Cubetoons

I LOVE THIS SITE! I've added it to the list on the right, as you can see. I guess JKR began creating these great comics about the staff at IGN, my favorite gaming site, and I just can't get enough of them! Anyway, there it is.

Alright, here we go...

FINALLY! I finished a 10 week stint this past Saturday night of homework and study, and I have this week-long breather now before my next class session. The downside? I have to start studying my butt off again in a few days. The upside? Five more weeks of that and I'll be a degree-carrying graphic artist!

So, my hope is that I can do a bit more regular updating here since I have some time this week...

Let's hope!

Zelda Video Goodness

Well, I haven't had much time to post stuff lately, so I'm slipping this one in to tide you over...

If you haven't seen any of the great videos for Zelda: Twilight Princess as played on Nintendo Wii, you need to. NOW! So here's one for your viewing pleasure!

The party's over

Another E3 has come and gone, and I personally am still atwitter about all the amazing news that has come out of this show. I'm more than ever looking forward to Wii and all it has to offer in the way of fresh gaming experiences, as well as some great follow ups to classic franchises. It sounds like Sony and Microsoft had some great offerings as well, but I really think Nintendo stands a chance at taking back their crown, so long owned by Sony...

I guess one picture can sum up what I am most excited about now that the show is over:



LONG LIVE NINTENDO!

Soon... very soon...

As I type this, we are a mere 23 hours or so away from total disclosure on the (gaming) secret of the decade... At 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, Nintendo will hold its annual pre-E3 press conference and undoubtedly stun even the most fanatical with their announcements and video footage of its "New Generation" home console, Wii.

Already, the hype machine is working at full-capacity;

1. Time magazine has run a preview article, in which the author recounts his visit to Nintendo's world headquarters in Kyoto, Japan and test drives the Wii controller in WarioWare, Zelda and a previously unannounced Tennis game.
2. Ubisoft let loose the first volley weeks ago with screens and an in depth look at their premier Wii title, Red Steel (Stiil?).
3. Activision has already officially announced the development of a unique version of Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam and Call Of Duty 3 for Wii. They reportedly have one other title in development (Spiderman 3?) for the platform.
4. EA added fuel to the fire with the announcement of a completely new version of Madden tailored specifically to the Wii's unique controller, including over the shoulder passing motions and nunchaku juking. Furthermore, the publishing giant has opened a new studio in Canada dedicated purely to the development of Wii titles!
5. Other confirmed third party developers include Sega, Konami, THQ, Atlus and Bandai, each with unique Wii versions of software or completely exclusive franchises for the system, including Super Monkey Ball, Trauma Center and Dragonball Z Tenkaichi 2.
6. Finally, the big N themselves have, of course, many tricks up their sleeve. Titles that they have mentioned include:
- A Mario Title
- A Zelda Title (not Twilight Princess)
- A Donkey Kong title
- Pikmin
- Battalion Wars
- An un-named racing title
- An un-named flight title
- An un-named Tennis game (mentioned by Time magazine)
- Wario Ware

While I'm sure I've left some stuff out, this makes for a very impressive showing, even if not all of these are playable at the big show! You'd better believe that I will be glued to the intraweb tomorrow morning and most of the week!

But I was going to Tashi station...

I absolutely loved the first Lego Star Wars: The Video Game! As many of you know, I am an avid collector of the toys, not merely because they are Star Wars but moreso because they are Lego; my collection ranges in the 10,000's of pieces and while I don't own every set out there, the assortment is pretty impressive.

Needless to say, I'm excited about this:



Yeah. Coming this fall... Preorder, anyone?

MAY AND JUNE!

Wow... so much to look forward to for us gamers!

Nintendo announced today that it's ultra-cool looking DS Lite would hit American shores June 11th at a base price of $129.99. Of course, I've already slapped down my $50 for a pre-order at work, so it's a given that I will be the first on my block to own one...

And how could I resist? Being an admitted Nintendo fanboy and lover of all things Apple, any piece of video game hardware wrapped in gorgeous shiny white plastic is catnip to me...

Before that, however, comes New Super Mario Bros. on the DS, and I'm guessing I'll be playing through at least 60 of the 80 levels on my new ipod-esque handheld system when it arrives.

So, to recap:

Tuesday, May 10th, 9:30 am PST - Nintendo Pre-E3 Press Conference (all the Wii details)
Sunday, May 15th - New Super Mario Bros. arrives
Sunday, June 11th - DS Lite arrives

If Wii could alter reality...

Sorry about the pun... I couldn't resist!

Game Daily has an interesting article about "augmented reality", which is a crazy kind of virtual reality technology in use by the auto industry as well as city planning and other high end stuff. Check out the video if you go there... the possibilities are amazing, and if Nintendo does indeed plan on something of this kind it could be so far beyond what any of us had thought.

Augmented Reality

Oh yeah, funny stuff!

Joystiq posted a link to something hilarious: a Castlevania random subtitle generator... Just click the link to the right!

Now if only naming kids was this easy... (no, that's not a hint).

Castlevania Random Namer

E3 Expectations

Being a video game industry professional, I was privileged enough to attend E3 last year. It was a great experience, and a very eye-opening one at that; the sheer mass of the crowd attending was quite overwhelming for me, and the cacaphony of lights, sounds and game demos kept my brain at near-overload most of my day there.

A highlight of the entire experience was, of course, waiting in an hour-and-a-half long line with my two staff members to play the single most amazing game demo I've ever enjoyed; the Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Seriously, we stood in that insanely long line, rubbing elbows with fellow Nintendo fans and playing DS demo games, all the while eagerly anticipating what would be a very satisfying gamers' experience. I can safely say that the four small samples of the game that we tried when we reached the end of that line were more enjoyable and impressive than most of the finished games I have purchased or played this entire past year (maybe even few years!).

All of this to say, while I won't be in physical attendance at the event this year (darn VIP passes), I do have some very eager expectations:

1. Nintendo Wii - like the name or not, this system promises to blow us all away at the show. I have been a strong believer in Nintendo's Revolution from the day it was unveiled, and I am confident that Iwata and co. are not going to fail us here. BRING ON THE GAMES!

2. Nintendo DS - new titles like Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and New Super Mario Bros. will surely keep the lines at the DS kiosks long and busy, but I am curious what interesting third party offerings will be shown. Nintendo has showcased the system's unique capabilities in the past year, but I really think many third parties are starting to "get it" too... This is a promising precedent for Wii as well...

3. Zelda: Twilight Princess - I am literally frothing at the mouth for this game *wipes drool away from chin*; ever since I tasted that small sampling last May, I have longed for more, and I believe that Nintendo will deliver, if only in the form of video for us non-attendees, this year.


4. Metroid Prime 3 - Again with the froth... if this game plays anywhere near like I think it will, I expect to be floored. Quite possibly my favorite game series ever, I love both Metroid Prime games on Cube as well as Hunters on DS, and Prime 3, with 1.5 to 2 times the graphics power of the Cube versions, could very well leave me catatonic.

In any event, if you cannot reach me next week, or if you see me wandering some street with a zombified expression, you'll know why - E3 Fever will have struck!

So it begins...

I had a blog once... ONCE!

Oh, wait, this is the second one...

Welcome one and all to my blog! Here I'll be sharing my thoughts on whatever; of course, some of my favorite subjects will dominate the posts, including Nintendo, Music, Movies and Batman (what else?). I will also comment occasionally on world issues, politics and other more serious fare.

Please feel free to respond to my posts, send me an e-mail or just scream at the top of your lungs while standing on one foot outside a Tibetan monestary... uh, not sure how that relates.