Nintendo’s Earth, Wind & Fire

It is hard to rank Nintendo’s franchises against each other, because most of them are in a league of their own. Mario Kart is a frantic racing game, Donkey Kong is a challenging platformer, Metroid created a genre of its own… the list goes on but you’ll be hard-pressed trying to name a Nintendo game that didn’t reinvent the wheel or build on a legacy.

Right now, my job is to describe to you the beauty of some of Nintendo’s grandest achievements. I’ll tell you now, I won’t be able to do that, because that’s predominately impossible. I can’t recap the last month of my life playing through Earthbound for the first time. I can’t describe the feeling of beating my first Zelda game. And I definitely can’t outline every fight the Shepherds came across in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

It would take nearly one million words to perfectly capture hours of an exciting adventure fulled with heartache, fear and joy, but here is my best attempt to relay to you my three favorite Nintendo games. 

Flashback Backlog- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I’ve never beaten a Zelda game, and I still haven’t, but I finally have the drive to do so. I’ve played the original Zelda for about an hour before quitting because of its old-school feel and I never finished Ocarina of Time because I lost interest halfway through. Those are the only other two Zelda games I’ve ever played, and I played them both on my 3DS. So Wind Waker was my first console Zelda experience, and I loved it because every time I played it, it was so relaxing.

Playing Wind Waker was like a mini vacation. Sitting in a quiet room with my Wii U gamepad was a weekly escape into paradise. The calming music, smooth art-style and not too stressful gameplay.

Bayonetta 2 Review

Bayonetta is that girl you’d be skeptical to take home to meet your parents. On one hand, she is confident and true to who she is, and you love her. On the other hand, you know that your parents might not approve of a woman who is so “rhapsodic” about herself.

That pretty much sums up the entire Bayonetta video game experience. Bayonetta 2 is a guilty pleasure game that knows that it is ridiculous, sexy and you won’t necessarily go showing it off to your mother.

Mario Kart Mondays: Starring Waluigi & Mario

How he got a bullet bill in such a favorable position is beyond me.

Mario Kart 8 Review

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Instead of taking that route, Mario Kart 8 says, “if it ain’t broke, add new things into the mix.” Mario Kart 8 is a beast of a racing game, and shows why Mario Kart is the ultimate kart racing franchise. After eight games you’d think it would be stale, but adding fresh items, graphics and a tweak of the rules, it manages to keep its competitors in the rear view mirror.

Child of Light [Quick] Review

Child of Light is one of those games that boasts an art style that can last for a lifetime. You can play Child of Light twenty years from now and still be awed at the wonderfully aesthetic artwork. In my opinion, this is the best quality of Child of Light. This RPG has a ten hour main story with a basic combat system that doesn’t get in the way of your overall experience of the game, which is good, but it does limit your enjoyment of the video game itself.

Video Gamers Suffering from a Spring Drought?

“The two months before E3 usually suffers from a major drought in games.” WRONG. This used to be true, but this is the perfect time to dive into multiple titles. Developers and publishers usually stay away from releasing games around E3, so the spring to early summer drought used to be rough for me personally, but not this year. This year, I have a backlog of games to play during this time and I welcome this “drought.” Actually, you can argue that the drought doesn’t exist this year.

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Review

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag is less of a assassin game, and more of a pirate game. Although, for a franchise that has become annualized, it is good for the series go through a fresh and different pace. If Assassin’s Creed did the same thing every time the series would quickly become stale, but Black Flag feels different enough from previous games, while keeping its ties to its roots. When AC IV embraces the pirate life, it shines magnificently. However, when it tries to return to its roots and reminds itself that it is an assassin’s creed game, it suffers from flaws that have been present in the previous games. You’ll enjoy sailing the high seas, but ultimately it may leave you desiring a more focused experience.

The Beauty of Video Game Trailers: Child of Light

 

“Beware the night, Child of Light.”

 

Magnificent. One word of many to describe the amazing trailer for Ubisoft’s new game “Child of Light.” A lot of trailers can pretty much describe their game it’s representing easily, but few trailers can standalone and be great by itself. The announcement trailer for Child of Light is one of those trailers that come along and to make people like me say “That’s how you make a great trailer.” The artwork, the dialog and the background music were woven together elegantly and masterfully. Pay attention ladies and gentlemen, this is how you make a great trailer.

1. Make a beautiful game

– Make a game that you will be proud to release to the world. Something they will want to see, play and experience.

2. Get a good voice actor/ actress to voice over the trailer

– Dialog from the actual characters isn’t required. Just get a voice behind that trailer to invoke some extra feeling and drama into the tale you are telling.

3. Music that doesn’t get in the way

– Some songs don’t go with certain trailers. Imagine if trailers for Gran Theft Auto had the backstreet boys playing in the background. It wouldn’t fit. Sometimes a simple tune will suffice.

4. Tease some gameplay

-For an announcement trailer like this one, you don’t want to show your whole hand too early. Show a bit of what you have to offer, and then step 5 will follow .

5. Leave a lasting impression 

-Make your fans want more from your title, make them suffer the wait until the next trailer. Start up that foundation, and keep building that anticipation.

Wii U gets Price Drop, 3DS gets a…Weird Little Brother?

Nintendo… Making some changes. One strange step at a time

It was announced today that Nintendo is dropping the price of the Wii U Deluxe model to a starting price of $300. Overall the Wii U seems to be getting a universal price drop of $50. A smart move to keep the pricing competitive since Sony is launching the Playstation 4 for $400. Now the Wii U is a bit more price friendly to the average consumer. With the Wii U looking pretty good and getting some good lokking exclusives after a slow launch maybe this price drop is exactly what the system needs but time will tell. The price drop will come into effect on September 20^th.