Welcome once again to Week: End Game: On, where the staff of Nintendojo share their current gaming exploits with one another. It’s been a big ol’ week at the Dojo, what with industry heavyweight roundtables and a plethora of reviews for your reading pleasure but next week is set to be even bigger with the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) going down in LA. Read on to find out what the staff are hurrying to complete in time for the big show!
Adam Sorice
It’s been a busy old week at the Dojo and between keeping on top of all our amazing content and trying to actually meet with my oft abandoned friends, I have hadn’t that much time attached my gaming devices this week. However I plan to change this very soon as I giddily stare at my brand new Nintendo 3DS, happily sits charging in its cradle! Delivered by lovely Mr. Postman a few short hours ago, my newest handheld should joyfully usher me into a new realm of 3D gaming as well as replace my battle scarred DS Lite. Seriously, the touch screen on it has been so used that I’ve been unable to actually play Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box despite owning it for several months!
What’s in the box Hershel? Another Lara Croft movie!? God, I hope not…
So while my purchase was more motivated by a sudden price in the UK of the 3DS (having been reduced by $115 since its disgustingly overpriced launch in March and sure to sky rocket again during the week of E3) and not by the desire to enjoy immersive 3D experiences (my budget purchase came without any 3DS games) I’m sure I’ll have enough to keep me content. I mean the included AR cards should prove fun and then eShop launches on Monday! And Ocarina of Time 3D is out soon? Right?
Joshua Johnston
I’m not sure what game I’m going to play this weekend, and for a lot of reasons. Plenty of distractions abound. When I’ve just completed a game that moves me (in this case, Disaster: Day of Crisis) I’m sometimes slow to pick up another title. I love good stories, and I like to reflect some on the ending I just witnessed before plowing into another game. On top of that, there is the task of deciding what game is next; most likely it will be playing that copy of Tales of the Abyss I got for a present six months ago but I might also foray back into the online world of Conduit 2 following my review.
Oh, and with all the E3 buzz brewing I often find myself reading and writing about games more than playing them, and then I’m so burned out from reading and writing about them that I’m not real inclined to play them. That may mean my controller is mostly on the shelf until after Nintendo spills the goods on Tuesday
M. Noah Ward
It’s not that I haven’t been gaming. I’ve just felt guilty about spending time on non-Nintendo games when my Nintendojo compatriots are being so dutiful in their N-branded fandom. I have, too… just with a touch more 360 and PC than my fellows.
Mario’s first romantic interest, Pauline. Very much the Meryl Streep of the gaming world, maturing into her roles.
As usual, the bulk of my Nintendo gaming remains on DS. After beating Okamiden a few weeks ago, I promptly jumped into something lighter: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem. It’s a fantastic puzzler– notably easier than the last Mario vs. Donkey Kong game I played on GBA, but a favorite gaming proverb of mine remains “the game doesn’t have to be hard to be fun.” I’m near the end of the “main levels” (roughly stage 7-7) and have seldom been stumped but had a ball the entire time. Once this game is through, I’ll have to choose between 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors or Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. Definitely a question of heavy versus light again… Hmmm.
Elsewhere, I finished Enslaved: Odyssey to the West on 360, for which I’ve raged elsewhere about crappy characters and story development (Metacritic be damned), but I still ended up liking the game overall. My next 360 experience is going to be either Alan Wake, L.A. Noire or Just Cause 2. I must also complete my weekly diet of League of Legends games on PC, or else I might go into some kind of shock, and that would be most unpleasant.
Greg Wampler
This weekend I’ll still be playing Dead or Alive: Dimensions for the 3DS. This game is massive for a fighting game and is one of the most fun games of the genre for a portable I have ever played. There are over 900 trophies to get, not to mention the other unlockables. It’s a nice fill-in while I wait for Ocarina of Time 3D to release. Home console-wise, I’m going back and playing the original Ocarina of Time through Wii’s Virtual Console. Other than that, I’ll just be waiting in anticipation, not only for E3, but for the 3DS eShop to start up.
