Naughty and Nice ’20 No. 5: Anniversaries

1. 15 years ago, we had an alternative to YouTube

…but we didn’t take care of it. Didn’t support it. Let it waste away to nothing, and now we have nowhere relevant to turn to as YouTube becomes ever more draconian, callous and annoying. This naughty isn’t for you Blip, it’s on us for allowing you to go.

2. 20 years ago, nobody knew what “Millenium” ment

I get that you want to be punctual, but when you’re a year early to the party, you’re just wasting a staggering amount of time. On a similar note for lateness, I’m happy that nobody including “Y2K” on their lists this year, as that was totally a 1999 thing.

3. 20 years ago, AOL buys Time Warner

The terrible monsters that were Dot-Com Boom and Merger Mania combined for this wretched deal. Not only dit it put a LOT of multimedia assets under one roof, it was also bad for business; just two years later, the AOL half’s valuation plummeted by $99 billion, which is STILL the greatest one-year loss in valuation by any business ever. AOL Time Warner would carve itself up over the years, divesting both Time and AOL (who got eaten up by Verizon) before itself being devoured by AT&T to counter Comcast (who previously acquired Time Warner Cable) buying Universal.

4. 25 years ago, Neon Genesis Evangelion activated

The seminal anime classic celebrated its anniversary in style by continuing one of its newest traditions: being late. Eva 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time, touted as the last-ever part of the Evangelion canon, was going to cap off the franchise this past June following 5 years of repeated delays. While it was great to get a final release date when the news landed almost a full year ago, a new threat was already spreading. The release was canned for COVID, and in October Studio Kara offered a new release date of January 23 next year. Though I suspect we haven’t heard the last delay given we’re deep into the Third Impact Wave of the virus now.

1. 35 years to 25 years ago, Calvin and Hobbes

The favorite comic strip of comic strip writers (and also me), “Calvin and Hobbes” was peerless. It made being both funny and about something more look like the easiest thing to pull off. Its creator, Bill Watterson, constantly agitated for his Sunday strips to break out of the lazy, standardized print layouts and bring the medium to its potential. There’s no question why “Calvin and Hobbes” had to end so soon, though. The high bar could not be maintained forever, and letting the strip end while it was still special cemented its legacy.

2. 35 years ago, Studio Ghibli forms

A studio whose legacy needs no introduction to Anime fans the world over. There doesn’t seem to be any big marking of the occasion this year, but I’m giving everybody a pass on that due to COVID. Besides, Studio Ghibli can stand on the nice list on the strength of their past accomplishments.

3. 55 years ago, Charlie Brown celebrated Christmas

How can I do a Christmas feature and not mention this? Charlie Brown’s first of many television adventures came back in 1965. While the art was very crude compared to future Peanuts gang specials, it holds no less warm a place in the hearts of many. While the Peanuts acquisition by Apple of all people threatened to make this CBS classic disappear, good cheer prevailed. Not only did PBS get a free pass, but all the Peanuts holiday specials were allowed to be viewed by non-members of Apple TV for a few days, which is more flexible than a single airing on network TV.

4. 80 years ago, Bugs Bunny took a right turn at Albuquerque

I may as well have something good to say about Warner after all that business hubbub in the naughty column, so here it is. Warner Bros. animation had a big hit with this beloved mascot character. Perhaps if it weren’t for Bugs, there would never have been the slew of WB cartoons I loved to watch growing up, including Tiny Toon Adventures, Tazmania, Animaniacs,Pinky and the Brain, Freakaziod! and the entire DC Animated Universe from Batman: The Animated Series through Justice League Unlimited.

1. Chrono Trigger’s 25th Anniversary

No one should have expected something as grandiose as a full remake of Chrono Trigger, one of the most beloved Japanese RPGs around, for a key anniversary year. But the least Square Enix could have done was port the game to more platforms. The only current platforms it’s available on are mobile phones and PC via Steam; those are solid options, but a game this great should be on every platform. A shame Square Enix doesn’t agree, and won’t treat it like one of the SaGa ports — though those titles are only given such treatment because many of the original developers still work at the company after decades. If only Square Enix could do that with the rest of their library. The game’s 30th anniversary will ideally be a bigger celebration.

2. Tales of franchise’s 25th Anniversary

In addition to Chrono Trigger, Tales of Phantasia was another great RPG released in Japan in 1995, though Japan alone (it wasn’t officially released outside Japan until the Game Boy Advance version in the mid-’00s). Bandai Namco has previously celebrated the anniversary of their flagship JRPG franchise in several ways, sometimes with new installments. This year? Just a stream where they barely gave information on the franchise’s future. They could have, at the very least, provided a bigger preview of the upcoming Tales of Arise considering it has reportedly entered the final stages of development, given the special occasion, but they came to the stream with only a mention of it.

