Sums up the current situation with Xbox now hitting the next gen scene with PS4 and WiiU. 

All in all whats up everyone. I have not been on here again... but I wanted to list a few games I have finished and or currently playing at the moment

Mario Bros U

Fallout 3

Sleeping Dogs

Super Meat Boy 

Ni No Kuni

Just a few to name so far

Anyways, does anyone have an anime recomendation? I think Baka Test (I think that's the title don't remmeber is one to consider. Need some recomendation.

Also, here is my facebook. I am on this alot

https://www.facebook.com/Marvinramirez714?ref=tn_tnmn

I am only gonna keep this link up for a while. Talk to me through there ifnot, here will be fine. I need to catch up or I am trying to catch up with some of you awesome peeps. 

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Warning! Huge review approaching!

It's not just a temporary replacement for Mario Kart, it is a very worthy competitor

In all of the gaming industry, there is no niche where there is a domination as huge as the one that exists on the kart racing one. All games and teams that venture into the realm know exactly what needs to be done, which is to produce a game that draws positive comparisons to Mario Kart. After all, not only was it Nintendo that created the often-copied formula, but Mario and his crew have been executing it masterfully for over two decades. During that period of time, only a very restricted number of titles out of which Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing stand out - were able to break the monopoly, each for their own reasons and pronenesses. Sonic Racing Transformed manages to enter that select group, and it does so by fixing the flaws of its predecessor, and offering a fantastic mix of challenge, content and outstanding track design.

The first noticeable feature that makes Sonic Racing Transformed stay away from being just another kart game is exposed right on its title. The game does not focus solely on wacky automobile competitions. Instead, the races take place on the water, in the sky and on the land. It would not have been such a refreshing concept but for one detail: tracks are not based on a single vehicle; each one of them presents segments that demand different racing approaches, forcing characters to magically go from one vehicle to the other on the fly. With the exception of a few rare instances when the vehicles behave oddly in the milliseconds following a transformation, the transitions are mostly smoothly done and add a lot of excitement to the race. Aside from the fantastic visual value of, for instance, going up a ramp with a boat and watching as it turns into an airplane in the midst of a battle for a position, the transformations also have strategic value, because as flying is considerably faster than the other two options of movement, the racing tracks will offer opportunities to transform into a plane earlier, rewarding those who find ramps and taking off spots.

Speaking of the tracks, they are yet another point that heavily benefits from the blending of vehicles, and are the clear highlights of the game. Courses take advantage of that opportunity in two distinct ways: they are either built so that three vehicles are used during the same lap, or they present environmental elements that alter the path in between laps. Therefore, even though the game contains sixteen original tracks, plus four extracted for its predecessor - all of which are kart-only it feels like much more, because as they mutate, tracks often become different to the point of not being recognizable. As if all that work was not enough, the game's tracks are also packed with alternative paths and shortcuts, which add a lot to both their already high replayability and to the element of surprise waiting within each race.

In a genre usually dominated by multiplayer-focused games, Sonic Racing Transformed brings forth a whole lot of single-player value. There are two main modes where the solo fun resides: Grand Prix and Career. The first one is nearly self-explanatory, players compete against nine other characters in four-race cups to see who ends up with the biggest amount of points. In total, there are ten cups, equally divided between regular and mirrored ones, and the difficulty of each can be chosen among four distinct options. Meanwhile, in the Career mode, through which most of the characters are unlocked, presents individual challenges that include regular races where players must finish in a certain position, time trials, boost challenges and racing duels against a series of characters. According to the difficulty chosen for each challenge, players will earn stars, which can then be used to unlock gates that are either protecting new characters or more challenges.

For a game as colorful and seemingly kid-friendly as this one, it packs an immensely surprising amount of challenge. While the high level of difficulty is extremely welcome, for it considerably boosts the time that can be spent playing solo, some of its implementation is questionable. Facing at least a portion of the game in the hard difficulty is key if players want to unlock certain characters, and open a few gates hiding some of the more advanced challenges. It is all fine and good if the player in question is experienced; youngsters, however, will most likely be overwhelmed by the many hours of practice one must go through if he wants to clear a good part of the game.

The core problem here is that practice is not the only thing required to go through the entirety of the game; patience is also extremely important. Like all games of its kind, Sonic Transformed presents an assortment of items that can be used during the race. Unlike Mario Kart, however, the items you get are not heavily dependent on the position you find yourself in. Meaning that while leaders are boosting their way through the tracks with powerful items, people in the middle of the pack might be struggling with simple powers. As a consequence, a big part of the game's result, especially on the hardest levels, relies on luck. Though those occurrences are annoying on Career mode, they can be even more frustrating during a Grand Prix, where three straight good races can be destroyed by a bad race where players - which always start at the back of the grid - are unable to reach the leaders because they are too busy being hit by an army of items. Regardless of how good a player is at speeding through the tracks, finishing 1st will usually demand many tries, and an eventual victory is most likely to come due to sheer luck of getting the right item at the right time.

In general, though, Sonic Racing Transformed is a very pleasant game to play. Not only is the game bursting with the personality extracted directly from fantastic Sega properties - including a vast selection of characters, each with very a very unique trio of vehicles - it is also a software that can be enjoyed with friends. The multiplayer gameplay is not restricted to especially designed modes. It is, instead, available in any mode of choice - with the exception of Time Trials - and, by taking advantage of the Wii U gamepad, the game allows for up to five players to battle each other on any of game's many Grand Prix tournaments, Career Mode challenges, or online matches. Whoever holds the Wii U gamepad - which on single-player works as a map display and a rear view mirror - will play on the controller's screen, which despite its average size produces very nice visuals, while those who hold the Wiimotes will share the TV. Though it is not used in any asymmetric and creative way, which is totally understandable given the nature of a racing title, it is nice to be able to avoid split-screen when playing in pairs.

