What is the best alternative Christmas game?

http://cinemassacre.com/2012/12/22/whats-the-best-christmas-movie/

He's interesting as always, especially about Die Hard as an alternative Christmas movie, which is always an interesting conversation piece.

It's making me think about what the best alternative Christmas video game is. Going through my memories of games I've played over the years it actually didn't take me long until I came up with both Hotel Dusk and Last Window, neither of which are particularly heavy with the Christmas theme but both of them take place around Christmas and even have their moments.

The one moment that jumps out at me right now is from Hotel Dusk, where Kyle Hyde and the little girl are decorating a Christmas tree in the hotel storage room, surrounded by an unlikely yet likeable group of people who come together to have their own little party and appreciate what they have. It's a nice cosy moment in this detective story and you even get to place the decorations on the tree yourself.

Virtue's Last Reward has a demo on the eShop

I nabbed this demo today when it came out and had a try. The puzzles are quite decent but you're moving around in this fairly clunky 3D environment. It doesn't feel that great to look around a room this way and the camera panning is stuttery.

Aside from Alice's immediate appeal of being this lovely, tall, busty amazonian there's nothing particularly interesting about the characters but they're not too bad.

The "Saw"-like theme still isn't my favourite and it seems that just like 999 for the DS by the same developer, it seems like it's going to be a game that's not particularly remarkable but is overall ok and does the job of getting you through your bus/train commute.

The game has an auto/skip feature, which I hope will be handy in the full game! A good skip feature ought to be compulsory in these types of games.

"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.

Back to the Future movie trilogy watched!

I got the dvds the other day and watched them all over the weekend! I wanted to because I thought I'd enjoy the game more if I did. I think I will. I at least know all the recurring mannerisms and catchphrases and jokes at this point.

Anyway it's a fantastic trilogy... but that probably doesn't need to be said. I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy the third one but I ended up liking it alot. I'm a little disappointed that relatively little of Hill Valley 2015 was shown in the second one. Ah well. It ended up being great anyway like all of them!

Maybe I should watch the Back to the Future movies...

I'm starting to come across references in the Telltale game to the movie trilogy. Thing is, I've only seen the first one from start to finish and I'm a little concerned. But hey I just passed the first episode of the game and I didn't come across any spoilers or anything that left me scratching my head about something I couldn't have known.

The puzzles aren't too difficult compared to other Telltale games I've played. The experience is damn fun all the same! :)

Back to the Future - Wii Controls

Hoohoo I'm really enjoying this game! Ok you can use the remote on its own like in other point and clicks on the Wii but you can also attach a nunchuck controller for analogue control for your character if you like. You can also just point at things for him to go to or you can use the d pad to move him around. It's quite handy!

Playing Back to the Future on Wii

Well I bought it! I got to give it a good try today and I'm glad I got it. It's not perfectly smooth but it's quite manageable and it's not horribly broken like Sam and Max Season Two was. It's got a couple of things I always whine about like long loading times and really small text.

Seriously Sam and Max had decently sized text (well sorta) and so did Strong Bad so this should too!

Anyway this continues to prove the fact that the Wii is a brilliant point n' click adventure game kind of console and I'm going to enjoy this game lots as I play more!

I mean yeah it's got the music, the mannerisms of the characters, the DeLorean.... it ticks the right boxes!

Back to the Future the Game is now out on Wii in Ireland

I've seen it selling for 25 Euro.

I'm still kind of thinking about buying it. The box says there's loads of special features included for the first time but I'd like to compare that with other versions if I can.

In any case I was able to come across it quite easily so it mustn't be as shoddily ported as Sam and Max Season 2 was.

Continuing on from yesterday's post about Back to the Future coming to Wii in Ireland

I was a bit negative yesterday but hey it's the truth - I'm angry because I care.

You see, I like TellTale's games and the Wii is my format of choice and since I'm the customer I demand a product that works properly.

I'm doing something nice by talking about it and generating excitement, so here's me being nice and talking about the release date!

According to Amazon.co.uk it's being released on the 30th of March 2012. Now I'm taking this with a pinch of salt since Sam & Max 2's release date kept changing, even when it was released it had changes in release dates.

Back to the Future: The Game is coming to Wii in Ireland

TellTale did an unforgivably shit job of Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space for the Wii. The parts at the end of the game came to a complete halt and only moved if you found a way for there to somehow have less stuff happening on screen. This isn't a fault of the Wii, it's the fault of the people behind its development and I have not forgiven them for that. It could've been worse if they actually promoted the Wii version of the game at all. I did not find it easy to obtain it.

