Project Zero 2 Wii edition is out today

I'm not too crazy about survival horror games. If you like them though you can check this out. I don't know much about it except that the series isn't about blood and guts at all since you're dealing with ghosts and with a camera thingy.

It's a remake of an old Playstation 2 game and to be honest, I would rather have seen it sold at a budget price.

Playing Mutant Mudds

I got Mutant Mudds the other day from the eShop and I've most of it cleared at this stage I think. It's a fun enough platformer where your character plods along and shoots water at mud baddies. He also has a hover move as well. It starts fun enough and then it gets very hard later on.

This was also the game that represented my last hope for liking 3D because of the background/foreground hopping mechanic but I have to say the 3D effect adds absolutely nothing to the experience. As a consolation it doesn't detract from the experience either, though I do think those thwomp like enemies are very distracting.

Just saw Minecraft's ending, reminds me of EarthBound!

I haven't looked at any Minecraft videos since last Autumn (just before the game came out fully) and I was watching a YouTuber obtain the ending, which has since been added.

It's a load of scrolling dialogue text which immediately made me think of EarthBound's coffee drinking sequence. Obviously EarthBound and Minecraft are structured very differently and you can see that contrast come through in the scrolling dialogue of both games. If that was a nod to EarthBound then Mojang earns many cool points from me :)

First ever discounts on Nintendo downloads

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2011/get_20_off_selected_nintendo_eshop_titles_for_a_limited_time_only_50133.html

Nintendo's never done a discount on their downloadable games before. This is a kind of celebration for having the eShop open for at least one year. In any case it's pretty cool.

These are all timed discounts so have a look at the games in the list via the link and see if there are any games you're interested in.

The fact that amounts of money will go into decimals will be a strange enough concept, at least for us in the Eurozone.

Further clarification on the NSMB Wii file stars

If you find everything in the game you get 5 stars but if you manage to do this without having the super guide helper block thingy appear then the 5 stars will sparkle.

True it may be and no doubt I'll try it at some stage but... big deal ^^;

So... the 3DS XL

Yeah I first saw this on the Nintendo Direct and my immediate reaction was one of cringe.

But hey it might be good now that I think more about it. The D-Pad might be in a better position to reach with all that extra bigness around it. The top screen is still bigger than the bottom screen so that'll probably get marked again but I have seen that problem solved as long as you get those screen protectors. It'll come with a bigger SD card, have a longer battery life and it won't come with an AC charger– it uses a normal 3DS one so that's fine. I'm open to the idea of getting this but haven't decided yet.

By the way, I don't care about extra circle pads on a handheld. Nobody really does except for gadget freaks.

Trying out the Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance demos

Demos for these two games were released on the eShop recently so I decided to have a go on them.

The daftly named Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is similar to Elite Beat Agents or Looney Tunes Cartoon Concerto except you're not tapping the actual circles which appear on the top screen, you're tapping the lower screen which makes it kind of like a tablet or something. To be blunt it's less fun than the two DS titles I mentioned. It's also going to be DLC'd to death after it releases so I'm going to sit this one out and delete it off my SD card.

The pretentiously named Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance has the irritating little shit from The World Ends With You, a backwards controlled camera with no option to change; jumps mapped to B and attacks mapped to A also with no option to change, so I deleted this waste of space off my SD card immediately.

Nintendo Direct 22 June 2012: Bigger 3DS, Pokémon Typing etc

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/nintendo_direct_47764.html

I'm not gonna say much. The above link is news straight from the official horse's mouth and frankly it's the best place to find out about it.

As for the stuff you get from me, I am really looking forward to Pokémon Typing! I didn't think they'd ever bring that from Japan!

Also, I would've liked Rocket Slime 3D or Dragon Quest X or at the very least the Kirby Collection that's been announced overseas... bring those here please!

Mutant Mudds out today in Ireland on 3DSWare!

Incidentally, this was one of the few games that made me think the 3D feature might be ok. I don't have the game yet but I'll have to check it out.

You see, you can change to the background and foreground and back to the middle in this platformer so this might be nice and interesting. Wario Land for the Virtual Boy had something like this too so we could be onto a winner here.

If it does well maybe they'll revive that Wario Land game for 3DS? That would be quite nice :)

Castlevania [COLON] Lords of Shadow [N-DASH] Mirror of Fate

FUCK. THAT. NAME.

Mutant Mudds out on 3DSWare this week in Ireland

According to Nintendo's official site for the game it'll cost 9 Euro and according  to various googling it'll have 40 levels.