While its predecessor suffered from constant frame rate problems, this is a game mostly free from that issue, and that is no small feat. The tracks are full of activity. Aside from ten racers throwing items and shoving each other, there are plenty of traps going around, scenario details to be processed at the game's relatively fast speed, and that all goes without mentioning how some of the courses suffer mutations in-between laps as a result of explosions, and other kinds of physical destruction. Throw into the bag the fact that the game looks really great, and holding it all together through the entirety of the race becomes quite a technical achievement. Besides being exciting by their fast and frantic nature, races are boosted by a nice soundtrack which is highlighted by some tunes that have been selected from games that present a very powerful soundtrack.

Often, when a good game of the kart racing genre hits a Nintendo platform early on, it tends to be labeled as a title that exists for the purpose of temporarily satisfying any racing needs that players might have until Mario Kart comes around. This time, though, the Nintendo Wii U has received a game that will not simply be thrown away once Nintendo unleashes a new installment on its longstanding racing series, but one that will be able to compete side-by-side with it regardless of how great the next Mario Kart will be. Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed has tons of content, which aside from simply racing include over 100 collectible stickers that serve as awards for the completion of achievements, a nice degree of vehicle customization, and a huge load of the undeniable charm of the Sega franchises. Put some good level of challenge in there, which is sometimes unfortunately done cheaply, and you have a lasting, fun and rewarding title.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Microsoft showed off the XBOX One in a rather unimpressive showing (it's just like their past E3 presentations), and gave it a confusing name. How confusing? Watch AVGN's Chronologically Confused videos and find out. Already, there are other things that bug me about it, like paying a fee to play a used game.

In other news...

Mortal Kombat 9 is announced for PC after two years, though the port isn't directly handled by Netherrealm Studios. Instead it's... High Voltage Software. The SAME High Voltage Software who was just as guilty as other developers in developing a crap tons of Wii shovelware as well as have a hand in the piece of garbage known as Kinect Star Wars. Admittedly I DID like the Conduit, but even through Wii's limited shooter library, there were still better games (like the CoD4 port done by Treyarch and Eurocom's Goldeneye Remake was great too).

I really hope Netherrealm knows what they are doing.

Now a rumor...

A rumor appeared on TSSZ (shared by GoNintendo) that the new Super Smash Bros (co-developed by Namco) may not only have Sonic return, but may feature an appearance from Bayonetta. Should this rumor be true... why Bayonetta? Yes you could argue it's because of Nintendo's involvement in Bayonetta 2, but here's another issue, Bayonetta left no legacy to Nintendo gamers (at least not yet), so it would still make no sense to add her. Say what you will about Solid Snake's appearance in Brawl after the Metal Gear franchise being more present on PlayStation consoles, but at least Snake has left a deeper legacy with Nintendo deeper than Bayonetta ever will.

To end on something not news related, I was being really nerdy when playing Oblivion and named by enchanted Electric Akaviri Dai-Katana after Raiden (Metal Gear agent/cyborg ninja, not Mortal Kombat's Earthrealm thundergod) and I started playing Assassin's Creed 1.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

All Nintendo fans know that one of the companies biggest 2nd party developers is Retro Studios who have made such games as the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Less known however, yet equally worthy of praise are Next Level Games. This Canadian studio, founded in 2002 have developed a string of great games in popular Nintendo franchises for Nintendo systems The first of these was Super Mario Strikers on Gamecube that was released in 2005 but for me their most recent three games are the ones that stand out.

The first of these was Mario Strikers Charged Football on Wii in 2007. This follow up to Super Mario Strikers was the first Wii game to include online multiplayer and one of the first Wii games I got. It was fantastic fun in both single and multiplayer and the online is still fun to this day(if you can get a game). It improved on the original in a number of ways and firmly established Next Level Games as a developer to look out for.

In 2009 they released another Wii game: Punch-Out. With it, Next Level Games succeeded in restoring life to a Nintendo franchise that was seemingly dead. They retained the games mechanics whilst making it for for the modern day and it was an undoubted triumph. It is simple to get into but difficult to master just like Punch-Out games of old. Its success seemingly established them as a key developer for Nintendo and as such Nintendo turned to them to bring another series back to life.

Earlier this year, their latest game, Luigi's Mansion 2 was released. Coming a decade after the original, Next Level Games have again managed to keep what works from the original but make it fresh and suitable to the present day. It is an even greater improvement than was the case with the Punch-Out though and brings plenty new to the table. Next Level Games' abilities are clear and I am truly excited to see what they bring us next.

For more on my thoughts regarding Luigi's Mansion 2 please check out my review. Constructive criticism about my review style would be welcome too. 

Thanks for reading.

Pigfish2

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Hey.

School's been okay.

Backstage work for our flood appeal concert is hard.

It's this Saturday. The concert, I mean.

I've been drawing better.

I beat Skyla in Black 2. (FINALLY!)

It's getting colder.

I don't know what else to say.

*sigh*

Goodnight.

-Lauren

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Microsoft needed a new console. The 360 may have been selling well, but not because of Microsoft. Third-party devs were the ones keeping people glued to their 360's. It was games like Dishonored, Far Cry 3, and Borderlands 2 that made the 360 a continued success throughout 2012. First-party titles were few in number, and while Halo 4 was a big success, it was the only major release from Microsoft last year that couldn't be found on another platform.

