Long Queue

Characters featured from left to right: Hebereke, Spelunker, Kanna, Ripple, Peter Pepper, Tam, Rit, Gonbe.

Judging by Hebereke's thought bubble, the queue to buy tickets to watch Smash Bros duels would be a long queue because in order for video game characters to buy tickets, the ticket seller would have to identify whether the customer is wearing an appropriate attire before the customer can buy a ticket. This could explain why Mai Shiranui was missing from Super Smash Bros Ultimate's King of Fighters Stadium's cameo characters list, given that her exposed cleavage would displease CERO, the ESRB, and PEGI.

You can see that Rit is buying two tickets, one for her and one for Tam, as they both come from Jaleco's Rod Land.

Being seventh in line in the queue isn't so bad, but when one is being analyzed for anything inappropriate or unacceptable, which none of the characters queuing for tickets have, expect the ticket seller to do a thorough search on the customer to find anything inappropriate or unacceptable, and it will cause delays in what would be an otherwise normal queue for tickets. This method of searching for anything inappropriate or unacceptable ended up barring Mai Shiranui from buying a ticket to watch any Smash Bros duels.

On a side note, congratulations to Byleth on qualifying for Super Smash Bros Ultimate's final Fighters Pass slot, even if reception was as bland as that towards Piranha Plant.

Rejected Tetris Plus Endings

Author's Note: This was originally going to be the very first comic uploaded to Neo Retro Union, back when it was originally going to be called Gamers' Generation. But the name "Gamers' Generation" was already taken, so I chose Neo Retro Union instead.

The arcade version of Tetris Plus has ten different endings for the Puzzle Mode, eight of which are featured in the Standard version of Puzzle Mode. Of course, there may have been proposed versions of the endings that did not make the cut for the final product.

Here are three potential endings that I came up with that did not make the cut for the official version of the game.

Rejected Ending #1: In one of the Standard Puzzle Mode endings, the professor's assistant found an ancient bikini among the heap of treasures. For an awkward ending, this would have been a better ending than the ending where the professor and his assistant found out that the treasures are fake. Also found in the treasure heap is a magic wand from Rod Land, which, like Tetris Plus, is a Jaleco title that began in the arcade.

Rejected Ending #2: Endings 5 to 8 revolve around the professor and his assistant finding a switch. In this rejected ending, the professor and his assistant become invisible and cannot see each other. This would have made more sense than the ending where the pyramid turns into a robot.

Rejected Ending #3: Basically the Expert Puzzle Mode ending, but with the professor's assistant wearing the bikini from Rejected Ending #1. The final product version of the Expert Puzzle Mode ending arcade version of Tetris Plus had the professor's assistant wear a red swimsuit without shoulder straps, which would make more sense than a bikini found among a heap of treasures from an ancient pyramid.

It's disappointing that there is no video footage of the Expert Puzzle Mode of the arcade version of Tetris Plus or the Extra World Levels of Tetris Plus 2's Puzzle Mode. And don't even bother wishing for Tetris Plus 3 because Jaleco closed down when Game Yarou went bankrupt, unless City Connection decides to revive the Tetris Plus series, which is unlikely to happen.

On a related note, please enjoy the professor's assistant wearing a gold linen bikini that she found among a heap of ancient treasures.

Update: Sometime around May 2021, somebody actually uploaded video footage of the Expert Puzzle Mode of the arcade version of Tetris Plus, and the ending was featured as well.

The End of Windows 7

Goodbye, Windows 7. You and Windows XP were the best operating systems during my younger days. Especially when your introduction helped people to get over the Windows Vista fiasco.

From 14th of January, 2020, Windows 7 will no longer be supported. Please upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 to continue receiving security updates.

Forgetting a Birthday

If you ever forget anybody's birthday, including your own, don't get upset. Although the Bible did not state "Thou shalt celebrate birthdays" or "Thou shalt not celebrate birthdays," just remember that the two instances of birthdays being mentioned in the Bible were also death days. The first involved Pharaoh's chief baker, who was executed, and the second was John the Baptist, who was also executed. In other words, the Bible is giving us an indication not to keep birthdays.

The Bible also did not record the birthday celebrations of its greatest heroes, and Ecclesiastes 7:1 states "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth." So there are actually no negative consequences if somebody forgets his or her birthday or that of a friend or family member, just temporal disappointment.

Let's not forget that great would be the woe for somebody who died on April Fool's Day. But what could be worse than that? Your birthday being on April Fool's Day...

Welcome to a more barren Web

Author's note: This is Neo Retro Union's first comic of 2020 and the first in a brand new decade.

2020 was off to a less than positive start. From the possibility of World War 3 starting, to certain YouTube videos and channels having several features disabled due to privacy protection policies, and most recently, CollegeHumor's and Dorkly's websites no longer being accessible, it's safe to say that 2020 will mark the beginning of the end of positivity.

Speaking of CollegeHumor and Dorkly, their websites now redirect to their respective YouTube channels, which still have retained their old videos, which were actually great when they were first uploaded. Do you still remember the Minesweeper movie trailer? How about Street Fighter: The Later Years? Dorkly Bits? Power-Up Mix-Up? Pokemon Rusty? Pokemon Ralphie? No? Because I do. The only thing I will miss about them would be their articles that seek to expose the truth about our childhoods, even if it means ruining them, and the webcomics by various webcomic artists. If you like to read webcomics, please read my webcomic. It might be one of the safe havens still holding strong amid a world wide web slowly getting censored.

It's a shame to see CollegeHumor's website disappear given that CollegeHumor was established barely a month after Neopets was launched. What a time to be alive...