Kirby's 20th Anniversary Collection Challenge Stages feature

According to the American site for the compilation, one of the features is listed as:

"Brand-new Challenge Stages like the ones in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land".

Does this mean it'll have its own selection of Challenge Stages that didn't appear in that game?

Japanese Nintendo Direct Dragon Quest X special

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5aoxtxge5M

Bear in mind Satoru Iwata is hosting this in Japanese, for a Japanese audience.

Man, why can't they just announce that it's coming over here already?? Also, where's the "Operation Rainfall" online fan campaign for it? The DQ series in general is miles better than Last Story or Xenoblade or whatever.

We gotta get some excitement happening for this game! Let it be known that we want it too!

1up.com compares the different handheld format games on the new 3DS XL

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9112058

After testing all the various Nintendo handheld games available for the 3DS including older ones ie GB/GBC/GBA/DS/3DS they concluded with a list of hardware that's best for each type of game to play on.

To be honest it's depressing to imagine something like the GBA SP still being the recommended format to play anything on.

By right the 3DS XL should be the best one to play every handheld game that came before it since that's the latest one.

One more thing, I think they should've talked about Game Gear VC games too.

Finished paying final mortgage in Animal Crossing for Wii!

Horray! First time in the lengthy period in which I've owned this game that I've paid the whole lot off. Between lapses in play and starting from scratch it took me quite a while.

So what to do now? Still plenty. I'll collect all the fossils now instead of selling them for example so that'll be fine. I still have to try and catch the tarantula and the scorpion too!

Nintendo 3DS XL is out today!

There's a mild enough effort put out by retailers in Cork for the release of this. HMV have a trade in deal with loads of different formats in order to get a 3DS XL, including ones for getting rid of your PS3 and 360! To top it off there's a trade in deal for the Vita to get a 3DS XL. That is quite a surprise!

So it's between them and Gamestop. I didn't have time to check out Smyths. HMV price is about 10 Euro cheaper. They're both between 200 and 220 Euro. Sorry I don't remember the exact prices.

New Super Mario Bros 2 is out next month for 3DS. Will there be a bundle deal I wonder?

Starting to watch Chrontendo

Chrontendo is a vlog series where this guy talks about every NES/Famicom game ever made in chronological order(not sure about exceptions).

It's a great idea. I love the console and its library and I often find amazing titles in there I never knew before existed. That happens to this very day and I love when I find something new!

On watching a few episodes of this I find that I had played most of the games from the early Japanese years of the console's release, but only had the chance through those pirate famiclone things. Those early games were great fun for the most part!

I wonder if watching this series will demystify the console's library for me or maybe it'll make it the best console ever in my eyes? I won't think about such serious things and just enjoy the show. You should give it a go too. It's pretty good :)

Any sign of Dragon Quest X coming out in Ireland?

I see lots of excitement about Dragon Quest X online but it's all in Japan. There isn't a single mention of it in the west. It wasn't even at E3 for crying out loud. I hope it does come out over here. I'll buy it; I've bought all the main series DQs that have been released over here.

Maybe it'll be like the case with Pokémon Typing which hasn't had a squeak about its release over here until a few weeks ago when Satoru Shibata announced it in Nintendo Direct. I want to see that man announce Dragon Quest X for Europe!

Virtual Console features make Wario Land 2 more fun

If Wario Land 2 has any flaws at all it's the sub-games where you match pictures or numbers. They're irritating and boring in any game they appear in unless it's being presented by Alex Trebek. Then it's awesome.

Anyway the VC menu allows you to pause the moment in which the picture cards are drawn and the restore point feature allows you to revert to the point before the number tiles are revealed, allowing you to save money and helping to prevent you having to do the level again if you lose too much money.

Wario Land 2 has been improved. Thanks VC! :)

Horizon Riders is finally coming to WiiWare in Europe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pPESuj_OIo

There's the trailer.

This got some fans interested but there was no sign of a release date for what seemed like forever until now. It's a shmup type of game that uses the Wii Balance Board! Now, I'm a big fan of using the balance board for games which include Super Monkey Ball and the idea of this just seems dandy!

Kirby's Pinball Land coming to the VC this week in Europe

I liked this game very much as a kid and I actually felt motivated to get high scores and multipliers and everything. It is one of the greatest pinball games ever made or at least one of the few I ever cared about.

Another thing, this won't appear on the Kirby 20th anniversary collection just so you know. All the same I'd like to see that collection get a European release date as well...

Silly rumour about Nintendo buying Rare back

Have a google around and you'll see some rumours that are silly but omg a big part of me wishes were true.

Now we kind of know already that most of Rare are gone now and they're doing this weird stuff for Microsoft.

One definite thing that'd be nice about this would be if we had Rare's N64 catalogue available on Virtual Console.

But even if Nintendo just got the Banjo-Kazooie property they would treat it better than it's being treated right now.

New Super Mario Bros 2 will have over 80 stages

The official website for this game says it'll have over 80 stages! Very nice and quite a good bit of value for money too!

Wario Land 2 out on VC today :)

Is it worth 5 Euro? You bet it is! It's my first GBC VC game. My favourite way to play this is still on the Super Game Boy but this is decent enough. I'd like to try it with the 3DS XL when that comes out.

New Super Mario Bros 2 gets 36/40 in Famitsu

Nice score, which incidentally was the exact same for the first NSMB for the DS. Remember how NSMBWii got a perfect 40? Maybe the pattern will follow for the Wii U version! :)

I gotta get a tarantula in Animal Crossing Let's go to the City

I often come across tarantulas in this game but I can't catch one before it turns and attacks me instead. I gotta research for tips and tricks and strategies on how to catch one.

I WILL catch one someday!

Wario Land II coming to 3DS VC!

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/nintendo_3ds_virtual_console/wario_land_ii_52375.html

Yes! I love this game. It's my favourite Wario platformer — it was the first game I played that had multiple endings and the last that did it properly without being a pain in the ass and make you play the whole thing up to where the story splits.

It seems from the screenshots on the site linked above that it's the GBC version. The version I have is the GB/SGB version so yeah I'd like to get this!

It's out this Thursday and it'll cost 5 Euro.

Insert Credit, Retronauts, GoNintendo

There's been some changes in my regular daily commute so I've been listening to more podcasts. insertcredit.com has a new one and it's kind of interesting except for that screaming sound that they played a few times in the first episode.

Retronauts is decent enough though some of their opinions dumbfound and infuriate me. It serves the retro need well though.

Gonintendo of course is good fun and has lots of fun banter (in between the belching) which makes it a fun listen.

Game Centre CX Kirby Challenge Stages Special from the anniversary collection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=asrB-SP62xQ

There are a couple of these videos around. Always fun to watch the show and Arino is likeable as always. I haven't seen it in ages though.

I'd still like the Kirby 20th Anniversary collection to make it over here. The challenge he plays here is not only on this disc but also on Kirby's Adventure Wii. I wonder if there'll be any exclusive content?

Transferring data from 3DS to 3DS XL official video from Nintendo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHS56j93lhU

Very important to watch and it clarifies a few things. This'll be nice to look forward to.

Project Sora is dissolved but Sora Ltd lives and zzzzz....

*yawn* who cares. Kid Icarus Uprising was crap. Make some good games from now on!

Food for thought: someone wants to make a DK64 sequel

Some guy from Camelot recently said he'd be interested in making a sequel to DK64. I find that very interesting. Would it be successful? Would it capture the spirit of N64 adventure 3D platformers? Will there be arcade games like DK Arcade and Jetpac from the original?

I am fond of DK64 but I wouldn't have guessed for a second that someone would want to make a sequel to it.

Mole Mania coming to VC soon

Everybody should try out Mole Mania when it comes out on VC. :) It was a great Nintendo Game Boy game. Back in the day I used the Super Game Boy to play it and it was something special. It was a hot 1997 Summer and I often got stuck in stages, looking stupefied and entranced at the screen trying to figure out how to get to the next screen. This music captures that point in time perfectly for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80dmIbJhX0

Got Rhythm Paradise for Wii (part 4)

So about the English and Japanese choices for soundtrack...

Again I must say that the best thing by far is to have the option between them and I feel bad that the American version doesn't have the option for the latter.

I have to say though that the English version is the best and most enjoyable.

Got Rhythm Paradise for Wii! (Part 3)

Sorry I'm late with the post again. It's because I've been constantly playing this game.

It rocks.

End of story.

Just go buy it.

So yeah there are these "Rhythm Toys" you can unlock which are tiny bits of fun. One is a password entry thing that looks almost exactly like the Japanese Famicom adventure game Portopia Serial Murder Case with you typing in words and your assistant making comments about it.

Another one is with these drum cymbal things that start playing a song when you get the rhythm right and an alarm clock where you have to time the rhythm to wake the cuckoo up and....

