Week: End Game: On 10.15.11

We’re playing things beside Xenoblade? That sounds a bit Farfetch’d.

By Adam Sorice. Posted 10/15/2011 12:00 1 Comment     ShareThis

Welcome to this week’s Week: End Game: On, our Saturday round table discussing what games we’re playing when we’re not too busy writing about them. It’s been another great week at Nintendojo, with articles on everything from the legality of Videogameland to discussions about the future of motion controls and 3D gaming. Of course if that wasn’t enough for you, the staff have came out in force to talk about their weekend gaming plans. Enjoy!


Mel Turnquist

My weekend will consist of scrambling between tidying up the house for my parents return late late tomorrow night, class on Saturday, and probably sleeping in. However, I will be playing video games. I haven’t been on the Wii in a little while, so I’m hoping to fire that back up and play a little Kirby’s Epic Yarn which I could use to help calm my thoughts. Also, a little bit of Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar and Kirby Mass Attack will always be on the agenda.

There’s no games I’m really like chomping at the bit to play as of right now other than those ones. Once Kirby’s Return to Dreamland and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword come out, I’ll probably begin to break the bank a twinge. But who knows, maybe I’ll head into GameStop and see a game I’ve long wanted to play but haven’t found around anytime soon…we’ll see.


James Stank

This weekend I will finally be completing Final Fantasy VI which for the most part has been an underwhelming experience. I like the characters and story, but the game’s difficulty is a joke, and the battle system is broken. Final Fantasy IV and its sequel The After Years are vastly superior in my opinion.


Nicolas Vestre

This weekend I’ll be visiting my young cousins again, which probably will entail Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Bomberman for DS (of course, their DS’s are all broken from misuse, so I must supply my own). I’ll bring New Super Mario Bros. Wii and LittleBigPlanet 2 for backup, but because of their young age, playing online levels can lead to frustration when they don’t immediately grasp the controls and ins and outs of a level.

Pokémon Black & White artwork for Pidove, Audino and Roggenrola
It may have taken a while but Nic has finally caught the PokéVirus. Next week he’ll be a PikaZombie.

-My progress in Solatorobo has been somewhat halted– but what on earth could stop me from playing a game I’ve anticipated for months? The answer is: Pokemon White. See, I haven’t played a Pokemon game for seven years (Pokemon LeafGreen was the last one), but was enticed when I saw a couple of copies of White Version lying around in my little cousin’s house (and yes, that bugs me very much to see them outside their cases). Before my stay was over last week, I had borrowed White for the time being. Now I’m almost as addicted as I was when I first played Blue Version back in elementary school! For some reason I chose Oshawott as my starter– maybe I have a thing for Water Pokemon. Other than that, I’ve been using the Pansear that some guy gave to me, as well as a Purloin because of its Dark type. Just recently I encountered a Blitzle, which looks like it could be a decent Electric Pokemon for my team, but I’m going to wait and see if there’s a better one out there that would suit my needs. Also, I’m not going to evolve any of my Pokemon until they learn all their moves; this is just for a little added challenge. Lastly, I’m really happy that TMs are now multiple-use! I guess a lot changes in seven years…

The only thing left to do now is to convince my cousins to borrow White until I’m completely done with it– which might take a very long time; I really hope they say yes!


Matthew Tidman

I’m taking a new strategy. This week I absolutely on all accounts refuse to play Epic Mickey. That game is stupid and totally doesn’t deserve my time! (What do you mean self reverse psychology doesn’t work!?)

On the other hand, I have actually been playing video games this week. I managed to download the 25th Anniversary Edition of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. Granted, it would be more fun if I had three friends to throw in pits work cooperatively with, but the 1-player mode is still very enjoyable, and the throwback dungeons are worth the price of admission alone… especially when that price is free. If you haven’t downloaded the game yet there’s no excuse (besides not owning a 3/DS/i/XL).

Oh, and for the three of you that understood my Pokémon jargon last week: I 3-2’d the event running TyRam. I wished I’d picked ZPST, because of so many failed topdecks in the first couple of rounds. Gothi-lock and the mirror beat me, but I was able to pull off wins against Blastigatr, MewBox, and another mirror. Looking forward to the next set at the beginning of the month. (Seriously.. what language is this? -Ed.)


