As a gamer who's bought into the pseudo-fourth generation Nintendo DS (Not counting DSiXL...that's just a DS with steroids), it's a little odd for me to say that I'm comfortable NOT putting a screen protector on the bottom screen. After so many iterations, Nintendo seems to have done it right this time around.
Yes, I got the new Nintendo 3DS. See picture above.
Who reads these kinds of posts anymore anyways?
Let's face it - if you ask people what their favorite casual game they like to play is, most will answer some Facebook game. It's simple, it's fast, and it's only a separate window or tab away from instant 5-minute bursts of gameplay. But what about the other times when you're not smack-dab in front of a computer or laptop? Then you turn to a portable device.
I continue to play Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days on the DS, spurred only by the thought that the game is canon to the story. Unlike the larger-scale games on the PS2, this DS addition is portioned out in a series of missions that I can choose whatever order to tackle them with. Most of the game has you in a central hub talking to other NPC characters and such, and the other half is embarking on missions that can be as short as 2 minutes - perfect for a quick break. It's these little bites at a time that I'm progressively making progress in the game in hope that I'll finish it soon so I can start up Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.
Pokemon is one of those games that cater to both hardcore and casual gamers. Hardcore players can (and will) sit for hours leveling up their pokemon to ridiculous levels and clear the game in a solid week. Casual gamers, like myself, will probably take the minutes that we have and engage in the short random battles you encounter in the wild, which can last seconds. So, in 5 minutes worth of time, you can polish off good 20 battles if you're powerful enough.
This past Sunday was host to the release of Pokemon Black and White on Nintendo DS, and normally I wouldn't care so much. The last time I played a Pokemon game was Pokemon Platinum, and even then I couldn't get into the game. Maybe it was all the micro-tasking, or the extra quests. So what would compel me to try it again this time around? Rare pokemon.
GameStop had a promotion where you could download Celebi, a rare pokemon, into a previous Pokemon DS game, and the last day for the promotion was this past Sunday - the same day as the launch of the new Pokemon Black and White. In a moment of hesitation, I bought a used Pokemon DS game Saturday to grab Celebi, with the intent of returning the game for a full refund within 7 days after I transfer it to the new game. I even placed a pre-order for the game at GameStop just in case, because my original intent was to pre-order the game from Amazon and get their $10 Gift Certificate.
At long last, the second version of this level is complete! I'm trying my best not to monitor the level and just let it sit, but history marks me as an impatient man.
While everyone out there created unique and personal levels when the first Little Big Planet game came out more than 2 years ago, I spent a solid 2 weeks composing my musical tribute to Chrono Trigger. The game's musical tools took a backseat to all the other creation tools established, giving players the "bare bones" in what they could utilize. Limited instrument selection, one-note emitters, and roughly about 2 octaves worth of notes caused many people like me a large amount of grief in composing our favorite melodies.
If you're playing Little Big Planet 2 just as a game, you're missing out on the big picture. While the story mode itself is roughly about 7-8 hrs of gameplay, the levels themselves are so creative that you'll want to play them over and over again in awe. Just think...all the levels that were designed for the game were created with the very same tools at the players' disposal. In a very defiant way, Media Molecule just demonstrated their upgraded toolset with this sequel.
It's only been the second day since Little Big Planet 2 came out and there are already some issues with multiplayer. There's no doubt that Media Molecule must have expected a lot of people to not only hop online to play people's level creations, but to simply just play multiplayer. Connectivity issues were a small problem in the first one, so you'd expect some resolution in the sequel. Unfortunately, within the first two days of the game's launch, the LBP servers must be chugging along, trying to accommodate the high load.
It took Media Molecule 2 more months, but Little Big Planet 2 is finally here! Unable to resist a collector's edition, I placed this order back last July - that's how much I looked forward to this game. Let's crack this box open and see all the goods!
For an extra $20, it's not too shabby indeed!