3. Super Mario Galaxy 2’s 10th Anniversary

2020 marked ten years since the superlative sequel to the also-superlative Super Mario Galaxy released, and Nintendo celebrated the game by, uh, leaving it out of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. The game was conspicuous in its absence on the collection, the only 3D game not part of the compilation that didn’t have extra complications surrounding it (Super Mario 3D Land) or was too new to saddle to a collection (Super Mario 3D World — which is getting a Switch port next year). Worse, Nintendo has offered no explanation as to why it was excluded. Hardly the greatest birthday.

4. The Electronic Entertainment Expo’s (E3’s) 25th anniversary:

It’s understandable that E3 2020 couldn’t be held this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced every event in its path to be cancelled. But it’s a pity they couldn’t get a replacement virtual show together after initially promising they would. Plans for this reportedly fell through thanks to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) doing a pitiful organizing job to assemble all the gaming companies for one event. Thus, they ended up replacing their usual crowded event with nothing, while gaming companies held their own virtual events throughout the summer. This came not long after the ESA embarrassingly exposed the data of everyone who attended E3 in recent years on their website. Even considering the complications brought on by the pandemic, the last couple of years have not been kind to the ESA, partly through their own fault.

1. Fire Emblem’s 30th Anniversary

Nintendo was bound to do something nice for the Fire Emblem franchise’s 30th anniversary considering its perpetually rising worldwide popularity since Awakening in 2013, even if that couldn’t have been a new game so soon after last year’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses. But who could have predicted that they would finally release the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light NES/Famicom game in English for the first time? Who could have predicted they would give it such a prestige release in the form of a limited $50 box? No one, that’s who. The digital version is yet another nonsensical Nintendo limited release, but it’s appreciated nonetheless.

2. Perfect Dark’s 20th Anniversary

Rare’s Perfect Dark series has been dormant for over a decade, following a disappointing reception for Xbox 360 launch title Perfect Dark Zero. But Microsoft and Rare confirmed that the franchise will return in the form of a reboot being spearheaded by the Initiative at The Game Awards. Microsoft has been on a kick of reviving franchises from Rare and making new ones, and though no gameplay of this particular project was shown, it’s good that this series is returning and will be given grand treatment.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles’ 10th Anniversary

3.: There’s a lot to celebrate with regards to Xenoblade Chronicles these days, to the point that it’s tough to remember how poorly Nintendo of America handled the original release. The game, at one point, wasn’t going to leave Japan, and then Europe, until NoA had to bring it to the territories they handle following a massive fan outcry. We’re now at the point where every territory around the world is getting the games simultaneously. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition was a polished version of the original game for Switch with an updated presentation, and a brand-new prologue. It’s now one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, a hell of a leap for a series where the first title was a semi-late release on Wii.

4. NieR’s 10th Anniversary

There’s a good reason why the original NieR is difficult to find. Despite a group of vocal fans attesting to its quality following its release on PlayStation 3 and 360 in 2010, it still didn’t take off, which led to Square Enix thinking it wasn’t worth giving the game another printing or even a digital release. That all changed with NieR: Automata, which outsold the original by a significant margin to become a breakout hit. Now, the original game is being given an updated version under the complicated and verbose name of NieR: Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139, partly a remake and partly a remaster. Good times are ahead for the franchise.

1. Five years of Windows 10 OS

Can you believe Windows 10 is five years old? The latest Windows operating system from Microsoft was released on July 29, 2015. For a year Microsoft offered free upgrades to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users. After that, the home version cost $139, the pro cost $200, and a workstation version costs $309. If I was judging Windows 10 on a personal level I would place the OS in my nice column. However, the rollout of the free version was a buggy mess for many users and not every PC running Windows 7/8/8.1 was capable of making the upgrade. Major updates brought different bugs to many users. Windows 10 also came with massive data collection efforts from Microsoft, advertising in some cases, and the loss of older apps such as Windows Media Center. Even without the bugs, fans of Windows 7 had a limited time to keep the OS because Microsoft ended support in January. That means if you have a system not capable of running Windows 10 you’re out of luck or need to buy a new PC. On the upside, Windows 10 is much faster than previous systems and hosts a bunch of useful features.

