The Woes of Holiday Releases

This time of year is always difficult for us, the gamers. Well, our wallets really. Let's take a look at the big holiday releases that I'm excited for and then quietly weep together because I can't afford them. Sound good? Okay!

Even if I could afford them all, I'd be facing a gaming release calendar not unlike

the one in this amazing Penny Arcade comic from fall of 2008.

1. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (yesterday)
2. LEGO Lord of the Rings (oct 30)
3. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (nov 6)
4. Paper Mario: Sticker Star (nov 11)
5. Scribblenauts Unlimited (nov 13)
6. Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (nov 16)
7. Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two (nov 18)

Look at that list! Couldn't they have been spaced out just a tiny bit more? The only one that I can't live without is Paper Mario: Sticker Star, so you can bet I'm counting down the days until November 11th (and saving my pennies)! At least with the titles releasing at such a staggering pace so close to Christmas it gives me a chance to add to my wish list!

It's not exactly news that publishers push titles from mid-October through early December because of the Christmas factor, but it still seems unfair to gamers on a few levels. The cost gets to be completely absurd, but (almost) more than that is the lack of time.

A moderately uncomfortable situation. 

On a few occasions I've grabbed more than once new release at a time and it always spelled disaster. I'd waffle over which game I should play first, then inevitably I'd ignore one game and lose long-term interest. What a tragedy! But in all seriousness it does make me feel bad for the forgotten game and then it feels like a waste of money.

All I need is a little patience and the reminder of how much I dislike having multiple new games at once, then I can feel better about my lack of funds. I'll be picking up Paper Mario on release, and if I get one of these titles for Christmas (I'm thinking Power of Illusion. SEGA throw-back!!) then I'll be one happy little gamer.

So tell me, fellow geeks, which holiday titles are you most looking forward to? What is your must have game of the season?

-MJ

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PAX 2012 Was Amaz-O-Matic! Part 1: Games

It's not enough to simply say that PAX was wonderful, or awesome, or that I met a lot of incredible people, saw cool things, hugged the tenth Doctor, and played unreleased games that I've been excited about for close to two years. These separate moments add up to something much greater than their sum. Any PAX attendee will understand, and those who have been unable to go, well, it's not an easy task attempting to explain the unexplainable. I'm going to give it an honest try though! Today will be all about the games I played, complete with tiny previews/reviews, and Friday will bring the rest of my experiences.

PAX Prime 2012 street banners along Pike in Seattle, WA.

This PAX was my first year joining the Enforcers, and my eighth year attending (I'll never get over missing PAX Prime 2010 because of my Ireland trip). This added a whole new depth to the already overflowing show experience. My afternoon shifts in the handheld lounge allowed me plenty of time to explore the expo hall and play some upcoming Nintendo titles. If you were following me on twitter then you received a lot of exclamatory tweets regarding Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii U.

Giant, exciting banners at the Nintendo booth at PAX Prime 2012.

It's a relief to finally have played the Wii U. Mario looks just wonderful in full HD, and the built-in screen for the game pad is sharp sharp sharp. I was concerned about the games looking squished or crowded, but there's not a chance of that happening. The game pad is also extremely comfortable to hold. The size of it facilitates comfort for long gaming sessions, and guys especially will be glad that their hands won't cramp up like on slimmer DS systems. The buttons and joysticks were easy to access and not too close together. One of the best aspects of the game pad is that it's incredibly light and does not feel cheap. Nintendo really covered all of my concerns! I found it to be more comfortable than the regular Wii remote (when held sideways).

New Super Mario Bros. Wii U was a real treat to play. My short experience showed me that it's pretty much exactly like NSMB Wii, but I guess that's not a bad thing. There are some new power ups to play around with, and obviously new levels. I don't have much to say except I'm disappointed that designers decided to keep in the "freeze" mechanic when another player dies in multiplayer mode. That split-second freeze really messes with the players that are still alive. Why is it there?! I suppose I'll make a house rule: Dying In Mario Is Not Allowed.