Microsoft needed to one-up Sony by offering a steady stream of games that you simply couldn't find on Playstation. This morning, Microsoft dropped the curtain on their 360 successor. It was a revelation not only of the hardware, but of Microsoft's vision for the gaming future...

...or should I say, lack thereof.

The Xbox One reveal was saturated with meaningless and culturally exploitative information catering to the most mainstream of mainstream video game player. It was bad.

Promoted as the unifier between TV, music, movies, social media and games, the Xbox One was Microsoft's way to capitalize on every entertainment format available right now, all condensing it into a package that fits perfectly in the living room. It remains resonant, a grandiose defragmentation of media that can deliver content from multiple fronts while simplifying the interface into a box reminiscent of a modern DVR. It's nothing too sensational and from that perspective, it works. But this wasn't a showing for those who watch Star Trek or The Price is Right religiously. Xbox is a name synonymous with video games, but Microsoft swept that concept far under the rug.

One problem that I discovered early on is that the interface looks as clumsy as Kinect did years ago. Microsoft wants people to like Kinect, going so far as to bundling the Kinect 2.0 with the Xbox One console. It's a standard feature now, but that doesn't mean it works. With the motion control fad dying, it's concerning seeing Microsoft continue to push Kinect. Even switching channels looks wonky and unappealing; why not just use the remote control like we've been doing for decades now? It's something out a sci-fi movie like Minority Report, only mixed with interpretive dance.

But Microsoft's presentation's biggest blunder was the sheer alienation of the gamer culture. Aside from three major game announcements (excluding the EA Sports lineup), the entire presentation was about the console's place as an entertainment system instead of a gaming system. Yes, being able to instantly go from live TV to a game is an interesting technological approach, but it's a novelty and I highly doubt that it'll become as front-and-center as a future game industry standard. Smartglass and Kinect navigation (auxiliary features that very few consumers truly consider to be essential) were promoted far more than they should have.

Even worse was that the games announced were in no way a decision maker. Call of Duty: Ghosts, for all its hair textures and dynamic fish AI, is a Call of Duty game. It's a multi-platform franchise that might see increased sales on an Xbox platform, but it doesn't serve the Xbox market in such a huge way as, say, Halo would. You can get Call of Duty on PS4, and even with the title of "exclusive first on Xbox One", it's not something to get people to buy your console for it specifically.

Yes, you do get Forza and you do get your EA Sports garbage, but the only game that I could say I'm really interested in is Quantum Break, a game developed by Alan Wake dev Remedy. It looks cool, yeah, but with only a brief and cryptic trailer, I couldn't get too excited over it.

Once I heard them start wrapping things up, I couldn't believe what I had heard, or more appropriately, what I didn't hear. For a console line so enamored with promoting deep and expansive video game content, Microsoft demonstrated a vision that only alienated the gaming crowd that praised them so much last generation. I know that we'll see more at E3, but right now, I'm not even excited about Microsoft's showing at E3 this year

But the news trickled out steadily, revealing even more questionable announcements. Mandatory installs, fees to play used games and no way to play 360 or 360 XBLA titles added even more facepalms to an already groan-worthy showing. While other games have been formally announced for the console, many of these are multi-platform like Watch_Dogs, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Destiny. These aren't the ways to gather consumer confidence. Microsoft may think it's innovating, but with each innovation, they're stepping away from the video game world. If anything, the Xbox One is a "bro" or "Chad" console, a stereotypical game console that you'll see in movies and TV ads with generic shooters and online play without a trace of dev creativity.

At this point, Microsoft hasn't done anything to promote the Xbox One in the right ways. Fears of Microsoft's Draconian restrictions on second-hand games have been realized, their neglect for the smaller development houses has been shown without any doubt, and every negative opinion that I've heard the game journalism crowd say has been met with some form of truth. I do think it will sell, but to the people who don't value those true gaming experiences.

All I can say now is bring on E3. I'm gonna need something to wash this terrible taste out of my mouth.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Well, that is all. Thanks for reading this and understanding that we all need a break from things. Feel free to leave a comment below and I'll see you all later.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

The Final Fantasy series by Square (now known as Square Enix) was originally developed in 1987 for the Japanese Famicom and was ported to many different game consoles including the American NES release, PlayStation game systems and the Gameboy Advance. The series became popular to both fans and critics alike with plenty of new instalments and sequels. However after Final Fantasy X was released for the PS2, it showcased impressive gameplay as well as cool storyline and characters, graphics and sound. After when Final Fantasy X became a massive success, by 2002 marked the beginning of the series downfall. This blog will explain about the problems with the series as of now.

With the exception of the remakes and ports of the old games that originally didnt make it to Europe originally on the PS1, GBA, DS and the PSP. The series started it's downfall with Final Fantasy XI for the PC, FFXI didn't become a single player RPG experience instead it was developed into a MMO RPG where players from over the world. The biggest problem with the game was that it was a pay to play game as part of the PlayOnline Network and every time you died you lose EXP that you earned which was actually stupid. It also had a cumbersome initial registration setup and the game featured overcrowded camp-sites while others say that it was unoriginal. Dispute these problems it managed to become one of the most profitable titles and earned a few medals even if some people thought that an MMO being part of the main series was a bad idea. It had 5 missions packs but why the fifth one had to come out so late in 2013 is just plain dumb.

