Crossbuy Thoughts

The Playstation 3, Vita, and Playstation 4 have had something for awhile now called Crossbuy. Basically, if you buy a digital game thats on one system, say PS3, and its also on, say, the Vita, then you can get digital copies of both games for ONE PRICE.

The Wii U/3DS has had nothing like that at all. Games like Citizens of Earth and Shovel Knight that appeared on both systems had to be bought twice if you wanted them on both systems.

Thats starting to change though. Awhile back in Europe, a game called Squid Odyssey became the first Wii U/3DS Crossbuy title. North America was left out of that though. But now Nintendo themselves are going to have Mario VS. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars as a Crossbuy title and developer Curve Studios will be the first Third Party in America to have Crossbuy with their game OiiOii.

I really love the concept of Crossbuy. There are titles on the Wii U/3DS like Shovel Knight and even Steamworld Dig that I'd love to have on both my Wii U and 3DS  but I just can't afford to buy two separate copies. But to pay ONE PRICE and get two copies? Thats pretty awesome. I'm hoping that more games, both from Nintendo & Indies, will be using Crossbuy a lot.

What do you guys think? Do you like Crossbuy? Are there games you wish had Crossbuy right now? Please let me know in the comments.

8-Bit Dragons Are the Best Dragons

I haven't always liked rpgs. In fact, the first time I played a Final Fantasy (on NES), I didn't like it at all. Earthbound was the first rpg I loved. Then Final Fantasy 7 really got me into loving rpgs a lot. Later I went back and played classics like the early Final Fantasy games and even the first Dragon Warrior.

So now whenever a cool looking new rpg comes out with a retro style, I get really excited. I love games with 8-bit graphics and the old style rpg gameplay. And a new one was just announced the other day!

Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria is coming to Wii U AND 3DS! This game was PS3, Vita, and ioS. I remember seeing this awhile back and being jealous that Sony players were getting it. It just looked so very good. Retro graphics and classic turn-based rpg adventuring! Man. I'm excited. Much thanks to Choice Provisions for bringing the game to Nintendo systems!

Take a look at these wonderful screenshots (from the official website):









For more info on the game, check out the official website here: http://totallychoice.com/games/dragon-fantasy-volumes-westeria

IronFall Demo Thoughts

Today, IronFall for the 3DS came out. I wrote about the game before here. The game could be downloaded free so that players could try out the demo and then buy the rest of the game if they liked it. I tried out the game and here are my impressions:
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IronFall has really good graphics. Its not the best I've seen on the 3DS but it does look good. I like the 3D too, even though I kept losing the sweet spot (area where you see the 3D) while playing the game. I'm playing the game on a regular 3DS. I'm sure the 3D looks even better on a New 3DS.

Gameplay wise, IronFall is pretty rough. The character moves rather slowly/sluggishly. The worse then that, though, is the game's stylus camera control. On the New 3DS, you can use the little nub to turn the camera. You can use the circle pad pro on the regular 3DS if you have it; I don't. So I had to use the stylus. The stylus camera control doesn't work well. It responds slowly and this can get you killed by the enemies. Shooting seems to work alright at least. Though you have to use the touch screen for reloading your weapon and hiding behind things and that isn't too convenient.

Basically IronFall is pretty good presentation wise but I can't say I was impressed by the gameplay. Although, I suspect, this game will play a lot better on the New 3DS. IronFall just seems like it was made for that new system. Perhaps it shouldn't have been released for the regular 3DS too.

Its a shame. I was really looking forward to IronFall but the game just doesn't live up to my hopes. I won't be buying the full game.

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I'll be back tomorrow with an Indie Game Preview.

We Built This City

Creation is the name of the game. Mario Maker, Cube Creator, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong Tipping Stars, and more games that let you build things for Wii U and 3DS. I can't get enough!

Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails, from Big John Games (the game people who are making Cube Creator 3D), is another creation game thats coming to 3DS.

In Lionel City, you'll help a man named Van rebuild a train yard (and his city). There are stories and missions to take on. Even more exciting is the Sandbox mode where you can create a whole town and then run a train through it. You'll be able to share your town via QR code with other people & get to look at other peoples towns via QR codes.

Graphics wise, Lionel City is more realistic than Cube Creator. It looks good so far.

