Day 5, Game 5 - NintendoLand

Update for tonight, folks. I still feel like utter garbage, and aside from laying on the couch and watching football and basketball today, I really didn't do much of anything. I had all these grand plans of playing some games today, trying to get into the swing of things despite how I was feeling, but that just didn't happen. Hard to get a serious game session going when your head starts pounding the moment you move your eyes back and forth.

Towards the end of the night, however, and after several hours of asking from my 7 year old, I buckled down and decided to play a game with him. He wanted to play NintendoLand for the newly released WiiU, and while I really wanted to save writing about this game for when I could formulate a really good post, tonight will just have to do. Maybe I'll do a followup some day down the road, just to shed more light on a game I think deserves more credit then it probably gets.

Since it was a bundled game for the Deluxe edition of the WiiU, everyone immediately associates it with the likes of Wii Sports. While the basic comparisons are fair (pack-in game, developed to show off the new technology of the system and controllers), that's about where the comparisons should stop.

The game is really deep, offering lots of replay-ability for both single-player games and co-op games, thanks in part to the stamp system (think achievements or trophies, but not system-based), the trophies, the stars and the unlockables. Some people won't ever dive that deep into this game, only playing it occasionally to show off to their friends or something, but that's a shame. With so many different mini games included in it, it's hard to see getting bored of this game for a long time.

And that was the first thought that I had tonight while playing with my boy. Despite the fact we have played the Pikmin game countless times, and also the chasing games (Luigi's Mansion and Animal Crossing to be specific for tonight), we had a blast playing them again tonight. Each game is always a different experience, and it's great fun to just sit around and play a bunch of mini-games back-to-back. At one point (not tonight), I was playing with all three of my kids, and even thought my 4 year old doesn't quite have the gaming touch just yet, we all had a blast.

Tonight, with just us two, was just as fun as the first time we played it. While it caters to several people playing at once, there are plenty of games to just play solo, and many of times I have found myself picking NintendoLand to play over other games, just because.

My son and I would probably still be playing right now if it wasn't for the fact that I took some NyQuil, and I needed to get this blog post up before it kicks in and I pass out right where I sit.

I have tons of games lines up for the upcoming weeks, but my health will greatly determine how that all plays out. For those of you reading, thanks for putting up with what is probably a garbled mess of text due to this sickness. I'll get back on track, don't worry. If this can't stop me, noth........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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My Year of Gaming – Project Stats

Games played: 5
Systems played on: NES = 1, PS Vita = 1, PS3 = 2, WiiU = 1
Total time played: 7.5 hours