Fall Update

So it's been a bit since I posted, ok, more like four months since anything substantial.  I've been very busy with the new house, work and ramping up for the holidays, but thought I would slam some gaming updates into a single post before the end of the year.

Here we go..

August Game Acquisitions

I suppose August isn't over yet so there could be more purchases to add to my backlog with no intention to finish.  You'd think it was a theme around here or something....  Besides my NSMB pre-order, I just picked up three more games last week.  Without further delay hit the jump for more details:

WiiWare Demos are Back!

According to various news sources and noted in this YouTube video it appears that all 50 WiiWare demos are back online.  I'd love to check this out and download all of them, but I don't have my Wii at the moment.

I also could roll into my usual rants about WiiWare, demos, the shop channel and downloads, but we all know the situation.  They probably should never have removed the demos after a certain period of time, but perhaps they've learned something and it's cool to have them back.  Another cynical view is that they really view the Wii and WiiWare as dead weight so why not just let the demos back in.  (despite their claims that the Wii still has life in 2012)

Who knows, maybe this will also lead to WiiWare/VC "sales"?  (haha)

What demos do you think you'll check out now that they don't expire?

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???

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..

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.

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?

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?