Take a look at this site for exclusive art & screenshots from the game: http://nintendoeverything.com/big-john-games-shares-first-lionel-city-builder-3d-screenshots-and-details/

Y2K New Footage Thoughts

I've written about Y2K before. Last week a new trailer was brought out for the game. You can see that trailer above. Here are my impressions of the trailer:
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WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WATCH?!

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Yep. Thats my impressions.

Wait. No. I have more to say.

Y2K's new footage was pretty crazy. But there is a lot to love in it.

First of all, the game's graphics are great. I love its sort of cartoony, sort of realistic type of graphics. The city looks great. The characters look really good.

The game has a turn-based battle system and an overworld map! Its looks like one part Earthbound and one part....I have no freaking idea what else it looks like. Y2K is a really unique looking game.

I'm even more excited to play this game now.

That said, there is one thing I didn't like about the trailer and that was the music in the trailer. I asked the developer if that music would be in the game and he said yes. Hmmm. Though he did say that there was all kinds of music in the game and I was sure to find something I'd like. Well, we'll see about that. My taste of music is rock'n'roll and as far as games, more classical, than the poppy music that developers tend to be force on us with rpgs...

Still, the game looks awesome. And WEIRD. I like weird. Well, not TOO weird. But some weird is good.

Anyway, this is trailer #1. Hopefully it won't be too long till we see a trailer #2.

I'll be back tomorrow with another Indie game preview!

Puzzle Monkeys (Wii U) Review

Recently, #GamesMatter was giving away copies of a Wii U puzzle game called Puzzle Monkeys. I was able to get a copy. Here is my review of the game:
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The recipe for Puzzle Monkeys? One part Tetris, one part monkeys, and add in a dash of exploding blocks.

Puzzle Monkeys is not the most original Wii U eshop puzzle game but its not a bad game either.

The gameplay seems simply like a Tetris clone at first but thats just because the game does not teach you about its gameplay. You have to discover that the game uses the touch screen on your own. There are no tutorials for Puzzle Monkeys. The game tells you about its controls in the menus but you have to go look for that. I discovered the touch screen aspect of Puzzle Monkeys by playing the games second mode, which fully depends on the touch screen. Mode A uses the d-pad and the touch screen, Mode B is pure touch screen controls.

The game does have some good options for music and backgrounds. The graphics are simple but nice.

Most of all, Puzzle Monkeys is a challenging game. Even when you learn how to control the game, you'll still find yourself playing around with the blocks and trying to get things just right. The difficulty seems to ramp up real quick, even on easy mode.

I have to admit that I got bored of the game pretty quickly though. The challenge and the gameplay just didn't stay interesting to me. Maybe I've just played too many games like this in the past. The exploding blocks are a nice twist but the game needed something a bit more to make it special.

I also think this game should have been on the 3DS. Its a more pick up and play experience that seems better suited for Nintendo's portable.

As I said earlier, this is not a bad game. Its not a great either. The gameplay and graphics are fine but the game just doesn't have an addictive quality to it. Its a bit bland in the end.

My Score: 6/10

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I received my copy of Puzzle Monkeys from #GamesMatter and the developer @LogGameLtd.

The Return of Survival Horror

Resident Evil has become too much of an action game. Silent Hill is going to be reinvented and who knows if that game will stay true to its roots.Neither series is interested in being on the Wii U. Where do Wii U fans turn for some Survival Horror (or any horror) gameplay? Indies of course. One cool survival horror game thats already been released is Lone Survivor Director's Cut. And now another survival horror game is in the works for the Wii U.

Bizerta: Silent Evil, by Edrox Interactive, is a survival horror game coming to the Wii U. The game will have the player stuck in a mansion and hunted by evil creepy things. The game will focus on one character. I think this is good idea since the recent Resident Evil games have put in too many characters and its made the story too confusing. I always loved how Silent Hill focused on a single character, alone in the dark. I hope Silent Evil has more of a Silent Hill feel than Resident Evil.

Still, there are some worries as far as Silent Evil is concerned. The concept and the name are not too original. The game looks good but definitely reminds me a lot of Resident Evil, Zombi U and even Bioshock.

I'm hoping that the game will find its own voice and also take advantage of the Wii U gamepad. I hope its a game that Survival horror fans will love. We don't get too many of these types of games. As I said before, these games are becoming rare on systems other than the Wii U too. I guess time will tell whether Silent Evil lives up to its potential.