The next bad Final Fantasy game is Final Fantasy X-2 and personally this where the series really begun to take it's turn against the fans. Square Soft merged with it's rival Enix so that they can become Square Enix and so the disaster begun for Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy X-2 was liked by some others since it did returned to the Active Time Battles and the traditional levelling system. Other then that the game had Yuna returning along with Riku and also a character named Paine to turn the game into one that's rather girly which does disgust me whenever I dare play it. People personally think the graphics haven't changed from the original X title while personally I don't think it's worth complaining about aside from the framerate and large black bars that covers about 15% of the screen. I do say that the girls themselves should have donned better outfits on. Other complaints of the game involve the storyline progression which is very disjointed, the minigames being unenjoyable and the soundtrack sometimes sounding very inappropriate. It may have been an impressive selling game but honesty this is one Final Fantasy that makes me feel uncomfortable playing.

After a long while another main Final Fantasy instalment came for the PS2 that was Final Fantasy XII. It had great impressions when you watched the intro only for it to be destroyed when you actually play it. I wish I could excuse the use of the License Board system if it wasn't for the game's atrocious Gambit system and ridiculous combat. Also correct me if I'm wrong but my friend who has this game has told me that the game has tried to create a sandbox style environment but ended failing miserably but I'm not really sure if he's right about it. Don't get me wrong the characters, storyline as well as the graphics were impressive but however it's the entire gameplay that kills it entirely. On top of everything there's a super boss that takes literally hours to beat which is super ridiculous. I honestly can't believe that this game sold well and that people tend to defend it. Personally I think Revenant Wings on the DS was way better then that pile of trash.

Next up is Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus for the PlayStation 2 and let me tell you, Square Enix simply made a generic Third Person Shooter that featured Vincent as your main character. It might have told an interesting story but however it's gameplay was beyond question. First up the melee combat is frustrating no thanks to the awkward camera controls, it has blend and linear level design and worst of all it wasn't even in the least fun and the enemy AI was just plain dumb and weak. I really couldn't believe that this rubbish shooter dared to carry Final Fantasy VII's great name and allow Vincent to simply destroy it with this trash. Hey, at least Crisis Core made up for that embarrassment.

Just when the Final Fantasy handhelds had a very good spot in the fans another main instalment in the series came out for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that was Final Fantasy XIII. Gamers have waited a very long time for this game to come and when it did it became one of the most disappointing squeals and to be perfectly honest it doesn't surprise me when XII disappointed me so much. It had a convoluted storyline with uninteresting characters like unlikeable main character Lightning, Snow and cowardly boy Hope. Alongside the bad characters and story the game design was just so linear as you were just walking through lengthy corridors and also the battle system was just simply garbage. You only controlled one character which has it's own abilities and summoning. The worst thing about the battles is that it always relays on mashing the same attack over and over for a few minutes before it finally dies and also when the leader dies it's Game Over regardless if your allies are still alive. This is one of the biggest offences that this game commits and fans and some critics claim it to be one of the worst instalments in the series but I claim that it comes close to being one from all the later ones I've seen.

Just when remakes of the old Final Fantasy games where starting to feel stale, Square Enix announced and then released Final Fantasy XIII-2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I played the demo and I'll say this, they did improve the battle system but only a tiny bit and they did add a monster capturing system and also making the game non linear. These pluses aside the game had a more uninteresting storyline which was confusing and disappointing and the characters with it's only exception was the main villain were weak. The battle system was still rather simplistic and shallow and the use of cinematic actions lacked any impact. What I really hated about the game are the Trigger Events where you need to press either one of the face buttons to select a piece of dialogue to advance and some of the choices are just plain stupid. One of them where you got a choice to use a control device against a boss named Atlus was the worst. You can either ask Mog, ask someone you don't know, say you don't know or select I live in the moment. Why couldn't you just say let's control the device and weaken him since fighting him at his full power kills us in one hit. It's just like the game wants to troll you or something. Some people said that the game's boss battles are often frustrating and they get more annoying later on. Overall this game is a better then the original XIII but however there are still some major annoyances that didn't make it fun to enjoy.

Before the release of Final Fantasy XIII-2 there was announcement of Final Fantasy XIV and when the trailer got to the end it was going to be another online Final Fantasy game which was going to make it extremely disappointing. Not only was the battle system completely broken but the interface was terrible, the sound effects were annoying and worst of there's very little to no depth to the gameplay at all. The worst news of this game is that it is getting a reboot since the company recognizes the problems of the original game. All I can say is that I am extremely disappointed to have seen the announcement and wish the game would just die already.

If you thought all those were bad then you mistaken, there is no other terrible Final Fantasy game then the abysmal All the Bravest for the IPads. Simply Bitgroove and Square Enix simply took the sprites from the other games as well as the fanmade ones and made a rubbish game where you simply flick the screen where your allies are and then they attack automatically. Worst problems is that the game was blend and simple, your hand would ache even after only a few minutes of playing it and finally it used the microtransaction deal where stuff in the game such as Hourglasses (which acts as Phoenix Downs) to adding extra characters costed real life money when you have dozens of Gil in your hand that you want to spend it on. It was well criticised by critics and fans alike for any lack of gameplay depth, character customization, no story, and very expensive in app purchases for basic gameplay functionality. It should be called the worst game in the entire franchise and it makes me so mad that I want to throw any copies of the game into a fire. It's just absolute criminal.

The only good Final Fantasy games this generation has done is Dissidia for the PSP which is an excellent fighting game, Final Fantasy IV for the DS which is brilliant and Crisis Core which was pretty good if difficult to learn and master. Some other like Theatrhythm were alright as well. However when it comes down to seeing all the newer games in the series is just insulting. I'm not happy to announce that there are more games on the way.

Yes guys there are more bad Final Fantasy games coming with the exception of the HD remake of Final Fantasy X which will be great to see as long as the company doesn't destroy the game. I'm still of upset that X-2 will be included as well.