Nintendo split their booth between the expo hall and the 2nd/3rd floor. Source

All of the 3DS demo systems were the new XL versions, and they were just gorgeous. I already own five DS systems so I initially imagined that I wouldn't be purchasing an XL. After playing one, however, it has become apparent that the hardware upgrades are totally worth it. I feel that the 3D was sharper, better, more enjoyable to look at. I generally play my 3D titles with the 3D slider set to off, so that's a good indicator of how impressed I was. Perhaps it's that the upper screen is so much larger. The stylus has been moved back to the right hand side (more sensible) and the 3D slider can be clicked into a fully off position, eliminating the ability to accidentally turn it on.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon translated beautifully to the 3DS XL. The controls were a little overwhelming at first, but after a few minutes of play everything fell into place. The game starts off with a sly demo section, allowing the player to become familiar with Luigi and his vacuum without the stress of a lot of ghosts. Players walk around a dark and creepy mansion, pointing a flashlight around to inspect rooms, and holding down the B button if they want to run instead of slowly walk. Once the ghost vacuum has been acquired, the game becomes a delicate mix of strategic flashlight pointing, followed by rapid suction action to capture ghosts. Progression to new rooms is facilitated via hidden keys, and I have to say that the developers hid each key quite cleverly, making Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS a sleuthing, challenging adventure.

Vigilant fans could collect these special Paper Mario: Sticker Star stickers at PAX 2012!

Paper Mario: Sticker Star was falsely advertised by Nintendo as being playable at PAX. I made a beeline for the 3DS stations on Friday morning so that I could play first thing, and was a little devastated to see that there was only a live demo being played for viewers. Admittedly it was the first time the demo was ever being played and gameplay footage couldn't be found anywhere else, but still! Disappointing! I wanted to experience it in all of its glory for myself. While the name 'Sticker Star' still rubs me the wrong way, the stickers look to be a fun mechanic in the game. I'm relieved that the developers returned to the turn based battle system, and I was surprised to see that travel from town to town now takes place on an over world map like the traditional Mario titles. I hope that this doesn't make the world feel small, because I genuinely liked traveling through each location and enjoying the paper-y graphics.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, the first 3D iteration of the series, came at me with the same cast of characters from The Last Spectre, similar beautiful music, and a familiar suitcase interface. The story is very elaborate, causing the beginning of the game to move at kind of a slow pace. Visuals change back and forth from the traditional old world 2D drawing style to a newer, three dimensional cel-shaded character design. I'm not too fond of the cel-shaded versions, I feel that they're lacking the charm normally found in the Layton designs. Miracle Mask looks to be a longer gameplay experience than previous versions, and I base this off of the new exploration mechanics. Environments are much larger, with more areas to search. There's also a zoom option to see specific locations in greater detail. If players hope to find all Hint Coins and puzzles, they're going to have to search very carefully! Miracle Mask will also offer daily new puzzle downloads.

Power of Illusion was playable at PAX 2012, much to my delight.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is a title that I was very anxious to play. I haven't seen a lot about it online, and I was hungry for gameplay videos. I'm pleased to report that it plays like a dream, looks super sharp, and is a truly wonderful spiritual sequel to Castle of Illusion for the original Sega. The graphics are a total throwback to the 16-bit era, and the developers even included iconic sound effects from the older title. Power of Illusion is a perfect fit for the 3DS, and players will also get to play in well known Disney locales, very similar to the formula for Kingdom Hearts. The paint/paint thinner mechanic from Epic Mickey for the Wii carries over well, especially with the touch screen and stylus. The upper screen hosts all of the action, while the lower screen serves as a map with hints to puzzles. During my play through there wasn't a shortage of paint and thinner to collect, so players won't have to worry about running out. Any fans of Castle/World of Illusion for the Sega are really going to love Power of Illusion.

Games I wanted to play but didn't get to: Adventure Time for 3DS, Pikmin 3 for Wii U, and Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two for Wii. I can't even count how many other games I was unable to play. The expo hall was just enormous! For any people that attended PAX, which games did you get to play? Did you have any favorites?

Check back Friday for the second part of my post PAX 2012 summary: enforcing, tabletop games, The Doctor, and merchandise!

-MJ

*all photos are property miranda eubanks/abitofgeek unless otherwise noted

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Minecraft! And some sad news.

OK, it has been way too long since I've posted here.