For a look at screenshots of the game & an interview from the developers, take a look at this site: http://www.cubed3.com/news/23437/1/exclusive-interview-edrox-on-new-wii-u-survival-horror-bizerta-silent-evil.html

The Pen is NOT mightier than THE SWORD!

Sometimes, you just want to grab a sword and beat up all the bad guys with it.

In video games. YES...in games...thats exactly what I meant....

Strength of the Sword ULTIMATE, by developer Ivent Games, is an indie game that was JUST confirmed for Wii U recently. The game is on Kickstarter and the developer is still raising funds to make the game even cooler.

Strength of the Sword is a 3D action brawler. There's a story mode that has 4 worlds & 11 stages. There's survival mode if you fancy fighting the enemies AND the clock. Oh and hopefully the developer will get to add other modes (like Co-op!) that they want to add.

Have I mentioned how awesome this graphics are? Don't believe me?

Take a look:

For more information about the game, check out its Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1145990096/strength-of-the-sword-ultimate?ref=video

Retro Thoughts: Super Mario Bros. 3

RETRO THOUGHTS: SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
retro thoughts: a look back at a much loved game of the past & what I think of the game now
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I remember the first time I heard about Super Mario Bros. 3. I went to the theater to see a movie called The Wizard staring Fred Savage. The movie was about a kid taking his brother to California so that his brother could play in a video game tournament. I loved video games. The movie looked good. So we went to see it. I had no idea that a brand new video game was going to be announced near the end of the movie...

When the brother got to the end of the tournament and it was announced that they'd be playing a brand new Nintendo game, I had no idea what to expect. Super Mario Bros. 3 was revealed. I went nuts. I couldn't believe it. The game looked so great. The Wizard was definitely the best advertising for a game EVER. I just had to have Super Mario Bros. 3.

And when it came out, I got it. The game turned out to be really great.

Now, years later, I still think about Super Mario Bros. 3. It introduced racoon Mario. It also gave us a World Map for the first time, introduced us to the Koopalings, the frog suit, a few others suits, and it had the best graphics  (and gameplay) of the three NES Mario games.

Last year, I think it was last year, Nintendo Minute (Nintendo's show on youtube) had a feature where the two hosts asked which game was better: Super Mario World or Super Mario Bros. 3? Honestly, I could not answer this question (still can't). Super Mario World is the one of the few Mario games I've actually beaten. Because its an easier game. Super Mario Bros. 3 is NOT an easy game. Sure its not as hard as the first game but its definitely harder than Mario World. Also Mario World has better graphics sure, but Mario 3 introduced a lot of concepts that World expanded on. And wait....World has Yoshi. Hmm.

Anyway, I'm getting off track. No matter what Mario game you like better, it can't be denied that Super Mario Bros. 3 was instrumental in introducing concepts that the future games would expand on A LOT. Its also a fun game. To this day! Super Mario Bros. 3 is a heck of a game.

If you've never played it (WHAT?!), you can download via the 3DS or Wii U eshop. Or the Wii even if you haven't upgraded to the modern Nintendo systems (what are you waiting for?!).

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a MUST PLAY. Not just for Mario fans, not just for Nintendo fans, its a must play for anybody that likes platformers...heck its a must play for anybody that likes FUN GAMES. Man. I think I want to go play it now!

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Like this feature? Please let me know. Maybe I'll do some more features about classic games that I loved/love.

Thoughts on the Citizens of Earth Demos

I talked about Citizens of Earth, an rpg for Wii U and 3DS before. The game has been out for a little while but I haven't had the chance till now to try to it. A demo for the 3DS and Wii U was released today! I played both demos. Here are my impressions of the game on both systems:

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The first Citizens of Earth demo I played was the 3DS version. The game looks good on the system and used the two screens well. The top screen has all the action, while the bottom screen is menus and your map when you're walking around.

The game has a lot of voice acting and its quirky/funny. The story seems like it might be interesting but the demo is pretty short overall, so you don't get too much of taste of the game.

The battles remind me of Earthbound, not really showing action too much. The bottom screen has all the attack menus and tells you what each of your team is doing.

There are a few things to do in the demo and you can recruit a couple of people. Like I said before, though, the demo doesn't last too long. And once its over...the demo kicks you out of it. So you can't replay it again before you leave. Also, this uses a turn and there's only FIVE times that you can play this demo. I think thats really lame. Most non-Nintendo demos give you at least 30 times to play a demo. Five times? Ugh. The Wii U demo is the same way though. You only have five times to play it. And once the demo is over, it doesn't kick you out but it leaves you on a static screen and gives you no choice but to quit the demo. sigh

Are there any differences between the two demos other then this?

