I've wanted to write about this game for a while, but honestly, with the seemingly endless pile of games to play, both new releases and ones I've stashed away to play for this blog, it was hard to actually be inspired to play this game. Because as much as I adore this game, and would easily have it in the top ten of my list for Wii games, the game is totally not made for me, the serious gamer. Even though my love for all things Nintendo runs deep, this game wasn't developed for me to play as much as it was for me to simply enjoy. It was developed for kids, and for parents to enjoy with them as they play. Sure, it is a legit game with actual gameplay, story and all the other elements that make a video game, a video game. But while the game itself is phenomenal, and there is some challenge in it for those who are collectors/perfectionists, the game is easy. Like, really easy. In fact, it's so easy, you can't die. Ever. There is restarts or continues. There is no punishment for failing or being bad at the game, or even for not having a clue what you are doing. The game continues to be charming and endearing, cute and whimsical, despite how well you do at the game. And that's why it was perfect for my five year old daughter to play, and perfect for me to watch her and enjoy the father/daughter time. She has played games before. We actually play Disney Infinity every time she comes over, and she has a couple of pages of games she likes to play on my iPad, so gaming isn't a completely foreign concept to her. But just because she plays games, doesn't necessarily mean she is good at them. She tries, and she is much better at tablet gaming then she is at console-based gaming with controllers. She knows the basics, but remembering which buttons do which, how to maneuver with joysticks is challenging for her, naturally. So watching her play this game was fun, as she didn't know what she was doing, but because it is so forgiving, she never got frustrated with it. She just kept at it, moving along at her own pace, without worry or fear of failure. This is the type of game every kid deserves to play. This is the type of game that will encourage joy and enthusiasm with gaming for young kids, not discourage them and fault them for their failures and learning curves. This is the type of game that kids will have fun playing, enjoying their experience and just having fun. And as a father, as much fun as I have with games, and as much fun as I had playing this game, just experiencing it with my daughter was far more rewarding than any achievement or trophy would ever be.
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Being scared is a unique feeling. While most people shy away from the thought of being scared intentionally, or participating in activities that evoke true fear in its purest form, others embrace it. The automatic flow of adrenaline, the rush of blood throughout the body, the beads of sweat that form from terror and anxiety from the panic when scared is what some people actively pursue in one form or another. I talked about fear and being scared from video games during my week of Resident Evil - well, I think I did, but that was a long time ago, and my memory sucks after playing so many different games throughout the year. I'm sure I at least talked about when I played Resident Evil 1, because that is one of the scariest games I have ever played, even to this day. From the mood, the lighting, the ambiance, the feeling of helplessness and of course, the "cheap" scares where things pop out or make you jump unexpectedly. Very rarely do I find a game to play that evokes so much fear and genuine scare factor as the original Resident Evil did back when I first played it (and even after the first time, despite know what was going to be scary already). I'm always looking for that next big scare from games, and even certain ones that promise to deliver, I rarely find them to live up to their own hype. Maybe it has something to do with expecting to be scared as opposed to just letting it happen. When the Wii U was released, one of the launch games for it was ZombiU. For many people, it was at least on their radar as a launch day pick-up, something they were vaguely interested in, despite whether they actually bought the game or not. Nintendo had a decent launch line-up for the Wii U in my opinion, but other than New Super Mario Bros. U, this game was at the top of the list for games I had to have. It was a new, original IP, developed by Ubisoft exclusively for the Wii U. It's a zombie game that focuses on survival and exploration, rather than killing everything in your path. And most of all, it looked like nothing I had ever seen before, from the setting and feel of the game, to the gameplay mechanics and utilization of the GamePad. What I didn't see coming was how scary it would be. Playing it back then, and playing it once again after many months away from it, I feel the same way. This game is legit scary and full of fear. You play as a survivor during a full-on zombie outbreak in London, and you are forced to go out into the world and scavenge for supplies, help and hopefully, answers. It is in first person point of view, and while the combat is pretty straight forward on that front, the rest of the gameplay is where the game shines. If you want to pull out supplies or weapons or ammo from your backpack, you have to take it off and dig through it using the GamePad controller. The thing is, the game doesn't pause or wait for you for get your items out, as everything happening in the environment - including the zombies coming after you - continue as if you were still actively playing. This