Revisiting The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Good day to you ladies and gents, and welcome to this blog post. This year has been a good time for video games, I have played a fair amount including Fire Emblem: Awakening, the brilliant Super Smash Bros. 3DS, and starting over with StreamWorld Dig, Mutant Mudds and Kid Icarus: Uprising. Obviously, they are primarily 3DS games, but that’s been my main gaming console for the year and other games I’ve played have been via my friends at uni. I haven’t been able to play many new games because I’m still low on funds (as usual), so I’ve been going backwards in time for my gaming and over the last three weeks I’ve gone back to one of my favourite games from 2011; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Ah Skyward Sword, we’ve had a strange history we have. It is game I love but have only played it for a short time when compared to some of my favourite games. Now I’m going to talk about my experience with this game, so consider this a semi review of sorts. 🙂

My History

Since E3 2010 I had been looking forward to playing this game, and after playing a demo at the MCM London Expo in October 2011, I was really intrigued to play more of this game with the new motion controls. So I got the game on the day of release and pretty much played it for weeks afterward. You see Skyward Sword was not only one of my most engrossing gaming experiences in a long time but it was also one of the most in-depth Zelda experiences I have had too. After 2009 my interest in gaming started to dip a fair amount, I think it may have been because I was just gaming on my Nintendo Wii or maybe it was because I started getting into watching films in the cinema, whatever it was, by the time 2010 came around I wasn’t that fussed. So in 2011 Sonic Generations was my first super happy time gaming again and then Skyward Sword just exceeded that. I fell in love with that Zelda game because for the longest time I have played many games in the series since Ocarina of Time, however Wind Waker was the first proper Zelda game I got into and played for a long time, but Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game I actually engaged with and felt like completing (besides Four Swords Adventure). I played the game almost everyday after I bought it and got around just over halfway through the game, however, after I went home for Christmas and had to leave the Wii back at home when I went to uni in 2012, I pretty much lost my groove and couldn’t get into the game again, so I left the game and never played it again, until this year.

Revisiting The Game

So after THREE YEARS, and being very curious about the game, I decided to start over from the beginning on a separate file and my god, I felt the love all over again. I started playing the game and remembered the feeling wonder, surprise and fun that comes with starting a new game, however a lot of the criticisms of game that I’ve heard from certain fans have definitely become apparent. Criticisms of the game ar as follows:

• The beginning of the game is still fun, but the amount of tutorials and talking at the start of the game was quite frustrating, tedious and unnecessary. It didn’t spoil my experience, however I’m not sure how I was so patient with it before.
• Sometimes the controls can be a bit fiddly, because the game relies heavily on motion controls. Sometimes it is hard to make precise hits or movements even with Wii Motion Plus. Also sometimes the amount of motion controls in the game feels unneeded and could have easily been done with buttons instead.
• That stamina meter, while it is great for running and climbing quicker, at the same time it can be very annoying when doing regular tasks like running, climbing, attacking, moving objects, etc. It is very tedious and can be very inconvenient when you run out of juice while in the middle of battle or moving over quicksand.

Besides the issues listed above, it is still hella fun. Jumping back into the game after so long made it feel like a new experience, however it was great to remember all of the things that I liked about the game when I first played it and that shows that the game definitely has replay value.

The Reason I Like It

While Skyward Sword has a bit of mixed reception within the Zelda community, it is definitely regarded as one of the better games in the series, and for me personally I REALLY like this game. The story is pretty interesting too, Link is a great protagonist and seeing him and Zelda in a romantic relationship is different but quite interesting, I also love Ghirahim as the antagonist, he’s such a creepy/insane badass. I also love seeing everything all the foreshadowing that will come into play with the other games in the Zelda timeline. The visuals have a nice blend of watercolour paintings mixed in with the cel-shaded style of Wind Waker and realistic style of Twilight Princess and it gives off this very bright, vivid and charismatic type of game which is charming and pleasant to look at. And then there is the soundtrack which is gorgeous! The orchestral sound is heavenly and adds a lot to the gameplay when travelling and battling, the best songs being “Ballad of the Goddess“, “Ghirahim Battle“, “The Sky” and “Separation” to name a few. In addition to that, gameplay-wise, having the ability to run fast in a Zelda game (without the use of the Pegasus Boots) is a BIG deal and I LOVE it, I just like running all over the place. In addition to that flying on the Loftwing in the sky is one of my favourite experiences in the series, and I prefer it to riding Epona and possibly a bit more than the boat in Wind Waker. I also like the combat and the way it gives you full-on control and satisfaction when you kill your enemies. Foes you meet in the main worlds are fun to take out, I love fights with the Stalfos and Ghirahim, and some of the boss battles are epic and cinematic. And finally I like the way you get to interact with NPCs, have different choices with responses and deal with side missions and gear upgrading similar to Monster Hunter.