When I played the Wii U demo, I did notice a couple of differences. First of all, the Wii U demo FROZE on me right at the title screen (before you go into the demo). I had no choice but to leave the demo and it used up a TURN!!  The second thing I noticed about the Wii U demo was more impressive. The graphics on Citizens of Earth Wii U is a lot better and the menus look fancier.

The attack menu & the menu that tells you whats happening in battles are on the same screen as the enemy. Thats because the Wii U gamepad mirrors the TV. I like that because it offers off-tv play but also think its a shame that the gamepad wasn't just used for menus only when watching the TV.

As for everything else, the voice acting, story, and gameplay seem the same between the two versions. The load times seem the same between the two versions too. Unfortunately. The game does have bit of load time when you go into or exit buildings sometimes.

Oh and I did notice the frame rate skip a bit in the Wii U version. I didn't see that in the 3DS demo.

Overall, while the Wii U demo had better graphics, I enjoyed my time with the 3DS demo more. The Wii U demo seemed to have issues, while the 3DS demo played perfectly fine. Neither demo were especially stunning though.

Citizens of Earth seems like a neat game but I'm not convinced that its worth $14. Maybe if its on sale sometime I'll get it. I'm not sure. Its a fun game but its no Earthbound....

First Impressions of Pokemon Shuffle

Pokemon Shuffle, a puzzle game staring Pokemons, was released on the 3DS eshop today! The game was free to download and play.

Here are my first impressions of the game:
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I'm not a Pokemon fan. That said, I love puzzle games and Pokemon Shuffle was free on the eshop, so how could I NOT download the game?

First of all, it should be noted that the game does have an optional pay option to it. You start out with 5 hearts and you use a heart each time you play a level in the game. Once you're out of hearts, you can use a Jewel to buy more hearts (if you have one), wait until the timer by the hearts runs down and gives you a new heart or....you can go to the eshop and buy a Jewel (or two or three or...) so that you can buy some hearts.

You will randomly get a jewel once and awhile, so you don't have to go to the eshop to buy one with real money. If you have patience, you can just wait till your hearts recharge to play more of the game too.

Pokemon Shuffle is pretty addictive. The game seems simple but it has quite a few rules and I'm not even going to bother trying to explain them. I think I'd just get you confused (if that heart thing doesn't already have you confused). I will say that you don't always have to move the pokemon where the game tells you to move them. In fact, sometimes you're better off if you look around the board and decide to move them elsewhere.

In any case, I'm enjoying my time with the game so far. I used a jewel to buy more hearts and kept playing. I had another jewel but decided I would wait till my hearts regenerate. I can't play the game ALL DAY (though I was tempted). I have blogs to write!

Pokemon Shuffle seems like a good distraction for now. I'm not sure how many stages the games has. I do know that you can get special stages by connecting to the internet (once and awhile). I got a special stage today that'll be available for three weeks. Hmm. If they keep this going for awhile, I could stay addicted to this game longer than I ever thought I'd be addicted to a Pokemon game! Whoa.

Well, finally, I just want to say that if you're a puzzle fan or a pokemon fan or both, then you'll want to download the game and try it out. Its FREE. You don't have to pay anything to play this. I'm sure that some of you will want to though.

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I'll be back tomorrow. There's a demo for the rpg Citizens of Earth coming out on Wii U and 3DS so I might do a blog entry out that. We'll see!

Thoughts on Last Nights Nintendo Results Meeting

Last night, Nintendo had a Financial Results Meeting with their investors. There wasn't any really major news out of it, like there sometimes is, but there are a few interesting things to talk about.

First of all, its turns out America is crazy for amiibos. This doesn't really surprise me because I've seen how a lot of the people I follow on twitter go on and on and on and on and on and on about amiibos. I haven't caught the bug myself, thankfully. I did buy two amiibos, the Villager and Link, but thats it. I doubt I'll buy anymore. Why? It all comes down to money. If I had more, I would probably go crazy for them. Since I don't, I'm not.

Still, like I said, it doesn't surprise me that fans in the U.S. are going crazy about them. What does surprise me is that Amiibos are doing the best in America (and Canada too). In Japan, they are not selling that well. Which surprises me because Nintendo has always done better in Japan than it does in America. So why isn't Japan going crazy over amiibos? I have no idea. Also, amiibos are not doing too good in Europe or Australia. Its very strange that amiibos are doing the best North America/Canada.