Kevin Knezevic
Spare time has been a little hard to come by this past week, so I haven’t really been able to enjoy many titles. It’s almost ironic that writing for a video game site actually leaves me with less time to play them, but such is life. I did still manage to sneak a few gaming sessions in, but they weren’t particularly substantial.
Aside from that one game I said I wouldn’t ever mention again, I played a bit of Face Raiders this past week. I hadn’t really touched the title since I began playing Pilotwings Resort, but for some reason I was compelled to pick it up again. It’s still just as fun as when I first tried it, and I’ll never get tired of seeing an elderly Orson Welles wearing a samurai space helmet.
I also played a little bit of Birds & Beans on my DSi. I was horribly, horribly addicted to this game when I first downloaded it, and since then it has been one of my go-to titles when I need a brief gaming fix. It’s probably my favorite of my (admittedly small) DSiWare library despite the fact it was originally a part of the first WarioWare, and I’d love to see Nintendo release more similar games through eShop when it finally goes live. It’s definitely better than Angry Birds (YEAH I SAID IT!)
Smith Stuart
Both Noah and Smith are dabbling in some of Bowser’s Inside Story? Should so many of our staff members really want to go on a fire breathing rampage?
This weekend I plan to get in some Super Smash Bros. Brawl in hopeful expectation of a sequel announcement at E3. (Curse you, rumour mill!) As for upcoming weeks, I’ve got a good half-dozen titles I recently bought at discount that I’m rarin’ to dive into. For those who remember my Kicked by a Bootleg article, this does include a legal copy of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. (Score one for justice!) But I don’t believe I’ll be starting that one for a while because I feel I’ve already been in Mario’s shoes enough for one season. His overalls were a little too baggy on me, anyway.
Nicolas Vestre
Recently, I had trouble getting to sleep one night, so I used the opportunity to finish Chibi-Robo! for GameCube. I didn’t feel like finishing every side-quest, but I tackled a few of them. Cleaning stains and helping people is so addictive (kind of like farming is in Harvest Moon) and this game is recommended to anyone who doesn’t mind quirky games.
In other gaming news, I’m stuck on a (completely optional) race mini-game in Mega Man Legends. For some reason I can’t finish it in time and I decided to take a breather on trying– but I’m going to give it another go right away. Why not just forget about the mini-game? Well, if I finish the final race in time, I get an item that ultimately leads me to building a laser beam! I simply must have the laser beam!
Also, I’ve been playing Mega Man Network Transmission for GameCube. Never heard of it? I don’t blame you. Sadly, this underrated game received lukewarm reviews but I happen to love it. Gameplay is basically a combination of classic Mega Man jumping and shooting and Battle Network elements such as battle chips, a decent story and other light role-playing elements. Don’t be afraid to look this game up– just expect a good challenge, like the Mega Man games of old.
Lastly I’ve been playing Metroid: Zero Mission on the go. I just reached the Tourian area and met up with a bunch of Metroids. Still a lot of fun, and a great game to take with you everywhere because of the sleep mode. Definitely seek this game out if you haven’t already.
What are you playing this weekend? Are you too playing Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story? (I feel like I’m missing out, seriously.) Let us know in the comments below!
How do you think I feel? I’m still working on the original Okami (well, not the ORIGINAL, the Wii version) and I still need to pick up Okamiden! Then there’s Conduit 2, which I still can’t get past that damn Li boss! But all that goes out the window once I get my hands on OCARINA!
Funnily enough, I am playing Mario vs Donkey Kong on GBA (well actually on DS Lite, but it is a GBA game). I like it a lot.
Also Mahjong Quest Explorations. I like both these games a lot, and find Mahjong Quest soothing because I have been a bit sick.
Here’s an update on what I’ve been playing: I beat Mega Man Legends! Without revealing much about the final boss or its name, I’d have to say that it was a definite challenge. The tiny health bar the first form has is very misleading, even with max Buster power! First I used my maxed-out (and totally overpowered) Shining Laser to shred the boss in seconds. Then I felt guilty for being so cheap and used the Active Buster and a Hyper Cartridge for more of a challenge; admittedly, I couldn’t beat that final form with just the Buster. I simply get too impatient and make big mistakes.
Time for Legends 2! :)
You should give me your copy so I can play too :)