In the past 6 months I have, sadly, not played very many games. There were other things going on and I just didn't make any time for them. This is a decision that I regret! At home I no longer had access to a TV all to myself, so if I wanted to play my Wii I had to take everything downstairs and hook it up to the TV there. I'm a touch lazy, so I ruled out this option many times. I really need to work on that.

The few times that I did manage the arduous process I found myself playing Kirby's Epic Yarn. A couple of ventures saw New Super Mario Bros. and some virtual console titles. For Christmas I received Epic Mickey, but didn't play it. I also acquired Donkey Kong Country Returns, Mario All Stars Wii and Lost in Shadow. My sister and I had a few rousing evenings with DKC Returns, but I didn't play Mario All Stars or Lost in Shadow. My free time was dedicated to working full time at good ol' GameStop, preparing to leave for Ireland and seeing my friends as much as possible in anticipation of being out of the country.

My reasoning for not playing very many Wii games was that I planned on bringing my Wii with me and playing games in Ireland. Well, I'm in Ireland now and I haven't played any games. You know why? Because I think I broke my Wii. Now, I'm going to try very hard to not dwell on this fact because I am pretty effing distraught over it, as I'm sure one can imagine. There's an ever so slight chance that the AC cable is just fried, but there is also a chance that the Wii itself is toast. I won't know for sure until I get back home and can test it with someone else's cable. I hate not knowing. If I lose all of my VC downloads I am going to be so angry. Then I'm going to riot to Nintendo and let them know that they are unfair for not having a login system so that customers can re-download their purchases in the event of a broken system, like PSN and XBLA do. I know they're worried about protecting people and children's identities but man, I don't want to lose my money.

Alternatively, I may be able to have them fix whatever is broken and retain all of my downloads and save files. I wonder how much they charge to fix Wiis? And what the turn-around time is? Hmm..

In slightly more positive news, I at least have my DSi. And, if all goes well, I'll have my 3DS along with Pokemon White and Okamiden next month. Just in time for my birthday too! I have a very generous mother :3

Looks awesome, right? Hopefully I'm better at it than I was with Okami -_-

For my DSi I have a nice selection of games that I could be playing, but I haven't dedicated any time yet. I bought Ghost Trick just before I left the States at the recommendation of my co-worker and some reviews that I read online. I'm anxious to play it but have been very befuddled with my computer and Skype so that I can talk to my boyfriend. I love technology. I remember when I was about 11 or 12 I was on the phone with my dad who I only saw once a year for the summers. We were talking about how great it would be if video phones existed, that way we could see each other everyday even though we were on opposite sides of the country. Well, dad, the future is upon us and you don't have the internet. Way to embrace it! Sheesh.

Anyway. My DS. I love it dearly. I could play on my lunch breaks but I've been busy reading awesome and punny fantasy novels! I'm happy to be reading more, so I don't begrudge the book. It's call Night Mare, and it's by Piers Anthony. Andrew picked out a bunch of books to send to Ireland with me. We're reading them in chunks together, sort of like a book club. My days are filled with awesome <3

I had every intention of reactivating my WoW account upon my arrival here, but I've found that that's very difficult to do with no money. I'd have a bit more money if it weren't for the dollar being so horrible right now. Add the $$$ lost during conversion on top of the fee charged to me for pulling out money from a non-affiliate ATM and I am running out of money right fast. Doesn't really leave much room for a subscription fee. That is OK though because I have been playing MINECRAFT.

This was definitely me, although I didn't make it so far as to creating torches or glass before I started to have help from someone else.

Last fall Andrew told me that I should play it with him and his co-workers. I was busy being antisocial, so I told him maybe. Then in December I had a chance to play on a friend's computer and I got super excited. It definitely helped that Penny Arcade made a mini arc about it. I trust everything that they say whole-heartedly. They're the reason that I bought Katamari Damacy. <3 those guys.

So since early-to-mid January I've been playing on a multiplayer server with Andrew and his co-workers. He and I have been traversing and building and exploring and slaying and spelunking. It has been nothing short of awesome. I've been taking screenshots when I remember to because there's so much fun stuff happening. Currently we live in a monster castle that is complete with waterfall, dining hall, garden, gothic tower, floating house, living quarters, supply room, subterranean cave system, library and mob catcher. He's always thinking of new things to add, so who knows what else it'll turn into! We also have a lighthouse on the shore and we built a mine track to our old house via skybridge.