adds a level of suspense and thrill I never expected to feel. When zombies are coming after you quickly, and you have to make a snap decision whether to melee, try and use a firearm or simply run away, the panic and fear comes on quick and intense. There never seems to be enough ammunition to fight, time to effectively use your cricket bat, or places to run and hide. One or two zombies heading your way can be fairly manageable for the most part, but once three or more zombies catch wind of your presence, it immediately turns into a fight for your life. When you die, which happens a lot, you don't simply re-spawn at the last checkpoint. Sure, all your progress is saved for the most part, as far as which doors you unlocked or hallways of zombies you cleared out, but you don't just get dropped back into that world. Instead, you start back at your safe house, although you are not your character you played as before. Each death results in another survivor being brought into the world, each with their own personality and back story. You don't have any of your gear that you died with, as you essentially start from scratch, although the world that you progressed through remains how you left it. As you journey back to where you died, you eventually run into something strange and unexpected the first time. You encounter your last character, in the form of a zombie, the unfortunate fate of being mauled to death by the walking dead. The character is carrying the signature backpack and all, and once you dispose of them like any other zombie, you are able to loot it for all your gear back. There is a lot to this game, and despite some flaws in it, immediately climbed my own personal list of scariest games of all time. ZombiU makes you feel things while playing that very few games have ever come close to making a reality, and that's saying a lot when you look at the pedigree of the survival/horror genre. First off, before you all get up in arms, I already know what you're going to say. Yes, I already played The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for my blog, back in April, during my week long adventure through The Legend of Zelda franchise. And as you already know, I am supposed to play and write about a new, different game each day this year. So what's up with this entry in my blog, you ask? Well, Nintendo released the game as not just a port or a virtual console game, but as a full-fledged HD remake. It's not just a HD polish put on the same old game that came out over a decade ago, but a legit remake as only Nintendo knows how to do. Speaking of which, I just have to say, that if there is any company out there, Nintendo is it when it comes to the masters of remaking old classics. They genuinely love their franchises, and while they put many older, classic games on their Virtual Console markets as a fan service, they don't take the job of remaking games lightly. In fact, they choose to remake very few games, but seem to be coming around to the idea more often than ever before. However, they don't just slap a new sticker on it and call it a remake, but they take their time, focussing all of their attention to detail and love for their creations into the remake at hand as if it truly was a brand new game. Even if they aren't directly creating the game in-house, but rather outsourcing it to dependable developers, they are sure to make sure that the consumer and fans don't ever feel like the remake is just a cash-grab, and that they are getting the full value of the product they are investing in. With that said, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is Nintendo's most recent love letter to their fans in every way, shape and form. I almost feel like they are still holding a grudge to all media outlets and outraged fans who shunned this version of Link and his universe when the game was originally released, and with that grudge, they wanted to firmly establish this Zelda game one of the finest in the series. While the original Wind Waker finally received critical acclaim after it had time to age like fine wine, Nintendo, in my humble opinion, wants everyone to see this HD remake in the same light they feel it should have been from day one. Despite what people tend to think and accuse Nintendo of, in regards to doing their own thing without care of the wants and desires of their fans, they actually sat down and took every complaint about Wind Waker into consideration when creating this game, changing almost all of it. Sure, they have a machine now, the Wii U, that can handle what they possibly always wanted to do with the game but couldn't because of the GameCube hardware. But they could have just been lazy and put the same experience into HD and called it good. They actually fixed many game mechanics, such as the slow, tedious sailing, and made the experience more enjoyable for gamers. Also, they made the GamePad functional and useful, transforming it into the inventory screen, adding touch screen controls slight motion controlls, and of course, adding the ability to play the game from just the GamePad, freeing up the TV for anyone needing or wanting to watch it while you're playing. Above all else, this game looks absolutely phenomenal. I always loved the cell shading look of this game, but now, the lighting effects, the shadow and the polish to the cell shading with this HD remake is gorgeous. The world comes to life like never before, as colors pop and graphics you may have thought were average before now prove to be unbelievable. Again, only Nintendo could take what was already a beautiful game that actually held up well over time, and recreate it to make it look