Nintendo Direct for Upcoming 3DS and WiiU Games in 2013

I'm not the biggest Nintendo fan in the world, but because of my childhood nostalgia, I still think I care about what goes in in the world of Nintendo. On Tuesday morning, a Nintendo Direct conference took place and there was tons of news, so I'll make this into a list for you.

1. We all know Super Smash Brothers is an upcoming game for both the 3DS and the WiiU. I'm actually planning on getting this one, even though it will have to be for the 3DS because that's the only current gen Nintendo system I have. On Nintendo Direct, they have announced Sonic the Hedgehog as the newest playable character.

2. Pikmin is getting DLC for $1.99. This is in the form of a pack called "Collect Treasure" which consists of four stages. On October 1, there will be an update for the game and then the DLC will be available to download. Don't worry, there will still be free bonus content for the game.

3. We also have a release date for Super Mario 3D World. The game will release on November 22 in North America on the WiiU. I watched game play on this and it's almost worth getting a WiiU. Mario's newest power is the kitty cat suit, which gives him special jumping powers and lets him climb up to the top of flagpoles at the end of each stage. Also, if you get a cherry, you get two Marios. Almost makes me wish I had bought that Wind Waker bundle!

4. Now for some bad news. Remember how Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Breeze was supposed to release December 6? Well, not so much anymore. The game was pushed back to February 2014.

5. Back to good news. The demo for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies is now available for download on the 3DS. The game will be released on October 24 and will have day one DLC in the form of outfits for the main characters. If you purchase the game between 10/24 and 11/7, you get the outfit pack for free. After that, the pack will be 99 cents. I am under the understanding that this game is only available for download on the eShop.

6. A new Kirby game was announced for the 3DS! What I got from the trailer is that it's your typical Kirby game, but modernized for 3D. It will release sometime this year. That reminds me, I still have my old Gameboy with Kirby's Dreamland. Time to relive some childhood memories...

7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds now has a November 22 release date on the 3DS. Not only that, but the game will be played a bit differently than before. You will be able to play the dungeons in any order you want. In order to be fully prepared for each dungeon, there will be a shop where you can buy important items normally found in other dungeons.

Well, that's about the most important news from the presentation that I have. Like I said, I'm not the biggest Nintendo fan, but I still have huge respect for them, since they were a huge part of my childhood. I'm actually very interested in buying the 3DS games I've mentioned above, and I'll probably download the Phoenix Wright demo within the next few days.

October 2013 New Game Releases

It's October first and we're part of the way through fall, which we all know and love as new video game season. Here is a roundup of all the game releases that are due out this October. Personally, I'm excited about Beyond: Two Souls, Batman Arkham Origins, Battlefield 4, and Assassin's Creed IV.. I'm on the fence about Pokemon X/Y. Which games are you excited about this month?

10/1
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Milennium Girl (3DS)
NBA 2K14 (PS3, XB360)

10/8
Beyond: Two Souls (PS3)
Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness (PS3)
F1 2013 (PC, PS3, XB360)
Just Dance 2014 (Wii, WiiU, XB360, PS3)

10/12
Pokemon X and Y (3DS)

10/13
Skylanders: Swap Force (Wii, WiiU, XB360, PS3)

10/15
Valhalla Knights 3 (PSVita)

10/16
Zumba Fitness: World Party (Wii, WiiU)

10/18
Lego Marvel Super Heroes (PC, WiiU, XB360, PS3, DS, Wii)

10/22
Sonic Lost World (WiiU, 3DS)
SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge (WiiU, 3DS, XB360, PS3, DS, PC)

10/24
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS)

10/25
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (3DS, PSVita)
Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3, XB360, PC, WiiU)
Wii Party U (WiiU)

10/29
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3, XB360, WiiU)
Battlefield 4 (PC, XB360, PS3)
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (PC, PS3, XB360, WiiU, 3DS)
WWE 2K14 (PS3, XB360)

10/31
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (PSN, XBLA)

Steam in your Living Room!

For many years now, there have been rumors that Valve was going to get into the console business. This week, Valve has made 3 announcements making these rumors a reality. They have announced a home console called the Steam Machine, a custom Linux-based operating system called Steam OS, and a brand new controller unlike anything else on the market.