2. YouTube’s 15 year legacy

Forget Windows 10, can you believe YouTube is 15 years old? The site was founded on February 14, 2005, but officially launched in December. It was founded by former PayPal employees Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. YouTube proved to be popular and millions of people viewed the site each day. Less than a year later it was sold to Google. YouTube has provided a way for users to share videos with each other, but the site has had its fill of controversy. One of the biggest would be the algorithm which is designed to keep users watching, so it suggests more and more videos on a similar topic. That made it easy for some people to fall down rabbit holes or to become radicalized. Next, we have the site going back and forth on what is and isn’t allowed in terms of speech. Then there was the push to cater to the biggest YouTubers and corporate interests. Also, see the dramatic increase in ads for anyone not on Premium, and the implementation of COPPA. While there are smaller sites similar to YouTube, nothing comes close to competing with this behemoth.

3. War goes atomic

2020 has been a year filled with dramatic events and tragedy. Had this year not been so turbulent, people might have paid more attention to the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The events respectively happened on August 6 and 9 in 1945. The official reasoning from the US government was to bring an immediate end to World War II by forcing Japan to surrender. At the time, America was planning an invasion of the island nation and President Harry Truman along with military council decided the best way to avoid more American casualties was to use nuclear weapons. In Hiroshima 80,000 people died instantly on August 6. Three days later, an even more powerful bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and 40,000 lost their lives in the initial blast. Over the course of days, weeks, months, and years many more thousands of people would succumb to horrific radiation poisoning. Thankfully, another nuclear weapon has never been used, but debate rages on if using these terrible bombs were even necessary for Japan’s surrender. Having a 75th anniversary in 2020 would have made for great hindsight. Instead, nuclear arms treaties are set to expire between the United States and Russia in February 2021. That makes it possible for both countries to resume nuclear proliferation instead of reducing nuclear arsenals. It seems like far too many politicians are taking the horrors of nuclear war far too lightly.

1. Windows goes mainstream with Windows 95

Windows 95 was released 25 years ago on August 25, 1995 and it was one of Microsoft’s most important releases. Before the release of Windows 95, many PCs ran on Windows 3 or Windows NT 3x and the software wasn’t user friendly. That changed in 1995 with the new OS. It was aimed at regular computer users instead of professionals and was relatively easy to use. The PCs it ran on were affordable and it allowed people to more easily access the internet, run multimedia, and pushed along the communications revolution. The OS was even well received in the mainstream media increasing its overall popularity. On a personal level, it felt like PCs running Windows 95 overtook Macs in terms of popularity among home users.

2. Balto mushes into theaters

In the Google Doc where we keep track of anniversaries for Naughty and Nice, Toy Story’s 25th anniversary was listed. I had begun to consider writing about this momentous film. Instead, I’m literally turning my attention to the underdog. December 22 is the 25th anniversary of the theatrical release of Balto. As I wrote about in Quarantine Control #2, the film bombed during release and killed Amblimation. It was overshadowed by the gargantuan Toy Story at the time. Still, this movie about a wolfdog wanting to help save children in Nome, Alaska, during an epidemic has a lot of heart. The movie would go on to see popularity during home video video sales and is still a beloved classic over two decades later. Had it not been for this movie, I might not have been motivated to create an online community which still exists today, get into web page development, and ultimately create this blog. Perhaps I’m just an overzealous fan, but my life surrounding the community of Balto was life-changing and I met many wonderful people (this includes Joseph and Alex) (and Drew — Ed.) because of this film.

3. Phoenix Wright changes my gaming world

Speaking of another 15-year release, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney released on DS. It was first released in Japan on September 15 and the western releases followed a month later in October. If you’ve been reading Damage Control for a while, you’ll know that almost all of us here are fans of the franchise. Phoenix Wright was well received by game critics and fans alike. Many praised the visual novel adventure game hybrid. The stories and characters were over-the-top, and the puzzles and mysteries were a lot of fun to solve. The game could be challenging at times, but was not overly difficult. The series would see 10 additional entries (three of which never made it out of Japan), multiple ports to newer consoles, PC, and mobile, various manga adaptations, a live action movie, and even a (mediocre) anime adaptation. Without Phoenix Wright we probably wouldn’t have the Danganronpa series, the Nonary games, and an overall interest in visual novels outside of Japan. Other media also paid homage to Phoenix Wright and/or his courtroom antics. New entries in the Ace Attorney series stopped at Spirit of Justice in the west in 2016 and with 2017’s Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 in Japan. If the Capcom data leaks are to be believed, the west might see Dai Gyakuten Saiban 1 and 2 in 2021 under the title, The Great Ace Attorney. Until then, the original Ace Attorney and its sequels aren’t terribly hard to find.