It's a fan favourite in the US and has a nice retro aesthetic so it might be a nice one to check out.

GoNIntendo says Nintendo Selects: Super Paper Mario is coming out in Europe

http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=179089

There's the link to the story. Now I'd like this game and it's supposedly this week that it's to be released but I don't see any other sign that it's coming out. I'll keep a sharp eye out.

Getting five stars in New Super Mario Bros Wii

Man it was hard finding information about how to do this. Getting all the star coins isn't enough, you have to find all the exits — secret and normal — and then you'll get a chime and a message on the map saying you found everything in the game. This is how you get a fifth star on your save file.

How do you know if you have them all found? Well, if you do then all the hint movies back at Peach's Castle will be made available to trade for star coins.

Here's another thing: The green '!' block appeared for me a few times when I kept on losing lives and I was still able to get the fifth star. The information I've been finding online kept saying you're not able to get it if this happens. Well, that information is wrong.

Got all star coins in New Super Mario Bros Wii!

I finally got them all! It was pretty hard. I also completed the very last level which is 9-8. I thought it was going to be this extreme hard level but it turned out to be hugely fun! Try to get all the coins because that stage is well worth playing!

E3 2012 must see vid with Iwata and Non Specific Action Figure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx38Q2nEJBk

This video is a must see. I just love non specific action figure. It's one of the best things Nintendo's PR team have come up with since Nintendo Week. After watching this video I couldn't help but smile and give two thumbs up of my own! Yeah!!

Paper Mario Sticker Star E3 Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U2cTOnhMmU

Here it is though you can now download the video off the eShop as of today. I haven't connected today so I'm not sure whether it's in 3D or not.

In any case it's Paper Mario so you can expect it to have a certain level of goodness about it. I like the fan that's featured in the trailer and I also like the big Goomba sticker, which has this glitter effect. It's reminiscent of all those Panini soccer stickers we used to collect as kids. Nostalgic! (I don't miss buying those stickers though!!!)

Wii U's Nintendo Land (Part 2)

I forgot to mention the Animal Crossing themed Sweet Day yesterday. This seems like fun too and it makes me think of the multiplayer modes in one of the Zelda DS games where a player could play as either Link or as a guard. You kind of need stuff like this for every video game console.

There's also the Luigi's Mansion themed game that seems very reminiscent of Pac-Man VS. That game is one of the first I thought about when I first learned about the Wii U last year and all I gotta say is it just has to make an appearance. It just has to.

Wii U's Nintendo Land

There are loads and loads of videos featuring the various aspects of Nintendo Land on YouTube so I won't go into them. I am quite interested in the Donkey Kong and Zelda themed games and I'd love to try them.

The Zelda one for example reminds me of Dragon Quest Swords. I liked that game even though there were control issues. I'm expecting a better experience from Zelda; Skyward Sword had great controls after all.

Rayman Legends E3 trailers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmVtkqypEBw
Here's the E3 trailer for Rayman Legends that shows the "asymmetric gameplay" we keep hearing about. This shows it off very nicely actually. 2 guys platforming, 1 guy doing a cursor-like character with the touchscreen. Have a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52gwzOHXSTQ

There's also this famous level with the rhythm action and guitar rockin' out action! This is what kind of won me over.

I wonder how single players would go through those levels? Particularly the rhythm action one? How are they going to implement that I wonder? We'll find out the whole deal with this soon enough.

Heroes of Ruin demo and E3 trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW2PSk8L-50

Here's the trailer that was featured at E3 though if you already have a 3DS and the means to connect it online you can see a lot more videos of it on the eShop. A downloadable demo of it was recently made available too. I had a go of it and it seems decent enough. The dialogue is stuffy and boring but the beast character I was playing as was pretty cool and he had a cool voice. I also like the quick access to healing, equipping and selling via the d-pad. The main gameplay is solid enough, nothing too special but it's ok.

This of course is one of Square-Enix's endeavours to make games that would appeal to players in the west. I wonder if it'll turn out well.

Pikmin 3 the Real-time action-management game

Here's the trailer anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxWIvaD2XQI

I have to say that the New Play Control version of Pikmin 2 is great with Wii remote controls and that's a dead cert that this sequel will be a great game.

We see new stuff like Rock Pikmin and extra leaders whom you can delegate tasks to, adding an extra sense of depth to the action.

Miyamoto described this game as a "Real-time action-management" game. I always have a hard time describing this game to people who haven't played it. Whenever I say "strategy" people immediately start thinking of those PC strategy games or those Final Fantasy Tactics styled games.