This here (from left to right) demonstrates the mob catcher, the floating house, cathedral, other tower and library. Note that the library is covered in lava for awesome's sake.

The internet at my mom's house in Washington is DSL (yuck) so I regularly encountered some issues when logging in. They were mostly funny but occasionally did cause some irritation. The most common problem was a severe chunk error.

Just monster chunks of terrain missing all the way to the bottom of the world.

He let onto the fact that we could use these errors to our advantage. That hadn't even occurred to me! Sometimes they filled in and loaded as normal, but sometimes they'd just flat out refuse to load in. In the instance captured above I happened to see some large reservoirs of iron, something that were were lacking in. So, I directed him on where to dig and where to find the reserves! After that I built a bridge to cross the chasm and went down with him to look for diamonds. I've never loved diamonds so much before!

-MJ

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Pondering on gaming.

I miss my Wii. I don't know what I would even play if I had access to it, but I miss not having it available to me. There haven't even been any particularly large urges to play video games. Look at me, taking it for granted and now that I don't have it I'm all sorry and wanting to buy it flowers.

To my knowledge, Epic Mickey and Kirby's Epic Yarn are coming out this holiday, so I'll be able to give my Wii some serious lovin' in my down time. I'm looking forward to it. I've been wondering... does it make sense to bring it to Ireland with me? There will be games that I want to play in the coming year, and off the top off my head I can't remember if the Wii is region coded or not, but I could always send money to someone in the States and have them ship me a US version. Decisions decisions. Isn't there supposed to be a Professor Layton for the Wii as well, and of course I can't forget about Zelda.

There's suddenly so much to be excited about. Maybe I should bust out my DSi.

For the plane rides I brought along Picross 3D (which, sadly, I don't enjoy as much as the original Picross), Pokemon SoulSilver and um, something else >.> Ouendan, maybe? I'd have to look, but I am far too lazy to get out of bed.

My WoWing has been extremely infrequent. I think I've played three times since arriving in Ireland. I'm doing a good job of keeping myself social so there hasn't been too much time to delve into Azeroth. Plus, I have the most fun when I'm playing with James and the 8 hour time difference is difficult to maneuver. We'll have to play a lot while I'm back in Washington to make up for it. Although, we did play about two weeks ago and now that our 3x XP is over things felt as though they were moving awfully slow. Heh. That's OK though. He should have his rocket soon and we'll just zoom around the countryside.

I've played the Cataclysm Beta a few times (once I was finally able to get it running). It doesn't run so hot on my machine though. I find this odd, because the non-beta game runs perfectly fine! Wish I knew what the deal was there. My goblin is a classy little lady, by the way. So far I like a lot of the in-game changes. They threw me off a bit at first though. The menus look a lot different.

All gussied up for a party.

Next time I'm logged into my main account I'm going to restructure my skill points. A friend changed them around (for the better, it would seem) on my WoW character app on my iPod and it just seems sensible to make the switch in-game as well. I need more experience with my Hunter.

Since the new Professor Layton comes out this Sunday, I'm considering buying it from the GameStop here. In reality, that is a terrible decision for more than one reason. The main one would be price. The dollar is horrendous against the Euro right now, and I wouldn't get a discount here (I'm pretty sure). The secondary one would be that I believe I have it reserved at my home base GameStop. I could always swap it to another game but that'd be like a cancel and no one wants that.

-MJ

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I have a lot to be excited about.

Currently I'm watching the Sony E3 Conference for Jake and I'm sending him text updates. So far Sony, I am not impressed. Killzone 3, not for me but alright. Gran Turismo 5, people have only been waiting 6 years. A sorcery game. Golf? A long video about 3D? I wish I had something good to report.

Let's just move onto my own excitement recap of Nintendo's Conference.

First and foremost?

