's Room: Coloring with Blue, a TV Game that I produced while working at Backbone Entertainment in 2004. The game was released by Jakks Pacific.Intended for preschoolers, this title contains for different games to play: a coloring book, Polka Dot's Puzzles (a combination of hide and seek and a jigsaw puzzle), Stamp & Sticker, and Doodle Doodle Guess.
LEGO Jurassic World - The Flying Triceratops Whimsical Phil 2015-06-21 | An amusing glitch in LEGO Jurassic World for PS4.LEGO JURASSIC WORLDstore.playstation.com/#!/en-us/tid=CUSA01513_00
Metal Gear Solid 2 Theme on a Fisher-Price Xylophone Whimsical Phil 2013-04-27 | To entertain our son, my wife busts out the theme from Metal Gear Solid 2 on his Fisher-Price xylophone. I know nothing about music, but my wife tells me that the instrument is missing the top note, hence the slightly "off" sound at the end. Something about octaves or something. I dunno.
Nintendo 64 Fiber Optic Sign Whimsical Phil 2012-01-16 | Nintendo provided this sign to retail stores to promote (of course), the Nintendo 64. I was an assistant manager at Babbage's at the time, and I obtained the sign after we stopped using it as a display in the store. This was probably sometime around 1998.The groovy light show is provided by a mess of fiber optics within the sign, which measures 25"x13"x6".I've had a few requests already, but no, the sign is not for sale. Sorry, folks.
The Simpsons Hit & Run Trailer (2003) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-31 | Vivendi Universal Games sent a VHS tape with this trailer to the press in 2003 to promote the surprisingly good The Simpsons Hit & Run for PS2, Xbox, and GameCube.
Janeane Garofalo - Comedy Central promo Whimsical Phil 2011-12-29 | Another find from an old VHS tape. The near-disintegrated source material combined with a fairly crappy capture device lead to the crummy look of the video. Sorry, folks.Janeane Garofalo did a series of "Don't Take Comedy From Strangers" promos for Comedy Central back in the early '90s. This is one of 'em.There's also a commercial for the sitcom Soap with narration by Penn Jillette.
CNN Big Video Game Hunting - Phil Theobald discusses GBA SP (4/9/2003) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-29 | Back when I worked at GameNOW, I had the opportunity to appear on CNN a couple of times as a guest on its Big Video Game Hunting segment.In this segment, I discuss Nintendo's recently released Game Boy Advance SP.Through a bit of cross referencing with stories that appear along the news ticker and the sports scores, I figured out that this bit aired on April 9, 2003.
Playmates Promotional Compilation (1994 CES Promo Video) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-23 | Playmates provided this video to the press at the 1994 Consumer Electronic Show. It is obnoxious in its '90s-ness, and it promotes the following SEGA Genesis and Super NES games:* Earthworm Jim* Exosquad* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Crossroads of Time
StarFox 64 Nintendo Power Video (1997 Promo Video) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-21 | This is it, BIT BOY, the video game promotional video by which all others are judged.Nintendo sent this gem out to Nintendo Power subscribers in 1997 to promote StarFox 64 and other upcoming Nintendo 64 titles.The video tells the harrowing tale of two goons from Sony and SEGA who kidnap a pair of Nintendo employees. The dastardly duo get our heroes to dish out the dirt on StarFox 64 by torturing a Mario doll.The overacting in this video is glorious, but don't take it from me. Get watchin'! See ya later, BOYS!
Nintendo - You Know Who/Kids (1997 TV Ad) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-21 | Nintendo provided the press with this tape of one of its ad campaigns for the Nintendo 64. It's a pretty odd commercial, and I honestly don't remember ever seeing it on TV, but my memory may be fuzzy.Speaking of fuzz, you'll have to excuse the "Auto Picture" that keeps popping up. This VHS tape has seen better days.
Mega Man is Everywhere (2001 TV Ads) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-21 | Capcom sent this video to me back when I was working at Expert Gamer magazine. It shows two ads that the company was running at the time to promote the latest batch of Mega Man games, including:* Mega Man Legends 2 (PS1)* Mega Man X5 (PS1)* Mega Man 64 (N64)* Mega Man Xtreme (GBC)* Mega Man Legends (PC)Just remember: "Mega Man--he's SO cute!"
