Amazon has some good deals going on for cyber monday…
I will post any Black Friday deals I find here:
Nintendo went back to Mario’s roots when deciding where to take the franchise and gave gamers a classic 2D side scrolling game. I was happy with this approach as I am always wishing we would get more retro style games that take advantage of newer connectivity options. Nintendo excelled in the first category and failed miserably in the second.
No one can deny that New Super Mario Bros. Wii features addictive, classic gameplay in just the right doses. This game plays exactly like all the retro Mario games you know and love. To this point the Big N delivers in waves. However, once again, they have failed to deliver the polish and production we have come to expect from blockbuster 1st party efforts. It is quite clear that they developed this game with the casual gamers in mind and did just enough to appeal to the hardcore crowd.
I am going to completely ignore the lack of online coop as this is the most maddening ‘missing’ feature of them all and it disgusts me to the point of sickness that it was excluded and I don’t think any further explanations are necessary.
First off, there is only 3 characters available to play with: Mario, Luigi, and Toad. This is appalling. Instead of Princess we get another Toad (albeit a slightly different palette). Were they afraid of the rift in the space-time continuum that would likely occur if Princess was trying to save herself? Are they that worried about realism? Why couldn’t they have Daisy as a playable character? Or, even better, have Princess as an unlockable character once you saved her.
How come said characters all behave the same? I loved Super Mario 2 where you could choose your character based on their physical abilities. Would that not be so much more fun with this one? Would that not make it more fun from a teamwork perspective? I think Nintendo is afraid that this would just baffle the casual gamer and that millions of gamers like you and I would be subject to countless phone calls from grandma imploring as to why she can’t get the second coin star in level 4-2 using Mario.
How about having unlockable characters? Example, you finish 4-2 under a certain time and you get to use Birdo. Is this too much of a stretch? How about unlockable Mii clothes?
Lastly, I think the coolest thing they could have done was incorporate some sort of video sharing system. How it would work is that the game would record everything you do in a certain level. If you do something cool you could save the replay. Trim off the cool part and upload it to the web or send it to your friends. Even better if they don’t have to have the game to view them. Seems like a great way to virally promote the game to me.
These are just a few features I have thought up. Surely the geniuses at Nintendo with all their innovation can do better. Why don’t they?
The smash hit of the season is upon us and you should not be paying full price for it!
Several retailers are offering $20 gift cards on preorders of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, including Amazon, and Walmart. If you don’t want to wait on shipping or too late to preorder you can pickup a $20 gift card at Toys R Us using your Rewards R Us Card (free) when purchasing.
I am officially 100% addicted to Borderlands and feel it is a crime against the video game universe that it has been lost in the media marketing storm that Modern Warfare 2 has created. What? You don’t know anything about it? Well let me enlighten you.
Borderlands is a first person, Action RPG shooter set in a post-apocalyptic, cell-shaded wasteland. It’s like someone painted the walls of their room Fallout 3, the ceiling World of Warcraft, then accidentally spilled a bucket of Crackdown everywhere. In this game you assume the role of somebody, travel around some planet, fighting some creatures. The beauty of Borderlands is that all that stuff doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that you finish this one last mission so you can level up before going to bed. I assume you run out of missions at some point, but that is OK. You can start up a new game with one of the 4 different character classes (no doubt numerous DLC to be available soon) There are tons of ways to develop your character and countless hours of addictive gameplay. So what are you waiting for? Get it now, it’s $10 off!
Screenshots have surfaced that hint that the soon to be released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will not allow players to participate in party chat while in a multiplayer game. This has drawn the ire of some fans, and the praise of others. While some fans feel that party chat helps shield them from the unwashed masses, allowing them to enjoy casual game time with their buddies, others recognize that party chat, much like video’s doomed relationship with radio stars, killed the social side of XBL.
Gone are the days of entering a room full of mature, knowledgeable adults sharing some Halo time between sips of tea and intelligent debates of the socio-political climate in Central Africa and the UN’s indifference to the mass genocides occurring there. Logging on now, gamers are greeted with complete silence. If you do happen to find a room with other stragglers, it will become apparent rather quickly why the other players have nobody to party chat with. Also, you will come to know the sheer joy of getting your ass handed to you and your ‘lone wolf’ buddies by a group of people on party chat who play together all the time and lack the integrity to not call out your positions from the 3rd party cam after they have died.
SPECULATION and SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Infinity Ward has gone the extra mile to immerse the players in the war experience. Included in this game are EMP grenades, which will disable the enemies communication. This would not be possible if users were in party chat and would effectively render them useless. Also, Call of Duty does things like being able to hear enemy chatter from distances, and other things that party chat would disable.
So gripe all you want fellow gamers, but I am completely in favor of this move by Infinity Ward.
The Agitated Gamer is pleased to announce our new Twitter API. You will need to be following @agitatedgamer to use it. The API can be used to retrieve instant game information, or to track your favorite games. This service is still in Beta so let us know if you have any difficulty using it.
Rockstar has announced the next episode of their crown prince franchise. ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ will follow Luis Lopez, the right hand man of one Tony Prince, a legendary nightclub owner. The press release says this episode “injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime” as gamers explore the high end of nightlife in Liberty City. ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ is set to be released in the Fall at a price of 1600 MS Points ($20).
Also included in the press release is the announcement of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes. A disc containing both ‘Lost and Damned’ and ‘Ballad of Gay Tony’ episodes. This disc will retail at $39.99 and will not require a copy of GTA IV to play.
Gamestop has released the MSRP and release date of Tony Hawk: Ride via their website. Tony Hawk: Ride is supposed to rejuvenate the series by including a wheel-less skateboard for your gaming pleasure. The game, which is set to release on 10/13, is set to be priced at a whopping $120. This pricing model is inline with other Activision peripheral-driven games. However, this Tony Hawk fan hopes that the game will be released without the peripheral, sporting classic controls and at a reasonable price.
Gamestop Product Details:
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=74927