Conclusion

In conclusion The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, I still love this game. Some aspects of the game are a bit tedious, however I still love it. The gameplay is fun and exciting, the visuals are beautiful and the music is incredible, and playing through the game the second time is super fun and I haven’t felt this kind of fun since A Link Between Worlds last year and I can’t wait to finally finish this game. If you haven’t experienced the game yet I would recommend it, it’s a good time.

So have you played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and if so what do you think of it? Do you love it, hate it or feel indifferent? And how do you think it compares to the other Zelda games? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

 

My Response to Today’s Wii U Nintendo Direct

Today’s Nintendo Direct has been one of surprise, happiness and excitement. The announcements made in today’s video were great and finally addressed some of the stuff gamers have been asking for from Nintendo for quite some time. Firstly the system updates for the Wii U is a good start and then there’s the Virtual Console for Wii U too. This was good signs for the future, Nintendo were not only addressing their problems but implementing all of te good stuff we’ve come to enjoy from them in the past.

But then there’s all of those new games on the horizon! Two Zelda games? A new 3D Mario game and new Mario Kart? Visual confirmation of Super Smash Bros. 4? All of these titles visible at e3 this year? Oh god I was grinning so much when I heard these announcements. I can’t wait for 2013 to roll on for Nintendo, it looks like it’ll be an interesting year.

My Nintendo News

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unleashed Wii U news in an installment of Nintendo Direct today as he outlined Nintendo’s future plans for the console. Iwata revealed how the Wii U launch lineup will be bolstered by a long list of top game franchises headed for the new console. These are games that longtime players and newcomers alike will love to play, and everyone will be experiencing them in new ways, thanks to the integrated second-screen experiences enabled by the Wii U GamePad controller. Iwata also detailed a number of enhancements designed to make the Wii U game experience more social, even if people are not playing in the same room.

“The fun of video games is not only just playing games, but also sharing experiences together with people – even though they live far away, their skill levels are different or their experience does not happen at the same time,” Iwata said…

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My Response to the Wii U’s Failing Sales in the UK

Well I’m not surprised by this news in the slightest. Not to be cruel or anything but considering the way the Wii U is currently it should come as no surprise really. Anyway allow me to explain. Now back in September there was bare hype for the console especially in Japan and North America, but over here in the UK I didn’t feel the hype so much. In most gaming forums and websites I passed by there was little excitement or anticipation for the new Nintendo console. And when the prices were announced for North America and Japan and while a tad high it was accepted by the fans and people got pre-ordering.

However in the Europe we were told that European distributors would set their own prices and that immediately was the wrong decision to make. Why set prices in other territories but leave Europe to do its own thing with pricing, for me that’s just unfair. And it wasn’t until October when prices started to show up from gaming distributors, and the prices were varied as hell! Online distributors like Amazon and Play.com were probably the most fair when it came to prices it was still bloody high! The 8GB Basic Set was going for around £240 and that was at least £60 more than the original Wii and the £32GB Deluxe Set was at least £300 or more and that was just ridiculous. Then put on top of that the set list of games available from day one had not yet been determined in the UK and that there was no proper marketing for the Wii U, and you have a console that really isn’t making much of a fuss.

