It's an even split on Amiibo interest.  I'm interested in them, although I can't see myself buying the entire series the way that I've heard some people are planning to do.  I just want a Mario for training a customer fighter in Super Smash Bros., a Kirby for my desk, and I suppose a Link to get the spinner weapon in Hyrule Warriors.  At $13 each, these purchases are not all happening at once.  As future games incorporate more Amiibo content, I'll take each figure on a case by case basis.  Unlocking extra Mii costumes in Mario Kart 8 won't drive me to buy more figures, but if, say, Kirby became a playable racer by placing his Amiibo on the GamePad, I'd have to pick up the purchasing pace.  For my wallet's sake, let's hope it never comes to that!

Speaking of things Nintendo wants us to buy, last week the company announced it's readying a remake of the Nintendo 64 release The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for the 3DS.  Are you interested in this latest Zelda remake?  Let's hear your thoughts.

The amazing soundtrack is always a high point of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series, and while the recently release 3DS version of the game gave us a few pieces of remixed Mega Man music, the upcoming Wii U version packs in even more great songs from the Nintendo Entertainment System glory days.  Some of the game's music has already made its way to YouTube giving us the first chance to listen to new arrangements of themes from Mega Man, Mega Man 2, and Mega Man 3.  Check out these takes on stage themes for Cut Man, Quick Man (featuring Heat Man), and Shadow Man.

Back in Episode 145 we discussed Nintendo's latest hardware revision in which the original 3DS became the New 3DS and had planned to talk about some of the other instances in which video game hardware producers revised their base hardware.  We never actually got around to that second part of that topic in that episode, but this week on Power Button we take you on a deep dive through console history to revisit a variety of hardware variations through the years.  We start with the NES-101, take you through the many flavors of Sega Genesis, stop by the Sony PlayStation 2's cousins, visit with the many different kinds of Microsoft Xbox 360, and wrap up with the Wii Mini with ventures along the way into more obscure territory.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.

You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? pic.twitter.com/4FKhCjYi5c

— Bill Trinen (@trintran) November 5, 2014

Fans have been asking for it for quite some time, but today Nintendo announced it's working on a remastered edition of the 2000 Nintendo 64 title The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for the 3DS.  Revealed with a creepy trailer and some captivating artwork that needs to be a poster available from Club Nintendo sooner rather than later, Majora's Mask 3D follows in the spirit of the previously released The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D with the original game given a little upgrade designed to preserve the original challenge while also enticing new players.  As much as I enjoy Zelda games, I've never been able to finish this one.  Maybe this time I'll finally be able to see it through to the end.  Majora's Mask 3D is due out in Spring 2015.

Of all of the character from Nintendo's vault to revive for the new Super Smash Bros. titles for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, the dog and duck from Duck Hunt are certainly one of the most unexpected and most memorable for those of us who grew up pained by the dog laughing at us whenever we missed a target.  Not everyone's a crack shot, dog!  As has become tradition for Smash newcomers, Nintendo has brought us an amazing trailer showcasing the dog and his duck buddy as they take aim.  These little trailers are absolutely fantastic.  With Smash DLC in the works (Mewtwo has already been announced), I certainly hope that we'll see more of these kinds of introduction clips as additional characters are added to the game.  There's so much personality on display here and I love every minute of it.

One of the most interesting aspects of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise, to me, is that we were able to follow protagonist Ezio Auditore all the way from birth through to his death.  In my experience, it's rare to watch a character grow and live though the different phases of his life.  While Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and Assassin's Creed Revelations told the bulk of his story, his final days were reserved for a short film produced by Ubisoft.  Released in 2011 as a pre-order bonus for Revelations, Assassin's Creed Embers shows us Ezio in retirement and living a life of peace until a lost Assassin turns to him for one last mission.  The short is on YouTube now.  Check it out to finish the last piece of the Ezio puzzle, then dip into the archive to listen to Episode 70 of Power Button in which we discuss Embers and Ezio's end.

