Sale: Super Mario Galaxy

I usually don't post these sorts of things, but it seems that Amazon has Super Mario Galaxy (Selects) for sale for $14.99 right now.  This is the lowest I've seen it sold from Amazon so far and I'm a bit tempted even though it might be a month or two before I get my Wii back.  Considering SMG2 is still $40+ I think this is a great price point to get started with the series.

Hey, I've been good so far with the Steam Christmas sale and haven't purchased anything.  That's not like me at all!  :D  Then again I have dropped a good bit of cash on retail 3DS titles in the past 2.5 months. (~$115)

Anyone else tempted???

Merry Christmas!

I know it's a day late, but Merry Christmas everyone!!  I hope everyone had a great holiday with memorable times with family and friends and perhaps even snagged some cool games along the way.  Our oldest is 2 now and it was great to really see her enjoy Christmas morning along with starting to say more real words.  That in of itself is plenty of gifts for me.  On the food front we enjoyed some epic smoked prime rib and have tons left for future use.

We also decided to buy a decent DSLR camera earlier this year and to skip gifts for each other so I have no real gaming news to report.  Though as I've written in the 3DS SwapNote app, I'll probably treat myself to some eShop titles.  (also have $200 in amazon for me and the kids, but may save that for a retail game in 2012)  It's been a little slow going in looking at my options so here are some thoughts.  Feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions and what your gaming Christmas consisted of!

Top of the List:

• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
• VVVVVV (12/29 release)
• Pushmo
• Zen Pinball (maybe a January release in the US)

Not sure:

• Kirby:  The original looked incredibly clear for a game of that era and the 3D remake certainly was vivid.  Though from a few reviews this may not be the best use of my money as I don't have any nostalgic attachment to the series.
• Blaster Master Enemy Below
• Tetris:  Come on, it's a classic.  I played the original GB so much as probably everyone did being packed-in.
• Bionic Commando:  More nostalgia here, though I wish it was the NES version.
• Adventure Island

Club Nintendo Coins:

I was going to have an entirely separate post for this, though the idea of spending coins on downloadable games is cool.  (albeit painfully overdue)  Super Mario Kart, Fluidity, Xevious 3D and Mario vs Donkey Kong are the current four titles for 100-150 coins.  I'm going to skip the dollar vs coin math for now and just land on the fact of getting something for our purchases.

I'm a bit undecided on Xevious and MvsD with the overall feel that Fluidity is the best buy in this group.  Am thinking I may wait until the next group of games appear.

Retail:

I do keep my eye on a number of retail games for both 3DS and Wii, though have no plans to jump on anything in the immediate future.  Zelda 3D OOT, MK7 and Super Mario 3D Land is a good bit for now.

Hiatus / Quick Impressions

In contrast to the massive volume that clearly I'm known for, the near future is probably going to be a bit slower.  Our second child (boy) was born almost three weeks ago and to say things are busy is quite an understatement.  Gaming has been pretty slim, I mean, not everyone can be coffee.

Overall we are getting an ok amount of sleep; it's just rough when it's broken up throughout the night.  It certainly puts a new twist on my late night gaming routine.  Had to go to bed at 9:30 last night; the lack of sleep was catching up with me.

Anyway, I have a number of posts in mind, but here are a few quick game impressions from what I've been able to squeak in.

NightSky headed to 3DS?

   Just like my own personal field of dreams where I was wishing NightSky on 3DS were an option; I see this on twitter. Pretty cool actually, though I'll hold my full enthusiasm for the price point. I'm sure we're looking at something more like $7-15 vs the awesome $2.49 I swooped up on Steam the other day.

   I'm certainly encouraged by this and several other efforts by Nicalis such as Cave Story 3D for retail and the VVVVVV port to 3DS. Let's hope this momentum continues to grow and other developers will also bring their titles over. The "trickle in some VC titles" bit is growing old... (not to mention that we don't need overpriced episodic releases of "House MD")

  Pretty sure VVVVVV is going to be a release-day or soon thereafter purchase and from what I've experienced with NightSky on PC, I'd certainly like that on the 3DS.  Have to wait and see on Cave Story 3D due to the high retail price.

Is anyone else looking forward to NightSky or other titles from Nicalis?

The Steam Beast

That dang old new years resolution isn't looking so hot and now I've gone and purchased three more...  The Autumn Steam sale looks pretty good and as usual you have to watch for good deals while trying not to get whipped into that buying frenzy.

I ended up purchasing three games from my wishlist: NightSky, LIMBO and Altitude.  All were under $3/ea at 75% off which I thought was a good bet.  As is my new mantra 'I wouldn't mind seeing them on 3DS' though that might be a stretch or a long wait.  I also would have liked to get NightSky on WiiWare, but I'm just not going to shell out the money right now.

