A Letter to Readers

Author's Note: To all my readers, this may potentially be the last time we can share our creativity online, for our digital freedoms will be restricted even further in 2021.

Neo Retro Union wishes its readers a Happy New Year. Stay safe, read your Bible if you own one, and do not do anything that goes against the law.

Legitimately Modded by Nintendo

Nintendo needs to come to their senses regarding the existence of ROM Hacks because they used to design ROM Hacks of their own games specially made for certain games. In fact, the Western Super Mario Bros 2 was actually a re-skinned version of Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic. Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic never left Japan because Western audiences would be unfamiliar with the main playable characters, so they decided to replace them with Mario characters instead. It was also believed that the Japanese Super Mario Bros 2 a.k.a. Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels would be treated as an example of lazy game design, not to mention that it was harder than Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic as well as its Mario-themed re-skin, Super Mario USA because Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels was the game that introduced us to the Poison Mushroom, which would shrink Mario or Luigi, or make them lose a life when small.

To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros, Nintendo created a modified version of Super Mario Bros exclusive to Super Mario Bros 25th Anniversary Edition Wii consoles where the question marks on the Question Blocks are replaced with the number 25. Super Mario 3D World had a Mario Bros ROM Hack called Luigi Bros where both players 1 and 2 are Luigi, except the color scheme of the player 1 Luigi is based on modern Luigi. NES Remix 2 included a ROM Hack of Super Mario Bros called "Super Luigi Bros" where the side-scrolling goes from right to left instead of the familiar left to right. Ultimate NES Remix had Speed Mario Bros, which is basically a faster speed version of Super Mario Bros. Other ROM Hacks that are not included in this comic included a "Complete Edition" NES port of Donkey Kong, which included the cement tub level that was cut from the official NES version, making it look like what the NES version of the arcade original should have been, and Dr Wario, a Dr Mario ROM Hack included in WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgame$! based on the NES version of Dr Mario but with Wario and redesigned viruses. This modified game and the Wii U game Dr Luigi paved the way for the mobile game Dr Mario World, where Dr Luigi and Dr Wario are playable characters.

But then again, Nintendo does not want so-called counterfeiters to create rip-offs of even their legitimate ROM Hacks, if the revelation about Super Mario Bros 35 undergoing beta testing at the time of the unofficial Super Mario Battle Royale's release was anything. Perhaps intellectual property protection regulations forbid the creation of rip-offs of legitimate ROM Hacks that the legal copyright owners designed in the first place.

Nintendo games © Nintendo.

Annus Horribilis

In Latin, Annus Horribilis means "horrible year", and 2020 was the very definition of Annus Horribilis. From start to finish, 2020 has seen many calamities. More than one million people worldwide have perished from the current pandemic. There have been obituaries of prominent people, mostly celebrities. Riots over injustices committed by rogue police officers have strengthened the leftists' resolve to take over democracies by any means possible. A major explosion devastated Lebanon's capital Beirut in the days leading up to Hiroshima's 75th anniversary. Web censorship taking over the rule of copyright law is depriving netizens of digital freedoms. But none of these can compare to China getting away with the biggest act of intellectual property theft. The J-31 jet fighter may actually be a product of intellectual property theft and potentially be a knockoff of the F-35 jet fighter. Maybe this is why copyright holders and copyright authorities are being so mean to people who committed copyright infringement, whether the offence is alleged or actual. They have a good reason to be overprotective of copyrighted intellectual properties because rogue dictators and terror groups have weaponized copyright infringement and intellectual property theft for more nefarious purposes.

Truth be told, every year since 2001 was an annus horribilis in one way or another. However, we need to be aware that the "beginning of sorrows" that Matthew 24 spoke about may have already begun. For those who think 2021 will be less positive than 2020, you might well be correct.

Revealing Innerwear

This was based on a piece of Puyo Puyo fan art where Schezo pulled down Arle's skirt, revealing her striped panties. Nobody was sure if Arle was wearing panties or swimwear, but I do wish the uploader could have given a description before it became unsearchable.

Stages of a Boycott Campaign

Nintendo's recent actions to protect their intellectual properties has resulted in some of their customers calling for a boycott. Unfortunately, criminal enterprises have already jumped into the copyright infringement bandwagon, and it will be a matter of time before a terror attack funded by criminal copyright infringement, be it a massive bomb explosion or a massive hacking incident, occur in our lifetime, forcing us to contemplate on our moral actions on whether we should have admitted that we are in the wrong and that copyright infringement will result in the rise of evildoers more vile than even the worst villains.

For those who are wondering whether somebody said mean comments against Nintendo, the answer is yes. Back in 1985, one lady told Nintendo salespeople "I hope you fail." Now with the recent legal actions by Nintendo against their own customers' acts of copyright piracy, if that lady is still alive right now, she will become one of the biggest champions of the internet campaign to boycott Nintendo. There was also an ultimatum on whether Nintendo would choose a licensing agreement with Tencent or freedom. This ultimatum was conceived amid calls for a boycott of Tencent and anything owned by Tencent. Judging by the success of Tencent's version of the Nintendo Switch, it's clear that Nintendo chose their licensing agreement with Tencent. Therefore, people who want to boycott Tencent will also want to boycott Nintendo as well.

Currently, we are now between pleading Nintendo not to make their customers unhappy and threatening to boycott Nintendo. However, we must be aware that the decline of digital freedom in Japan and many parts of the world has been happening since 2009. All of this is merely part of the formation of the "marketplace of nations" that Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27 had been speaking about. This "marketplace of nations" aims to throw out small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mostly because the SMEs are hostile towards the "marketplace of nations." Eventually, the SMEs will be thrown out by the "marketplace of nations," but the SMEs' owners will finally have their justice when the "marketplace of nations" gets destroyed by the coming nuclear firestorm of World War 3.