like something never seen before. The prospect of Nintendo taking their classic games and remaking them for the HD generation is so exciting. I can't wait for other games to receive this level of love and care from Nintendo as updated remakes of what we all already know and love. Go ahead and bash Nintendo for "doing the same thing for years" and "relying too heavily on their long-standing franchises." If they can take awesome games and remake them to almost perfect status, I'm not going to complain. Well, it finally has happened. The Nintendo Wii U, after several long months of obscurity and silence on the game front, there's finally big name titles rolling out for the console that everyone loves to hate. Sure, the launch was packed full of games, albeit ports of older games, but regardless, there were lots of choices on launch day back in November. Since then, however, the console suffered from a severe lack of games, with only Lego City Undercover being the one "big" title to hold early adapters of the system over. It was a long wait, but with the arrival of Pikmin 3 last month, I declared the drought finally over. Since then, we've gotten Disney Infinity (despite it being mult-platform, I count it since I got it for the Wii U), and the spectacular Rayman Legends. With the release of The Wonderful 101, the game that was shown a long time ago as an example of what the system was capable of, Wii U fans can rejoice for the dawn of a new era; the era of the Wii U being a viable gaming console. I chose not to pre-order The Wonderful 101 from Amazon, as I have chosen recently to take advantage of Amazon Prime and get most of my games from there. The reason I didn't order it from them this time? Simple. Nintendo likes to release games on Sundays (or any day they feel like it, to be honest), and since mail or package deliveries don't happen on Sundays, I didn't want to wait to get this game. Unfortunately, I was feeling super unmotivated to actually go to a store and pick it up. Someone on Twitter suggested I just download it from the eShop, but because I am still a shill for physical media when it comes to video games, I didn't even consider that an option. Granted, for the PS Vita, I am strictly all digital downloads for my games, but that is only because it is so unbelievably difficult to switch those tiny cards in an out of the Vita. So without downloading the game being an option, my only decision was to go to the store, or not. Ultimately, as you can see, I made the trip. It was worth every shred of energy it took. This game is awesome. It's bright, colorful, action-packed and just a whole lot of fun. The characters are endearing, and the premise of the game is fantastic. Instead of just controlling an army and sending them off to battle, you fight alongside your army, and use them to form super weapons and tools that allow you save the citizens, fight the enemies and solve all the puzzles you come across. You use either drawing motions on the GamePad's touch screen with your finger, or the right analog stick to draw figures and shapes that turn into weapons like a giant fist, a powerful sword or a pistol, all of which are made up from super powers combined with all of the other Wonderful heroes that accompany you as part as your team. Aside from weapons, you can also use them to form ladders, chains and hang gliders, all of which help you get from point A to point B, usually in the interest of saving citizens in need. The action in this game is absolutely chaotic, and while sometimes hard to follow, luckily the move set and controls are tight enough to quickly and effectively get you out of trouble when need be. Some reviewers complained about the drawing controls being inaccurate, but I haven't ran into that problem at all. Of course, I'm not deep into the game, and maybe the drawing controls get harder to execute with moves later acquired, but maybe it was just an overreaction. Regardless, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with the game, and I'm really glad I dragged myself out of the apartment to go pick up The Wonderful 101. Now if Nintendo can just start releasing games on Tuesdays like normal media companies, that sure would make my life a little easier. Do you remember back on Day 39 of this blog - February 8th, to be specific - where I talked about the announcement to delay Rayman Legends for the Wii U, which coincided with the sudden announcement that it would no longer be a console exclusive to Nintendo, as it would be released simultaneously on all of the other platforms as well. This was a big deal back then, as it was surprising to begin with that Nintendo landed such a big name game as an exclusive. Throw in the fact that the Wii U was desperate for any sort of game at the time, and it all meant that Wii U owners and Nintendo fans alike were sad. Not just sad, but bored. And feeling a little forgotten about and neglected. Well, eventually some games started to come out for the console, slowly but surely, with several more on the way. Sure, they aren't coming at record speed, but one excellent game every month or so up until next year isn't something to shake a stick at, as they say. And yes, Rayman Legends isn't an exclusive, but it's worth celebrating as a game for the Wii U. All the versions of this game are exactly the same (except the Vita version which was missing 28 levels for mysterious reasons), but the Wii U version has something that no other console can offer: the GamePad controller. Word around the proverbial water cooler known as the internet is that the PS3 or Xbox versions of Rayman Legends is a lot better and more fun for single