*HOAX* Mario Party 9 (2012)

“I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

  “The following is a guest post by The Green Screen Mage.”

You got me! This isn’t really a review of Mario Party 9. Sorry for the trick. This is instead a surprise birthday post for our very own Well-Red Mage. All of us mages wanted to say a few words and share a few memories on this, his birthday.

The Well-Red Mage is one of the few people I can have an in-depth discussion about game design and life philosophy in the same conversation. Even though we grew up in two different gaming camps (he with Nintendo and I with Sega) we both ended up in the same place (PlayStation) and a similar appreciation for storytelling and art in video games. It would be an exercise in futility to question our passion for gaming (we both had game themes in our wedding for crying out loud!) and I’m proud to share this platform with such an amazing guy. Sir Red, as you put another pixel on your birthday cake I wish you an awesome game-filled birthday and may all your wishes for Nintendo come true (cuz you know they’re gonna need it). 

–The Timely Mage 

HBD to our dear Red Mage. Always loyal, always hospitable, always stubborn, and now we lay him to rest. Do not go gentle into that good night. Stay hilarious, stay well-red. Stay thirsty, my friends.

 -The Black Humor Mage

Ah, I remember a Pokemon hunt me and the Well-Red Mage went on, there we were at the local college, we were hot on the trail of a Hitmonlee. We walked desperately around the college gym, looking, but it was no where in sight. We tracked it for half a mile across campus before realizing it had disappeared long ago. We shared a good laugh. Anyway, happy birthday Well-Red! 

-The Bluebonic Mage 

I don’t know the Well-Red Mage as well as the rest of the mages. So I’ll just say Happy Birthday! 

-The Golden Godd Mage 

What can I say about the Well-Red Mage? He gave me a platform to fully express my rage to the masses.

-The Rage Mage 

My fav gaming memory with the Well-Red Mage, is not exactly gaming, but gaming-related. On October 1, 2011, we tied the knot, and our first dance was to the song “Theme of Love” from Final Fantasy IV. Another time prior to that, while we were dating, we decided to dance to that song in a fairly empty parking lot of a Cinemark movie theater. Just when we got lost in each other’s eyes, an old friend of the Well-Red Mage spotted us and came honking his horn and cheering. I think we immediately stopped dancing and pushed away from each other as the awkward “So, how ya been?” conversation ensued. Good times…

-The White-Out Mage 

Well-Red Mage and I have gone from rivals to allies over the many years of knowing each other. We have debated superheroes, gaming consoles, books, movies, tv shows, and I’m sure many more things. We’ve had many challenging moments in our relationship, but we manage to get on. Partially due to the White Out Mage’s influence… mostly. I could rag on him on his own blog, but I’ll leave that for another time. It’s our dear Mage’s birthday and he’s turning 111. Congrats, old man. Cherish those memories of kicking my butt on Super Smash Bros., cause those won’t last forever. Happy Birthday.

-The Green Screen Mage 

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