Now they're bringing a compilation of their Back to the Future series to the Wii and I am feeling glad, yet wary. Are they going to fuck this up as badly as Sam and Max 2?

I had a look at the first issue of the new Nintendo Gamer magazine and they reviewed the American version of Back to the Future. The score was a low 50 and the contents made reference to the aforementioned Sam and Max sequel. They said Back to the Future has the same problems as Sam and Max 2 but that it isn't as decrepit as the latter — Whatever that means.

Is the game going to come to a complete halt during gameplay like Sam and Max 2 did due to crap development? I don't want that to happen. What I'm going to do now is stay tuned for a few more reviews of the Wii version and also have a look at how they'll promote it (if at all).

Ace Attorney 5 is announced! Woo!

I just heard from various blogs and stuff that they're making an all new Ace Attorney! There's no other details besides that but it's great news!

Hopefully it'll come out over here on the 3DS. Actually it could very well be a good fit for the Wii U! Thanks to the controller and the extra screen and microphone it would be a great fit for the Wii U so it would!

Now, the second installment of the not so great spinoff Ace Attorney Investigations may not have been released here but that doesn't mean they can't bring this over.

Remember we're Europe! We love adventure games! You also know from my ravings about Katawa Shoujo that I love visual novels as well! I've purchased every Ace Attorney released over here for the DS so I deserve this! Make it happen!

Completed Katawa Shoujo!

Finally I've completed this!

I must say it isn't my favourite visual novel but it's the one single VN that I've been able to converse with friends about since it was new and we were all excited about playing it at the same time. That's one of the strongest things it has going for it.

So yes now Hanako's path is complete. She's ok but yeah she was never going to be my favourite. Lily's my favourite all the way! I had no spark at all for Shizune because I had absolutely nothing in common with her, unlike the other girls with whom I had at least one thing in common.

Katawa Shoujo: Still doing Hanako's path, thinking about social systems

This game can help you learn about social systems that take place in school. I was kind of aware about them already but this helps reinforce that learning. I think it would be a valuable thing to be aware of, vital even.

The reason for this is so you can have to power to create your own social systems, because the ones in place set by other people goes against a lot of things. The strongest being falling in love. That could go completely against rules of social systems that are in place.

In Katawa Shoujo's case, replaying and taking the various paths helps you to figure out which one you like best and gives you the power to choose.

In real life when you're doing this, try not to interfere with the rights of others :)

Katawa Shoujo: Completed Emi's path, doing Hanako's path now

Emi is quite fun - except of course for that little episode in the shed. That and her small size is the reason why she isn't my favourite. The fun exchanges feel great and it makes her absolutely fantastic company.

Hanako's path I'm playing now. With her being so quiet I'm not hugely interested in her but getting to know her is nice and it's helping me think about a lot of very important things.

Katawa Shoujo: Completed Rin's path, playing Emi's path

Rin's daydreaminess and personality make her very interesting. I do like her but she's far from being my favourite. Experiencing her personality and seeing the way she is makes me think about a lot of stuff. She's a fascinating little thing to look at sometimes. Imagine her breaking out on a dance floor? That would be pretty interesting to watch, seeing her short hair going all over the place while shaking her head.

So I'm starting on Emi's path now. She struck me as being a bit generic but that does change as you get to know her. I love her bubbliness and friendliness and charm. Love it! She'd make for an easy person to talk to and enjoy.

Playing Rin's path now in Katawa Shoujo (part 2)

Hmm... I'm starting to not like Rin as much now. I'm getting more and more fed up with her as her path goes on. I'll see it through to the end though.

Playing Rin's path now in Katawa Shoujo

I like this girl a lot! She's kind of daydreamy and just a pleasure to just hang around with. Talk about everything and nothing. I'd say she'd be great company to help pass time in real life too.

Completed Shizune's path in Katawa Shoujo

I didn't like this girl at all. Some parts of the playthrough were fun like talking with Misha and all the stuff about sign language but overall I'm just not a fan of Shizune's. I'd hate to have her father as an in law *shudder*

Wait until you meet him. He's horrible!

Katawa Shoujo: trying to woo Misha

I thought I'd pursue Misha in a new playthrough but well...

I can't say it because I don't want to spoil anything. It's heartbreaking though.

Completed Lily's path in Katawa Shoujo

This was really nice! She's my favourite...

I mean wow... yes it was really nice....

Well ok um I'm going to play the game again but going on a different route. I'm not sure who to pick this time though... I just liked Lily so much. I should try the others out though.

How about the path of least resistance? ;)

(without getting the horrible Kenji ending of course)