#alien sector

[whatifgirl]

Found some 4yr old old art that was part of a big project but was abandoned. Feels a waste not sharing these. Might maaaybe color it in?

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[unikhroma]

mr driller findings part 2

the following is taizo and masuyo's interviews from the older version of the official mr driller site (horisusumu.com). they're seemingly the only two characters whose interviews are still accessible*. i've been getting tired of checking them by having to retranslate them over and over so i though i'd put them somewhere where other people can see them as well!

*[edit 3/24: I FOUND THE OTHER ONES they're on an older version of the site. i just thought it wasn't navigable because so much of the sites assets are gone]

since i have the actual text for these, i'll be pasting the machine translations (shoutout to my friend mono for doublechecking some sections!! thank you again!!):

TAIZO'S INTERVIEW Hello, this is Suzuki Hiroshi. I'd like to introduce Hori Taizo, Susumu's father, honorary chairman of the Driller Council, and a world hero.

Suzuki: Hello, it's nice to meet you, Taizo. I'm Suzuki Hiroshi. Nice to meet you today.

Taizo: Yeah! Nice to meet you! Hm? I've seen you before.

Suzuki: Ah, thanks for that. I'm also a TV news anchor, so you might have seen me there...

Taizo: Ah, right, you're the son of the owner of the Japanese sweets shop in front of the station, right? The potato daifuku there are really good. How's your dad doing?

Suzuki: Huh? Oh no, you've got the wrong person...

Taizo: So, what can I do for you?

Suzuki: Ah, uh, ah... yes. Today, the world-famous hero Hori Taizo has received a lot of questions from viewers, so I'd like to answer them...

Taizo: Yeah! Ask me anything.

Suzuki: Let's get started. "What kind of case was the Dig Dug Incident that you solved, Taizo?"

Taizo: Ah, that one where the monsters dug underground and caused a big mess. That was almost 20 years ago. Well, back then there wasn't even a job called a driller, so for some reason I was called in to dig holes and get rid of them. This is a photo from back then. [note: the photo wasn't archived, but i imagine that it was a picture of taizo's sprite from dig dug lol]

Suzuki: Wow, people had pretty simple faces back then. So after that incident, they decided there was a need for a job called a "Driller" to solve underground cases, and so the association was founded, right?

Taizo: That's right.

Suzuki: For more details, it's included in the Game Boy Advance software "Namco Museum," right?

Taizo: By the way, have you ever been to Egypt?

Suzuki: Huh? No, I only travel abroad to Hawaii...

Taizo: Great! Egypt. There are camels there. I'm going next time, do you want me to take you?

Suzuki: S-sorry, next question. "I heard that Taizo is currently the honorary chairman of the Driller Association, but what kind of work does that involve?"

Taizo: Hmm, well, it's a hobby of mine to travel to different places around the world. Wherever I go, I scout out people with excellent driller potential and provide instruction at training institutions in various places. Looking at you closely, you've got a pretty good physique. Do you want to become a driller? Hmm?

Suzuki: Hahaha, yes! Let's move on to the next question! "Where did you meet your wife, Taizo? " Well, I heard his wife Masuyo was in the space force at the time...

Taizo: Ah! That's not good! It's time for sumo to start! Come on, you go home too! It's starting! Sumo!!

Suzuki: Ah, no!! Wait, there's still another question! I heard he and Masuyo are currently separated... Ah! Wait a second!! (Interview interrupted)

[note: taizo definitely 1000000000% forgot that he needed to meet masuyo that day, remembered as soon as he heard her name, and blurted out the first thing he thought of as an excuse to leave]

--------

MASUYO'S INTERVIEW Alongside Taizo, there is another heroic figure, Tobi Masuyo. I (Suzuki) am actually a big fan of his, so I'm a bit nervous today.

Suzuki: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak with me today.

Masuyo: No no, thank you very much.

Suzuki: Let's get started then. Masuyo is still active in various fields, so if you don't mind, can you tell us a bit about that...

Masuyo: Yes, these days my kids aren't as demanding as I used to be, so I've been doing whatever I want to do. Since leaving the UGSF, I've been writing novels and essays, and occasionally working as a commentator.

Suzuki: Speaking of Masuyo, she is especially famous for her exploits on Planet Paccet! I've read the notes on the Baraduke Fortress Assault! It was very moving.

Masuyo: Thank you (smiles).

Suzuki: Your children are doing very well, but...

Masuyo: Yes, I've mentioned this in my essays, but I try to raise my children to be strong enough to survive on their own, even if they were left behind on a remote planet. Maybe that's why my children are so independent... they're my pride and joy (smiles).