The first announcement was for the Steam OS. This is a Linux based operating system that can be used on a Steam Machine that will allow you to stream games from your Steam library onto your TV. This operating system is going to be open and can be altered. There will be streaming movie, tv and music services built in - probably Netflix and Hulu, but no official word yet. Family sharing, which I've explained in this post, will also be built into the OS. You'll be able to save games to the Steam cloud, and you'll also be able to customize how you view your Steam library. Each gamer in your household will be able to have their own library view, much like how you change the viewer on Netflix. 

The Steam Machine itself is actually a line of consoles that will have different specifications and will be made by different manufacturers. The Steam Machine is currently in development with existing prototypes. They will be released in 2014 and 300 Steam Machines will be sent out to Steam members for beta testing soon.

The final announcement was a bit of a surprise to some. Steam made a separate announcement about the controller that will come with the Steam Machine. It's really unlike anything I've personally seen. This controller has two trackpads instead of analog sticks and a touch screen in the middle. The controller will be fully reprogrammable based on the game you're playing. The best part is you can use this controller with any game in the Steam library, even the ones that don't currently support a controller. This fully replaces a mouse and keyboard. Also the programming for the controller is Open Source, to make it easier for developers to program their own controls into their games. Steam has been pushing for its members to play more games in the living room, so this controller makes things much easier so you don't have to keep a keyboard and mouse on your coffee table all the time (like I do!).

If you are a member on Steam, you can earn the Steam Hardware Enthusiast badge as a way to sign up for the hardware beta. The requirements are as follows:

•  Join the Steam Universe community group
• Agree to the Steam Hardware Beta Terms and Conditions
• Make 10 Steam Friends (This explains why so many people have been asking for my Steam ID this week!)
• Create a public Steam Community profile
• Play a game using a gamepad in Big Picture mode

Only 300 people will be chosen and the current count of people who have earned the badge is 188,999. The deadline to earn the badge is October 25. If anyone needs more friends, you can add me. My Steam ID is r2d2cupcake. 

Upgrade Old Gen Games to Next Gen for $10!

Fall has always been the season for the biggest and best video game releases. This year, we get huge new games as well as a new generation of consoles. So what happens when a new game comes out before the new console you plan on buying?

Several video game retailers are striking a deal where you can buy your new games on XB360 or PS3, and when the new consoles are released, you only have to pay $10 to get the game for XboxOne and PS4. Participating retailers are GameStop, Best Buy, Microsoft, and Amazon.

The current games available for the $10 upgrade are as follows:

Battlefield 4
Assassin's Creed IV
Watch Dogs
Call of Duty: Ghosts (DLC carries over too!)
Need for Speed Rivals
A bunch of sports games no one cares about

This $10 offer is different at different retailers, seeing as how you are required you to trade in your last generation game disc. Also, the deals aren't always available for both of the new consoles. Another downside is you can't transfer the save data from the old system to the new, so for a story based game like Assassin's Creed IV, you would have to start all over when you get your next gen game.

I'm still undecided about which next generation console I'm buying at launch, but I would rather wait to buy these games with the new console instead of playing it on the old.

ICO Free for Playstation Plus Members!

It looks like I bought my Playstation 3 at just the right time, because ICO is currently free on the Playstation Network if you are a Playstation Plus member. ICO is considered a masterpiece of the Playstation 2 and an HD version of it packaged with Shadows of the Colossus was released awhile back. I had ICO on my top games I want to play for PS3 list on this post here.

If you have the PSP of Playstation Vita, you can download Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for free, in spirit of the recent release of Grand Theft Auto V.

Other new deals for Playstation Plus members include Kane and Lynch: Dead Men for $5.99, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days for $7.99, and Sleeping Dogs for $9.99, among others.

Blizzard Shutting Down Diablo III's Auction House

Blizzard has recently announced their intentions of closing down Diablo III's Auction House on March 18, 2014. The Auction House was a unique feature of the game, allowing players to sell the best loot of the game for real money. Blizzard says the decision to close down the Auction House is in preparation for the next Diablo III expansion, Reaper of Souls.

Along with Reaper of Souls will be a new looting system called Loot 2.0. This new system features a new game mode called Loot Run which guarantees special item drops at the end. Also, dropped items will be more relevant to your character's class. There will be less item drops, but when items do drop they will be better quality. Legendary items will drop more frequently and the drops will start at lower levels. Also, there will be the introduction of bind on account and bind on equip items.