And then of course November came around and the console was released in North America and the hype was fairly good but in the UK the console barely enough kicked up a fuss. Sure there were people that bought the console and many of its games, but the numbers weren’t nowhere as near as much as that of North America or Japan. I think it is simply down to the fact that console is too expensive, the marketing wasn’t strong enough and it didn’t seem to make enough of an impact with UK audiences for them to make a purchase. Well we’re in a new year now and in 2013 Nintendo really needs some new and exciting games, a better marketing campaign for their console and some new and innovative features in order to keep its console alive in my opinion.

My Nintendo News

The Wii U appears to be seriously struggling in the UK with Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros U failing to appear in the UK top forty all-formats charts during the busy Christmas period. Ubisoft’s well-received Far Cry 3 claimed the number one spot during the week ending December 29th. Nintendo will surely be concerned about the lack of impact the Wii U is having in the United Kingdom. You can view the entire top forty all-formats charts right here.

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Month of Nostalgic Game Reviews: Donkey Kong Country

Howdy ladies and gents and welcome to Day #9 of my Month of Nostalgic Game Reviews where I’ll be giving you reviews of some of my most nostalgic video games from my childhood. And today’s game really is the definition of “classic!” It is one of the best games on the SNES, I loved it as a kid and I’m still playing in present day, of course I’m talking about Donkey Kong Country!

Ah yes Donkey Kong Country, this is the definition of my childhood. Along with Sonic 1-3, Super Mario World, Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II, this game was one of the key games that shaped me as a young player of video games. Obviously if you’re old enough to remember this game when it was out you know about how great this game is, but if you weren’t around for the 16-bit generation of gaming you may be asking, “What’s so great about this game?” Well allow me to explain.

So DKC was a platforming game released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and was developed by the legendary games developer, Rare (a company responsible for epic games like Killer Instinct, GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark).

In the game you take control of Donkey Kong and his then-new cousin Diddy Kong as you venture through 40 levels in order to take back your banana hoard from the Kremlings. The player could take control of either Kong throughout the each level, Donkey was all-powerful but pretty slow, whereas Diddy was faster and more agile but not as powerful. If you got hit by an enemy you’d be reduced to one Kong and would have until you found a specific barrel in order to release them into your team again, and if both of you got hit then you’d lose a life. As with most platforming games you’d head through levels defeating enemies, avoiding pitfalls and hazards. In order to defeat enemies you could roll into them, jump on them or throw a barrel at them. As for the levels themselves they were all different from each other offering up a great deal of variation and the way you traversed through levels changed a lot from swimming to riding in mine carts to launching out of barrel cannons to swinging from vine to vine. Also in the levels were secret areas to unlock and bonus games to play in order to get more bananas and get extra lives.

There was also a world map that you’d venture through and along the way you’d have save spots and another area where you could warp back to a previous area. Also at the end of each specific zone you’d fight a boss, all of which require a different strategy than the last. And lastly there’s also the animal helpers you can take control of in order to advance through the game and they were Rambi the Rhino, Expresso the Ostrich, Enguarde the Swordfish, Winky the Frog, and Squawks the Parrot. They all had different attributes and also had bonus games.

For me this game was just a blast to play. From the time you boot up the game and see that awesome intro with Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong, you know you’re in for a good time. It has to be one of the best intros to any game ever and I love the nostalgia factor. While I was never really that good at platforming games, I always enjoyed the thrill of running around collecting bananas, swinging on vines and beating up enemies on Rambi the Rhino was frigging awesome. This game was fun playing solo, but got a hell of a lot more fun when playing with a friend in two-player mode when one of you want to play as Donkey and the other wants to play as Diddy. Playing this game cooperatively was DKC at its best in my opinion. Though this game was a very frustrating experience because one key thing… THOSE FRIGGING MINE CART SECTIONS! Holy man, that part of the game I could never get past because it was precise and cruel, it plagued me as a kid and it took me until the age of 21 to pass that section when I got the game on Virtual Console on my Wii two years ago.

I always remembered how great this game looked and how brilliant the soundtrack was. Graphically the game was so detailed because of the pre-rendered 3D graphics which was a big deal at the time. And the soundtrack was one of the key aspects that made this game so memorable, from the introduction to the first level to those underwater sections, it was all so good and a good few of these songs have been used and remade in later Donkey Kong games. Even after I hadn’t played for years, when I got the game again in 2011 it was like time hadn’t passed, the game still holds up pretty well. DKC was highly praised and sold very well and is regarded as one of the best games ever by many fans and critics and without this game we wouldn’t have gotten Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii a little while ago.

