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Oh, that Nintendo -- they think they're soooo creative. What with their creation of the megapopular Wii and DS. And the fact that they're responsible for the '80s console boom. So yeah, we get it, Nintendo -- you have some pretty innovative ideas. Sometimes. But apparently not when it comes to coming up with original music for sickness-inspired puzzle games.

Sound familiar, Nintendo? Oh, it should -- it seems as though the theme for Dr. Mario is a blatant ripoff of The Beatles' "Lady Madonna." Don't believe us? Well, have a listen [via Level One Boss]:

Caught you, Nintendo! The jig is up. Tisk tisk -- did you really think you could steal from some rock legends? Hell, you're better off stealing from this guy.

So what do y'all think? Did Nintendo really rip off the tune or did someone on YouTube make a big deal out of nothing? Either way, we love the drama!

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Editor's note: I started cheating early, with an InvisiClues hint book for the original Zork. (The cheats were written in invisible ink!) And I don't regret it, because I don't think I would have gotten past the Cyclops without it. Ultimately, I went on to actually write a few strategy guides for Prima, so I never quite left cheating behind. But it's interesting to hear about the self-imposed rules gamers create for themselves, and the guilt associated with breaking them. -Demian

Let me clear something up right away: I'm fairly anti-guide. When I'm stuck in the Water Temple in Zelda or I can't figure out how the hell anyone is supposed to beat Call of Duty on veteran, I don't check gamefaqs and I don't rush out and buy a guide. When I heard about some people looking up ways to solve Braid -- a game that is predicated on its mind-bending puzzles and the sensational feeling of solving a tricky one for yourself -- I was appalled. (That is, of course, unless they were using the fantastic official guide.)  I never use cheats in a game to further the story and I figure things out for myself because there's a certain pride that comes along with crossing the finish line knowing nobody held your hand. My friends, more or less, share the same beliefs.

So when I broke out the (extremely awesome) Mass Effect Wiki the other day to get some help, my roommate gave me crap. For those who haven't played Mass Effect, quite a few quests have you scouring largely deserted, bland, rocky planets for a staggering amount of hidden artifacts and resources, which require aimless driving around until a marker appears on your mini-map. They're fetch-quests, in the purest form, and they suck. Don't get me wrong, Mass Effect is a tremendous game and I am loving it, but these quests, while optional, severely hamper the pace of a game. So, in an effort to both satisfy my insistent completionist impulse and to hurry things up so that I could get back to the good stuff, I used a guide.

Great -- another totally exciting planet to explore!

This reasoning wasn't really enough to convince my roommate (although it's likely he just enjoys crap-giving), so it made me consider if and when "cheating" (loosely defined here as either using cheats or a guide) is ever acceptable in gaming culture. Never? It seems to me that the black and white approach of never or always here is as hard-headed as the stubborn husband who won't stop and ask for directions. You might argue it's a matter of pride, but let's be honest with ourselves here -- it'd be a lot less painful to just stop, ask for a bit of help, and start having fun with the road trip or the videogame.

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Editor's Note: Andrew's latest in his series of interviews with notable podcasters might be his best yet...of course, I may be a little biased. Give it a read to learn just how much globe-trotting adventures have to do with sports videogames. (Hint: More than you'd think.) -Greg

Few things from real life translate as well to videogames as sports. Even from the early days, you could always pick up your favorite sport in videogame form. These days, dozens of sports titles are released each year, forming a large chunk of the industry. Despite this, they are often ignored by "core" gaming outlets, and even sites that do cover them have trouble finding the right people.

Todd Zuniga is one of these few, and no one knows this genre of games better. His particular brand of coverage (both sports and nonsports) has been featured in OPM, EGM, 1UP.com, ESPN, Wired, The Onion, and What They Play, all while founding the literary magazine/website Opium.

He's worked both on the outside and inside of the industry, and his adventures have taken him all over the world. It only makes sense that his podcast, the Sports Anomaly, is as rambling, exciting, and surprising as his life experience. Todd was gracious enough to spare a few minutes for an interview.

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Editor's note: It bothers me that so many people feel entitled to games, whether they can afford them or not. Jordan says he's a former pirate that's coming clean and also mentions how game companies may be able to stop some piracy. He does say at the end that this is an entirely fictitious account, but I detect some truth here. -Jason

I began pirating when I was 14. I was in a situation that I imagine is fairly common among pirates. I talked my parents into buying a good computer and paying for a fast Internet connection. It was for school -- or at least that's what I told them.