players, but the Wii U offers an far more enticing and enriching experience for multiplayer gaming, because of the GamePad. The unique controller can come in handy in multiplayer games, much in the same way it was used in New Super Mario Bros. U, as an assist tool, aiding the other players along the way. For solo play, the game utilizes the GamePad in a very unusual way, with certain parts of specific levels forcing you to become the guide for an AI character as he runs to the end of the level, but not without help from you and your GamePad, using the touch screen to move platforms, cut ropes and eliminate enemies in the way. Personally, I had no problems using these controls, and feel like they are very intuitive and precise. The different game play style is a nice change of pace, especially when it comes after a normal platforming level that was harder than it felt like it should be. But hey, maybe touch controls on the GamePad aren't for everyone. Regardless of what console you play this game on, it is guarantee to impress. The game is smart, and never truly punishes you for failing. There are no lives, continues or any of the normal platforming ideas. Which is awesome, because some of the levels get really, really difficult. They are never too hard, but always feel rewarding when you complete one. Oh, and did I mention how amazingly beautiful and gorgeous Rayman Legends is? It might be one of the prettiest games I've seen in a long time, and the art style so whimsical and delightful, it's hard not to just stop and go sightseeing as you traverse the uber-creative levels. Seriously. Everything about this game is so over the top amazing, I can't stop playing it. It turned into one of those games that you keep saying "just one more level" after completing the last level. It's addicting in the best possible way. Sure, it may not have come out when it was originally scheduled to. Sure, it wasn't an exclusive like originally planned. But I truly believe that while this game would have been awesome before, these several extra months the developers had to polish up the game was more valuable than having something to play on the Wii U earlier in the year. Let's just hope this momentum carries on through the end of the year, for everyone's sake. If Near Field Technology, or NFC as the kids call it these days, is the way of the future for gaming, well, count me in. Just don't expect my wallet to be as enthusiastic about the path I'm heading down. When I first heard about this game, I knew I wanted it. You see, when Nintendo first revealed that the Wii U GamePad would include NFC technology, with the ability to read things with NFC in it directly from the revolutionary controller itself, the very first thing I thought of was how amazing a Pokemon game with NFC figurines (a la Skylanders) would be. Trust me, I have witnesses who can attest to this bold prediction of mine. I mean think about it - a Pokemon game which would sell gangbusters anyway, combined with the hot new phase of collecting figurines, and Nintendo could practically make money. The theme song specifically explains the tagline and motto of not only the games, but the franchise itself: "Gotta collect them all!" Now imagine that motto with a game like Skylanders or Disney Infinity, but in the Pokemon universe, and it's a match made in heaven. So again, when this game was first announced, I was already invested before it hit the shelves. And then the unthinkable happened. I had second thoughts about what I was going to actually be investing in. I worried that maybe I had hit my limit on what I could conceivably and reasonably invest in. I worried that I was ready to collect them all for all the wrong reasons. Lastly, but maybe more importantly, I balked at the notion that GameStop had exclusive rights, as I despise the notion of being pigeonholed into shopping somewhere by force if I want a particular thing, especially with something like this. Well, I'm proud to say that my will is weak and I have no self control, as I went down to GameStop and picked up Pokemon Rumble U the first day it was available. Actually, I didn't buy the real game there, just the download code, which was a first for me. Why would someone buy a download code from a store instead of just downloading it from the console's online store? I guess credit card fear is the biggest reason, but for me, it seems completely redundant. However, this time I'm glad I did. With the purchase of the code, I got a free figurine, which normally run $3.99 each. It wasn't just any random figurine, but a special edition Kyurem, either black or white. That part was random. I ended up getting the very last one they had available to give away, which if you're wondering, I got the black one. I thought this was an awesome gesture, but I wasn't done there. Oh no. I didn't go all the way down to the store to buy the download code for a free figure. That was just dumb luck. No, I went down there to buy the figures, of course. And this is where Nintendo went a completely different direction then their NFC successors, and decided to make each purchase a blind one. Yes, that's right. Each character you buy comes in a sealed Pokeball, which you can't see in to, thus not knowing what figurine you're actually buying. These things are small and cute, and the four dollar price point seems fair, but collecting them all is not an easy thing to do when you can't see what you are buying. This is similar to the Power Discs that Disney Infinity implemented, but those things are just accessories to the characters to the game. You can actually see the characters you buy, because they don't want you