In conclusion Donkey Kong Country is just a game of awesomeness, it’s a game with a legacy for a reason. It’s graphically awesome for a 16-bit game, the soundtrack is one of the best in gaming history and obviously the gameplay is unique, challenging and most-importantly fun. This game is mandatory for any fans of platforming games and in a way I would seriously urge anyone to play this game, even if you don’t finish it, just play it. This is an adventure you shouldn’t miss out on!

Well that’s another review sorted, come back tomorrow for another review and don’t forget to drop me a comment about any of the games I’ve reviewed yo 😀

 

My Thought’s on Transfering Data From Wii To Wii U

I’m just glad that Nintendo did find a way to transfer the Wii data to the Wii U because if that hadn’t I think I would have imploded, a lot of that game data can’t be redone for me because some of those games I no longer own. But anyways I can’t wait to transfer my data, bring on the Wii U!

My Nintendo News

The instruction manual which comes with Wii U states exactly how you transfer data from your existing Wii console to your shiny new Wii U. First, you need to insert an SD card into your Wii U to initiate the process using the console’s Wii System Transfer. After doing this process you need to put the same SD card into your Wii, and download another transfer application from the Wii Shop Channel. This application will transfer data to the card that must be placed back into Wii U when prompted. This is when the Wii data is moved to Wii U and deleted from the SD card. Data that can be transferred includes:

• Wii Software save data
• WiiWare and save data
• Virtual Console titles and save data
• Add-on content
• Wii Points
• Wii Shop Channel activity
• Mii characters

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Month of Nostalgic Game Reviews: Streets of Rage

Yo yo yo people of the north, south, east and west! And welcome to what could be described as my most ambitious series of blog posts yet. At one point I was recommended on a blogging forum to do a month-long set of blog posts and I was like “Okay but what the hell should I blog about?” So I ran through a list of options and finally came up with something; nostalgic video games! So yeah for the next four weeks I will be giving you reviews of some of my most nostalgic video games from my childhood. And today we start with an absolute classic; Streets of Rage!

Now this is the good stuff! Classic goodness! Ask any person who owned a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and ask them about Streets of Rage and they’ll grin and say something along the lines of “Ah yeah, Streets of Rage. Such a great game!” It’s so true though; this was a classic game that nearly every Mega Drive owner had in their collection and it was one of my first video games along with Sonic 1-3, Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter II.

So what’s the game about? Basically it’s a side-scrolling beat ’em from 1991 where you took control of one of three characters in single-player or in two-player mode and advance across eight different locations beating the crap out of a variety of different enemies. You could beat them up using your fists or your feet or the interactive weapons like bats, polls, knives and broken bottles. The enemies came from the left and right of the screen and you’d have to clear them out before being able to move onto the next part of the level and at the end you’d have to beat a beastly boss. You could also call the police for help with a power-up and they’d shoot rockets at the enemy and destroy everyone on-screen! It was so badass!

There was a reason why the 16-bit era of gaming was a great time for gaming and this game in particular I feel is part of the reason. Streets of Rage for the time was graphically awesome, had great and addictive gameplay and it also had one of the most kick ass soundtracks ever! I swear the soundtrack for this game composed by Yuzo Koshiro is one of the most memorable soundtracks I recall from my childhood; I still remember the majority of the tunes and jingles. I used to bleed this game dry when I used to play with my sister; it was one of our favourite games to play together. Unfortunately I was stupid enough to sell Megadrive back in 2002 and thought I’d never play any those old games again… However! Eventually in 2010 I bought the game on the Wii’s Virtual Console and started living in nostalgia again on my own and with my sister in co-op. And I think it was last year or the year before I finally beat the game in single player mode and got the good ending! I never thought I’d ever beat the game and when I did I felt the greatest level of satisfaction ever! 😀

In the end Street of Rage was one of the best games of the 16-bit era in my opinion. It’s been ported so many times in every format imaginable and the legacy it left behind is one that only people who is old enough can appreciate. If you haven’t experienced this awesomeness yet I urge you to look on your PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii console and pick it up, its old school fun at its best.

