So King Hippo evidently does a pretty good Abe Lincoln impression, by Videoland standards. It's got to be the hat.

Fighting to save that kid from his screwed up mother... the Earthbound war?

Looks like it.

Can't wait till we get to go to Eagleland (we definitely will).

Somehow, Pokey/Porkey is going to end up actively trying to carry out the will of the Sovereign in an attempt to manipulate her, and will be burned by the deal. This will likely happen shortly before or shortly after the story focuses on Eagleland or its residents.

Its in his nature.

Wait... How sure are we that this is the ACTUAL King Hippo? My first thought was on Hypocrisy.

What made you think Hypocrisy?

Abe was honest?

And so Alex begins to realize a dark truth about Videoland.

Most of the people here are idiots.

Hippo-cricy.

Also, Porky will be amazing. Can't wait for that.

such bad puns. Such bad, bad puns. And yet, by this being Video Land and things just wanna screw with Alex, that makes it possible. Then again, horrible thought I just had was all of Video Land being Hipocrisy. I mean, Alex is the hero (supposed to be, anyway) and yet he gets tortured beyond normal RPG angst levels.

Hee hee hee. ^__^ I rather liked this one. I'm looking forward to its follow-ups, too.

Well, it's in Videoland's nature for such a thing to happen, certainly. Maybe not so much Pokey's. I mean, we're totally on the same page, re: he's going to attempt to use/take advantage of the Sovereign. But he may not necessarily be screwed over by her. Serving as Giygas's lap-pig tended to go pretty well for him in EarthBound. And in Mother 3, things were less... straightforward than the usual Videoland fare.* It certainly wasn't tangling with cosmic forces that ruined him in that one.

* Given what we know of Videoland, the ending in that one (or at least the stretch after the dramatic final confrontation and its immediate aftermath) might not have been allowed to happen.

Incidentally, I'm curious if there will be any Mother 3 shout-outs in the future.

Doubtful, actually: Alex was pulled into Videoland before Mother 3 came out, so he can't have played it. Though he may know of it being in development hell...

BTW, why are you all talking about King Hippo? I don't see him in this comic. All I see is a striking likeness of Abe Lincoln (and Alex and a couple of guards). ;)

That's certainly a factor, I agree. Just not one I see as insurmountable. :P No reason things couldn't just "coincidentally" work out in such a way that references it. Also, theorizing on what Mother 3 would have been like based on teasers from the N64 game that went nowhere would still technically qualify as a Mother 3 shout-out for the purposes of this discussion. So, I proclaim my absence of defeat in my idle musing!

Except the current state of Videoland doesn't know of the N64. For all intents and purposes, the year is currently 199X.

The existence of Advance* suggests we simply can't know such a thing with certainty. Also, Alex's perceptions and understanding have a level of impact on Videoland; he could well know of such things, and that alone could matter. Not that what anyone in story understands is even important: JayDee was certainly aware of it when he came up with the story, so, yeah, as I said, "things could just "coincidentally" work out in such a way that references [the game]."

* Vaguely Pertinent Trivia: the GBA was released in 2001, with the N64 coming out in 1996, unless Wikipedia tells me lies.

Also, can we please keep things in perspective? I idly wondered if allusions might be possible. That was it. I mean, arguing against the possibility is just silly. There's even precedent: Chrono Cross got one ages ago.

Oh yeah. I forgot about both of those.

Carry on.

Nope. It's 2001.

It is scary when the guards have a lower level of intelligence than King Hippo...

The Sovereign at least acknowledges the existence of outside consoles that came in existence later, particularly given her Chrono Cross reference. Additionally, note that Princess Toadstool was not officially designated Princess Peach until the N64, but Princess Peach is the nomenclature Roy gives her when fighting Magus. So perhaps the N64 games have affected Videoland, at least subtly; though, I guess one could argue that Roy's use of Princess Peach's name is due to it being her standard name in Japan, which Alex may have known and adopted.

Outside of this, it is difficult to discern whether the N64 informs this world at all, because - excepting Mario - there is no other major character who was also in the N64 that has received enough spotlight time for us to gain clues as to whether they have also been affected by the N64's existence. In fact, the complete omission of all other consoles, despite Alex's familiarity of them, is strange. He rarely mentions future consoles and games, and it is as if he has not taken into account the future consoles in relation to his role as SNES at all.