Suzuki: (Wow... that sounds really Spartan, but are you just hiding it with a smile?) I see. By the way, I heard that you're separated from your husband, Taizo.

Masuyo: Separated... well, separated, I guess? Taizo doesn't come home very often and we do what we like... (smiles) but once a week we always see each other

Suzuki: Eh? Is that so? But Taizo spends most of the year adventuring overseas, doesn't he...?

Masuyo: No matter where he is, he always comes home every week… that guy..

Suzuki: Uuuwa…. wow… I mean… if i had a wife like Masuyo, I'd fly back home too (blushes). Well, even so, excuse me for saying this, but you don't look 36.

Masuyo: Yes, I'm actually 29. During the UGSF era, there were several missions to explore outer space... you see, we traveled at close to the speed of light, so time flowed slower there than on Earth due to the Urashima Effect. (smiles)

Suzuki: Mum Mum, are you serious? You're the same age as me! Oh, excuse me. Um, excuse me, but could you please give me your autograph? Um, I have a colored paper... (rustling...)

Taizo: Hey!! I'm back!! Masuyo! Ah!! It's Suzuki! What? An autograph? Give it to me (bang)!

Suzuki: Ah!

Taizo: I'm home... (Squeak squeak...)

Suzuki: Ah!!

Taizo: Well, I'm home for today! Look, it's time for sumo to start! See you! (Bang)

Suzuki: ...sniff (It's cold...)

[note: i think what happened at the end here is that taizo, after remembering that he needed to meet masuyo that day, showed up to her house at the same time that suzuki was interviewing her. and of course he sees that he's looking to get an autograph so he's Gotta give him his lmao. also the thing with her aging slower is lore that i will not be paying attention to, she is still 36 in my heart <3]

[crosships]

Today’s failed marriage is…

Dig Dug/Taizo Hori (Dig Dug) X Kissy/Masuyo Tobi (Baraduke/Alien Sector)!

They had 3 kids together. One of them being Susumu Hori, the protagonist of the Mr. Driller series!

[thenumberfives]

[haizotori]

Masuyo Valentine's Day card!!1!

[bufftuna]

i honestly know little to nothing about this character but it was a request! Kissy from Baraduke!  ~(•̀ᴗ-)✧ please do not remove my caption thank you!)

[pembrokewkorgi]

Kurio, Kyo, and I go deep into the Alien Sector!

[incrediblystrangegames]

Doug Jones is running for Senate in Alabama and some enterprising folks made a campaign ad using Dig-Dug as the theme. I like it when games make it in the cultural consciousness enough to be used in political campaigns (see: the “Trump Mains Hanzo” billboard elsewhere on this site which I am too lazy to link to), but even more when they are “B Side” games, which in my opinion Dig Dug is. It’s never had a real sequel in the US (we’ll leave Mr. Driller out of it for now), and despite being a classic arcade game, it’s really never penetrated into the zeitgeist like Ms. Pac-Man or Mario or Space Invaders or Minecraft. 

Also, I guess this makes the weird dragon enemy Roy Moore. He's best known in real life for being removed from office twice (for malfeasance) when he was a supreme court judge in Alabama. Roy Moore is endorsed by such luminaries and intellectual heavyweights as Sarah Palin and that alcoholic-looking old man from breitbart.com who wears two button down shirts over each other at the same time which even I know is a really awful fashion faux-pas. (He also favors khaki chinos which, as a west coaster, I really have no ability to explain from a fashion perspective, because I never finished The Preppy Handbook.) 

Anyway, no need to get into the politics of things, but after careful consideration by our editorial board, Incredibly Strange Games officially endorses Doug Jones based on his affinity for Dig Dug. Oh, heck, you may also be curious to know that Doug Jones also has a history as a successful prosecutor including convicting some high profile thugs from the KKK who murdered four little girls in Alabama with a bomb they placed at a church, and who had dodged prosecution for decades. In our editorial books, that makes Doug Jones a stand up guy.

(OK, I can’t really leave Mr. Driller out of it. Mr Driller is the protagonist of Dig Dug’s son. The guy in Dig Dug is actually named Taizo Hori and Mr. Driller is actually named Susumu Hori. Susumu’s mother, if you believe the internet, which you’re reading right now so you better, is the protagonist of space shooter Baraduke (AKA Alien Sector), although per the lore lords at the MUGEN wiki, she is no longer married to Taizo.)    

I got all worked up last night because I started reading about the gross history of the murderous KKK in Alabama so I forgot to mention that Heather is the one who tipped me off to this piece of importan Dig-Dugania.