Well that’s the first review down, only 29 more to go lol. Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Until the next game review, laters! 😀

 

Analysts Give Their Opinions On Wii U

To be honest as much as I hate to say it (being a Nintendo fanboy and all), I can see where some of these analysts are coming from. The Wii U so far looks like it’ll be a pretty interesting console when it arrives in November. It seems to have created a lot of buzz in recent times especially with both bundles going sold out a lot in America and few places over the UK too. But some don’t remain convinced, from fans to developers to analysts, some don’t believe that the console is anything special and while I love Nintendo and will probably will obtain a Wii U at some point I can’t help but hear what some of these analysts are saying here.

The Wii U, an eagerly anticipated console for some, though is it too expensive and does it need a price cut?

Wedbush Securities and DFC Intelligence do raise a pretty god point about the Wii U’s price and how it may have to have to cut after a while. And considering what happened to the 3DS I wouldn’t be too surprised. Now obviously the 3DS was a handheld console and didn’t have the software line-up that the 3DS did. But I was one of the people who bought the 3DS long after the price drop because the games that I wanted were available and much better than the 3DS’s launch titles and I believe I may do the same with the Wii U. The Wii U’s asking price I think is okay, though a tad unfair when converted from the price it costs in US dollars. I have no doubt that the console will sel well over the Christmas season because most things that come out around that period always do well, but after Microsoft and Sony get their acts together with their new consoles Nintendo may have to drop the price of the Wii U to make it look a little more appealing to casual audiences. The Wii worked well because it was not only a great gaming console with new gaming experiences, but it was also very affordable and I think the Wii U needs to be in the same affordable area too in order for sales to continue after the holiday season.

My Nintendo News

Video gaming website VGChartz has contacted a number of industry analyst to find out what they think to the Wii U now that Nintendo has revealed pricing, release date, and crucially, games. Most of the analyst seem impressed with what was announced, but there’s a few that expect a price cut next year just before Microsoft and Sony release their next generation consoles.

• Wedbush Securities thinks the console will sell well through the holiday and could hit 7 million sold by March, but also warns that the company might have to cut the price before the 2013 holiday season to compete with Sony and Microsoft’s new releases.
• DFC Intelligence thinks the price is a little too high to start with, and sees a price drop coming before the console is twelve months old.
• Sterne Agee was impressed with the WiiU’s initial lineup, and thinks the console could sell one million…

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Nintendo Europe Wii U Presentation Roundup

To my surprise Nintendo’s Wii U Preview was very impressive, I wasn’t expecting the wealth of information that was given because Nintendo have been very secretive amount their new console for a while now. However Nintendo really did deliver on the tech specs for the console and software line-up and the amount of games available in the launch window looks pretty darn interesting especially from the third-party developers. While I believe the launch window for the Wii U is a fair bit big which means you could be waiting a while for certain games to come out, in the end I think if Nintendo play their cards right and release the right games before the end of March next year then they should be fine. This has made my interest in the Wii U shoot up somewhat, though I’ll wait for the specific retail prices for each bundle before making a purchase.

My Nintendo News

In today’s European Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo has announced that their latest home console, Wii U, will launch across Europe from 30th November. Wii U is an HD console that offers more choice and variety of gameplay than ever before, with brand new gaming experiences enabled by the innovative Wii U GamePad controller, whether playing alone or together with friends. The Wii U GamePad offers an integrated second screen and can also be used independently of the TV set with certain software.