Also out of the results meeting is a tidbit about Nintendo including NES and SNES trials in upcoming amiibo packaging. I think this is a very cool idea. Some people wondered why they didn't just include FULL games in the amiibo's packaging. Honestly that would be neat too but I think they'd have to raise the price of the amiibos if they did that. They would lose money on NES/SNES games if they only charged one price for both figure & game. Its not as if NES/SNES titles go for cheap on the Wii U or 3DS (nor should they be really cheap either imo). So I see why its only trials that Nintendo is including with the figures. I think its a great idea.

Nintendo also said they might be doing some limited edition amiibos too. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. I hear that some of the amiibos out there are already pretty hard to find. Limited Edition figures might be too hard to find and drive some people away from the hobby. Or cause riots. Mostly like it would cause riots.

Other important things to mention:

-The New 3DS is selling really well! Better than the 3DS did when it first came out.

-Majora's Mask is selling better than A Link Between Worlds (WHY?! I don't understand it. of course, I don't like the game so...) and Monster Hunter 4 is doing good too.

-Nintendo mentioned how well their games are scoring on metacritic. Some people love metacritic, while other people wish it would go away. Looks like Nintendo is in the former category.

-As I said earlier, there were no major revelations. Last year, we heard about DS games coming to Wii U (which has still never happened in the America). This year....er.....amiibos are going to get limited editions & free NES/SNES trials. Ok...I guess some people will be excited by this news. I think Nintendo is keeping a lot of secrets for E3 (and Directs) this year.

So maybe it wasn't the most exciting Nintendo Results meeting this year but, as always, these meetings are not for us. Hopefully the investors were happy this time.

As for myself, I can't wait till the next Nintendo Direct! I love the Directs.

Happy President's Day!

Today is President's Day in the United States, so I figured I'd take a break from talking about games and talk about one of my favorite president of all time----ABRAHAM LINCOLN!

Lincoln was born in the state of Illinois (hey I was born in Illinois too!)

Lincoln became a lawyer before he was president (please don't hold that against him)

When he became president, he didn't have much time to relax. The civil war happened during the time he was president....

Unfortunately, Lincoln was assassinated by this guy around the end of the war... (he was an actor. you can hold that against him)

....OR WAS LINCOLN ASSASSINATED?! Could it be that was just a cover for something else?! Something too fantastic for the general public to know about.....?! Thats one theory...

After some research recently, I found out that Lincoln was.....

THE LEADER OF CODE NAME S.T.E.A.M.

Although I'm not really sure how this fits into his timeline. Was it before his death?! After his death?! Perhaps this is just an alternate timeline and shouldn't even be included on this list?! Hmmm.

There's really only one way that we might find out.....play the Code Name S.T.E.A.M. game from Nintendo! (ok, so I lied about not talking about Video games today. please don't hit me)

Here's a new trailer that came out today:

I never knew Lincoln had a mech like that?! Man, I have some more research to do....

HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY!

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Btw, many of the images above were found via google. Also some parts of this post may not be historically right. I hope no one takes a offensive at this post. Lincoln actually is one of my favorite presidents. Can't wait to see him in Code Name S.T.E.A.M!

Will the Children (of Morta) know peace once again?

This one could be a long shot for Wii U but, man, I hope not!

Children of Morta, currently on Kickstarter, could come to the Wii U if it reaches $100,000. Right now its only at $85,556. It has till Thursday to reach the Wii U goal.

Why do I hope this game comes to Wii U?

Well, first of all, there's the graphics. Children of Morta has a VERY nice retro graphical style. It reminds me a bit of the old PC adventure games that I love.

Not only that, but the gameplay looks really fun. The game centers around a family who just wants to bring peace back to their land. It looks like you'll get to pick which of the family members you want to play as: there's a father with the sword, a kid with a bow, and other ones with different weapons too. Its a hack'n'slash rpg, so all the combat is in real time and there looks to be so pretty cool dungeons and enemies to find.

The game will have local co-op too. That looks pretty interesting. I like local co-op better when its all on the same screen and not split screen co-op! It could be fun to team up with my dad for some monster slaying.