As for the bad ones there is going to be Lightning Returns which upon seeing the game's screenshots looks like a PlayStation 2 game which ensures utter disappointment. A Realm Reborn which I already said that it was going to try an improve on the games problems while in my opinions make it possibly worse and finally recently there was an announcement of a Final Fantasy Tactics port for the Ipads which brings a company known as Mobage which have been well known for having their games use the microtransaction deal. It's not going to be any surprise that this trash is going to be as bad as the others.

With the series being a fantastic innovative RPG series for fans, it's just insulting that Square Enix is just being absolutely lazy with their titles but still gaining money from their sales. At least now they are losing their money over their titles. Unless they can something about their Final Fantasy titles and get on with Versus XIII instead of screwing around with the franchise, otherwise I wish the series could just die along with the company.

I know I was bashing the series for a long while but it's just absolutely terrible that Square Enix could get this lazy on an extremely popular franchise and the company should know better. I'm glad that I did the right thing and ignored the other games and chose Namco Bandai's Tales Of Series which has answered the fans call.

That is why I'm going to take out every Final Fantasy related hero and villain in the franchise so that they'll regret disappointment they unleashed on us. That is why I'm now called The Bringer of Tales and Slayer of Fantasy. Then I'll be able avenge the fans fir what Square Enix has done.

Subscribe to my channel on Gamespot, Raptr, DevaintART and Facebook for reviews, countdowns and images.

Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)

GAME ON!!!!!

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Thomas Was Alone tells a heartfelt tale of friendship. Developed by Mike Bithell (the PlayStation ports handled by Curve Studios), it follows a group of sentient artificial intelligences in the form of quadrilaterals as they attempt to escape or rather, emerge from their confines. It begins with Thomas, a newly formed AI longing for camaraderie, and a dozen other characters searching for purpose in their newfound lives, all working together to discover it.

Continue reading at Entertainium >>

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's yet another familiar entry into the New Super Mario Bros series. But it's definitely the best so far."

Difficulty: Just Right

Time Spent: 40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line: "Best in series"

Last year has been a significant one for the New Super Mario Bros series, since Nintendo had released two games of it in that year. That isn't to be said it was a very good one. The earlier one, New Super Mario Bros 2, released on the 3DS, was shoved in during the development of the Wii U version, with young, more inexperienced people working on the game, and one that didn't really succeed all too much, because it was simply too similar to it's predecessors, adding barely any novelty to the series. And then there was New Super Mario Bros U. A game with more significant changes and additions, and simply put, a game that savored more professional work and effort. And New Super Mario Bros U is also the first Mario platformer launch title since Super Mario 64 on the N64. Plus the Wii U needed some fresh, exclusive titles for it's launch, since a lot of the launch games were only ports of games already existing on different platforms. Luckily, New Super Mario Bros U, unlike the 3DS version, has succeed in bringing the series back to a more glamorous shine, even though it isn't that kind of launch title to show off the new console's possibilities and strengths.

--- Presentation ---

Believe it or not, but in New Super Mario Bros U, the story actually gets a little twist. Instead of having Bowser and family kidnapping the Princess and taking her to Bowser's own castle, Bowser this time decides to simply take over Peach's castle, throwing Mario and CO. far, far away from the castle, and now it's up to the heroes to make their way back to the castle and save Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser's mighty plans. In every other game such little twist would have absolutely no impact, but for a Mario game, it's actually quite a nice one.

Actually, it is the twists, the little or not so little twists to the New Super Mario Bros formula, that separate this game from it's predecessors. In a nutshell, New Super Mario Bros U is what you expect, and what you've come to know. You have to make your way through eight different worlds in order to defeat Bowser and save Peach and the Kingdom, each world contains it's own typical theme, you'll always encounter a level count that retains the ca. 8-10 levels per world, and so on.

Making your way back to the castle instead of moving away from it gave the developers an opportunity to give the game another load of novelty they have missed. Since your way to the final stand of Bowser is more the exact opposite direction than it is usual, it would have been more than fitting to have some dramatic shift in world themes and the order of them. Instead, New Super Mario Bros U has pretty much the exact same world themes as well as order like in the previous New Super Mario Bros games. Yet, New Super Mario Bros U gives each world theme a new, little twist to make them feel at least a little different.

And another, much better twist of New Super Mario Bros U: It's the first of the New Super Mario Bros games to contain a big, full featured world map with all the smaller worlds fit into it, making the vibrant and rich world of Mario viewable in a whole. It's smaller worlds are connected great with each other, the path Mario must take through the main worlds takes you everywhere, and the different world themes make for a colorful and detailed world map. Not only does it look beautiful, but it also adds a better sense of an actual adventure happening. During any time you may scroll around the map and take a peak at where the adventure will take you, and adding to the charm, the game tosses a few cut scenes that show what happens to the castle while Mario's on his way to that destination. And one last note: the game's world map also contains extra content such as enemies and powerups wondering around the world map, as well as a few other clever features, including some little by-the-by minigames, and hidden paths that must be found, making the world map part of the fun.

As far as the new features of the Wii U go, New Super Mario Bros U doesn't take that much usage of them. It's the best launch title to show off the off-screen play, but the touchscreen is only used for multiplayer, with some good yet limited use of it, and the visuals do not push the graphical abilities of Nintendo's system at all. Don't get me wrong, though, this isn't counted as a negative.