Hm, there's zombie Driver for less than $3 as well...


NightSky just finished so I'm going to check it out for a second, though that download was very painful.  ISP service is either bad tonight or they're throttling us back..

StarCraft II Sale

That's right folks, $29.99 via their website through 11/28 which was a bit of a surprise.  I believe it started out at $59 a year and a half ago and has maybe dipped to $39 a time or two, but seemed to be holding strong at $49 most of the time.

On one hand it's pretty tempting to get the full version for that price.  Though on the other, I haven't really played it (Starter Edition) since early September and I don't foresee myself being able to dedicate enough time to really make it worthwhile.  Sneaking in little bits of time to play some 3DS titles has been hard enough and many of those I can easily put down.  I know you can save in StarCraft, but it's not exactly the same when you're in the midst of a large build/battle.

Perhaps we'll see similar or better sales close to the time the second chapter is released..

Is anyone else looking to take advantage of this sale?  For that matter is anyone planning to gift me a copy?  :-D

Super Mario 3D Land: Pre-Ordered

Typically I don't pre-order or purchase on launch day, but I've bit the bullet for Super Mario 3D Land today. I decided to go with Best Buy with an in-store pick-up option to avoid shipping delays.  Needless to say I'm excited about Sunday and while I've watched quite a few videos, read dozens of impressions articles I'm trying to keep away from too many spoilers.


Considering how typical 1st party Nintendo titles go, I can't see there being much of a price drop over the next year and I don't want to wait that long.  I also hate to "reward" them for holding out on prices, but if a game is a real hit they aren't going to lower it.  Just look at Super Mario Kart Wii ($40+ 3.5 years later), Mario Kart DS along with the New Super Mario for DS and Wii.  They aren't exactly sporting bargain bin prices some 3-6 years later. It should be interesting how many gameplay hours I get out of it for a $30-40 retail title vs something like Donkey Kong on VC for $3.99. (sunday purchase)


I was also reading a wired article featured on GoNintendo today and they make some good points.  I hardly ever purchase anything on steam unless it's 50% off or more and it seems to pay to wait for the various GOTY or bundles where DLC is included.


Is anyone else planning to buy Super Mario 3D Land either on launch or at some point?  Also, what are your thoughts on waiting for price drops?

3DS Impressions: 3 weeks later

My 3DS arrived a little over 3 weeks ago and besides wanting to give myself some time to get past the new gadget phase, I haven't had any time to post some impressions.  I'd like to say that I've been playing it furiously each day, but the truth is that I've been too busy and tired.  As a bit of background we've moved 900 miles to a new state where my job is and have also been dealing with a real estate nightmare.

Without further sidetracks, here we go:

Mobile gaming and 3DS Cases

The 3DS posting storm has died down a bit and I've now had a week with the system.  I'll post some impressions when I can, but I wanted to throw out some case ideas and see what others are using.  I don't foresee myself being a big mobile gamer outside of the house, but I'd still like some good protection while still being feasible to carry.

A sign of things to come

The last several posts have been fairly heavy on the 3DS, especially "what's next".  While I have dedicated some serious thought to the 3DS since launch it's never really been in the realm of actually buying it.  With the August price drop and some newly-acquired gift cards, it seemed like the right time to jump back into that discussion and mull/waffle it over against other console options.

I finally took the plunge on Friday and placed an order with Amazon which should hopefully arrive somewhere between Wednesday and Saturday.  I considered not posting anything until I had a week or two of hands-on time, but what fun is that?

Needless to say I'm excited not only for the game line up, but to have a new kind of gaming experience via a handheld.  Catch more details after the jump.

3DS Game Selection

So now that I'm leaning pretty heavily towards getting a 3DS in the near future, I thought I would blast off some lists of games I'm looking at and see if I was missing anything.  Perhaps current 3DS owners have a clearer perspective on the situation..

Before I get into the games there's also a new poll about 3DS color over there ->>.  What are your recommendations?

Cut the Rope for Android *FREE* (6 hours left)

This is a seriously late post, but if you're looking to pick up Cut the Rope on Android for free, check out the Amazon Appstore.  It's currently on a daily deal for free and I believe they reset it at 6am (est) each day.

I picked this up earlier today and while I feel a little guilty for getting it for free, I suppose I'll find a way to fix that with ZeptoLab.  At any rate I played through about a dozen levels and am pretty impressed.  More thoughts on that later..

Cool Mario Toys

Ok, so I'm not super huge on toys or figurines, but I have to admit there are some cool items for Nintendo characters that I've checked out recently.  Cool enough where I may consider picking some up.  Who doesn't want some Koopa Troopa, ShyGuy or various other characters on their desk for motivation?  (err. not sure which direction they motivate...)

