I’ve got a secret that I’m not sure I should confess.

OK, OK. I will. This will be a rather short story if I don’t share. Here goes… Manufacturers, if you make special packaging for your product in a cool, 8-bit design there’s a 99% chance I will buy it. I’m such a fan of old school video game design that I’ll fork over all kinds of money for your product if it features cool pixel art. Yes, I mean it. Any product. I’ll even buy a box of Tampax tampons once they make the wise choice to switch to 8-bit packaging.

Nestlé has somehow learned this deep, dark secret of mine. I recently fell victim while perusing the aisles of my local supermarket. There’s where I saw their Wreck-It Ralph commemorative packaging for Nesquik chocolate drink powder. They had turned their iconic Nesquik bunny and logo into eye-catching video game designs. There were three different package designs, each with a different scene from Wreck-It Ralph. I snapped up my favorite of the three.
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The Top Hat Sasquatch team reads a lot of blog posts every day, and some slip through the crack or just don’t warrant their own post. That’s where Missing Links comes in. Every few days we collect the best links we’ve come across and pass them on to you.

Yes Virginia, there is a perfect super hero trilogy: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ | ShezCrafti
Jaime over at Shezcrafti wrote up a nice (and spoiler-free) review of The Dark Knight Rises. I'm going to be a day or so late to this party, but I can't wait to see it.

TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman is loving Michael Bay’s movie – will fans? – Boing Boing
Even though I consider myself pretty hardcore when it comes to TMNT, I don't have a problem with them ditching the mutant aspect. Face it, they don't look that much like turtles anyway.

Pixar Is Making “Finding Nemo 2″ | Cartoon Brew
Interesting. So Disney is kind of forcing Andrew Stanton to direct Finding Nemo 2 before they'll let him make any more live action movies? It's a bummer that John Carter didn't do better in the box office.

Here’s the Opening of Nickelodeon’s TMNT Reboot! | ShezCrafti
They're kind of using the old theme song! Awesome. This show looks like a lot of fun.

‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Footage – Disney’s Video Game Movie Just Looks Better and Better [Comic-Con 2012] | /Film
Just when I didn't think I could be more excited about 'Wreck-it Ralph'…

Ok, I’m officially pumped about this movie guys. We talked about Wreck-it Ralph way back on the second episode of Bubble Pipe Theater, and now we finally have a trailer for the film, which opens November 2nd. I would be on board with an animated movie about an 8-bit villain trying to reinvent himself by diving into some other video games even if it didn’t have actual video game characters in it.

If you watch the trailer, you’ll see Bowser, Dr. Robotnik, Zangief, a Pac-Man Ghost, Q-Bert, M. Bison, Kano from Mortal Kombat, and a lot more. Ralph is voiced by John C. Reilly, and the character design looks great. I’m so glad this film looks fun even without the retro game cameos. It looks like Ralph makes his way to a Candyland-inspired game, featuring Sarah Silverman as a cute and annoying little girl, and then into a Halo-inspired shooter with Jane Lynch as a soldier. Perfect casting.

What did you think of the trailer?

Via SlashFilm

The Top Hat Sasquatch team reads a lot of blog posts every day, and some slip through the crack or just don’t warrant their own post. That’s where Missing Links comes in. Every few days we collect the best links we’ve come across and pass them on to you.

iCade 8-Bitty | Uncrate
I don't have much use for an iPad sized arcade cabinet, but this 8-bitty controller from iCade sounds about right. I think I'll end up with one of these.

The Best WWII Movies You Probably Haven’t Seen
A nice bit of original writing on an otherwise news-related site. I look forward to checking out some of these movies.

Hasbro’s new Lazer Tag guns use iOS devices for HUD and augmented reality | The Verge
I've been looking for an excuse to buy some new Lazer Tag guns and try to convince some friends to play, and guns that use iPhones as a HUD just might be the ticket.

Coming Out Of My Shell
The Surfing Pizza finds a sealed cassette of the TMNT Coming Out of Their Shells album. Hilarity ensues.

First Look: Disney’s Video Game-Inspired ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ | /Film
Just a few pieces of concept art, but every time I remember that this movie is coming this year I get excited. I can't wait for a trailer.

If you listened to the second episode of Bubble Pipe Theater, you know we were geeking out about Disney’s 2012 animated movie Wreck-it-Ralph. It’s an animated movie set in the world of multiple video games and will include some real-life video game characters, so you can imagine why we’re excited.

Over at Jim Hill Media, they’ve got some images and new details from Disney’s presentation at D23. One tidbit I was happy to read involves how the look of the film will vary depending on which game the title character is in:

” ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ will actually have a number of different art directions. As our title character moves from his original 8-bit game to a more modern shooter game, you’ll see the art direction of this movie change. Likewise when Wreck-It Ralph moves to the world of an elaborate kart racing game, you’ll see the art direction of this movie change yet again,” Moore explained.

Head over to JHM to read the rest, and let us know what video game characters you hope they include in the movie.

Via Jim Hill Media