Two launch hardware packs were announced along with the strongest line-up of launch software in Nintendo history. These include third-party heavy hitters such as FIFA 13 from Electronic Arts and Activision’s Call Of Duty®: Black Ops II, Ubisoft’s ZombiU™ and RAYMAN® LEGENDS as well as in-house titles like Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U. The Nintendo Direct presentation also revealed previously unannounced upcoming software titles exclusive…

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Games I’m Looking forward to in 2012: Animal Crossing 3DS

In 2012 there is a lot to look forward to in the world of gaming, not only are there a lot of returning franchises, but there are also new releases too. One game in particular I’m looking forward to is Animal Crossing 3DS, now I can imagine people rolling their eyes at this choice of game and in a way I can understand them, because I used to be one of them. I used to think that Animal Crossing was one of the most random and uninteresting franchises in existence and after Animal Crossing: Wild World came out, it got loads of high reviews and everyone was talking about it. I really couldn’t understand what the hype was a about. That was until I played Wild World myself in 2008, my god, after that I never looked back. I bought the game off of my friend for £10 just to see if it was any good and almost immediately the game had me hooked and while you wouldn’t think a game about catching bugs & fish, maintaining a house and talking to and exchanging items with people would be so addictive, but it is. Whether you’re digging up fossils, buying items from the shop or updating the interior of your house as it expands, there’s a wealth of stuff to do and I that’s all on the offline experience. I’ve never had the chance to go online with Animal Crossing when it was introduced on the DS because I never knew anyone who had the game or had anyone’s friend codes, plus my DS is really fussy when it comes to online functionality too so that sucked.

After I played this game, I was hooked and finally saw the addictive nature of the Animal Crossing series.

Overall Animal Crossing: Wild World was a really good game and it provided me with endless amounts of fun at random times of the day, the game was so addictive that I would stay up until after 4am to keep collecting and updating certain features in the game. I really did fall in love with the simplicity of the gameplay, the characters, lifestyle created in the game. I still play the game on the odd occasion in present times, though not nearly as much as I used due to the fact that I have collected most of the stuff in the game and its fun factor isn’t as strong as it was back in 2009. I reckon that after around 2 years Animal Crossing starts to lose its novelty unless you have many friends to play with wirelessly or online.

Look at the difference between the DS & 3DS. The height, shape and detail are clearly upgraded from before.

Now I know the Animal Crossing series started on the GameCube many years ago now, then had its first sequel on the DS in 2005 and then after that in 2008 the third game in the series, Animal Crossing: City Folk came out (I’m not calling it by that stupid title it got in the UK release as I think it is a pointless change) and at the time I was ready to buy the game, however the gameplay didn’t look that much better than the DS version, plus there were not enough new features in the Wii version for me to buy City Folk. And so I have waited a long time and then in 2010 the next game in the series was announced and then a little while after that at E3 2011 we got a look at the new game, Animal Crossing 3DS. Not only did it look noticeably different from the previous entries in the series, but it also looks a hell of a lot better. Everything is so much sharper, colourful and the lighting is incredible and the different seasons look lovely too. Not only that but the character models have more shape and figure, you can also change their pants and shoes as well as their t-shirts. We saw so many fancy elements in the trailer like being able to sit on benches to the lamp posts now being available and the seeing the male character in the Link tunic, but the best part of the trailer came at the end where you can see that your character can swim in the sea, I was so happy that got implemented into the game. The animals too had received a noticeable difference, the games developers added more detailed and vary in height from each other.

Now I can honestly say that while I’m not a major fan of the series, after Wild World I know that I need the 3DS Animal Crossing to replace the hole in my gaming world where gaming is simple, relaxing and absurdly addictive. I believe that people hate on the Animal Crossing based on the stuff that you do in the games and the way that they are structured, but unless you’ve played the games (especially Wild World) then you really can’t say anything. Unless you’ve played the games and didn’t like them then your reasons are justified. But this series has a pretty big fan base and we’re all looking forward to the release of this new instalment in the series when it eventually shows up. Another thing to note about this game is that if it turns out to be good and innovate, then imagine the epicness that could take place on the Wii U with its new controller and innovative features. The possibilities for this series are endless with Nintendo hardware behind it.

I’m already liking the look of this game and with the new features that the 3DS could bring to the series, we could be looking at the best installment in the series, as long as the game is lengthy, varied and has a high level of customization with the online functionality is on the extreme then Animal Crossing 3DS may be one of the best games on this handheld system. Only time will tell.