Some linkage:

• Super Mario set of 18
• Collector 6 Pack - Wave 1
• Collector 6 Pack - Wave 2
• Cool Mario toys recreate key moments in series history.

The 'key moments' musical toys are very cool and need to make their way to the US!

Any toy, figurine or gaming-related items like this that you've enjoyed over the years?

What's Next?

'What's next' is always a fun question and has been one I've been asking myself lately.  While I think the Wii has a great deal of gaming life left (*), it's certainly hit the sunset in terms of new development.  I know new games are being released, though I don't see a ton of content that's appealing.

(*) Gaming life as in titles I've yet to complete, previously released games I haven't purchased and unique WiiWare titles that somehow squeak through.  For example I've been going through Liight this month and it's been a great deal of fun.  For $5 it's a no brainer.  (released in March'2011)

While I have been thinking about this for some time now, some extra funds in the way of birthday gift cards put a new spin on price.  Some of these costs, yes even the 3DS, don't seem so bad when they can be offset or eliminated.  :)

It's pretty clear what the options are and here are some brief thoughts:

Wii Configuration

Despite my fast and furious rate of posts I thought I would take a break to list the two ways I've setup my Wii, go through some pros and cons and see what everyone else is doing.  Though perhaps I should expand it to all consoles and not get into the varied mess that is PC gaming.

Basically it boils down to screen size, clarity, comfort and availability.  So let's start with my original setup in the living room on the large screen.

StarCraft II - Starter Edition

Since I'm apparently so fond of demos and a sucker for StarCraft, it seems I'm going to try and take the plunge with the new 'Starter Edition'.  I know some of you out there own the full version and I think some multi-player options are available, but they're probably limited.  If it works out maybe we can get a match or two going.

I've read about the complaints and can agree with a number of them, but am not going to get into any rants at this time.  Though it is hard to beat free and as much as I can easily hold off on a $59 full game, I am pretty interested to give it a go.

13% of 6.99GB and about 7 hours to go.  Niiiice..

(here's to hoping the DSL connection I'm on isn't capped at something ridiculous like 2GB)

Game Demos

I've downloaded a few demos recently and have been thinking about how they shape the purchase decisions I may make with games.  Mostly it falls back to my cheap bastard frugal style and wanting to get the most gaming bang for my bucks.

Without dragging on for another paragraph, just what was demoed?

Portal 2 - Week 1 reflections

It has roughly been a week since I purchased  Portal 2 and I thought I would take a few minutes and throw down some thoughts.

Steam MEGA-Sale roundup!

  It's undeniable that Steam is basically the premier digital PC gaming service and doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.  I'm sure we all have our gripes, but simply looking at the selection and considering the ease of use usually is enough to win you over.  I've even gone as far as re-purchasing games on steam due to broken CD's and/or to have them at my finger tips without futzing with physical media.

  So now that I've established how much I'm in love with Steam, how about that mega game sale that just ended?  In all honesty I let the Summer 2010 sale get a bit out of control and haven't really taken advantage of the items I purchased.  Read on to see how I fared in 2011.

How NOT to install StarCraft

Ah, StarCraft, a classic RTS, no sorry, the classic RTS that's still great fun to play today.  I purchased it on launch day back in 1998 and have put in countless hours.  Some of my fondest multiplayer memories are with StarCraft whether it was on Battle.net in a team melee match with a good friend (on the phone nonetheless to discuss strategy), LAN or even modem.  (that's right kids, before broadband was in my area it was easier to use a direct dial-up modem connection)

At some point in 2010 I installed it on my laptop so I could pack the CD's away in storage in preparation to move.  (along with 3 GTA titles, HL, HL2,ep1,ep2, etc..)  You know, have some great gaming without having to futz with the media.  That was cool until 2011 hit and I formatted and installed Windows 7.  Being that I haven't moved yet all my junk is in storage and I decided to dig out StarCraft and BroodWar the other day and give'em a spin.

I've gone through the installs many times and since I'm supposed to be an IT geek I should probably know what I'm doing.  Little did I know that my clever factor was running low and I was about to waste a bunch of time.

Read on for the sad tale...

Nintendo's Wii U - General Thoughts

Unlike in previous years where I'm generally interested in E3 and new gaming but wait for news articles, I actually made an effort to check out the announcements in semi-real time.  Overall I have to say I'm excited with some of the items I've seen and look forward to learning more as they hopefully flesh out some details later in the week.

So what do we have going on so far?

This first post mess

It's probably about time I get this first post out of the way considering I created the blog several months ago and left it incomplete. (ha! get it?)  I've thought about creating a gaming blog for some time now and primarily opted out due to time constraints.  Lately I've been browsing some blogs and thought it was about time I started to throw down some thoughts.