Andrew Hsieh

Be still, my heart– I’ve tracked down a copy of Pokémon Leaf Green. Actually, I’ve never played this game before. I know, I know, I should use Explosion on myself or something (as if there’s any other way to use Explosion), but I was still playing Pokémon Emerald when this particular cartridge hit stores; I guess Emerald was just too much pocket monster for me to handle at the time. Which is ironic, because the only reason I’m playing Leaf Green at all right now is because my roommate is playing Emerald as I type. The plan is to keep asking him what Pokémon he’s using, and then build a team to completely destroy his. Yeah, I guess I’m evil. Probably would make a great Team Rocket member, too! ♪~

Farfetch'd Psyduck Pokémon anime gif
Obviously Farfetch’d never watched Pokémon because he’d know giving Psyduck a headache never ends well.

Other than that, I mean– do I really need anything more than Leaf Green? I’ve started off with a Charmander, who’s just evolved into Charmeleon, and I’m planning on building a team that– okay, I admit it, I’m not so heartless as to build an exact counter to my roommate’s team. Honestly, I just like playing with Pokémon I like, so I’ll probably lose time and time again. This is because I just really like Farfetch’d, which is just one of the worst Pokémon in the game. Boy. I almost dread having to use him for the entire time, but he just looks so darn cool. How can I resist?


Katharine Byrne

You would have thought that nearly two months would have been ample time to complete Xenoblade Chronicles wouldn’t you? Well, apparently not! Even with over 65 hours under my belt, I’m still nowhere near the end. Just when I thought the game was working up to some sort of climax, it goes and throws another curve-ball plot twist and sets me off on yet another journey along the Bionis. The funny thing is, I really don’t want it to end either!

But as engrossing as Xenoblade has been over the past two months, I’m also going to break with tradition this weekend and get stuck in with Shadow of the Colossus as well. It’s a game I’ve been longing to play for a while now, and I’ve finally managed to comandeer our PlayStation 2 so I can spend some time with it. So far it’s taken me an hour to defeat just two colossi, which looking at one of my brother’s old save files is horrifically slow as he managed to defeat 5 in just over 50 minutes. I suspect he must have been using GameFAQS (or at least that’s what I’m telling myself), but so far I’m quite impressed with it. Although my horse is as stubborn as a mule and the camera won’t behave itself half the time, I can already tell that this is going to be unlike any game I’ve played before.


Lewis Hampson

Okay so, last Saturday I received my version of Dark Souls for PS3, and have quite literally been playing NOTHING else all week long. The result? Level 50 character who is able to handle some pretty nice weaponry and 25 hours worth of gaming bliss. Well when I say bliss I mean hell in some respects, but it’s a blissful hell nonetheless, one that I really do not want to be transported from.

Needless to say this game is amazing. I adored Demon’s Souls and love this one every inch as much. From Software have truly created a standout series, which carries with it a unique sense of dread, hope and enormous relief when you overcome the obstacles this massive world throws at you. If you have a penchant for RPG’s and own PS3 or 360, then you may want to seriously consider picking this one up, it is tough but not insurmountable (yet), highly recommended.


Aaron Roberts

This weekend I’m going to someone’s house and we’re going to have a Wii Party of sorts, playing stuff like Mario Party 8, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart Wii. I suspect lots of GameCube controllers will be in use, so we might also bust out the original version of Mario Power Tennis, too.

I’m also still working through Solatarobo, and fans will be interested to know that even though the game’s voice actors are Japanese, the characters are all speaking in French and many have French names. Now, I guess this is fine, because I wouldn’t be able to tell if someone is speaking French with a Japanese accent, anyway. I’ve also trotted out Donkey Kong 94 and beaten a couple of levels of that, too.


And now it’s your turn! What are you playing this weekend? If you’re diving into some LeafGreen, Xenoblade or Epic Mickey like we are (or something totally different!) then let us know in the comments’ section below.

One Response to “Week: End Game: On 10.15.11”

  • 201 points
    NintendoDad says...

    I bought Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny for the Wii last Fri. Eight days later and I’m about 22 hours into it, which is a ridiculous amount of time for me. It’s just as addictive as the other Harvest Moon/Rune Factory games, always leaving you with that I’ll just play one more day taste. I’m really enjoying it obviously although it took me 17 hours to figure out how to harvest my plants due to a huge oversight on my part.

    I also plan to get back into Kirby: Mass Attack which I was cruising through until I bought Rune Factory. About half way through that.

    And finally, MotoHeroz on WiiWare. I think that game is much deeper than I originally thought. There’s a pretty informative video with the developers on the Nintendo Channel right now.

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