To be honest, I was slightly disappointed at the bookends, but only because I was expecting too much out of them. The picture made them look more sculpted than static, but I guess that's the quality of the image they used. So, to see them as just cardboard prop-ups made me sigh just a little. The shelf ends themselves, however, are pretty sturdy and are built strong enough to support the falling of any games to one side or the other, so I can't complain. Plus, at least there's some uniqueness in their appearance.
This was more impressive than I thought. Maybe because the ones I saw in GameStop were slightly smaller than I remembered, but the plushie in this collector's edition is top-notched. With poseable arms and semi-poseable legs, it's not bad for an extra.
This is where the collector's edition gets its stripes - ALL the DLC from all retailers. This is an extreme incentive over getting the game from one vendor than the other. Why separate all the cool DLC when you can just get all in one set?
Apparently the extra 2 months wasn't enough to catch the misspelling of the word "multiplayer" on the game itself. Though a character that looked like Mutley would be equally as awesome. How 'bout it, Media Molecule?
My imagination is bursting off its seams, awaiting the second installment of Little Big Planet! Since its delay from the initial November release date, it's been a long 2 extra months, but the wait will soon be well worth it, I'm sure.
Gonna start this new year right to get a bunch of posts out of the way, and what better way to start it on the right foot than declaring another finished game on the board.
For more than a month and a half, work has pretty much consumed most of my time, leaving practically no time for posts. And within those 90+ days, there have been new games added to my library and to my little spare time. I'll probably do some fast and quick posting, but my goal is to get all my posts done before Christmas.
Thanks to Amazon's Capcom deals, I binged on a couple of titles that will satisfy some portable itch. The first is Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, a spin-off of the much-popular courtroom drama. Instead of playing a defense attorney, you play as the prosecutioner Miles Edgeworth who, in parallel flair, also sports a female sidekick. In a change of pace, the crime scenes are now walkable rooms to explore and examine, instead of static images as the Phoenix Wright series have relied heavily on in previous installments. Me? I'm just looking for more great story-telling from the long-running series.
The streets of San Francisco were alive with Giants fever as they were starting Game 2 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers in their home turf. Fans that were not in the stadium quickly populated nearby bars to catch all the action, including Taverna Avertine. Downstairs, however, there were people that were more than just Giants fans.
Nintendo celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. video game on the NES amidst the appropriately-themed brick-and-pipe-lined basement of the bar. Decorations of plush bricks and question mark blocks lay stacked by the bottom of the stairs as I made my descent, and the familiar theme music of World 1-1 and Mario jump flooded my ears. There were 3 TVs hooked up to 25th-anniversary red Wii consoles, all sporting the latest Wii-mote Plus controllers.
The event invited press in a friendly competition to see who could acquire the fastest speed run (best out of three) through World 1-1. It didn't take long for people to figure out the best path to take for the fastest time. However, once people did, everyone was calculating minute details on how to shave off seconds from the timer. Of course, this meant that people were playing WAY more than the "best of 3 runs," but no one seemed to mind the repetition, let alone playing a game that's 25 years old.
During the evening, there were small quiz sections where winners received more Mario-themed prizes, but the top prize, a red Wii console, went out to the fastest official speed run for the evening, which turned out to be 366, or 34 seconds. Unofficially, someone eventually completed World 1-1 in 31 seconds, one whole second faster than my personal best! I commend him for his accomplishment, since he practically spent the rest of the evening perfecting his speed run to the most granular detail.
In the end, the event was a spectacular gathering of people who can't, nay refuse to forget a classic game such as Super Mario Bros. There was even a "confessional" chair set up for guests to reminisce and record on video about their first experiences and fondest memories of Mario in their lives. And despite the minor distraction of the Giants winning Game 2 of the series that night, the event made everyone feel like kids again, crowding around a game that reminded us how many of our gaming lives began.
I don't know how Castlevania: Lords of Shadow slipped past my radar, but it's a game that I completely overlooked. No previews, no reviews, not even a small video of the game in action. That said, after putting in a few hours into the game, I can honestly say I'm absolutely hooked. And I never thought I'd say that about a 3D Castlevania game, too.