Another cool thing about Morta: it will have a crossover with Starr Mazer. As you all know, I'm pretty excited about that game. The main character of Star Mazer will show up on the outskirts of Morta! I also hear that there will a Morta crossover in Starr Mazer. It would be fantastic to see both games on Wii U and to see those crossovers.

Finally, I should mention that I don't have a PS4 or Vita. So if this game doesn't come to Wii U, I'll never get to play it. And I definitely do want to play this one.

Overall, the story, the graphics, and the gameplay look excellent.

Here are some screenshots from the Kickstarter page:

Starr Mazer crossover!




Multiplayer!



EPIC Morta Poster (ok, not a screenshot, but still awesome)



And here's a trailer for the game:

Interested in finding out more about this game (and/or backing it?), then please check out the Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deadmage/children-of-morta/posts/1135940

Steampunk Thieves Unite!

Curve Digital, who brought the amazing Stealth Inc. 2 to Wii U, will be bringing another cool looking game to Wii U soon. The game is called The Swindle and its developed by Size Five Games.

The Swindle is a 2D platformer with an awesome twist.

The player will play as a THIEF on missions to STEAL THINGS. Thats right, you're basically playing the bad guy in this game. And it looks like so much fun! You'll have different tools at your disposal (bombs, hacking, etc) to break into a place, grab your objective (CASH) and get out of the place by any means necessary (break that window!). If the thief dies on the mission, you'll get a different thief to try the mission again. The game will have rpg elements too.

I think this could be another excellent game for the Wii U eshop. Curve Digital is just bringing so many fantastic games to the Wii U. I know I said it before, but THANK YOU GUYS!

Check out these screenshots from the official website:










And here's an even better look at the game! A trailer:

For more about the game, check out the official website here: http://www.sizefivegames.com/games/theswindle/

and you can visit the developer's twitter here: @danthat

Exploring An (Ex)Cave

I recently found out that, not only is Adventure Bar Story coming next week to the eshop, but there's another rpg coming to the 3DS eshop next week too!

Excave, from publisher @TeyonGames, is a hack'n'slash dungeon crawling rpg. There are going to be 50 dungeon levels to explore and five bosses. The game will have a lot of items, weapons, and loot to find and you'll be able to level up your characters.

Graphics wise, the game has an overhead view and an anime look to the characters. Item management is on the second screen!

The game will only be $4.99 and looks pretty good.

Here's a trailer of the game:

Check out the official website for Excave here: http://www.teyon.com/games/excave-3ds/

Next Thursday is a big rpg week for the 3DS. Excave, Adventure Bar Story, and a Citizen's of Earth demo too! I wonder if they'll be any more games to add to the 3DS's epic rpg week. I'll let you know if I hear about anything else.

Some Thoughts About Zombies and Vikings

Today, I watched the awesome people @zoinkgames play some of Zombie Vikings on Twitch. I previously did a preview of the game here:  http://morethoughtsfrome.blogspot.com/2014/12/never-turn-your-back-on-zombie-viking.html   but I wanted to talk about it a bit more today after seeing the game in action.

Zombie Vikings is just a really insanely fun looking game.

Each of the Zombie Vikings looks pretty unique. One was really muscular and big, another was super short, one guy had an Octopus arm! The weapons in the game are unique too. Swords, a mace, a CANDY CANE. And I love those descriptions of the weapons (one talked about the smell being so bad that it'd would drive the enemy away! ha)

The game has local and online multiplayer. The guys at Zoink! were playing multiplayer and it just looked frantic and crazy. My favorite part was when the zombie vikings were stacked on top of each other. This helps them reach places they normally couldn't.

It looks like there are a lot of treasure chests to find, enemies to beat up, and cool environments to transverse. The game also has the most BIZARRE bosses I've ever seen. One boss has cannons for eyes, a candy cane weapon, and body that I think was made of out gingerbread.

Zombie Vikings looks like so much fun. And I hear its coming out in July! This is going to be a great Wii U eshop game. I so can't wait to play this one.

Flipnote Studio 3D First Impressions

Yesterday, I finally got to download Flipnote Studio 3D (for 3DS) from Club Nintendo. This app lets you create simple animations in a flip book style. I thought the Flipnote on the Dsi was a neat app but I was never too good at creating anything on it. What do I think of the new app? Here are my impressions:

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Flipnote Studio 3D is a good app for 3DS. Its not too hard to create something simple on the app. It provides a few tools for people play around with you but its not gigantic amount of tools. This is a free application, so its not going to be the most extensive creation tool ever but what is in the program is impressive.