It's taken a little longer to reach another milestone than usual thanks to me spending most of 2014 incapacitated, but here we are again.  It's time to take a look back at my personal favorite of the past five hundre articles posted on PTB.  There's plenty of podcasts, thoughts on Nintendo's character designs, a look at Mega Man level designs, Wario making a deal with the devil, fun with Amiibos, interviews with developers, flashbacks with mice both Bucket & Danger, bulletproof Game Boy storage, crooked contests designed to hook you, wish lists for pinball & fighting games, a Secret Origins installment, the most depressing Chrono Trigger subplot of all, and so very much more.  Five thousand articles in just under ten years.  My goodness, where does the time go?  Set aside some time to check these out.

• Star Trek Game Misses The Point Of Star Trek (I'm still waiting for that ultimate Star Trek game, but we've come close over the years)
• Nintendo Shakes Up E3, Forgoes Annual Media Briefing (Nintendo ending their usual E3 briefing in 2013 changed everything)
• Handy Boy Augments Nintendo Game Boy To The Max (This poor Game Boy looks like it's in pain)
• Who Are All Of These Mortal Kombat People? (Freddy Kreuger?  Why not!)
• Challenger Approaching!  Anticipating The Next Super Smash Bros. Sequel (One out of six isn't bad, but there's still time for the DLC!)
• What's The Deal With Nintendo's Limited-Use Demos? (It's still a mystery)
• Power Button - Episode 100: This Game Changed My Life (Some deep introspection in the farewell episode to Joey Davidson and Brad Hilderbrand)
• Plants Vs Zombies 2 Senior Producer Bernie Yee Talks Monetization, Development, And Bonk Choy (A shame that the free-to-play stigma and trappings kept the sequel from reaching the original's heights)
• Power Button - Episode 103: WayForward Director Austin Ivansmith Rewrites History With DuckTales: Remastered and Mini-Review: DuckTales: Remastered (I'm still holding out hope for Darkwing Duck: Remastered)
• Remember When Wario Made A Deal With The Devil? (Someone at the licensing department wasn't paying close attention)

As if F-Zero AX and the Mario Kart Arcade GP games weren't holy grails of Nintendo arcade gaming already, now we find out that Capcom is working with Nintendo to create a new arcade title based on Luigi's Mansion.  Recently sent out for a location test in Japan, Luigi's latest ghostbusting adventure is a first-person light gun shooter where players wield a Poltergust 5000's vacuum attachment to suck away spectral phenomena.  Arcade Heroes has the details on the test and saddens all international fans with what I'd already assumed when I first heard the news: we'll likely never see this game outside of Japan.

The sad thing is however is that this is being handled by Capcom. I don’t say that as a negative to the game quality but as a negative to the chances of finding this outside of Japan. In Japan the company has not kept up very well with their arcade competitors in recent years. Aside from Street Fighter, releases have been rare, like the odd Monster Hunter themed pig racing game. They did do a New Super Mario Bros Wii themed redemption game which I have not seen imported to the West in any form so far. As Capcom has no official arcade presence out West, the only way we will see this here is an operator spending the cash to import it or a US-based manufacturer deciding to give it a go. Both of which are possibilities when you have chains like Dave & Busters or Round1USA wanting to get their hands on some unique games that no one else has.

I found F-Zero AX in the wild, so I'm one-for-two on tracking down obscure Nintendo arcade games.  Maybe I'll luck out some day with Luigi.  As for the game itself, it sounds interesting and seems to be the next logical progression in the Mansion series.  It's just a shame that more fans won't have the opportunity to enjoy it.  Hey Nintendo and Capcom, localize a few of these machines when they're done and send them out to travel the arcade game festival circuit!  Surely there's enough appeal out there to justify that.

There's a neat recurring feature over at Defunct Games in which classic interviews from old video game magazines are produced as little audio plays.  I'm featured in the most recent installment which reenacts a 1995 interview from Next Generation magazine discussing horror elements in video games and how far is too far when it comes to digital scares and gore.  I read the part of Jay Wilbur, former business manager at iD Software who is there defending Doom.  It was a fun lark to do and I hope you all enjoy listening to it.