The Uncola

Sorry, I don't have too much to say... too worried about the election. However, there is one thing I did want to mention before October comes to a close. I noticed something odd when I played the Arcade1UP Pac-Man cabinet at the local Wal-Mart. (Remember when Wal-Mart actually had arcade games, rather than trying to sell aging Gen Xers shrunken down facsimiles of them? Pepperidge Farm remembers.) Observe!

These are two of the prizes that appear in the center of the screen in the ill-conceived "upgrade" of Pac-Man called Exciting New! Pac-Man Plus. Yeah, yeah, they just call it Pac-Man Plus now, but I still think of the adjectives on the marquee as part of the title. Anyhoo, one of the prizes, a cocktail, is the same as it's always been, but that can of cola is missing the ribbon that instantly identifies it as Coca-Cola. 

Lots and lots of games from the 1980s featured cans of Coke either as power-ups, or background decor. You'll find it hidden in trash cans in Final Fight, retrieve it from scarlet ninjas in Bad Dudes, and throw goons into signs advertising the pause that refreshes in Ninja Gaiden. (The beat 'em up, I mean, not that Castlevania clone amped up on caffeine.) The Arcade1UP version of Pac-Man Plus is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time I've ever seen the telltale ribbon edited out. And rather poorly too, I might add... they couldn't have added a lightning bolt or a letter or something to it? Without that flourish, it barely looks like a can of soda.

I'm just wondering what happened here. Coca-Cola never balked before about its products making stealth appearances in video games. Why now? Was the edit compulsory or made out of an abundance of caution? Look, I realize that I'm probably the only one who gives a crap, but still, it strikes me as a little strange.

Anyway! Good news on the book front. After an exhausting process of taking hundreds pictures in Batocera and swearing profusely at Fatal Fury Special, I've got the 16-bit ports section of Squirrel Burger Cookout all laid out. I hadn't intended to do things this way, but on the advice of HG101's Kurt Kalata, I've added spreads to each chapter with tons of pictures, comparing all the reviewed games. As they say, show, don't tell... but I'll be doing plenty of both in this book.