You can create a flip animation with actual pictures that you take or drawings that you make. The actual picture quality isn’t great and you have to have really good lighting to take a picture. Even with good lighting, the pictures seem a bit unrealistic. Still that lends a fun quality to the animations that you create.

As far as drawing animations, I’m not very good at it but I was able to create a couple simple things. Its great that you can copy & paste things to other panels. That makes things a bit easier. You can also select an item in the drawing and move it around. The item select made it easy for me to create a simple animation where a boulder “rolled” down a cliff.

The app also includes a few colors (not a lot) to make the drawings look more interesting, and you include sounds to your animations too! The app does include a square, circle, and line for those who want to make very simple drawings.

I’m sure people with more talent at drawing could create something really fun with Flipnote 3D. Since I don’t have much talent, I think Flipnote is a neat app but I can’t see myself using it a ton.

Still, its a FREE app from Club Nintendo. I recommend everyone who can get it, gets it. It doesn't take up much room on your system and its fun (at least for a little while anyway).

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I’ll back tomorrow with an Indie game preview.

Let the Invasion Begin

The 3DS doesn't see many third-person over the shoulder shooters. We had Resident Evil: Revelations, but I can't think of many other games.

Coming this week in the UK and sometime this month in the U.S., IronFall: Invasion (from developer VdDev Games), is a third person over the shoulder action game for 3DS and New 3DS. On the regular 3DS, you can use the stylus to help control the camera and on the New 3DS, you can use the C-Stick. The game looks really action packed. It takes place sometime in the future with Earth being attacked by aliens. A resistance is created and the player plays a solider within that organization.

The game will have a single player mode and an online multiplayer mode. Over in the UK this week, players will be able to purchase either the single player or online separately (or buy them together). There's also a demo too!

Graphics wise, this game looks VERY impressive. Its even more impressive when you realize that the game was made by a really small developer.

I think this game is going to be amazing. Take a look at these videos:

For more information about this title, check out the developers Twitter here: https://twitter.com/VdDevGames

Just A Girl and Her Robot

As anybody who reads this blog probably knows, I'm a huge Zelda fan and huge fan of robots too (SteamworldHeist). Today I found out about a cool looking game coming to the Wii U that has a bit of Zelda feel to it and has a robot too!

The game is The Girl and the Robot, from developer Flying Carpets Games.  It will tell the tale of a girl who finds a robot that she can control with an magical pendant. Players will switch between the girl and the robot to take on different tasks. The robot is a fighter, wielding a blade and a bow & arrow. The girl can run fast and reach places that the robot can't get too. The robot can also carry the girl on his shoulder. There should be a lot of unique puzzles to this game. I also really like the look of the graphics, which remind me a bit of Prince of Persia.

Take a look at these beautiful screenshots from the kickstarter page (the project is already funded) and the official website:









And here's a trailer for the game:

This looks like a really good game. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the Wii U.

For more information about the game, check out their Kickstarter page here:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2039811773/the-girl-and-the-robot

And the official Flying Carpet Games website: http://flyingcarpetsgames.com/

Legend of Zelda...Live-Action TV Show?!

So, a couple of days ago, a rumor came out that Netflix and Nintendo were teaming up to do a Live-Action Legend of Zelda tv show. The show was described as "Game of Thrones" expect more family friendly. Which means no nudity or excessive violence or bad language. Neither Netflix nor Nintendo has confirmed this rumor. Admittedly, it sounds like something a fan made up. Though, the source of the rumor is the Wall-Street Journal. Thats a pretty respected source of information. Well, at least it use to be. I'm not sure how it is now...

Still, the rumor seems creditable. I guess we won't really know for sure until Netflix or Nintendo or both say something.

I'm hoping its true though. There are not many Nintendo properties that could work as a live action TV show but Legend of Zelda is definitely one that could work.

As for the Game of Thrones descriptor, I think people were making much too big a deal about it. I'm sure the show will be nothing at all like Game of Thrones (at least, personally, I hope so. don't care for GoT). Instead, I just think this is Exec speak: basically comparing one show to another as a quick way of explaining the new show. I think Legend of Zelda will be more of an adventure/action quest series. It has none of the family elements that Game of Thrones has, unless Nintendo/Netflix plan to make up a family element.