to collect multiple ones. Again, Nintendo bucks the trend set before them to do their own thing. No surprise, if you ask me. Even though their are only 18 figurines to collect, you will eventually end up with duplicates of Pokemon. Because of this, I didn't jump head first into the collecting of figures, and only decided to buy three on my initial store run. After playing the game, and experiencing the thrill of opening up Pokeballs blindly, I want more. But first, let me at least explain the game. It's an arena-combat based game, where you battle digitally-created toy Pokemon in confined battle arenas, with bosses finishing each level. You can select one Pokemon of your choice, along with three AI controlled teammates, from a team of Pokemon you collect from picking up Pokeballs in combat, along with the NFC characters you swipe across the GamePad to send them into the game. Each creature has their own level and XP meter, along with different attacks and abilities. Each level has specific challenges to go after, although you don't know what they are until after you beat the level first, which provided replayability for the completionist in us all. There isn't much skill involved at all, just attacking and moving around until the battle is won. Of course, it gets harder as you go, but the game isn't designed to be super difficult, just super fun. And super addicting. And it does a great job at both of those. So much in fact, I can't wait to make my way back to GameStop and buy some more Pokeballs. Do I have a problem? Yes, I probably do, but hey, at least I enjoy my problem and it doesn't hurt anyone else. Besides, it makes for some great blog posts, don't you think? A week of Mario. And not even the classic, traditional platforming Mario games, but the Mario spin-off games, chronicling all the different roles and jobs Mario has been placed in over the years. So much Mario in such a short amount of time, and not one single mention of his dearest brother, who has been by his side since the beginning. Well, Luigi finally had enough of the neglect and mistreatment, and decided to take over this blog, at least for one day. This shouldn't be a surprise, either, as Nintendo dubbed 2013 the year of Luigi, a bold move for a company so reliant on Mario being their face and mascot, the one to carry the companies flag into battle. Nintendo realized how important yet forgotten about by creating the year of Luigi, which was just a glorified way of announcing a bunch of Luigi-stared titles. There was Luigi's mansion, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, and of course, New Super Luigi U, the huge DLC/expansion/game that Nintendo released to accompany the New Super Mario Bros. U game. Since the original Super Mario Bros., Luigi has always been Player 2. Whenever two people would play this game together, a fight would ensure to be the first player so that they could be Mario and didn't have to be stuck being Luigi. Usually it was decided by age, or who actually owned the console. This was true for myself as well, as I remember very distinctly no one ever wanting to be Player 2. Even though both characters shared the exact same qualities, except for the color pallet of their clothes, people resisted the notion of being Luigi. Since then, Luigi has pretty much been regulated to "the other guy." Sure, he's had a few staring roles, like in his original Luigi's Mansion game for the GameCube, or his appearances in the Smash Bros. games, or even as an unlockable character in Mario Galaxy, but never has he ever been celebrated or been given the chance to make fans love him. Instead, gamers always feel stuck playing as him. Well, the guy in green has taken this opportunity and ran with it. New Super Luigi U, which cleverly depicts spray paint over the "Bros.," is downloadable content that cost $20, which seems extreme. At first glance, it's easy to wonder if Nintendo knows what they are doing when it comes to DLC, as they don't exactly have a long and storied track record of offering it. But once you dig in to what is actually included with the $20 price point, it all makes sense. Instead of just a few levels or something to that nature, Nintendo actually remade the entire game to feature Luigi instead. No, you don't get to just play as Luigi in all the levels you already played through, but they actually created entirely different levels for the entire map. Every single level is different, all Luigi themed, too. There are random pieces of Luigi artwork splattered all over the levels, constantly reminding you this is Luigi's world now. Not that he is humble about it or anything. In fact, in this game, you can't even play as Mario. Even as second player, Mario is no where to be found. Luigi isn't playing second fiddle in this adventure, that's for sure. He comes equipped with his own move set as well, as he is able to jump exponentially higher than his shorter brother, but also has a heck of a time stopping when he gets going. Instead of breaking and turning on a time, he slides for quite a distance after running, and the faster he is going before hand, the farther he will slide when he does try to stop. This of course make Luigi quite difficult to control, but because of his increased jumping ability and his "flutter" he does when holding the jump button makes reaching higher points in the game to collect those three precious star coins in each level easier. When I say easier, I mean, easier than if you were Mario. You see, this game isn't easy at all. It is designed to be played for the real gamers, who aren't afraid of a challenge. The original game was fairly challenging as it