Mortal Kombat III EGM Fan Video (1993-1994) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-20 | Ladies and gentlemen, meet the forgotten Mortal Kombatants: Yusef, Juan Carcel, Starlett, and Claypool!Now this is an oddity. Sometime between the release of Mortal Kombat II and III (probably sometime in 1993 or 1994), a group of friends sent this video in to Electronic Gaming Monthly. They apparently had access to a...I dunno...Video Toaster or something, and decided to make their own version of MK3.Instead of showing any actual fighting, this is a fatality demo, showing off some of the fake game's finishing moves. It's mostly fun and games, but expect a couple nervous collar-tugging moments. When you see them perform a "Jew-ality," I would like to remind you that I had nothing to do with the creation of this original video. Yikes.EGM never did anything with the video, but it did float around the office for awhile, occasionally being popped into a VCR when we needed a few laughs. The music, I should point out, is not something that I inserted. It's what these four mysterious pixelated folks dubbed over the action before sending off the tape.
Activision - Redefining the Game (1996 Promo Video) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-20 | This is a promo video that Activision sent to retail stores, most likely in early 1996. It features trailers for two of the company's PC games, Zork Nemesis and Spycraft: The Great Game
SEGA - Welcome to the Next Living Room (1994 Summer CES) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-20 | SEGA handed this promotional video out to the press at the 1994 Summer CES show.It features the late Lou Rawls talking about how much he loves his new living room, which is chock full of SEGA's latest games. Now, Lou Rawls was undeniably a cool cat, but I'm having a hard time imagining the then 61-year-old singer hunched over a 32X geeking out over Cosmic Carnage.
TurboGrafx-16 Power (1992 Promo Video) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-20 | Here's another video that I found packed away in storage. I snagged it from Babbage's when I worked there and have hung onto it ever since.NEC sent out this promotional video to retail stores in 1992 to promote the TurboGrafx-16, the TurboDuo, the TurboExpress, and its lineup of games.You can't go wrong with a kid pretending like he's playing video games.
Mario Paint Caricature (1993 Summer CES) Whimsical Phil 2011-12-20 | Before E3, the video game industry showed off its latest wares at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES). At the time, CES was held twice a year--a winter show in Las Vegas, and a summer show in Chicago. At the 1993 Summer CES, Nintendo had a guy in its booth drawing free caricatures of show goers on its then-new Super NES game, Mario Paint. The session was recorded, and each subject got a shiny, new VHS tape of their portrait to take home. While cleaning out my storage unit, I found my--sheesh--nearly 20 year old tape and figured that I'd better back it up digitally before the tape disintegrates. So here it is: 18-year-old Phil as interpreted by some dude on Mario Paint. Despite what the illustration suggests, I was NOT wearing a purple leisure suit that day.
Moxie Hates the Orange Cat Whimsical Phil 2011-05-06 | Our neighborhood has a pretty decent community of stray cats. Most of them tend to run away from people, but there is an extremely friendly orange cat that occasionally roams the streets. From what my wife and I can gather, he (she? we never bothered to check) probably belongs to someone—he's very well-fed and he loves to walk up to people for a petting. Still, he doesn't have a collar or tags, so who knows? For lack of a better name, we just call him the Orange Cat. Anyway, he'll occasionally jump over our fence and onto our patio. Usually, my wife and I will walk outside and play with him for a bit before sending him on his way. Lately, however, our cat, Moxie, has been hanging around our patio door, and she'll see him well before we do. We're typically alerted to his presence when she growls and jumps onto the screen door. Tonight, I was able to capture a couple minutes of Moxie defending her territory from the villainous orange cat. Man, I hope Moxie doesn't end up bursting through the screen door one of these days.UPDATE (January 1, 2024):Hello there. In the 12 years since I posted this video, a lot has happened. About a year after the video was made, my wife and I had a son. We also eventually moved out of state, leaving Orange Cat behind. Today, sadly, Moxie suddenly fell ill, and we were forced to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep.Later this evening, our son asked that I update our YouTube video descriptions to let everyone know that Moxie has left us.Moxie lived a long, happy life filled with people who loved her and cuddled with her every day. Our son was brave enough that he chose to hold Moxie and snuggle her as she drifted off one last time. We will always miss her, and we will always love her. We don't know whatever became of Orange Cat, I'm afraid, but I bet that wherever he (she?) is right now, Moxie is hissing up a storm.(She never ended up bursting through the screen door...)