Talking them into buying more than a few games a year wasn't as easy. And since I couldn't get a job even if I wanted to, the only way I could get new games was to steal them.

It made perfect sense. I never bothered to concoct some ethical justification for my actions; ethics didn't enter my mind. I was a kid, and I wanted something, so I took it. I would have shoplifted the games, but I was afraid of getting caught. Besides, I was a nervous and awkward youth; I couldn't manage the nerve to talk to a girl, let alone pull off something as suave as shoplifting.

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Just found via Offworld, a video for an upcoming downloadable PC game called Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet:

Seems a little LocoRoco, a little PixelJunk...looks yummy.

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Maybe it pisses them off, but we always lump Ray Muzyka (above, left) and Greg Zeschuk together as a pair. They're both co-founders of uber-RPG developer BioWare (who's working on the upcoming Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins). They both help run the new RPG/MMO Group at EA. And heck, they're both former doctors that went to med school together.

So when it came to interviewing BioWare for 21 Random Qs, we couldn't just pick one or the other. That didn't seem fair, and we didn't want to give one of them some sort of complex about being the cooler of the two for appearing on Bitmob first.

Thus, we have a two-for-one interview today...with both BioWare bosses telling us about their favorite this or thats, what they're like outside of gaming, and who'd win in fictional geekfest matchups. Warning: Nerd culture overload, ahead!

1. If everyone in Mass Effect teamed up together to fight everyone in the Star Wars universe, who would win?

Greg Zeschuk: I believe it would be a draw. Shepard's codpiece is made from Cortosis. I think that's self-explanatory.

Ray Muzyka: I think the Geth would be an even match for the Jedi and Sith -- if the Sith and Jedi managed to put aside their differences for a while -- but only because the Geth cheated.

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It's no secret that the Japanese get all of the cool videogame-related stuff. They get the best collector's editions, tons of different-colored consoles, wacky dating sims...even their videogame commercials are better than ours!

Don't believe me? I've picked a few of my favorites to share with you (check after the jump for the rest). Be warned: Once you see how great/awful/amazing/horrific Japanese videogame commercials are, your life will never be the same.

Chu Chu Rocket
Kudos to Sonic Team for keeping the wacky name intact, but a big "boo" to Sega for not sharing the Japanese commercial with the rest of the world. The visuals are terrifying to be sure, but you can't help but smile when you hear the happy man singing along with an acoustic guitar. Watch the video and try to guess what the lyrics to this joyous little tune are saying. I've included a translation below the clip.

Chu Chu Rocket

Let's save the Mice!

Chu Chu Rocket

The Cat is scary!

Chu Chu Rocket

The rocket is GREAT!

WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

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I'm about to give the Bitmob community some homework. Sorry.

One of my interests in games isn't about what's new and flashy; I care more about what people are doing with their existing games and how they are modifying and extending the experiences of those games. I'm talking about mods. And I'd like to extend that interest to the Bitmob community.

Art Siriwatt has already written a community review of Neotokyo, a Half-Life 2 mod that's a tactical urban-combat first-person shooter (think Counter-Strike) set in a futuristic Japan and partly inspired by the creators of Ghost in the Shell and Akira. I'm interested in seeing what the rest of the community has to say about it.

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It's surprising for us to hear developers thinking about sequels before their first game has even shipped. Hell, that'd be like Hollywood greenlighting a sequel before they release the first flick. And we all know that'd never happen.

News Blips:

• New Tony Hawk Ride sequel already in the works? Nah, ya don't say! Yep, it's true -- the president of developer Robomodo says the studio is already thinking about creating a sequel. Hopefully the next one will come with a fake skateboard that actually has fake wheels, too. [IndustryGamers]

• Gross: The Witcher director's cut will have naked boobies. File this one under "Yucky, no thanks": The upcoming director's cut of the PC game The Witcher will allow you to -- god, it's terrible to say this -- see naked breasts. Grody! Um, can you excuse us for a sec? We have to take a shower after reporting such filthy garbage. [Shacknews]

• Orphaned videogame IP's taken in by caring developer. Now that Vivendi Games is no more, a ton of old gaming series are without a home. Except for a few thanks to developer Rebellion -- the studio (currently making Aliens vs. Predator for Sega) picked up the rights for Evil Genius, Ground Control, Empire Earth, and the Lords of the Realms/Lords of Magic series. Glad to see there's at least some decency in this business after that vulgar update above. [Big Download]