was, especially when trying to collect all the star coins, and then especially on Star Road, but the Luigi game bumps up the difficulty several notches for sure. Each level starts with the classic sound of running out of time, as you only have 100 ticks of the clock to reach the end of the level, all while trying to collect those pesky star coins. Sure, you don't have to collect those things, but if you're not, why even bother? Essentially you would just be sprinting to the end of each level just to advance to the next one. What fun would that be? Overall, it's been well worth the money, I think. I can't even remember dying this much in a Mario game, and it only took having Luigi take over a Mario game to introduce that level of difficulty. While it originally came as DLC and you needed the original New Mario Bros. U game to play it, it has since been released on a physical disc, completely bypassing the need to ever touch that Mario game, which is catering to the true, hardcore Luigi fans. This week has been full of Mario in all his various forms and jobs, but it took removing him from a game completely to realize just how important he is to Nintendo. Microsoft and Sony would literally kill to have a go-to mascot like Mario, and while they constantly try to create someone that iconic, there is no touching the Italian plumber. Mario is the ultimate gaming icon, and he deserves all the love he gets. Just be sure not to forget about his brother, who's been right there from the get-go. Oh, Mario. The man of many hats, literally and figuratively. In relation to his platforming games, when he gains a new power, his hat changes along with it. Or does his newly discovered powers happen because of his new hats that he collects, like in Mario 64? Either way, his hats have a direct correlation to his enhanced abilities, thus making his "man of many hats" a necessity more than just a fashion statement. He's also donned many different hats in the figurative sense, as this blog has shown over the course of this week, by taking on many different roles in multiple different games over the years. His given profession is a plumber, but he has accepted many different jobs and roles throughout his career. I feel like a broken record at this point to be honest, but this was the best set-up I could think of. I mean really, Mario is addicted to sports, and he's actually quite the jock. I already wrote about him using golf as his hobby, but over the years, apparently golf wasn't enough to fulfill his competitive edge. He has stared in several different sports games since NES Golf, all of which I could have easily wrote about. Well, with the exception of Mario's Tennis on the Virtual Boy, because I've never had the pleasure to own that fantastic piece of Nintendo's history. Regardless, Mario is a stud in all sorts of athletic competition, from soccer, to baseball, to the Olympic sports, both of the summer and winter variety. With that being said, what better way to experience the athlete that is Mario than with a game called Mario Sports Mix? There isn't a better way. Trust me, I looked. So when this game came out, I almost fell victim to the "reviews are bad, I shouldn't buy this game despite how excited I am for it" trap that so many gamers out there fall victim to. I had been waiting for Mario Sports Mix to come out for months, along with my buddy, but on the day of it's release, the reviews came out and they were less than stellar. I seriously contemplated passing up on this game, completely ignoring my desires to play it and my gut instincts that I would like it in favor of opinions of other people. While I read and respect reviews all the time, I try not to let scores skew my own opinions, unless of course there are game-breaking things that damper my overall enjoyment of the game With this game, I almost didn't get it. But I had it pre-ordered, I had waited forever for it, and it had Mario's name attached to it. I just couldn't pass it up. And thankfully, I didn't. And even now, I'm still proud to have it in my collection. Playing this game with my seven year old today made me realize something crucial. We played Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort as well, for no other reason than he wanted to play them, but while those games were special for the innovative game play, Mario Sports Mix is far different from those games. Those games will forever be fun to play, and while I see where Sports Mix falls short, it's the characters that keep this game relevant and worth playing again. The Mario franchise can breathe life into any average game, and right away, I noticed how much more my son was engaged in the characters and the universe from which they came, where as the Wii Sports games were purely about the few games he liked from them. He had no attachment to the Mii characters, other than he still thinks its cool to play as himself. But being able to play as Mario or any of his friends? Oh yeah, sign him up for that. We had fun playing the games, and I enjoyed it more as a father when he said he missed playing the Wii games since he doesn't get to much anymore, but that he was glad he came over to spend time with me since he could play all his favorite games again. For a kid that has been raised to be a FPS kind of gamer, he is still hanging on to his youth and enjoying the simpler, fun games every now and then. He doesn't care about review scores, just like 99.9% of kids out there, as he finds enjoyment in the games he plays, without cynicism or negativity like most reviewers seem to have. Children are pure when it comes to gaming experiences, which is yet another reason to hang on to