When they say it'll be more 'family friendly' that doesn't mean 'it'll focus on a family', that means it'll be a show with action and adventure but it won't have the R or M rated stuff that Game of Thrones has. Some of you probably think that means the show won't be any good. There are a few well written fantasy shows without excessive nudity, violence or language though.

Once Upon A Time and Grimm are examples of two shows that are more family friendly (especially Once) that tell fantastic fantasy stories. I would think Legend of Zelda would be more along those lines. In fact, I would love it so much if any of the Once or Grimm writers were involved in this project.

Thats the key thing about a potential Zelda show. The writers have to be perfect. They have to have a clear idea of what the show is, who will be in it, and where its going.

A Legend of Zelda live-action TV show could be awesome. It could also be something Hercules or Xena or Legend of Seeker. Or any of the more recent BBC low-budget fantasy productions. shivers. I really hope the show will have the budget, at least, of a show like Once or Grimm. Though if it had a Game of Thrones budget or an even high budget, it could be incredible.

Lets hope that the Legend of Zelda show turns out for the best.

I'll be back tomorrow with an Indie game preview!

Shhh. Don't Be Scared (be scared)

What are you afraid of?

The dark, high places, ghosts, flying....CLOWNS?!

Upcoming Wii U rpg Hush, from developer Game Studio 78, is all about horror and fear. The main character is little girl named Ashlyn who's trapped in an old broken down Orphanage. She'll have to rely on her toys to help her get through the areas in the game. She scared of many things, including clowns.

The game will be released episodically and include rpg & survival horror elements.

It sounds pretty interesting to me. Hopefully it'll turn out to be a cool Wii U eshop game.

Here are some screenshots from the developer's twitter page:







For more information about this game, visit the official Hush website here:
http://www.gamestudio78.pt/hush/index.html

And check out the developer's twitter here: https://twitter.com/gamestudio78

Xenoblade X Nintendo Direct Thoughts

Earlier today, Nintendo had a Japan Only Xenoblade X Nintendo Direct. In my post yesterday, I had thought that this was a direct for everyone. I was wrong. So no big news for us North American Xenoblade X fans. But there are some things I want to talk about from the Direct! Here are my thoughts:

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The entire Xenoblade X Nintendo Direct was just footage from the game & in-game characters explaining the game's world. We didn't see Iwata or any of the other Nintendo people this time and that was fine. I don't speak japanese, but some people on twitter do, thankfully, so I was able to find out what the characters were talking about.

We were shown many different areas of the Xenoblade X's world and.....WOW. This is a MASSIVE game. Dare I say that it looks a ton bigger than any of the Elder Scroll games? There's just so many huge areas in this game.

The most important one to talk about is New Los Angeles. Xenoblade X is set on an alien planet which humans have crashed landed on. They built their own new city and named it NLA. The city has an industrial portion but it also has a huge area that looks like the suburbs on Earth and a big shopping district too. Blade is also located in the city. Blade is the military organization in the city, its where the main characters can buy weapons and get major missions. The characters can also talk to people in the city and get missions from there.

NLA looks like an amazing hub to explore and I think you could just spend hours in that city alone. Of course then you'd miss the delights that lay for outside of the city...

There are several continents in Xenoblade X.  There's a desert continent, a fiery one, an ice one, a jungle one, and the grasslands where NLA is. These places so very huge and there are all kinds monsters and different quests to find out there. And you can run around in those areas but thats not the only way you have to get there...

The Direct showed off the Mechs in Xenoblade X more. These big, hulking machines can be entered and you walk around with them, fly in the air and they can transform into vehicle to drive too! Its so impressive and will be very handy. Running will only take you so far. The flying and driving look to be great ways to get around in the game.

I've heard that Xenoblade X nearly didn't fit onto a Wii U disc and I can see why. Xenoblade X looks to the biggest game on the Wii U yet. And the graphics are extremely detailed and gorgeous.

Oh and one final thing I'd like to note: the game will have 4-player ONLINE quests that people can take on together. This wasn't mentioned in the direct. It was mentioned after the direct on twitter. Also up to 32 players can passively share information & items. Wow. This game is amazing.

I can't wait to play Xenoblade X. It might be a wait though. The game is coming out in April in Japan but it doesn't have a date yet for North America or Europe. The game will need to be translated and American/European voices will have to be added to the game! Sounds like a lot of work! So I wouldn't expect this game till Fall/Winter. I'll just have to keep dreaming about it for awhile.

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I'll be back tomorrow with an Indie game preview.