NECA Contra Bill & Lance Action Figures Will Have You Jumping Up, Up, Down, Down

A couple of years ago we checked out a pair of custom made Bill and Lance action figures. Fortunately for the rest of us NECA will be releasing officially licensed figures of the run-and-gun legends.

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NECA wisely chose to emulate the characters’ NES incarnations, including their pixelated camo pants that I honestly never noticed until today. The 7″ figures also come with a power-up capsule, a machine gun bullet effect and a spread bullet effect.

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Fire up the Contra soundtrack and pre-order the 2-pack from BigBadToyStore for $42 (USD).

[via Destructoid]

Teens React to Contra. You React to Teens Sucking at Contra

When we were kids, games were hard. Like, really hard. We didn’t have the fancy checkpoints and respawns that you special snowflakes have today. We only had life or death. Many games were unforgiving. Brutal even. It could take months to master some games. You kids today have no idea.

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I don’t even think that Contra was that tough, but today’s teens have a hard time with the title. In this video from the Fine Brothers, watch them fail miserably and then wonder why not everyone gets a trophy at the end. Poor kids. They don’t know what proper video games are like.

I’m just happy that videos like this introduce kids to some quality gaming. There’s nothing like a good game of Contra with a friend.

A Star Wars/Contra Mashup for Your Phone

Sure, there are mashups everywhere you turn, but some are actually awesome and worth your time – like this one. This free mini-game from the Star Wars: Force Collection was created by Konami and LucasArts and it features the classic Contra game mashed up with Star Wars.

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The idea is that you are running through four Endor-themed levels as Chewbacca blasting your way through Stormtroopers with your bowcaster. Oh yeah. This is a game that gets me excited. Two classics are coming together at long last.

Star Wars: Force Collection is a digital collectible card game for iOS and Android devices, in which you collect a variety of cards, build decks, design blueprints, and take on challengers. The Contra minigame is part of a new update. Beating the minigame earns you an exclusive trophy for the main game. Other new additions to the main game include a boss battle mode as well as C-3PO and R2-D2. Disney sure knows how to market their new Star Wars property!

[via Geek]

Custom Contra Action Figures: I’d Give 30 Lives for These

If you’re one of the thousands of kids who grew up playing Bill and Lance’s excellent adventure aka Contra, join me in ogling these custom action figures by John Harmon aka Mint Condition Customs. They even come with the different ammo types!

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John imagined what Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone would look like if they starred in a live action Contra movie back in the 80s. That last qualifier is important; I certainly don’t want to see the Governator with his shirt off these days. The action figures are poseable and have swappable equipment, including ammo belts, flak vests and the machine gun, spread gun and laser ammo attachments.

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BROTALITY. It would be awesome if they came in a box that played Contra’s title theme when it’s opened. These action figures are currently being auctioned off on eBay, where as of this writing the bid sits at a criminally low $41 (USD). Although I think part of the reason why it’s that low is because John won’t accept bids from buyers with 0 feedback. In other words, don’t bother signing up on eBay just to buy the action figures because John won’t entertain your bid anyway.

[via Destructoid]

Ultimate Gamer Proposal: Guy Hacks Contra Cartridge to Propose to Girlfriend

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Times have changed. Getting down on one knee and popping the question after a romantic dinner isn’t good enough anymore. At least, not in the eyes of the many men and women who constantly see the amazing and definitely unusual proposals that people have been coming up with these past couple of years.

Another proposal that can be dubbed as “amazing” is the one Redditor Equinn0xX came up with.

He hacked a Contra cartridge and customized a lot of stuff, from the player screen to the game’s ending, which displayed his proposal once the player (in this case, his girlfriend) reached the end.

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He documented the entire thing and summed it all up by saying: “I hacked Contra because she’s worth it.” To a gamer, that’s the ultimate declaration of love.

Their story has a good ending: she said yes!

This is how I did it. In short, I bought Contra, dumped the ROM, hex edited the file, flashed it to a new ROM chip and soldered it all back together. Took some work but worth it. I changed player names to ours and also changed the ending text to ask her once she beat the game. She said yes!

VIA [ C|NET ]

Guy Hacks NES Contra Game to Propose

No, these screens weren’t accessed via the Konami code. That’s what I thought too when I came across this. Nope. Instead, Redditor Equinn0xX hacked an old Contra cartridge to propose to his girlfriend. He has some mad proposing skills.

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This is how I did it. In short, I bought Contra, dumped the ROM, hex edited the file, flashed it to a new ROM chip and soldered it all back together. Took some work but worth it. I changed player names to ours and also changed the ending text to ask her once she beat the game. She said yes!

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How could a girl say no to that? He let her win and everything. That’s what marriage is all about. Letting her win.

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[via New Launches via Geekologie]