What does seem like a negative is that it seems like Nintendo took it quite easy with this game and made it themselves quite comfortable. They did put a lot of thought and polish into this game, but you'll also notice that they only did that, what was really necessary. Take the visuals, for example. Seeing the typical New Super Mario Bros visual style shine in HD, with backgrounds finally being 3D and getting lots of depth really is great. Actually, there are multiple beautiful and impressive looking backgrounds here to be admired. However, seeing the game recycling backgrounds for multiple levels is a bit odd. Or take the animations. Seriously, Nintendo took the amount of newly created animations to the possible minimum, making some cutscenes look a bit dated.

However, what's absolutely not acceptable is the soundtrack. It's still heavily the soundtrack from the Wii game, with some more, new tracks than New Super Mario Bros 2 had, but it's still lame having to hear so many tracks from the Wii game a third time. It's reaching a limit where the music just comes soaring out of people's ears right after entering them, and it's pretty frustrating and odd to see that Nintendo was so lazy with the game's soundtrack when considering that Nintendo puts a lot of effort into making good music for most of their games.

--- Gameplay ---

Just as the presentation, New Super Mario Bros U's gameplay is very familiar. Like usual for a 2D platformer game, you guide Mario from left to right, avoiding the usual obstacles while snagging powerups to enlarge your chance of success and coins to collect 1-Ups, which are as easy to become as stomping yet another Goomba. Controls are, weirdly, even better than ever. Mario has all of his typical moves at disposal, and he controls as if you're controlling him with your own thoughts. Level Design in New Super Mario Bros U is even more creative than ever, offering the best levels of the series so far, with some meaty challenge after the first 4 worlds of the game, and the 3 Star Coins in each to find, some of them hidden cleverly, while some other are hard to reach. Not to forget the occasional secret exits that unlock hidden paths among the world map. It's all quite familiar yet all still so fun. And like stated before, it's not as if the game hasn't improved over it's predecessors, since it's got clearly the best level design of all four games. And there is some innovation in the level design; a few new ideas and objects as well as a combination of 2 familiar ideas that haven't been combined within a level before make for some innovation, though not much. The majority of the levels seem rather familiar, just better and more cleverly designed than ever.

It's outside of the level design where the game picks more up in novelty. Baby Yoshi's can be found on the world map which than follow you from level to level, until you die or lose them, granting Mario some unique, new powers. Meanwhile, Nabbit, a totally new character to the Mario Universe, steals Mushrooms from Mushroom houses and hides in specific levels, who you then have to chase down in the level he hides in. A much different, but nice addition is the integration of Miiverse. It lets you state your opinion about levels you've just played, while at the same time let's comments from many different people appear on the world map. It really is these touches that make the game stand out from the other ones and let it feel fresh.

And of course, this game can be experienced, just like the Wii one, with multiple friends among your side. While the main four players still play the same role and characters, a fifth player can join the Mustache-Mushroom fun and create platforms out of thin air, as well as interact with some enemies and platforms. The multiplayer is as fun and chaotic as ever, and definitely a particularly great offering for parties. The addition of a fifth player engaging himself with a kind of god-mode is a nice one, though it's probably not as fun as playing as one of the 4 main characters. It can however be a great help for inexperienced gamers, or a great option for those who aren't very good at platformer games and just want to join the fun fast and easy. Oh, and if you're up for some competitive play, Coin Battle mode is the perfect choice. It's the same as in the Wii game, yet a bit more competitive this time around.

Snagging a copy of New Super Mario Bros U will also mean you'll have quite an impressive amount on content to discover. The lengthy main game is only part of what forms New Super Mario Bros U, as there are also two additional modes, Boost Rush Mode and Challenge Mode. Boost Rush Mode is about mastering side scrolling levels as fast as possible, speeding up the scrolling by collecting coins, which is accessible from one to five players. The real surprise is challenge mode. This mode tosses challenges towards you that rate from one star (fairly challenging) to 5 stars(super-enormous-tough), in which you can get a bronze medal, silver medal or gold medal. Or of course a fail. These challenges take place either in totally new terrains or in levels from the main game, and it's incredibly fun to try to beat each challenge, and succeeding in them is tremendously satisfying. They are also quite varied, and only the fewest are less than good or frustrating.

--- Verdict --- 

It's simple: New Super Mario Bros U prefers to deliver an experience not very different from it's predecessors, while at the same time, never falling into the category "predictable". Sure, there are some overly predictable parts in the game. But others, like the sudden appearance of an classic Mario enemy in glorious HD on your TV screen that hasn't been seen since the mighty Super Mario World, or a level with a theme unlike any other level seen before in the New Super Mario Bros series, form some truly great moments of the game. You won't be able to shake off the familiar feel the game has, but these new, little twists make sure you will be getting enough "new" to keep you playing.

In fact, New Super Mario Bros U is without a doubt the best entry into it's series yet, as well as one of the launch titles worth to get for the Wii U. It's level design is always creative and fun, it is an overall challenging and satisfying game with lots of secrets, it's got some cool bosses and a very epic final battle, and, unlike the 3DS version, it's able to separate itself from it's predecessors, with new features and innovations, new, additional modes, in particular challenge mode, that add variety, novelty and more fun content as well as HD graphics with much nicer visuals. It's definitely not a good showcase of the Wii U, and does not present next-generation gaming in any ways, but that isn't a negative at all. What does disturb at some occasions is when you do notice that it could have been more, it could have been grander, as Nintendo did stay relatively save with this title, not taking too many risks (and yes, even in terms of level design that is). But it's still an incredibly enjoyable game that is definitely worth getting.

