It’s a yearly tradition. Homestar Runner’s Halloween cartoon finds the site’s wacky characters dressed up as all manner of obscure pop culture characters. This year, in addition to The Cheat as The Lorax and Strong Mad as “Sal” from Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” video, we get to see Pom Pom as Pooka from Dig Dug. Best of all for a Nintendo nerd like me, Strong Bad and the Poopsmith go all N64 as minor characters from the Legend of Zelda series, as “Skull Kid” and Dirunia, King of the Gorons, respectively. You can see the full cartoon here. While you’re over on the site, be sure to check out Videlectrix’s ever-growing collection of (parody) retro games.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata ended yesterday’s GDC keynote with an announcement that sent shockwaves through the internet: a new Zelda DS game will be released this year…and it’s got trains! The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks follows 2007′s Phantom Hourglass as the the hallowed series’ latest cel-shaded entry. This time, though, Link’s trading his trusty boat for a cannon-toting locomotive, traveling from dungeon to dungeon on Hyrule’s surprisingly well-developed railway system. Will the story revolve around Ganon kidnapping Princess Zelda to prevent her from appropriating the funds necessary to improve the kingdom’s public transit infrastructure? Will players need to use the touchscreen to figure out complex rail schedules, including rush hour express trains and holiday specials? Only time will tell.