Atom Blog

Oh you people, with your intensely graphic, violent, animations about cartoon characters murdering dictators… Why is it that the weirdest clips we get are all animated?

As best as I can tell, this is what is “supposed” to be the narrative of this video: Osama, Adolf, and Leatherface are having a sleepover, and they’re up past their bed time playing video games and shit get’s crazy. And then Mario shoots everyone.

Someone once told me that there’s something special about being effortlessly weird. While there’s definitely something self conscious about this clip, it somehow manages to overcome that aspect of itself to become something I’d call “truly out there”. Is this parody? Is there a message? Perhaps meangreen3 is the product of the same violent media he preaches against? And still, the circle continues.

Volume 1 here

My interest in these games isn’t simply part of my well documented love of the perverse.  I see these for what they truly are – warning signs.

When you catch a child tormenting animals or repeating lyrics from a Jonas Brothers song, you are rightfully terrified.  Time and again serial muderers later demonstrated these juvenile behaviors might further devolve.  You know you’re responsible to be vigilant of them or at least drug them into a well-behaved stupor.  Now imagine that child is actually 127 million Japanese people.

If you were going to shit your pants in abject terror, this would be the time to do it.

When a society promotes an arcade game that simulates playful sodomy, they are sending an important message that you ignore at your own peril.  Here’s 4 more warnings to carefully heed.

Muscle March

This game actually has a premise, but I’d prefer to let the crazy flow freely over you before explaining it:

A couple of weeks back I took an interest in writing about bizarre Japanese video games.  They are the perfect fodder for blogging.  Their manic imagery naturally inspires pithy commentary and they provide ample latitude to indulge my racism.   However, rather than just taking swipes at cheap jokes, I also saw an opportunity to tackle the subject more academically.

I approached numerous experts in Japanese culture, seeking a rosetta stone that would contextualize the madness that passed for entertainment.  I compiled the results of their survey responses and interview comments for brevity’s sake:

I think that pretty much sums it up.