Because of these new upgrades to the looting system, the Auction House will be pretty much irrelevant. The point of the Diablo series is to kill as many monsters as you can and pick up cool loot, the auction house defeats the purpose of gameplay since you can use your own money to purchase the best items in the game.

You can view the original blog post from Blizzard's official Diablo III blog here.

Grand Theft Auto V Review, Part 1

First Impressions

There's really nothing quite like standing in line before midnight to buy one of the year's most anticipated new games. I was going to skip out on Grand Theft Auto V until a GameStop manager texted me saying there weren't many people in line and there were free tacos. I decided what the hell not, I'll buy it.

I'm actually glad I did. As dorky as it sounds, I really like being part of the day one fuss of a brand new AAA game release. I had my reservations though, because I'm just really not a Grand Theft Auto fan. I like my random acts of violence games to be more tongue-in-cheek like the Saints Row franchise. Grand Theft Auto V delivers a hilarious parody of everyday life that I missed out on in Grand Theft Auto IV.  I honestly think I could drive around Los Santos for an hour just cracking up over radio ads.

The Story

You can play as three different low-life bad guys. The most interesting thing about this is that you can switch between the three characters at any time. Also, their stories interweave each other. They become friends and get involved in each other's lives. You can play almost any mission as any of the three guys, but some missions are specific to each character. Also, each character has a special power that can be activated by pushing in left and right sticks.

My Opinion So Far

Grand Theft Auto V has exceeded my expectations so far. I didn't really plan on buying this game seeing as how I'm not really a fan of this franchise. I don't consider my review of this game to be traditional or professional. This is just a blog post. So with that in mind, I would score this game
a solid 9. If you know me at all, I'm your typical Bioware/Bethesda fangirl, so giving this game a 9 is a really huge deal for me. I could easily see Grand Theft Auto V as being in my top five
games for the year.

Steam Announces Family Sharing Plan

In a big F-you to Microsoft, Steam has recently announced the new feature added to it's digital gaming service - the family sharing plan. You can "share" games on the cloud to 10 designated friends. They can play the games whenever you want, as long as you aren't already playing them. The downside, of course, is that you will not be able to share DLC, which belongs to the original owner of the game.

However, the good outweighs the bad. Sharing your games with friends is a great way to try out games you are unsure about before you spend money on them. Also, it's a good way for indie games to get good exposure and to boost sales.

Microsoft seems to be the originator of the idea. When the XBox One was announced last May, the only decent feature of the console was the family sharing plan. Because of wide public dissent of the majority of XBox One features, however, the good and the bad features were nixed from the console. Perhaps this sparked Valve's interest so the plan could be implemented on Steam.

The sharing plan is currently in closed beta, but will be available to all Steam members soon.

Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition

So, this past fall was the first fall in many years that I have not worked for a video game store. Because of that, I missed out on a lot of big releases that I would have normally preordered and bought/worked at the midnight release.

Xbox Live Rewards Are Back And Easier To Understand!

I got an email from Microsoft late last night/early this morning, letting me know that they had relaunched the Xbox Live Rewards system. I thought they suspended the system until the Xbox One would be released (November 22), but I was wrong. Basically, you earn credits that can be converted into either cash, rebates, or discounts.

My avatar

You can earn credits by completing several different "missions." If you buy 5 map packs between now and October 31, you get 5,000 credits. Make five or more purchases on movies and tv shows, that's 3,000 credits. A real shocker to me was if you download a brand new app that you have never downloaded before and stay logged into that app for 25 hours or more, you get 1,000 credits. This would be easy if you have never downloaded the Netflix app on your gamertag.

You also get points for filling out a monthly survey, renewing your gold account, and referring friends to subscribe to gold. Another interesting way to earn credits is by playing 10 hours of a new release within the first 30 days it's been out. This should be an easy way to earn credits for all the people who recently purchased Diablo 3 this week.

The new website for the rewards program is much easier to understand and makes it easier to track your progress towards credits. 5,000 credits equals $5 USD. If you've racked up at least 5,000 credits, Microsoft will credit you with the dollar amount to your Xbox Live account. You will get two deposits per month, on the 15th and 30th. You can also request early deposits once you reach your first 1,000 points which will be deposited in your account at the first available scheduled deposit date. You know, you really have to get that dollar.

