Wednesday, May 30, 2012

E3 Message Board Post!


I mentioned in my last post that I would be posting an E3 2012 thread at Spicy Cake. I decided to post it today because I've been hearing some cool news & rumors this week already. (nothing about Animal Crossing 3DS though. would love hear something early about that).

Here's the thread: http://www.spicycake.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=videogames&action=display&thread=118

Man, wish this week was over already! Can't wait to see what E3 has in store for us! :)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

E3 NEXT WEEK!!


THE OFFICIAL E3 LOGO


On Monday, June 4, E3 starts! Well the E3 press conferences anyway.

Microsoft, Sony, EA, and Ubisoft all have conferences on Monday.

Nintendo has their conference on Tuesday. They also have a 'Software Showcase' on Wednesday!

I will be creating an E3 2012 message board post at my favorite message board, Spicy Cake, ON FRIDAY (I'll post a link to that post on here & on twitter then).

I'll post my comments about E3: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, plus some pre-E3 links there.

I will try to write some longer comments on Nintendo here during E3 week. Maybe Sony too.

Not sure yet if I'll watch the Micrsoft conference. I might. We'll see.

Anyway, I'll leave with two pieces of cool pre-E3 news:

There will be a new Harvest Moon coming for the 3DS. Its called Harvest Moon: A New Beginning and it'll be shown at E3.

There will be a Castlevania for the 3DS. Konami, the developers of the game, will have a pre-E3 event on Thursday, so they'll probably show the game then!

I'll try to post more cool news here or even more likely at Spicy Cake soon! :)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Animal Crossing 3DS: What I Want To See

Animal Crossing 3DS!


From the moment I heard there would be an Animal Crossing for the 3DS, I decided I had to own a 3DS. I wrote about my love for Crossing in another entry, so I won't bore you with that. Instead, I want to tell you what I hope to see in AC3DS


1. Better Online

Hey! I'm trying to fish here! Stop swimming!

In Animal Crossing City Folk (Let's Go to The City for my UK friends), the online was forever giving us trouble. And its NOT my internet connection. I have upgraded to the best internet I can get around here and Crossing's online still lags with a lot of company. Plus there's the terrible 'blue screan of death' as I call it. Basically, when you lose connection with your friends, the screen goes blue and shows Resetti saying he's sorry... 

For Crossing 3DS, I'm hoping that the online gameplay won't be laggy and that we won't see the 'blue screen' at all. I'm really hoping that Nintendo brings their A game to Crossing's online.

It would also be cool to be able to do more while your friends are over. Donate fossils, paintings, go to the city with your friends, maybe catch the scorpion with them and shot down the UFO? I could be dreaming, but it would be nice to have more to do with friends.

Swimming, as shown above, is an awesome first step to that.

2. Better Communication

Can you hear me now?

Please no more Wii Speak! Its awful. A headset would be nice. There HAS to be voice chat in the new Crossing. We can't go back to texting only like Wild World. So a Headset would be perfect. I suppose they could have the system mic available for people who don't want the headset. Though, I imagine that would have the same problems the Wii Speak has...

3.  Smarter Animals!


I wonder if that duck is going to the well


In Animal Crossing Wild World (and in the first game), the animals were a lot smarter. They didn't repeat phrases as much and they seemed more aware of their surroundings. In one video that I saw of Animal Crossing 3DS, there were two animals visiting and just hanging out in an animals house. I want to see a lot of that! I also hope animal pictures from Wild World return (in WW, if an animal liked you a lot they'd give you their picture).  Oh and maybe the Animals could have hobbies like in the first game. I just hope the animals have more to say (and do) than they do in City Folk.


4. No Grass Problem

Not my town. Found this picture online.

The above is an example of the horrible grass problem that plagues City Folk. Its not the worse example. I wish I had a picture to show you of my first City Folk town. Oh man. In any case, I hope 'animal tracks' as Nintendo calls it, does NOT return. Seriously. I want to be able to RUN again in my town. And not have to worry about putting walkway patterns everywhere.

5. Free and Paid DLC

The new furniture store?

City Folk has new free downloadable content that Nintendo sends to us by in-game mail. I want to see that return, but I also want to see content that we can buy with REAL money. Now, I'm NOT talking about new furniture (or new clothes). I hope the new furniture (and clothes) is free like it is in City Folk. The paid content I want is:

-new areas to explore. A jungle, a forest, a cave, etc. It would be cool to download a new area that we can visit and explore. Maybe hop on the train to go there? Each new area could have animals you've never run into and maybe some special fish, bugs, and items that you can only get from that area. Some areas could be big and others could be small.

