Tag Archives: Nintendo

Announcements Galore

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These past two weeks have been magical. Truely and wonderfully magical. Do you want to know why? I think my inner child cried of joy after some awesome announcements that have popped up in the big bad world of gaming.
Let’s start with the most important one….

The Nintendo Classic Mini NES.
The moment I heard this console was coming out I nearly peed myself with excitement. I’ve never had a NES growing up, I was in the Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis) camp. My uncle did have an old NES but we went there only one or two times a year and I had to share the thing with atleast 5 cousins so actually playing never really happened. Imagine my surprise and excitement that Nintendo announced a special Mini NES containing 30 games out of the blue. Ofcourse I immediatly needed to have this and as we speak it’s on pre-order at my favourite gaming store. For €60 only this little console is very very cheap. Due to it also being tiny I can imagine myself dragging it along to friends to play with. I just need to get my hands on that separate second controller, which for some reason wasn’t in the system yet. I am super happy that I’ll get to experience a lot of games that I’ve only seen glimpses of and finally will be able to mesh with the “oldschool” Nintendo gaming crowd. It’s also nice to see how games have evolved from the NES to the SNES since I’ve been buying some of those on my 3DS on release (DKC 3, Megaman 7/X). Don’t even get me started on the fact that I seriously love small, simple controllers and that I will be able to use this new NES controller with my WiiU aswell. If only I would’ve known earlier, I wouldn’t have bought my WiiU Pro controller. But alas.
I really hope Nintendo doesn’t screw this up like SEGA has with some re-releases of the Mega Drive including 80 games. I’ve read horrible reviews on that…

Speaking of SEGA. They have made a few announcements of their own! Seeing as it’s Sonic’s 25th anniversary they have been working hard on some new releases in the franchise which includes a trip back to the famous 2D platformer where it all started.

Sonic Mania! Just from seeing the trailer I feel like I’m 6 years old again and starting up my Mega Drive for the first time. My mum and dad had a go at playing themselves aswell and we all thought the system was amazing and gorgeous for it’s time. For SEGA to release a major throwback like this just warms my heart and I can’t wait to get the game on either my PC or PS4. Even when rewatching the Youtube announcement while writing this post the trailer gives me a real dose of nostalgia and memories of good times.
But wait… There is more!

Hello Project Sonic 2017. Although the trailer doesn’t give away much it does hint to being able to play with other people. I don’t know if this is online or not or if this some kind of MMO or not but man… Doesn’t this look awesome? Also mark the fact that at the end of the trailer it says it will be released on the Nintendo NX aswell. Which means this is the second big gaming franchise, after the Legend of Zelda, who has a game confirmed for the NX. I know the game won’t come out untill Christmas next year but atleast I will have something to majorly look forward to.
Sonic for me is just flashbacks to my childhood when it was very popular on TV, next to being an immense hit as a game and basically the answer to Super Mario at the time. Although SEGA may have left the competition when it comes to consoles, they have one of the best franchises to their name. And although not all Sonic games have been amazing it’s nice to see them still doing so well after all these years.

All in all an amazing time to be a gamer. The only thing that could top this is Naughty Dog announcing they’re doing a new Crash Bandicoot game for the PS4. If or when that happens I think I’ll be one of the happiest gamers on the planet.

The Backlog Part 1: Consoles and Handhelds

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game coll

Although I can’t really boast the size of the massive game collection shown in this picture, I have quite an impressive backlog of games of my own. Owning two consoles, a PC and a handheld I have accrued quite some games over the past years and I haven’t played much if at all of any of them. I mentioned it in my previous post that I’m notoriously bad with playing through my games, and I’m really not joking. I’ve actually gotten to the point that I’m now forbidding myself to buy any new game (unless I already have it in pre-order) untill I have finished atleast some others that I have decorating my shelves or my harddisk.
I’m really embarrassed by the awesome game collection I do own and that I can’t really tell anything about most games because I simply haven’t played through them at all. Ofcourse I also own some games that you never really “finish”, mostly being MOBA’s, MMO’S and TGC’s but you can boast about atleast achieving some stuff there by defeating X boss, attaining X rank or even levelling to max level. Especially in MMO’s I see max level as the real big achievement, seeing as I’ve started so many chars in so many different MMO’s and never leveled them past the level 20 or 30 point.