• Pokemon x-ray machine scans all your bones. In American, our x-ray machines are booooring! But in Japan? Well, they're also kinda boring, too -- it's just a machine that snaps pics of your insides. But at least a few hospitals over there are getting spiffy Pokemon-branded x-ray machines. Why? Well, we're, uh, yeah -- it's Japan. [Kotaku]

Hit the jump for some video blips, including a Watchmen trailer, costume-changing in Champions Online, silly Japanese-inspired commercial, and...more.

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Editor's note: Derek may be preaching to the choir here, but I love his plan to legitimize gaming to non-gamers (you'll find it after the 'Read more'). This is another post from last week that slipped through the cracks.... -Demian

Being a 27-year-old male I am still surprised how consistently I have to defend the honor of videogames. I dream of the day when games aren't looked at as the lowest rung on the entertainment ladder. The hierarchy of entertainment goes: physical activity > books > radio > movies > TV > games > torturing small animals and/or children. We gamers are only kidding ourselves that we are legitimate.

The gaming industry grosses just as much money as movies or books, yet both of those are seen as intellectually superior. Why is that? Politicians, non-gaming media, and most of the nation see videogames as...games. Hillary Clinton is never going to say that she thinks books are demoralizing today's youth. Fox News isn't going to run a story about how reading is making people fat. The only real national attention games garner are 15-second blurbs portraying them as the next soon-forgotten Tickle Me toy, or the seedy underbelly of today's youth.

Being late to the party has left videogames as the accepted scapegoat for cultural backlash. The thing is, like a lot of gamers, I love playing sports, reading books, watching movies, listening to music, and watching TV. All of these forms of entertainment have their strengths. I can remember the feeling I had the first time I hit a homerun, and the first time I made a winning basket.

Just as clearly, I remember the first time I knocked out Mike Tyson, and the first time I dominated in a 16-person Halo LAN party. These are all great feelings, but truthfully none of them really accomplished anything. I didn't solve world hunger; I didn't save anyone's life. Just because they weren't actual accomplishments doesn't take from the enjoyment I experienced while partaking in these events. These were legitimate pleasurable moments in my life, and looking back neither making the winning basket or beating Punch-Out!! is better or worse. They are just different.

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Editor's note: This one's from the vault; a post we should've caught when it went up a week ago. Omar makes the argument that silent protagonists make for a more immersive (always a dangerous word) experience. The writer in me doesn't want to believe it -- but when the hero is chatty, I do feel like I'm 'playing' another person. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. Just different, like reading a book in third person as opposed to first.

Warning: Half-Life 2 spoilers, in case you haven't gotten around to that yet. Don't roll your cursor over the image below, and don't read too far, either. -Demian

What makes a good story? What is it exactly that makes your eyes-widen, your brow perspire and your body shuffle to the edge of the seat in anticipation? Rarely does one single element make a story "good"; it's usually a matter of taste. But in my experience, immersion is the paramount factor in making a story memorable.

I would argue that an anecdote or scene becomes far more powerful if the spectators are actually involved in the event, and have an element of perceived or real emotional investment. So how do mute or otherwise silent protagonists promote immersion? How is immersion achieved? Does immersion make a story more entertaining? Let's find out. The first hint takes the form of an unlikely ellipses.

"..."

It's a relatively common response by protagonists in videogames to questions or comments directed at them, and one that's inscrutable by design. For years, game developers have created, with varying success, characters who are essentially mute. The purpose of this narrative choice is to create a "second person" perspective, wherein the player takes the role of the character. The choice a developer makes when deciding whether the protagonist remains silent or has scripted lines is immensely important and can create wildly different experiences.

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By now a lot of you have listened to the latest Mobcast (apologies on the up-and-down sound quality -- we're working on it!). It's a great episode, with some great guests -- including ex-EGMers Crispin Boyer and Mike Cruz, and community member Derek Lavigne -- that I'm sorry I missed.

But that doesn't mean I can't join in on the fun, as the guys brought up two topics that I wanted to chime in on: one EGM related, one time-travel related.

First, in our community question this week, PJ Sangalang asked, "In the old EGM/1UP days, what was your favorite game to review and least favorite game to review?"

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