Of course this isn't new to me or many other fans. The Pikmin series is 10 years old now can you imagine! I do remember buying the first game during the Summer months after the Gamecube launched. It's a series that never really got hugely popular but did have a good lot of fans.

The theatrics on stage with Miyamoto blowing the whistle and doing funny puppet stuff with a stuffed red Pikmin was fun enough. The way Bill Trinen walked out like a Pikmin and the way Reggie said he felt like a purple Pikmin was strange. Nintendo's PR entertainment always threads this fine line. It's very hard to describe how you feel when watching it.

There's one area where I have to commend them and that is putting a 3 in the title instead of some ridiculous subtitle. I hate titles with subtitles.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon E3 2012 trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm_mwNj06Uo

It's a pity that this sequel has a subtitle instead of a number. This game has been a long time coming hasn't it? Not sure when it'll be out. In addition to the above footage I've seen videos of people playing and it looks like there's very little stylus usage! Thank goodness! I'd hate there to be after the bad controls of Kid Icarus Uprising.

I'm looking forward to this game because it's an adventure game at heart and that's the type of game I like to see on 3DS because, say in the case of Ocarina of Time 3D, the gyro controls really make the game. I've almost forgotten that feature it's been so long. Luigi's Mansion 2 (force of habit) is one game I'm sure I can purchase confidently.

New Super Mario Bros U E3 trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4pJnV5OxPI

This is just what we want isn't it? That flying squirrel suit is cool but still a bit strange that we don't have the raccoon suit. We don't see it in the trailer in any case.

Yeah the game is an insta-buy though as a fan of quality I will of course be playing with a discerning eye :)

New Super Mario Bros 2 Trailer! Raccoon Mario flying, coin theme, economics?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO8xe2AUY4c
Here's the official E3 2012 trailer for the game. Very nice to watch and we're going to be getting it very soon in August.

I like the Raccoon Mario flying footage except for the fact that he flaps his arms now. That's weird. Before it was his moving tail that made him fly while his arms were out straight. It was the same in the cartoon show.

The coin theme is... interesting but I'm not so sure about it. Everywhere is coin heaven now. It'll definitely have a negative effect on the value of the coin unless there's a unique take on the scoring system.

Nintendo's E3 press conference was on today

It was exciting as usual to sit at the computer getting ready for it with a chat window in another tab with snacks to eat, like as if it was the Late Late Toy Show or something.

It was lacklustre this time apart from the immediate announcement of Pikmin 3 and the trailer for the new Mario Bros games on Wii U and 3DS. There wasn't much else that was exciting about the conference.

A lot was missing actually. It doesn't explain everything that carries over from the Wii, such as the Virtual Console for example. I'm shocked Dragon Quest X wasn't featured at all. They just wanted to focus on social media and third party developer accessibility for the most part I suspect.

Next up is all the stuff about 3DS.

Nintendo Direct from yesterday, Miiverse, pro controller, remote control etc

This went on for half an hour and heavily featured the Miiverse and social media features of the Wii U. That part was incredibly boring and irksome. I like the non specific action figure though :) in reaction to this I'm only going to make Miis that have non specific characteristics.

The other part of the social media thing I liked was that tiny clip that of a new 2D Mario. People online like Sean Malstrom have featured a gif of that clip on their blogs stripped of any social media stuff.

That tv remote control functionality seems okay and I hope they feature a button that switches between TV and AV channels.

They also announced a pro controller which looks almost exactly like an Xbox 360 controller. I guess that'll replace the Gamecube controller option that the Wii had. It'll surely be a better controller too because of the dpad and stuff.

Now the analogue sticks are official and they click like a Playstation's L3 and R3 buttons. My favourite part of this was the clicking sound effect they put in when they were demonstrating it :)

Nintendo pre-E3 2012 presentation is on live today at 11pm Irish time

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2011/watch_our_special_nintendo_direct_pre_e3_presentation_live_49788.html

There we go, the link to all the info you need. It's a live streaming thing and it's world wide. This'll surely reveal some important Wii U stuff before the big reveals tomorrow. I won't be able to see it live myself but I'll catch up. Make sure you tune in!

Edit: Sorry I made a mistake about the big reveals. It's not tomorrow it's Tuesday.

Tried Mario Tennis on 3DS today

What do I think of it? It's just tennis really. Go ahead if you like tennis.

Mega Man X2 is on VC now

The first Mega Man X arrived on the VC within the past few months and now the sequel is there too. It would be a good chance to get into the series if you haven't already.