The more I research the rewards program, the more I want to use my Xbox360. It's become a sad Netflix and Hulu machine that I occasionally play Beautiful Katamari on when I'm too lazy to hook up the PS2 for some proper Katamari.

Spend A Year On My Wishlist, Become My New Obsession...Towns!

 

I've ended up with a really awesome game on this weekend's Steam sale called Towns. The game was originally part of Steam's Project Greenlight and was developed by Xavi Canal and Ben Palgi. It was originally released about a year ago and has been on my wishlist for just as long. You take the sterotypical concept of an RPG and you flip it and reverse it.

Dear Diary, I want more time to play games...

I'm currently in my last few hours of my eight day vacation from work, and I'm looking back to see if I spent those days wisely, or if I just stared at the ceiling thinking, "What should I do?" I know I spent a lot of time on Minecraft this week, basically just hording minerals and then using creative mode anyway.

Does Anyone Really Need a Nintendo 2DS? Probably not!

Nintendo recently announced the imminent arrival of the NINTENDO 2DS for US $130. Basically all this is, is a permanently open 3DS without the 3D. That's right, if you are too lazy to close your 3DS lid and too stupid to operate the 3D slider, this is the handheld for you!

Microsoft Points Are So Over!

Today (yesterday? My nights and days are actually mixed up) Microsoft put an end to the point system and are going to be using local currency for XBL purchases from now on. This is pretty exciting, seeing as how confusing the whole point to money conversion system is.

Elder Scrolls Online Subscription

I've been excited about Elder Scrolls Online for a very long time, so much so that I almost even preordered it at Gamestop. For me, that's a huge deal. I don't preorder. Ever. So why does this recent news that Bethesda is going to charge a $15 a month subscription fee got me down?

Skyrim Ramblings

I really haven't gotten to game much this weekend. I did a couple hours of Skyrim last night, a couple hours of Minecraft the day before that, but that's been about it for this weekend.

Deadpool, Elysium, and Everquest Next!

Today is a very busy day for me because it's my last night off for the week and I've got a lot of gaming and video-watching to catch up on. Plus, I'm going to see Elysium later tonight, so expect a decent review here in the next couple of days.

I also just got the Deadpool game on PC, so I'll review that too. Anyone who knows me knows that I am Deadpool's biggest fan. I've come close to reading every comic book he's in, so I know what to expect. He's not for everyone and I know what I'm getting myself into. I'll also review Deadpool Kills Deadpool along with it.

I'm also very interested in Everquest Next. From what I've read of it, they're really trying to change the whole genre of MMOs. I never played EQ, but I did play WOW forever, so I'll know what I'm doing...I think. So far all I know is you start out playing events. In your starting area you're in a camp and you're close by a Goblin King. He knows you're they're and he can react to you in several random ways. He might go on the offensive and attack, or you might have to attack him. I'll have to do some more research on this, but I'm very intrigued. I'll come up with a new story on it soon enough.

This is day 2 with my new MSI laptop. Here are some cool things about it: It has a built in SteelSeries keyboard (which is backlit). I have a button that turns on the fan for when it gets hot. I have 2 graphics cards - the NVIDIA GTX 765 turns on when I have a game running and the built in Intel card runs when I'm just doing stuff online. There will be more to come on that.

Last but not least, I just got into Minecraft yesterday, so that is on my to-do list for tonight. I'm planning on clearing out a large space to build a castle. My boyfriend said I'd never catch on to Minecraft because "I'm not creative." But I said, "Bitch, please." and I'm about to prove him wrong.

Now, I can cross off "write a blog post" off my to-do list and "play an hour of Starcraft 2" since I did that earlier.

Keep watching for more posts and be sure to say Hi in the comments so I'll know someone is reading this!

Two Things I'm Excited About...Dragon Age: Inquisition

Today has been a really big day for me. I just got my MSI laptop in the mail today. It is awesome. I will do a review on that later after I use it for a couple days.

Another big thing I am excited about is all the news about Dragon Age Inquisition. The BioWare game will be on the cover of this month's Game Informer. I've heard a lot of new things about the game this week.