This year I made a gaming goal list, which mostly consists of goals for FFXIV, my main MMO. However I really want to start working through the catalog of games I have lying around, and just so you guys get a glimpse of what this means, I made a list of stuff that I own. Because this post would become a monster if I would list everything in one go, I’m keeping this first post to console and handheld stuff. Part two will be about PC games, MMO’s and other “neverending” games. I also want to take a look back at my older game collection and share with you games that I have owned since my childhood, many of which I have actually finished but keep around for nostalgia sake, so that will be part three.
Let’s start out with…

Playstation 4
My first “next gen” console, decorating my room since 2014. I have about 15 games on that, not really counting the free PS plus indie ones since most of them are garbage that I never download anyway. So let’s take a look shall we?

  • Knack. Actually finished this one (as in defeated the last boss) so not really counting that. I stilll have a ton of trophies to unlock though, hence it’s on the list.
  • Thief
  • Final Fantasy X/X2
  • Final Fantasy Type-0
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Tales of Zestiria
  • Disney Infinity + All Star Wars playsets + Inside Out playset. I consider the playsets the things to finish really so technically these all count as separate games.
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • The Division. Again I feel like I technically finished this. Reached max level, grinded out good gear. Just not much to do in the game right now. I’m only 4 or 5 trophies short of getting my first platinum. Something I do really want though.
  • Destiny. I have one max level character there (my Warlock) and I have actually played a lot of endgame, so technically “finished”.
  • Driveclub
  • Fifa 16

All in all my Playstation catalog isn’t that horrible. I do consider some games “fiinished” but monsters like the Final Fantasy and Tales games I haven’t really set foot in much. I am slowly working my way through Ratchet and Clank though so that’s a thing. The only game I really regret buying on this list is FIFA 16 since I haven’t even played 10 minutes of it..

Next up: Nintendo! I own both a 3DS and a WiiU now, with the WiiU being very very new. Even so I acquired a lot of games. Splitting them up for the list!

WiiU

  • Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
  • Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
  • New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker HD
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • Yoshi’s Woolly World.

Of the above mentioned games I really only played a bit of Yoshi and Windwaker. As said, the console is brand new so not having played much isn’t that horrible… Right?

3DS

  • Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I did play some, but never really got into the game. One of those games you don’t really finish either.
  • Big Hero 6: Battle of the Bay. Only just got this one on a discount. Haven’t played it.
  • Bravely Default
  • Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. First World played through.
  • Kingdom Hearts 3D
  • New Super Mario Bros. 2. First World played through.
  • Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. Played for about 12 hours I’m past the 6th gym and recently picked it up again.
  • Pokemon X
  • Super Monkey Ball
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Completed the first 3 day challenge, almost done with the second.
  • Pokémon Blue. Technically finished this when I was 10? I had 148 Pokémon and had beaten the elite four like… a lot.
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. See Big Hero 6.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Picross. This one is 100% finished!
  • Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. This came with my new 3DS and I did actually play it a lot.
  • Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion. First World and Second World played through.
  • Earthworm Jim
  • 3D classics: Kirby’s Adventure
  • Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (Virtual console)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Virtual console)

So yeah. I have a decent Nintendo backlog, but a lot of these games I have actually played more than I thought. I sunk quite some hours into Pokémon. Pokémon X I have restarted a few times, but with gaining a lot of legendary Pokémon I’m determined to see it through. For the rest I have made decent starts in both Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. In both games I have atleast beaten the boss of the first world and in Donkey Kong I’m halfway through the Second World. Off all the games in my backlog I have been actively playing my handheld ones the most, thus the most progress in them.