The Good

• creative, varied and challenging levels
• fun and cool boss battles
• Incredible controls
• Nice HD visuals
• a full world map with all the little worlds connected with each other adds to the experience and looks really good
• new features and other innovations give the game a fresh enough feeling, while still featuring many throwbacks
• Multiplayer is a blast
• great use of Miiverse

The Bad

• Recycled music, again
• occasionally predictable
• game lies on the safe side

-

Review Score: 8.0/10

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Pokemon Black version 2

Once pokemon X and Y were announced i got that itch, you know that pokemon itch that we all get form time to time, and i had to fulfill that need quick. As suggested by my buddy CcJj from TGNGU i tried to find of the black and white titles, but at the time i couldn't and since i knew black and white 2 were available i went with black 2 to hold me over for the time being. Pokemon has changed very little in the way of things, same overall scenario: kid gets pokemon, travels on huge adventure, and foils evil organization bent on world domination. While this has that,  it does it in a much better way than what i remember previously, although from what i hear the story in the original black and white 2 is leagues better than the sequel, but for what it was i enjoyed it. The gameplay was very streamlined and sleek as well, with a nice presentation and layout that made battling even better than before.  The game locales and atmosphere were great as well, i never thought battling on a fashion show catwalk would ever be as entertaining as it was. Overall its an excellent entry in the series and hopefully X and Y will top it in every sense of the word (new mewtwo is a good start).

----

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

Who knew raiden would have ever ended up as cool as he currently is? Let alone another game staring him. But if anyone could do it platinum games can, and they have with this over the top action hack and slash that is a blast to play. The blade mode is a lot of fun to play with, cutting things to smithereens never gets old and its good at creating some great moments that make you look like a badass with very little effort. The story is nothing to write home about, which is strange for metal gear, but not so much for platinum games since story has never been the forefront for them, but its ok in this game and the rest of theirs since it takes a back seat to much of the rest. Jetstream sam was a pretty stand out character among the cast, he oozed style and and the battle against him was quite awesome. But that being said the final battle was just bananas, in a good way that is. Overall it was a solid game, and revengeance proved it had the goods. With solid and fast gameplay along with plenty of VR missions there should be plenty to do after all is said and done, which brings me to its length which is the only major drawback at about 6-8 hours long. But oh is it a fun ride for the entire duration.

----

 Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate

Here's a game that was easily one of my most anticipated games of the year, and did it live up to those expectations? Well sort of. It was and is a superb game, but it felt as though it could have been so much more. The biggest issue i thought it had was that it didn't feel like there was as much of an incentive to go on, and even less to backtrack and pick up items you may have missed. That aside everything else was pretty good, combat like lords of shadow before it was fluid and it gave the attacks the feeling of a lot of power behind them. Dracula's castle was dark and atmospheric as it should be, but it did look a bit similar in some sections. It plays pretty much like a mix of the original castlevania, lords of shadow, and a pinch of metroidvania in there, but only a little. The presentation was good too with each area giving off that diorama effect they were originally going for with the 3D effect. The part i liked the most was that it really felt like i was scaling a massive castle, not that other games in the series haven't done that but this one did that really well. Its an excellent game regardless of those minor gripes, it tells a decent story and paves the path for the true sequel that is lords of shadow 2.  

---

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

Cyberconnect 2 the people behind the past slew of naruto games have created another solid entry into the popular fighting series. The opening with the fox attacking the village is easily the highlight of the game, its just gorgeous. As is the rest of the presentation which most can see replicates the anime amazingly well. But its not without its faults, one of which is the rather straight forward adventure mode. The last game gave you a ton of missions and other things to tackle within the leaf village and other areas, but now its mainly get from point A to point B with very little in the middle other than traveling and some nicely drawn scenery. As for the combat its fast and as cinematic as ever, with nice particle effects and explosions. Things have been simplified though to a degree, it appears many characters have less moves and less combo's then they had in the previous game. It still plays superbly well, but these small things kinda drag down what would otherwise be one of the best in the series. I'm still working on some of the missions they give you after you finish the game, but three's not a whole lot of reason to go on unless i intend to get all the trophies. Good game with some minor problems, but its still got a wealth of content sure to please any fan of the series.

----

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

I'm currently mid way through this title at the moment, i didn't pick it up at launch unfortunately. But oh man is this a great game, I'm having a blast with it so far and I'm at the 4th mansion out of 5. Next level have outdone themselves, i loved punch out and their attention to detail and excellent animations and personality are shining in this one. Luigi has never been more expressive and alive than he is here, he jumps back and shivers with fear as one would expect but his interactions with the environment are top notch and pretty comical in some instances. While there aren't ghosts like in the previous game (those with a backstory or a defined design), there are a ton of smaller ghosts and a few stand outs that have just as much if not more charm. Each room is packed with many objects and hidden switches among other things, you'll want to search every nook and cranny in hopes of revealing a hidden gem, boo, cash, or a bonus room you might have overlooked. So far this is my favorite game this year, i expected it to be good, but i think even i underestimated mario's little brother this time.

-----

Recently announced games

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

We all pretty much knew what phantom pain was the moment we saw it, but it is good that the veil of kojima's twisted humor has been lifted. The trailer was just awesome and i couldn't be more excited to see how this one plays out and if it will lead us right to the eventual doorstep of metal gear 1. We now know the man in the trailer is none other than big boss, but with this trailer we've learned that mother base from peace walker has been demolished and that snake is now missing a forearm and has been in a coma for 9 years! I'm curious to see all the changes that have affected the world since peacewalker, and all the faces that will show up along the way within his new group "diamond dogs". One thing to note though is that apparently david hayter is not reprising his role as snake in this game, which is needless to say a huge disappointment. He has literally made that character for me and many others, but i have a strange suspicion that this is all another one of kojima's games and its meant to string us along till E3 when there is more to be shown and the lid can be lifted. 