Uh, hello? Two Legend of Zelda games, and we've had several Links, Ganon, and Zelda all show up in the strip? Also N64 had Smash Bros, which Samus and Ness were in, and they're playing a big part in things. (Ness is a "not quite on-camera yet" example, though.)

Again, there was no other major character that received enough spotlight time for us to gain clues as to whether they have also been affected by the N64's existence. I did not take a few Links answering questions during the Weakest Link as spotlight time. Zelda was in a two or so strips (if that was even her) - same with Ganon. They are all in the periphery, background really. And Metroid's cameo in Super Smash Bros, again, doesn't really offer up much, unless Metroid should happen to note that she fought many of the early Nintendo characters in this comic... which could imply Super Smash Bros, or something in story...

There's also Falco, seen in the background. Star Fox 64 more or less retconned/rebooted the SNES games, as far as I know (before my time in a genre I don't care for much), so how he remembers things could be illustrative there.

Actually, there are at least four confirmed Legend of Zelda games prevalent. The original, Zelda II, LttP, and Link's Awakening. Also, Super Metroid and Earthbound were likely to be two of Alex's favorites, since he has been shown to enjoy shooter/platformers (evidenced by Megaman) and RPGs (evidenced by at least three-fourths of the current "Where Are They Now?" status :P). So none of that can be taken to show that the N64 influences Videoland.

That could be part of why Alex is here - because Videoland has been stuck in the SNES era and needs someone to 'nudge' it.

Why he's CSNES, not CN64. Since he's shaping a large part of videoland, I don't think I'm expecting any nudges of that sort.

You misunderstood. I meant that he would nudge Videoland forward. Right now it seems stuck in a holding pattern.

The question of "Why only SNES?" was answered back around the beginning of Act II, when Ryan asks why Alex focuses on SNES games. (Knight posted the link to it.) Alex explains that he prefers the "honesty" of the old school, and as such he played those games predominantly. This is Alex's Videoland, so it reflects that - all the idealism and honesty of his youth, twisted by the cynicism and sorrow of the real world.

Alex: "I don't like the newer games. They're too polished. They're soup cans, commodities to be bought and sold. They're innovative, but only in safe ways. The old games... the old games seemed more sincere. They could be goofy, but it was the sort of goofiness that children have. It felt like a fairy tale, and I laughed and cried when I played it. Now... I don't get that sense anymore."

Frankly I think a lot of Alex's attraction to SNES era is that it reminds him of a happier time in his life, and that some sort of tragedy hit him since that he is either unable or unwilling to face yet (i.e. telling his former best friend that he's been dead for years, perhaps).

Put simply, I think he is nudging the Videoland along, or rather he has been doing so for a long time. The great change, the corruption of the worlds, the death of the "Never Say Die" idiom... it's all because the heart this world rests in has lost its innocence.

Actually I meant we'd had two N64 Zelda games, my mistake for being a bit imprecise in my language. Even if they're not all the exact same Link, Zelda, and Ganon, they are at least slightly related (is what I was meaning.)

I think it's great that we are all desensitized to the fact that the sprites know who Abe Lincoln is, and what the United States are

Maybe that is why the Sovereign of Sorrow exists... to move Videoland to a different era, one that is more like the newer games.

Well, she was certainly instrumental in the Great Change.

I'd be willing to bet that the United States and Abraham Lincoln existed in at least one SNES game that Alex played.

Well, he says "of these United States", so in some twisted fashion (especially considering to the dream-logic Videoland seems to operate on), Videoland might be part of the United States. They had Reagan, too...

The Power Team story arc very decidedly occurs in Washington D.C.

Pretty sure that was Video City. AKA Pre-Nexus.

Now, while i really truly hope that king lincppo is hypocrisy, because that would be interesting, we should all note that king hippo got away with this kind of shit ALL the time in captain N. Dressing as a tv-repairman or a waiter in very unconvincing outfits.

So this shouldn't surprise anyone too much either way

Theory: King Hippo (and by extension, Eggplant Wizard) is too stupid to know that such tactics shouldn't work. Hippo believes it will work so strongly that against all logic, it does. This belief temporarily warps the universe around him so that anyone who doesn't make the corresponding Will save believes it, too.

SPACE Yarrrr...