Um, fuck yes. I have been reading a whole lot of rumors and speculations and a lot of people really aren't happy with the direction that the series is going in. I'm a fangirl through and through and I guess that means Zelda is almost incapable of disappointing me. I don't really care for Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks but the portable version dislike doesn't really bother me. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword looks promising to me. I was very surprised to discover its graphical truth. A cross between Twilight Princess and Wind Waker? This sounded very strange. I think I'm happy with what the game looks like overall, except for its especially pastel color palette. When I saw my very first screenshot I immediately thought I was looking at a pull from the Kirby level in Smash Bros. I kinda went... "??? hmm". After seeing actual gameplay footage and the game trailer I started to feel better. My biggest issue, I think so far my only issue, is the fact that the life hearts are pink. Pink? Why pink!? Just make them red please.

Skyward Sword will be released in 2011! I'm very excited. I don't think I'm wrong to not be yearning for innovation. I just want a fun game. I want a game I know I'll enjoy. I want familiarity in new areas. I want the characters that I love. I will be very surprised if I'm disappointed by this new Zelda. Oh, one more thing: I think the subtitled "Skyward Sword" is strange and I hope it grows on me.

What else am I excited about?

I didn't realize I was excited about Epic Mickey until very recently. I know nothing about it, but I know that I want it. I love Disney and Mickey Mouse and also rockin' Wii exclusive titles. It certainly looks amazing, graphically speaking, and since I don't care for Kingdom Hearts I'm pumped to have Mickey Mouse back in my gaming life. I can only play Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion so many times. Plus, Epic Mickey has painting in it and I was really really bad at Okami *shame on me* so maybe here's a chance to prove myself?

I knew about the 3DS, but this new information is great!

It doesn't look stupid and that's a relief, plus it comes in blue and black as well. The 3DS looks like it'll be able to do a lot of great things and relatively well. Only the top screen is 3D, apparently touch and 3D aren't compatible in one screen. There should be a pretty good lineup at launch! I look forward to owning one. HOLY WHAT THE EFF!? Paper Mario is going to be on the 3DS? WHAT!? I was just exploring more features to write some more information about the 3DS and I came across this!

Under Nintendo Titles there's Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Paper Mario and more! AHHHH!! I have no idea when the 3DS is supposed to be released but a portable Paper Mario is honestly more than I can handle! *SQUEEEEEEEE!!!*

OK, phew, sorry about that. This wasn't a major announcement and it's freakin' awesome news to me.

Moving on.

I know this is shameful but I didn't enjoy the original Kid Icarus. I really wanted to but it's so damn hard it made me angry. I have it on my Wii if I ever want to give it another go, but I'm hoping that this new Kid Icarus will change things around for me! Another AAA title for the upcoming 3DS.

This really piqued my interest:

I'd like to be a bigger Kirby fan than I actually am. I love the idea of Kirby but I haven't played very many games. I loved Canvas Curse and was kind of ehh on Kirby Super Star Ultra. I have one of the original Kirby games on my Wii but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Kirby's Epic Yarn is a new platformer and I love platformers! Plus it looks freaking adorable and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. This new Kirby looks like the beautiful love triangle child of Paper Mario, Yoshi's Story and Kirby Canvas Curse. HEAVEN! It even has a two player feature.

I managed to miss this announcement and then saw it on Nintendo's site:

I am a HUGE Professor Layton fan and you should be too. The first two were a lot of fun and I've been eagerly awaiting the third! I'm glad that the games have proven popular over here in the States, it'd be a shame to miss out on such a gem. Plus the graphics, man! I love the styling. Good on them. I look forward to more mind bending puzzles and a great storyline to follow.

These last ones are exciting but I don't have a lot to say about them.

A kick back to old school with 2D side-scrolling. Awesome? Awesome. Donkey Kong rocks. Maybe my sister will play? She always loved the series.

Here we have an expression of my love.

I am just a sucker for Pokemon and I know I'm not the only one!

So I guess that was my wrap up of Nintendo's E3 conference. I've never done that before. Obviously I just focused on the things that I care about, but hey I'm not getting paid so I can report whatever I want :D

There is so much to be excited about! It's a great time to be a Nintendo fan. There are things happening that don't appeal to me but I know are good, like Metroid Other M, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Resident Evil Revelations, Dragon Quest IX, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn and so many more titles.

Thank you Nintendo, I love you! I'll always have faith.

-MJ

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