--

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2 (or as its known right now)

We knew miyamoto had mentioned way back that he wanted to return to the world of a link to the past, and here we can finally see that it has come to fruition. It was only revealed a few days ago, but already its easily one of my most anticipated 3DS games. It retains the look and feel of the original game, while giving us a new story, a new wall merging mechanic and much more that we haven't even seen yet. Personally I'm just glad we can finally get another 2D zelda game, even though its actually 2.5D with actual character models instead of sprites. But regardless I'm happy that its not in the same art style as WW anymore, needless to say that I'm sick of that art design and returning to this design is a breath of fresh air. The game from what i hear is running at 60 frames per second and it looks crisp and smooth. Aonuma and Nintendo EAD are working on this, so its sure to be one hell of a ride.

----

PS4 Impressions/thoughts

By now everyone and their grandma has seen what they have shown of ps4 and what it has to offer. Sony showed off a bit of the graphical power and laid down some of the things we can expect from it in the coming year. But personally for me i didn't see anything that stood out to me, or anything that seemed to make me want to go out and get one. I actually feel pretty content with my ps3 still and i currently don't feel like the upgrade is necessary for me yet. I know thats just my opinion but if they really want to win me over they need the software and a reason to take the next step, and from everything seen so far its just not doing that for me. Same goes for what little we have heard rumored for the xbox 720, always online DRM? No used games? All these things sound terrible and with the focus on social media and other additions these are becoming less and less what i want personally from a gaming machine. The power also has me a bit worried, since the previous systems were prone to overheat, how will these be any better with even more power under the hood? Ill look forward to e3 in hopes that they can change my perspective on the ps3 and whatever microsoft has, but as of right now im just not interested. Oh and hopefully they will show the actual system this time lol.

 ----

Any who that does it for the games section. I was thinking of doing an editorial rant for my next blog about gamers today and how jaded they are. What do you guys think, should i do it?

Got my figma link figure a while back, figured id show hm off here

He's great, but man it was a pain to get his sword into his hands (almost felt like it was gonna break)

 ---

i also ordered the pit one which should come within this or next month.

--

And last but not least I also promised you guys In October of last year that i would reveal myself in my costume for Halloween, so here i am as naked snake/ Big Boss from mgs3, in all my ridiculous glory.

This is the image i based my costume off of 

*Gasp* *shock and awe insues*

Now that you have all seen my true face will your perception of me change? Who knows But i felt it was high time i showed myself

And that's all for now, thanks for reading guys. And i hope you all have a great weekend.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Have a nice day!

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

So, whats been going on with me? Ehh.. not much. Over the past year, I moved to YouTube and became obsessed with online game reviewers like wiiviewr, Storm Dain, the occasional AVGN (I think the dudes way overrated, but hes watchable), and recently someone named Red Guy. Heck, I even tried doing this myself. I thought of the idea back in March of last year, and finished my first episode in late July. There was just one problem: I only had three episodes done when I premiered the series (titled: TheCrazyEvens Gaming Life) in September, and I was lazy in getting the fourth one done. I quit putting them up the next month. I still make them, I do have an idea as to what Im going to do with them, but I need to mature a bit before I can actually manage a series on my own. Don't bother searching, I put the videos on private. I'll probably repost them sometime here, but again, not now.

Now that I'm back here, I've decided to do a few things. I'm going to revamp the "Would it Matter?" series today on AONU, and Friday at the TGNGU (both topics will be unique). I'll also post heads up for any upcoming reviews I'll do. And maybe, JUST maybe, I'll start typing up that story I previewed back in 2011. So, a lot of things are going to happen here: and I'm glad to be back.

Even

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Generations was no doubt a tribute to the history of Sonic, and in some ways, manages to show the good and the bad that the series has gone through over the years. However, that's not to say that this tribute is a shameless one. During the end credits, a certain someone caught my attention and got me pondering a few things. This certain someone was Princess Elise, the human co-star of the oft-panned Sonic the Hedgehog game from 2006. Personally speaking, I don't know much about her as a character, seeing as how I've never play Sonic '06 and probably never will. The only memories I have of her would be an interview with her voice actress, a few images, and to a lesser extent, that infamous scene where she plants one on Sonic. And to be perfectly honest, that's what bugs me. (I know, who wasn't disturbed by that last bit, but that's not what I meant... lol)

I bring this up being admittedly ignorant as to how her tale in Sonic '06 unfolded and exactly what Sega/Sonic Team's plans for her ever really were. Nevertheless, I feel as though this is a character whose fate has been sealed by the fact her initial role just so happened to be part of a disasterous game. No, I'm not about to make some 'equal rights' rant about the whole thing, but it still bums me out that the chance of seeing her again in a future Sonic game are probably slim to none now. Ironically enough, one of my favorite stages from Generations just so happens to be Crisis City from Sonic '06, so perhaps I feel a little sympathy for Elise, being a part of that game that hasn't gotten the same exposure as a character like Silver. Not to mention when I think about games like the Mario&Sonic series, I think she would have made at least a great cameo.

The fact that seeing a half-second image of her during a montage video was the first time in years Elise has even come to my mind made me realize that she's pretty much has become a forgettable part of Sonic history, and that's a bummer. So until further notice, I think I'm going to challenge myself to keep Elise in mind and hope that her Sonic-related future doesn't always remain blank because of a train wreck. Of course, this could have easily been a topic about Big the Cat, Fang, or some other long-forgotten Sonic character(s) that Generations failed to acknowledge, but you don't get many opportunities to stand up for a princess.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot