I love the word "Metroidvania"

Another word that some people don't seem to like but I love to bits. Even the guy who came up with the term doesn't like it anymore! I'm not sure why but I've been listening to the podcast he's on for a few episodes now and if I were to hazard a guess I would say it's because he's fickle.

The last time I came across the term was surprisingly in an Irish newspaper that has a small weekly section for video games. I say surprisingly because game articles in newspapers are normally complete rubbish. I was surprised the author was even familiar with the term so they may be smarter with their "gaming PR" than I thought...

... or they could simply be misusing the term.

Anyway I love the word "Metroidvania". It describes a type of game I found hard to find more of after playing some Metroid games but since the term got more widely used I came across lists and recommendations for many other games of this type I never heard of before. Games such as "Within a Deep Forest" and "Seiklus".

My favourite Metroidvania is Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

Nintendo Gamer magazine is dead :/

Wowee.

They just announced on their website that they won't be bringing out hard copies of their magazine anymore. I suppose from now on it's just a blog like gamesradar, kotaku or any of those.

I've been getting this magazine for years as you may know but I haven't blogged about individual issues for a long time now. I'll have to catch up.

Noone really talked about them much but when they did it was always with fondness and I admit it was fun seeing Americans get thrown off by their sense of humour (though they always cop on to the jokes afterwards). They were always great for import reviews of games, often times being the very first review to appear and be listed on the likes of metacritic etc. Sales numbers for the magazine were awful for a loooong time. I think it may have been the worst selling games magazine in recent years but I'm not 100% sure on that.

The AVGN's anger management relax tape

James Rolfe made a fun relax tape, you know the kind that you listen to when you're stressed? Yeah, check it out here!

http://cinemassacre.com/2012/08/29/nerds-anger-management/

I enjoyed this a lot. I loved all the video game music he played during it too, especially the Mario 64 tracks. It just so happens that when I found this I was really stressed from constantly losing on stage 70 of Wario's Woods so the timing was impeccable :)

The still image of him sitting cross legged in the Nerd room with his frown is fun too. I'd love do download this audio for my iPod!

I love the word "Shmup"

Some people don't like this word though which is a pity. I heard someone diss the term on a podcast recently and I have a feeling the reason why some people don't like this term is because someone at Treasure thought it was really weird when he heard it first.

I don't care what he thinks! I've been using the word for years and I'll continue to use it. For the sake of avoiding confusion with people who don't know the term I'll say other things too like "2D shooter" or "it's a bit like Space Invaders".

Tak Fujii asks all fans about Mystical Ninja Goemon on Twitter, I give my answer here :)

Ooo! Some stuff about Mystical Ninja! Count me in!

This KONAMI Producer's Twitter is here:
http://twitter.com/tak_fujii
and here's where I found out about this:
http://www.gonintendo.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=91862

I'd like to give my own answer to both of his Twitter questions here, where I can give answers longer than 140 characters :P

Question1: Are you missing GOEMON ( Mystical Ninja ) ?

Me: I am! In fact I am missing all of Konami's classic characters and series like Twinbee, Parodius, Penguin Adventures, Road Fighter, Snatcher etc.

Question 2: OK, I hear your love... but I just wonder why. Why Goemon is so special for you, compare to other huge side scroll action franchises?

Goemon games are just like the best of the huge side scroll action franchises! They have rock solid gameplay mechanics and a colourful, appealing animated look. Goemon games are typically like a cross between Super Mario Bros 1 and The Legend of Zelda 1. What makes Goemon special is its theme and setting. Fans online love talking about how zany the humour is or anachronisms like giant robots or even just about how proud it is to be a Konami game for example having references to the Konami code or 573 or being able to go into a building in the game and play classic Konami arcade hits like Gradius. If you think you've seen it all when it comes to side scroll action games nothing prepares you for a Goemon game!

I wonder if KONAMI is thinking of bringing back Mystical Ninja/Ganbare Goemon? That would be so awesome!! :D It would also make me very happy if answers like mine help to make it happen. If you like Goemon, go and tweet Tak Fujii!

I never knew you could cancel a ground pound in NSMB Wii...

I saw a video recently where a guy was explaining little secrets in NSMB 2 and one of them was the cancellation of a ground pound mid-air. I never knew you could do that and it could come in very handy. You can do it in the Wii game as well so yeah that's pretty nice, I'm still learning new things about these games.

Snatcher reference in Gradius ReBirth!!

Following on from the previous post I made about Gradius ReBirth, there's also a reference to Snatcher in the game's intro!

You can clearly see a Metal Gear with a Nintendo Wii fitted, which is a reference to Snatcher where it was fitted with whatever hardware that version of the game came out on. I have to say, the Mega CD attached to Metal Gear looked very strange. The Wii looks very nice though!

Why couldn't Snatcher have appeared on Wii? Since the Wii revived adventure games it makes perfect sense. At least we got to see Metal Gear attached to a Nintendo Wii anyway, even though it was in a completely different game. (yet still a kick ass one)

"Broken Sword creator credits Wii/DS for saving adventure games" reports GoNintendo

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=184050

Yes! At last some praise! Noone credits the Wii and DS for something such as important as giving such a boost to the success of adventure games so thank you Charles Cecil for doing so, even though you had to bring the word "casual" into it so that ignorant parties like Telltale Games know what you're talking about.

Seriously I would pay money to see Charles Cecil clip everyone at Telltale Games across the ear for their broken Wii port of Sam and Max Season 2.

This GoNintendo post made me very happy indeed.

Donkey Kong Jr and NES Open Tournament Golf on eShop for everyone now

Of course for me it's all about downloading updates for these two, which were ambassador titles.

There's also a LEGO Batman 2 demo. Hm... I might try it out. Not normally crazy about those games though. We'll see.

New Super Mario Bros 2 Cannon Stages

I was pleasantly surprised when I found my first cannon stage. After jumping into the cannon you're shot horizontally and so begins an auto scrolling stage full of running and jumping! You also have a chance to collect red coins to win something like a coin flower. Another nice addition!

The mechanics of Tanooki/Racoon Mario in New Super Mario Bros. 2

There's a couple of significant differences from Super Mario Bros 3:

-You can hold the jump button instead of tapping it to fly
-The P-bar gradually empties instead of emptying completely as you run out
-When you hit the ground running the P-bar instantly refills

The last of which is AWESOME!

New Super Mario Bros 2 is great

It's a great game, very playable and a pure joy to play. I've also had the two big questions I had about the game answered on playing it. The questions being:

Q: Why is the world full of coins?
A: No reason in particular. A wizard did it maybe.

Q: Can you save anytime anywhere?
A: You can quicksave on the map and normal saves after castles etc.

Transferring non-DSi eShop purchases from 3DS to XL

This was another step I didn't mention in my post yesterday. When you've all the transferring done and start your new 3DS XL with the bigger 4 gig SD card you'll find that you have access to your DSiWare games(which are on the system's memory) but none of the other stuff like demos, 3DSWare, 3D Classics, Virtual Console games etc. This is because it's still on the old 2 gig SD card.

For this you need a PC and be able to load SD cards on it. Here's what I did to fix this:

1. Copy the stuff from the old SD to the desktop in a new folder called "holder"(suggested name)
2. Load the new SD card on the PC and make sure it's completely blank (you don't have to format it)
3. Copy what's inside the "holder" folder to the new SD card (but not the actual folder itself).

After that it's ready to go. I tripped up on this along the way. I tried copying over to the new card but it still wouldn't load anything so I just made sure it was completely blank before I did it again. There was probably some configuration that was incompatible.

Moving house to my new 3DS XL (in painstaking detail!)

As I type this there are Pikmin transferring the data from the old 3DS to the new 3DS XL I bought today! There are also Pikmin arranged to form the percentage number of the process that's complete but their job is to just stand there. I wonder if it's boring for them watching their group moving various bits and pieces to the new system? Or are they glad they got out of doing that arduous task?

So yeah I got a 3DS XL since NSMB2 came out. Good thing I waited too because I got a bundle in HMV for 229 Euro which includes the handheld, NSMB2 and a third party charger(the deal would've cost more if I didn't get the charger, funnily enough)

I keep hearing about GameStop offering to transfer the data for you as a service. I can't imagine how they'd be able to do it at all. First, you have to charge your new 3DS XL when you get it out of a box, then you have to go through loads of prompts and confirmations and you even have to connect online as part of the process. Then these little Pikmin have to transfer all this stuff to the new system. This kind of thing you're much better off doing in the comfort of your own home as it takes hours. In any case it really isn't something you can do while waiting at the counter in GameStop.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is out in Ireland today

I can't wait to play it! Everyone says it's more of the same but it's good same. There's lots of promo videos about it and it's probably difficult to go anywhere without bumping into it popping up somewhere.

Today's eShop release of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon

I've blogged before about the two different games on Game Boy titled "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon". Unfortunately this is the weaker of the two. Although it has Zelda-like gameplay and a decent atmosphere, it's not executed very well with its collision detection and perspective issues as well as its general blandness.

Now I would LOVE for the other "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon" game to come out on the eShop. When that game was originally released over here it was part of a compilation called "Konami GB Collection Volume 3", unlike the other game I described above whch was a standalone release.

I would love to see the games in Konami GB Collection Volume 3 be released on the eShop, as a classic Konami fan and a Mystical Ninja fan!

Gradius ReBirth has a reference to Antarctic Adventure :)

I never noticed this until today! Upon starting a new game in Gradius ReBirth a cutscene plays out in the form of a newsreel. Keep looking at the headlines and you'll see one about Pentarou reaching the South Pole!

To those who don't know, Antarctic Adventure was a 1983 release from Konami for the NES, MSX etc

There's an even cooler reference that really got me excited but I'll save that for another post ;) (if you looked at the cutscene you'd be able to see what it was!)

I didn't know Penélope Cruz had a sister in showbiz

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2011/cruz_sisters_settle_a_score_over_new_super_mario_bros_2_54681.html

Mónica's her name and she looks just like her. Here they both are in a promo for New Super Mario Bros. 2 challenging each other to a multiplayer session with their 3DS XLs.

Yera... why not.

Anyway I'm looking forward to the game when it comes out on Friday.

Double stars offer for downloading NSMB2 off eShop

It's well known that the eShop price is the same as the hard copy boxed price. Since the eShop gives you the opportunity to cut out the middleman Nintendo profits a lot more from that option. Now I'd love to cut out the middleman but I really want the full boxed cartridge copy. If I could buy that directly from Nintendo I'd go for that option in a heartbeat.

It's only appropriate too that Nintendo gives you double stars. It also shows that's what they want people to do.

Was world 4's map in Super Mario Bros 3 inspired by Dragon Quest?

When you start World 4 you can clearly see the castle nearby but water is in the way and you have to take the long way round. This is the exact same as in the first Dragon Quest where you see the Draco Lord's castle right across from Tantagel Castle where you begin your journey. I wonder if this was the inspiration for World 4's map?

When you think about it Mario 3 has a good bit of RPGness to it. It even has the same whistle tune that Link's recorder had from the first Zelda.

The idea of the games industry being one giant club

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/email-this-video-brings-something-up/

Yikes... the idea. Whatever the case may be, the notion of being careful not to offend anyone is silly if you're going to be walked all over otherwise. If you work in the industry and you let this happen to you then you're going to hate your job and yourself for not standing up for yourself.

Picross is coming to the European eShop

In the form of "Picross e" that is. This is all well and good but I want Slitherlink! Make it happen please!

Sword of Hope 2 is on the 3DS VC

It's one of those ancient ancient styled RPGs for the Game Boy that never got released here before now. I wonder why the first Sword of Hope isn't up there too? Just curious.

The local Argos now sells eShop cards :)

I haven't been going to GameStop much lately other than to buy eShop cards. Now that I can buy them in Argos I don't even have to set foot in there! Horray!

Seriously though Argos may have a smaller choice in games but it has a much better shopping experience than GameStop does.

Also there's a super cheap Skyward Sword deal currently at Argos. Make sure you have MotionPlus before buying though.

Sean Malstrom's post about Zelda and feeling overpowered

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/the-magic-of-zelda-constantly-feeling-overpowered/

I really enjoyed reading this post. I love the scale of it and the way he takes his time outlining the various moments of being powerful in detail.

I'm just thinking now if I can apply this thinking to all the Zelda games. I know for a fact that I always enjoy Zelda 1 more when I go into any situation while being as heavily equipped as possible.

Angry Video Game Nerd Episode 106: Bible Games 3

The long anticipated sequel! Just kidding. I forgot to blog about this when I watched it last Christmas sometime.

There's nothing particularly outstanding about this but it is nice to watch another AVGN episode with little references to stuff like the Street Fighter movie.

Angry Video Game Nerd Episode 107 Schwarzenegger games (and 106)

Man I forgot to blog about episode 106... Now I'm trying to remember if I had even watched it. I go to cinemassacre.com regularly, it's just that I may have gotten this mixed up with something else. Ah well.

Anyway episode 107!

http://cinemassacre.com/2012/07/23/avgn-schwarzenegger-games/

This starts off being an ok episode and it feels like he's getting into the swing of things after it being so long since the last official one. I got caught off guard completely when he started introducing the Predator game. I didn't think he'd make me laugh that way at all! and then he delivers some hi quality jokes during the review. It was hilarious and great fun to watch. Welcome back AVGN!

Some KONAMI employees are in the Olympics

One of them has even won a gold medal.

Is anyone online making "Track & Field" references?

They could say stuff like "Konami oughta stick to Hyper Olympic" to be annoying.

New Super Mario Bros 2 out in two weeks in Ireland! Enjoying the trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4yx4XirUEQ

I've been watching this over and over for the past few days.

I hum the music in my head and I don't think too deeply about what the coins do but I am looking forward to seeing how they'll affect the game.

I'm quite looking forward to this in general!

Ace Mathician looks pretty interesting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZzIi3wOkVw


Ace Mathician just came out today on DSiWare/eShop and I've read into it a little bit. It's a simple non scrolling single screen platformer where you collect stars. Some platforms are impassable so you have to use geometric formulae in order to arrange their placement. It seems like a great idea!

Nintendo of Europe has an online store now!

http://nos.nintendo-europe.com/

Wow! The dark horses so they are!

This came up completely out of nowhere for me. I read it on Gonintendo but still wow! There's only SD cards and 3DS chargers for sale so far but man I love the notion of buying directly from Nintendo instead of some meer middleman like Gamestop.

Imagine buying a hard to find game this way! It would be awesome if they did stuff like this :)