 

 

 

 

Random Blog 01

Howdy people of the web, it seems about time that I give my blogs a variation, so I am reintroducing a series of blog post I used to do on Gametrailers entitled the ‘Random Blog‘. These posts were completely random and they be made if I was bored and needed something to write or if I wanted to right about multiple subjects in one blog post. With that in mind, I’m gonna start t his thing off and hopefully you’ll enjoy what you read. Let’s get started!

Gaming

It’s strange, in these days of video games I haven’t really been on the gaming scene that much, besides playing Sonic Generations, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Mortal Kombat 9 in 2011, I’ve barely touched any other games last year and that’s really tragic yo. By my standards (or at least my old standards) I should be out there playing everything that I can touch, but in a way I guess I don’t play that much these days purely based on the fact that I’m primarily a Nintendo gamer. But now most Nintendo-based games are on the 3DS and I don’t currently have one means I have no games to play. Another factor to consider woul be that my interest in gaming has dwindled a fair amount over the course of 2011.

Even though there’s a few small titles heading to the Wii like Mario Party 9 and the long-awaited Dragon Quest X, let’s be honest, no one really cares for Mario Party these days and DQX will probably be better housed on the Wii U anyway. So why don’t Nintendo just declare the Wii dead already, the rest of the gaming community have a in a lot of ways. Though not all hope is lost for me. My sister finally obtained a PS3 at Christmas and I’m feeling good. Only problem is that the console is back in my home town, so I’ll have to wait a while before I play the PS3 while I’m at uni. I still ahve my friend’s Xbox 360 so I think I’ll survive. But enough about that, 2012 looks like a great year for gaming, there’s many major games showing up and I want a good few of those games especially: Street Fighter X Tekken, Sonic 4: Episode 2, SSX, Soul Calibur 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil Revelations, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Kingdom Hearts 3DS & Animal Crossing 3DS are games that stick clearly in my mind, anything else either doesn’t apply to me or I just forgot to mention it.

This is a game I really want to play 😀

Obviously I have listed a few 3DS games and I don’t have one now, but I will obtain one eventually purely for those games I have listed there and eventually getting Mario Kart 7 too because I need Nintendo juice. It seems like Nintendo are finally getting its act together even though they are losing stupid amounts of money because they didn’t meet their predicted sales with their hardware, but I assume once the rest of their good games come later in the year and with the release of the Wii U near the end of the year, Nintendo will be back on form as long as the software line-up that’s better than the 3DS.

Everything Else

Well there’s not much else to talk about really. January has been a very slow month and I just want it to be over. Don’t get me wrong things haven’t been all bad it’s just been really slow and the majority of it has been extremely boring and lifeless. I’m still in my break time between Christmas and since uni starts again this week I’m trying to live up my freedom from education, but with nothing to do I might as well be in university instead of letting my mind turn to mush. I currently have only a few days left of freedom before the wheels of education start spinning, though from the way in which my timetable has changed and the awkward new project we have to do with random people from other courses I am not sure that returning would do me any favours either. Currently in my world I am still quite bored, I have no fun activities so I doomed to stay in seclusion in my flat. Since I have no games to play because my consoles are back at home and with no parties to go to due to lack of funds and people who want to come out with me I just stay attached to my laptop nearly every day. Whether I’m playing music on iTunes to keep me awake at the early hours of the morning or watching ridiculous amounts of videos on YouTube or watching TV shows like Community, 30 Rock, Boardwalk Empire & Sherlock, there feels like there’s the right amount of stuff going on in the world of my laptop to keep me at bay from being completely bored.

I’ve also been rewriting one of my old sci-fi stories I’ve been working on and I’m currently getting back into a working groove to do YouTube videos as I have the review of Spider-Man the Animated Series Season 2 recorded and in editing mode. Plus on the social side of things I have had a few nights out around Sheffield and it has been nice to hang with my people again. I even got to go to London to celebrate my cousin’s 30th birthday which was awesome, but besides that everything else has been a drag. Anyway I just wanna get things in order so I can stop worrying about everything before March when my birthday comes around so I can be happy again.

Well that’s it for this installment of the Random Blog series, this is a sort of test run of the Random Blog series to see if it’ll work on WordPress so tell me what you think of this format in comment section below. So until next time catch ya later people! 😀