You know what? I should just start illustrating this game with links to videos. It's very hard to describe it in text.

Actually, yeah, don't bother READING reviews for this game, see if there are any video reviews and watch those instead.

Actually they mightn't be good enough either hmm...

So just watch some videos of the rhythm scenarios being played. I'll link some of my favourites in future posts.

Got Rhythm Paradise (part 2)

I've been playing so much of this game I love it. I forgot to mention how the text is ENORMOUS in the game which is a wonderful wonderful thing. The text in the Project Rainfall trilogy of RPGs had horrendous tiny text that tried to blind you. Same with Skyward Sword. Not this, the text is nice and big! As it should be! They should make an RPG with these graphics. It would be better than every RPG out there at the moment.

When I went to buy the game yesterday actually I saw Final Fantasy XIII-2 in the bargain bin for both PS3 and 360 selling for about 17 Euro. I'm not sure when that got released but it was fairly recently. Man that game devalued really quickly. Noone must like that game.

Sorry for deviating. Anyway Rhythm Paradise on Wii is wonderful and again it doesn't have load times. Most of the musical rhythm scenarios are absolutely wonderful and there are even nice little surprises like a hint café and a random challenge that pops up now and again on a level you completed, which is an idea taken from Super Mario Galaxy when those shooting star comet things pop up.

Try it out! It's better than Theatrhythm too.

Got Beat the Beat Rhythm Paradise!

It came out today and I couldn't be happier! No loading times, aesthetically pleasing visuals on a very high level and pure one or two button musical, joyful, arcadey gameplay. Pick it up and you just start laughing and smiling.

I really appreciate the Japanese sountrack but I have to say so far I prefer the English one.

I've come across some brilliant mini games, some crap ones too but my favourite by far is the Air Rally one with the badminton between planes. That bloody cat makes me laugh so much!

Got a silver shovel in Animal Crossing Let's go to the City

Finally! I was trying to get it for ages but it only happens by chance when the traffic cones are out of the way on the far right side of the city. When they're out of the way and you see a light coming from the tunnel (and it must be after 8pm by the way) then you can go through and find the silver shovel!

It's said to help you get more money when you hit rocks with it so I'll try that out soon.

One major thing that more than justifies Theatrhythm Final Fantasy's existence

I've already said I don't think much of the game based on the demo I played but I have to say the concept is a great one.

The reason of course is that the most of these RPGs that anybody ever plays is the music. Someone could say that Final Fantasy VI is the best game ever made and yet, they may not have even completed the game — but they would almost certainly have spent countless hours listening to the soundtrack over and over.

Maybe they even went so far as to play the soundtrack through Vib Ribbon on the PS1! Many would probably do that and now they have a full game available to them that gives them that chance.

Castlevania: The Adventure is coming to 3DS VC this week

Saw this listed on Nintendo's site. I never played the game before. Nowadays of course we have the reimagining on WiiWare called "Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth", either of which I haven't played.

So which to get if at all? We'll see what else is available this Thursday for downloadable stuff.

Anticipating Beat the Beat Rhythm Paradise for Wii

I've been waiting months for this game to come out and it finally does at the end of the week! I can't wait to do the wrestler interview and try everything else in this game.

The DS version of course is wonderful even though it makes me nervous for my touch screen. There won't be such an issue here. No risk of hardware damage here unless you keep losing!

I'd love Slitherlink for the eShop in Ireland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u4tTYnEC0Y
Here's a trailer for the game which is now available on the American eShop. I love these puzzles and the only place I can see them here in Ireland is in Nikoli brand Sudoku puzzle books where they feature sparsely among the Sudoku puzzles. Hashiwokakero puzzles appear the odd time in these books too and I love those too.

Please Nintendo and Nikoli, bring these puzzles to our eShop! It's not like they're big heavy Role Playing Games or anything! They're just fun electronic puzzle books!

Have a look at these links if you want to learn more about these puzzles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slitherlink
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashiwokakero

Pokémon Typing Japanese unboxing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Osxm86eDCw
On the run up to this game's Irish release in September I've been looking at some videos since I'm really interested in this game and here we have a great one with an unboxing of the Japanese version. I'm pleased to see that it comes with a stand and I'm curious about that key that shows a the house symbol. It's kind of like the one on Wii controllers so that's got me all interested.

I'm glad we're going to get an English keyboard and I wonder if it'll be bigger?