Some of the awesome new features on this game go back to what we all loved in Dragon Age Origins. You get to pick your race from human, dwarf, and elf. There's a possible fourth race in the works and it might be Quanari! The way you are treated in the game is based off the race you choose.

Also, DA3 will be optimized for keyboard and mouse if you buy it on PC. This goes back to Dragon Age Origins. If you played both the PC and console versions, they felt like two different games. Dragon Age Origins had more of a tactical approach on PC than the console. The game will also be on the Frostbite 3 engine, and will be all around graphically superior on the PC than on console.

One last new feature will be mounts. Mounts! There isn't too much information on it now, but I'm sure it will be in this month's Game Informer. Be sure to check out the video below where GI talks to the developers at BioWare, featuring gameplay!

My Video Game History

My earliest memory of video games is perhaps one of my earliest memories. Back in 1989, my family bought the first Nintendo Entertainment System. This is actually very shocking because if you know my parents, you know they hate any form of technology and they actually enjoy staying 20 years behind. The Nintendo was mostly for my brother, who was 15 at the time and I was around 5 years old. I remember wanting to play Mario so bad but my brother would never let me. He would make me do all his chores and pretty much clean the whole entire house before he would “maybe” let me play. Even then after 5 hours of work, he would only let me play Mario until I died, which for someone starting out, would be death within seconds.

Me during my last few days at Gamestop

Three years later when my brother went to college, the NES was all mine. Of course my technology-hating parents flat out refused to buy me a SNES, but they did buy me the first Gameboy. I was free to play all the Mario games, as well as Castlevania, Contra, and Kirby.
Unfortunately for me, my parents only believed you needed one game, so I was very spoiled with both Kirby’s Dreamland and MarioLand 2 for Gameboy. They refused to buy me any other game and I got tired of the Gameboy very quick.

Let’s flash forward to age 15. My family finally got dial up internet, I transferred to a new High School, and I’m bored as hell. At my new school, I fell into the nerdy crowd (by choice) and was frequently feeling left out because I didn’t have any games to play. My parents still wouldn’t buy me a gaming console because “I’m too old.” However, I talked them into a brand new computer, so I ended up with a maxed out Dell. I quickly began to love the Age of Empires series and The Sims (the biggest waste of time ever!)

Towards the end of high school, all my nerdy friends ended up as cashiers at EB, and one of them convinced my mom to buy me a Gameboy Advance. Of course, I was allowed two games only, which at that age was fair because I was old enough to have a job by then. My two games were Super Mario Advance, which is Super Mario 2, and Warioland 2. When I went to college a couple months later, I left the GBA at home and didn’t really game for a long time, other then designing an occasional Sims house.

Four years later during the last semester of college, I was hanging out with a bunch of guys one night and one of them said, “I have to check my auctions.” To make an extremely long story short, I was shown how to play World of Warcraft and I made the guys drive me straight to Walmart so I could buy a copy of vanilla WoW (I was so hooked). I started playing during Children’s Week 2006, and I still play off and on today.

During my early WoW career, I also picked up a PS2 once they went on sale and played Resident Evil 4, Katamari Damacy (my favorite game of all time to this day) and the God of War series.
In 2009, I found myself jobless and ended up taking a management position at Gamestop. I figured I could get by on my WoW gaming knowledge and by owning a PS2. I couldn’t, so I bought an XBox360. My first games were Fable 2, Left 4 Dead, and Halo 3. I also went back and played Halo:CE. I worked at Gamestop for over 3 years, and as a result of being allowed to check out games, I’ve pretty much played everything, at least for an hour. As my time went on at Gamestop, I got poorer and poorer and with school I couldn’t buy or check out as many games as I liked. I got very behind on “gaming knowledge” due to school, but I did graduate in 2012 and left Gamestop that summer.

Now in 2013, I have a “real job” and can pretty much afford whatever games I want (within reason). I’ve migrated from the XBox360 to a gaming PC and I use Steam mostly to get all my games. I’ve cancelled my WoW subscription, but I also play other Blizzard games like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. I tend to gravitate towards RPGs, maybe because I like to create my own characters or maybe the false sense of achievement I get whenever I “level up.”

With the close of the Steam Summer Sale, and being out hundreds of dollars, it makes me think of why I play games in the first place. Now I appreciate being able to have any game I want whenever I want and I don’t have to work for 5 hours for 1 minute of play.