your childhood innocence as long as possible. Unless you want to just grow up and be a world-renowned athlete like Mario. In that case, you better get training now. Hello, Disney Infinity. Goodbye, money, shelf space and kid's boredom. Look, I've talked about how much I adore the Skylanders franchise and everything about it, from the games themselves to the collecting of the figures, and everything in between. How much money I invested into that franchise for youngest boy, and also myself, is ridiculous when you put it into context, but that's not to say it wasn't worth every penny. The amount of joy and fun we both got out of it, from playing the games, to talking about the universe and hunting down the newest figures is something you couldn't put a price tag on. All that, from a franchise with no history or backstory to support any sort true love for the characters. No nostalgia, no memories, nothing. That's where Disney stepped in and said, "Hey, there is a market for video games with NFC (Near Field Connection) collectible figurines, and if people are willing to go this crazy over characters they have never heard of, imagine what we could do with our Disney characters!" And thus, Disney Infinity was created. When it was announced, people automatically jumped to the assertion that they were just trying to capitalize on the Skylanders success. Well, duh! Of course they were. That's called business. They saw a growing market and wanted to join in on it, knowing that they could not only add something different to it, but maybe something even better. Can you really blame them for liking money? When assessing my love for Skylanders with the addition for my deep-seeded affinity for everything Disney, deciding to jump into this game wasn't much of a question at all. Only question was how I was going to jump into the pool. Was I going to slowly ease myself in from the shallow in, allowing my body to adjust to the change in temperature, or would I jump into the deep end, all at once? Well, after 235 days here at TheNoyse.com, you should know me pretty well by now. I executed a perfect cannonball. I got the starter pack, first of all. I had a tough decision on whether to get it for my Wii U or the PS3, but ultimately I think I made the right choice. At first I thought about the easy trophies I could compile on the PS3 version, but because I hope to keep my Wii U around and plugged in longer than my PS3, I went with the future in mind for which platform to get the game for. Plus, the GamePad is used as a second screen for inventory and menus and such, so I'm fairly happy with which direction I went. On top of that, I also got the Sidekicks and Villains packs, which have three figures each in them, along with the Cars play pack and the Lone Ranger play pack. Also, I got the remaining singles characters that I was missing from my collection, meaning I got every single character available at launch. Remembering how hard it was sometimes to get Skylanders after they were released, I didn't want to take the chance of this happening with Infinity. As much as like the thrill of going out and hunting down the figures at various stores, almost daily, I decided to go the easier route. Plus, with the launch-week sales of the figures, it was too hard to pass up. Also, one thing Infinity is doing that Skylanders hasn't attempted, is the concept of blind booster packs. While you know every character you are buying (thankfully, considering how expensive they are), they have power discs for the game that add special abilities or power-ups to characters, or even toys, gadget, vehicles and creation objects for the sandbox part of the game. These discs come two-to-a-pack, in what looks like trading card packaging. You can't see which discs you are getting, which is a bummer, because after a few packs you start to compile a collection of duplicate discs that really serve no purpose. I can't wait for a solution to this problem to come about, hopefully in the way of a trading site or even a trade-in programs at stores. That would be awesome, but also maybe just a pipe-dream. With so many figures and discs to collect, it's already troublesome trying to keep up with them all when trying to fulfill your collection. With that being said, a freelance game journalist that I know through Twitter took it upon himself to create a handy website to keep track of your collection. His name is Alex Rubens, and you can find his handy-dandy checklist website over at: DisneyInfinityChecklist.com. Anyway, I haven't gotten super-deep into the game itself yet, but from what I have played so far, between the story/adventure part of the game and the toybox creation mode, I can say without hesitation that I am glad I invested into this game, and franchise, already. Now I can't wait to have my kids over so they can enjoy the game with me. It's easier to justify then. Pikmin 3 for the Wii U. All I have to say about this game, since it is the first of hopefully many great, amazing games to grace the newest Nintendo console since it's launch, is this: FINALLY! What, did you think that was all I was going to say about Pikmin 3? I mean, don't get me wrong, it is all I want to say about the game, because the less time I spend writing this blog, the more time I essentially have to play the game. But I guess I owe you, the readers, a little more than that, don't I?
So with that, I present to you a nice bullet-point list of what makes this game amazing so far:
There we go. That's all you get. I have more Pikmin 3 to play! |
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February 2014
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