-new animals. Wouldn't it be cool if Nintendo released new types of animal every once and awhile? Say they introduce turtles to the game. You pay for the turtles, download them to your system and the next time you have an open spot, you'll get one of the new turtles. I'm not saying Nintendo should leave out animals so that they can make them dlc. I'm talking about additional animals that Nintendo could make & add to the game over the course of the game's lifetime.

Thats the type of PAID dlc I want to see. Will Nintendo do any of this? I don't know. Maybe they'll leave this for the Wii U Crossing...

6. Lots of Stuff For the Mayor to Do

I am now MAD with power! wahawaha!

In the new Animal Crossing for 3DS, you are the MAYOR. You get your own office and you can place street lamps and other items in the town. Thats all we know about the mayor job so far. I'm hoping that as mayor you can decide what animals stay in your town and who leaves. I also hope you'll get PAID in bells for being mayor. Maybe they'll be a ton of different items, more than we've seen, that you can put in the town too. I want the Mayor job to be a great new major addition to the game (more complex than the City in City Folk please).

Oh and don't worry: Nintendo has already said you can put as much effort into being mayor as you want. So if you don't really want to be the mayor, you can just go off and fish. :)

Personally, I can't wait to be the mayor in my town!

7. Your AC3DS Town Could Look Like This


Love this map!


The above is Concept Art for the new Animal Crossing game. It came from a roundtable video that the developers of the game had. I hope this is what your town could really look like! I know all the towns will look different, like they always do, but I'm hoping that just like the picture shows you can have two islands (one big, one small), a campfire on the beach, a small hut in the middle of the ocean, and of course the train running through town. Oh and I love that the city is so close to your town! I'm hoping that they follow this concept art. I can't wait to see what the new towns look like!

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And thats what I want to see in AC3DS. If just some of these features are in the game, I'll be happy. If all of it is in the game, wow! Wouldn't that be great?

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Notes:

Thanks to freebuddy321 (Animal Crossing 3DS) on twitter for the idea for this blog entry.

All pictures here are copyright and trademarked by Nintendo.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

My Fall TV Schedule


As anybody who reads this blog knows (and people who follow me on twitter---@df2506 or facebook), I'm a huge TV bug. I watch a TON of stuff on TV. And this Fall, wow. There is some really interesting stuff. Here's what I'll be watching.

MONDAY

9PM---HAWAII FIVE-0: Going into its 3rd season in the Fall. This show is a lot better than you'd thin it would be. What really makes it is the friendship between the two main guys: McGarrett and Dan-o. The show is good well written popcorn fun.

Also on at 9, most likely I'll watch it ON DEMAND (but maybe live...)

REVOLUTION: A brand new show for NBC. In Revolution all the power goes out (in America at least). That means no working cars, no electricity, nothing! 15 years later, people are just trying to survive and all of the old buildings and cars and stuff are completly covered in plants. The show looks like an epic 'Walking Dead' type deal (no zombies though). It looks tthe best out of all the new shows imo.

TUESDAY

9PM---VEGAS: A new show for CBS. Vegas is set in the 1960s  and follows a sheriff (played by Dennis Quaid) trying to keep the peace in Vegas while also having to deal with mobsters trying to take over the place. It looks really good and has some really good actors in it. I'm hoping its a fun show.

WEDNESDAY      

7PM---ARROW: A new show for CW. Arrow is about Green Arrow, aka Oliver Queen, as he fights crime with his trusty bow & arrow (he is a DC COMICS character). I saw a preview of this yesterday and it looks good. I hope it is!

8PM---SUPERNATURAL: Returning for its 8th season of CW. Supernatural is a show about two brothers who hunt monsters (vampires, werewolves, etc). Its a really good show and I'm glad its coming back next season! I'm also glad that it has a new timeslot on Wednesdays!

9PM---CSI: Returning for its 100th season....not! But its gotta be its 11 or 12. Maybe more? I've lost count. The orignal CSI is still the best though. It now stars Ted Danson, who does a really good job on the show. Glad its coming back.

THURSDAY

7PM---LAST RESORT: A new show for ABC. In Last Resort, an American Naval Sub is given the order to nuke a country. They refuse the order, go rogue, and end up taking over an island! The concept is unique for ABC and the show looks intersting. Hope its good!

8PM---PERSON OF INTEREST: Returning for its second season! Person of Interest is about two guys, Reese and Finch, who help people who need help with the aid of a machine that sees everything and can predict when someone is in trouble. This is a really well written, well acted show, with lots of action and drama. I'm VERY glad its coming back.

9PM--ELEMENTARY: A new show for CBS. Elementary transports Sherlock Holmes to modern day...and New York. Holmes is still British (thank goodness). The show also features an American female Watson. Saw a trailer for this and it looked better than I thought it would. It didn't look anywhere as good as Sherlock (from the BBC), but it looked interesting. Not sold on the female Watson character, especially because she is played by an actress I'm not a fan of. We'll see how that works out...