Waiting for 2020 to end

If you think 2020 was a terrible year, you are right. However, 2021 is expected to be far worse. Web censorship is already taking over the rule of copyright law, and will force many copyright holders to take legal actions against a lot of copyright violations. This will actually starve minor copyright holders because they lack the finances to take legal actions against alleged copyright infringers. The current pandemic has laid the foundations for a dystopian autocracy in our lifetime. One that seeks to establish a "marketplace of nations" to economically besiege the Anglosphere and anybody who are friends with them, as well as censor the web, whether it's because of copyright violations or community guidelines violations. At the end of the day, do not be too positive about 2021, and do not let your guard down when it comes to 2021 being less positive than 2020.

Winter Solstice

Ever wondered what is worse than getting coal for Christmas? Getting bupkis (slang term for nothing at all) for Christmas! At least coal can keep you warm when fed into a fireplace. Also, coal is an important resource in steel manufacturing and a vital non-renewable source of energy.

Because of pestilence, perhaps we should give Christmas a miss. For all we know, Christmas is not part of Christianity, and the evidence can actually be found in a fair amount of sources, one of which is the Catholic Encyclopedia.

In fact, there are big questions over the actual Hebrew Calendar year. Some claim there have been many errors regarding the actual Hebrew year. While the Gregorian Calendar is an Anno Domini Calendar, the Hebrew Calendar, however, is an Anno Mundi Calendar. Anno Mundi in Latin means "year of the world," and it's no surprise that an Anno Mundi Calendar could be the most accurate man-made calendar. For all we know, the number of years until Yeshua's triumphant return could potentially be single digits away...

If you want to forgo Christmas this year due to the pestilence, please observe the Winter Solstice instead without any merriment whatsoever. After all, we should go back to observing the Spring Equinox as the start of the new year as well...

Piracy Ban

Recently, Nintendo had been cracking down on several intellectual property infringements, both alleged and actual. Nintendo verified with their customers that copyright piracy is forbidden, and any unlicensed usage of their intellectual properties, which includes Nintendo music uploaded on YouTube, fan games, Mario Kart hacks and Super Smash Bros Ultimate character skin mods, do not meet the requirements of fair use. The resulting internet backlash was so severe that some people called for a boycott of Nintendo on social media.

However, all of this may have something to do with Japan's copyright regulations getting stricter, possibly leading to a gradual phasing out fair use and fair dealing. This had been happening since 2009 and is nothing new.

If you are living in Japan, this is a fair warning about the shambolic state of Japan Inc amid the recent scandals. Do something more honorable by buying from ethical companies and turning away from unethical ones.

Nintendo characters and games © Nintendo.

Liberty's Withdrawal

If you want to know why major copyright holders in Japan are taking extremely drastic actions against various kinds of copyright infringement, including digital piracy, it's because the Japanese government has always been making copyright law in Japan stricter and stricter, despite massive opposition from the general public. Basically, the Japanese government no longer wants the likes of common law, fair use or fair dealing in their territory. The same can be said with Germany, who now leads Europe and wants to enforce new regulations that some countries will not be able to meet. In other words, the loss of freedom of expression in these two countries, which last happened in the 1930s, is happening again.

All of this which had been happening are part of the formation of a "marketplace of nations" that aims to besiege the Anglo-Saxon and Jewish nation-states. Whoever said that the prophecies of Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27 are false have been proven wrong. The "marketplace of nations" that is besieging the Anglosphere and democratic countries has been around for several years already. However, this "marketplace of nations" will eventually get obliterated when World War 3 comes around...

Heart of a Digital Pirate

Despite everything the Bible taught us about our deceitful heart, and everything the legal copyright authorities taught us about not dabbling into piracy, many internet users have unintentionally or intentionally committed or supported this computer felony because of our desperately wicked deceitful heart. No wonder the legal copyright authorities have a lot of animosity towards internet users. It's not only a bug in the legal system's code, it's a bug in our moral code.

Multi-role Bodysuit

When Nintendo and Sega co-published Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, we had female characters wearing proper gymnastics and swimming attires. One thing unusual about the female gymnastics attire is that it is also the swimming attire as well. This logic contradicts the fact that gymnastics leotards are not suitable for swimming.

If you want to know why the ice skater is not wearing a skirt, this was because when I went on a cruise ship, I saw an ice skating performance, in which a female ice skater took off her skirt. However, this seems acceptable because that's what ice skating leotards with detachable skirts are made for.

This comic is just made for the idea of what a female bodysuit specially designed for gymnastics, swimming and ice skating would look like.

Calamity Ganon Defeated

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has been out for a while, and the ending ended with Calamity Ganon actually losing to his mortal enemies. So much for corrupting the time traveller Terrako with Malice, Calamity Ganon. That evil plan is doomed to backfire on you, especially when Zelda's power awakening was what activated Terrako in the first place. That mini-guardian will do anything for his maker, including going into self-destruct mode just to render Calamity Ganon vulnerable.

Calamity Ganon dislikes anybody who brings light into his territory, and Zelda was the one who did exactly that when her powers are awakened. Calamity Ganon tries to kill Zelda with a Warlock Punch, a move used by Ganondorf in the Super Smash Bros games, but he utterly fails hard, and if he could say anything, he would have said the same quote as Ganon when he was defeated at the end of Link: The Faces of Evil for the Philips CD-i.

We had no idea that Calamity Ganon being defeated before the events of Breath of The Wild was going to happen. In other words, the Zelda timeline may need some rewriting right now...

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity © Nintendo.