All in all this part of the list alone contains 38 games, most of which I have barely touched. I really do want to start going through this huge backlog though. It’s so much money invested and so little time gotten out of it. The easiest ones for me will probably the 3DS games since I actually play them a lot on the train. For a game like Mario I manage to do 1-2 levels every train journey, so that’s 2-4 levels per workday. As far as the RPG games go, I defeat a bunch of trainers in Pokémon and make small steps towards my end goal. These bite sized chunks are really nice for me and it also helps with finishing games. I also feel like it’s easier for me to pick up my handheld and just lie down on bed and game a little. I often don’t feel like starting up my consoles or PC to play anything, especially when I’m tired.

So yeah. This was the first of a three part post about my “big” game collection. It’s nice to see it all listed, gives me a nice overview but also shows that I have quite the spending habit. I really wish I could say that I have played through a lot of these games, but the reality is I just really haven’t. And that’s such a shame. I do hope that I can clear out this backlog a bit throughout 2016. If I plan my gametime right, I should be able to do it.

Stay tuned for part two: PC (Steam) Games and MMO’s coming later this week!

My Nintendo and Miitomo

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About two or three weeks ago Nintendo launched their long awaited new rewards program: My Nintendo. Meant to replace Club Nintendo, they did a complete overhaul. Where in Club Nintendo you would get codes with purchases of games and consoles, that you could turn in for points and ultimately goodies the brain behind Nintendo decided to go a new route for their rewards program, calling it “My Nintendo”.
Going about it a little differently now Nintendo has installed two seperate currencies for their rewards program: Platinum and Gold coins. Platinum coins are mostly earned with attaching your social media accounts to My Nintendo, logging in the Nintendo E-shop and Miiverse every week and using the newly released Miitomo app (more on that one later).
Gold coins are earned when buying games in the Nintendo E-shop. I don’t think you can get gold coins when buying physical copies of their games, which is kind of a shame. I guess this is Nintendo’s way of pushing people to buy their stuff digitally.


Now what do those coins actually buy?
Platinum and gold coins can be exchanged for various things. For the gold coins it’s mostly discounts on games on the Nintendo E-shop for the WiiU and the 3DS.
Platinum coins are a little bit more diverse. So far you can get discounts on games, just like with the golden coins, but you can also get 3DS themes, ingame stuff for Miitomo and an entire free game: The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess: Picross. This game is exclusive to My Nintendo and costs 1000 platinum points, which you should be able to get in about a day. I opted to buy the game, and one of the 3DS themes, and it cost me 1200 platinum coins in total. I’m more or less totally addicted to this picross game and am well on my way to finishing it completely. But for the 1000 points I decided to spend on the game I could have gotten Mario Kart 7 and ToL: A Link to the Past with 20% discount on the Nintendo E-shop, lowering the prices of those games to respectively €36 and €16. Not a bad deal at all and something I am saving up for right now. Plus if I buy those games I will get gold coins… Which will give me discount on other games again. It’s a nice little circle that Nintendo has created and a better rewards program for someone who likes games rather than silly accessories (feel free to disagree with me). The only thing I dislike is that there is no rewards for buying physical games, and I personally rather have a physical copy than a digital copy so that’s kind of sucky.

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An App to tie it all together
Right after My Nintendo launched Nintendo’s first app ever launched aswell: Miitomo. It’s an interesting app and best described as Nintendo’s take on social media. It boils down to creating a Mii to resemble you, adding friends and then getting to know eachother better by answering questions and reading other people’s answers. Together with a secondary game of being able to put your Mii in the most interesting outfits, and being rewarded for changing clothes constantly, it’s an app to keep you quite busy. For me it’s been very nice to get to know my Twitter friends better and I have tried to get some of my IRL friends to use the app aswell, just for the entertainment value.
Add up that you can earn atleast 15 platinum coins per day by just using Miitomo right it’s also making me use the app a lot so I can earn rewards for my gaming systems.

A very smart marketing move by Nintendo and a very addicting app for people with a lot of friends I’m really happy to see them making progress and branching out with their company.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Picross game to finish.