FRIDAY

7PM---TOUCH: Returning for its second season! Touch is about a boy who can find the threads linking people together and, through his dad, he can help people connect with each other and make good things happen. Its a bit hard to explain. lol. But its a very good show and I'm glad its coming back.

8PM---FRINGE: Coming back for its fifth and FINAL season. Fringe will get 13 episodes and will finish out its storyline. The show is, basically, about three people who investigate strange events that nobody explain. Its a really cool show! I'm going to miss it when it ends.

9PM---BLUE BLOODS: Returning for its third season! Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck. Its a cop show that centers around a family with two cops, one former cop, and a lawyer. Its a really good show.

SATURDAY

GRIMM: This is actually on Fridays, but we can't see it till Saturday for awhile. After Fringe ends, we'll be able to watch it on Fridays. Grimm is about a cop who also happens to come from a long line of monster hunters. The cops best friend is a "monster" named Monore. Sort of a 'big bad wolf'. The shows stories are inspired by Grimm Fairy Tales and other dark fairy tales too. Its a good show and I'm glad its coming back.

8PM---DR. WHO: Coming back in August! Can't wait. Dr. Who is a fantastic series. So well written, well acted, and lots of fun. I love it.

SUNDAY

7PM---ONCE UPON A TIME: One of the best new shows this season! It had an amazing season finale. I can't wait to see what they do next season! Once Upon A Time is fairy tale characters who are cursed to live in the normal world by the evil queen from Snow White. The show also shows flashbacks to the world that the fairy tale characters came from. The best way I can find to describe it short hand: think Lost meets Disney characters. This show is a blast! And its good one for the whole family.

8PM---WALKING DEAD: Going on its Third season in October. Oh man, this show is one of the best, if not THE best, shows on TV right now. The writing on this show is so great and the acting is too. Not recommended for the weak of stomach though. There are a lot of gross stuff in this show. But if you can get past the grossness, you'll find complex characters and really good storyline. I highly recommend this one to older viewers.

And thats it! Thats, mostly, what I'll be watching in the Fall. There are probably one or two or three shows that I left out because I either forgot about them or they don't come back till later. I'll update this list if I can think of any of them. lol.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Blog Will Return Soooon!


Yep, I'm keeping up with this blog REAL well....*sigh*

Sorry folks. I have no good excuse at all. Its not like I'm working or something...

I am, however, writing short stories. So I am still writing every night...just not this blog!

I will write a blog entry soon with my Fall TV viewing schedule as soon as the networks announce all their schedules (still CBS & CW to go).

In the meantime, I just want to say: SHERLOCK on Sunday was BRILLANT. Wow. And Once Upon A Time was EXCELLENT. Great stuff. And yesterday Hawaii Five 0 was fun, House was depressing (I hope it has a great finale...), and Eureka was hilarous.

And now, nothing to watch on TV until Thursday. *sigh*

Anyway...I'll write here again soon!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Sherlock-A Scandal in Belgravia

A short review about tonight's Sherlock episode....
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Are you watching Steven Moffat's brillant BBC show Sherlock? If not, go see it! Go now! Don't even bother reading this! Just go watch it! Seriously.

Now, you've seen it? Good. I'll still try not to give too much away if you decided not to watch it (for some crazy reason. its a can't-miss-show).

The first three episodes of Sherlock series 1 were really good. Benedict Cumberbatch may just be the best Sherlock Holmes ever. And Martin Freeman is really good as Watson.

Now the first episode of Series 2 is just...wow. Fantastic. This one introduces the Woman. Holmes fans will know who that is. I won't tell you how she's introduced, but she really makes an impression. The actress who brings her to life, Lara Pulver, is brillant. She does a great job and has a really complex character. Everyone else is wonderful in this too, but its really Benedict Cumberbatch and Lara Pulver's show. Both of them are fantastic, the story is well written (by Steven Moffat), and its just a great reimagining of the orignal story.

Next week will be the Hound of the Baskervilles and after that The Reichenbach Falls. Can't wait! Its going to be excellent.

The Avengers Review (No spoilers!)


WOW!

If you liked the other Marvel movies, you'll love this movie!

If you've never seen the other Marvel movies, why not?!

But you should be fine going to see this movie without seeing the others. I think.

In any case, go see this movie! Its awesome!

If I told you anything more, you'd kill me. Its the best superhero fick EVER! Well worth seeing at the big screen. Twice or more in fact (I would so go see it again if I had the money). Loved it. Can't wait till its out on dvd!