Fantendo- Family Guide to Nintendo

Kickstarter Project Provides Real-Life Zelda Experience

2012-11-15T04:00:00.000-06:00

When I set out to make an adventure video game that is played in the real world, I was reminded of when I was a kid growing up with my Nintendo. When I wasn't playing the games themselves, I often played with friends where we imagined we were in the world of Super Mario Bros., fighting Glass Joe or having adventures exploring the woods in the backyard like the Legend of Zelda.

This game took me back, so I have made a tribute to the original Legend of Zelda title screen showing features that are either similar to Zelda or other classic adventure video games.

ParkQuest is a mobile game that provides an immersive, interactive, and customized adventure at public parks and other outdoor areas. Players search for treasures, collect magic items, and battle against monsters as in many adventure games. ParkQuest is unique because players are performing these activities in the real world; in real time and space. We want to use this framework to enrich our public parks and get people excited about visiting them and spending time there.

http://www.facebook.com/ParkQuest

Wii Cover Art for GameCube Games 2

2010-12-09T20:00:00.021-06:00

I've been keeping a few GameCube games around since they are fully compatible with the Wii. Here is some cover art I put together (usually from the original art but there are a few that are edits from other stuff I found on the web) that you can print, slip into the GameCube covers and make them look like proper Wii games on your shelf.

In this set, I modified the template with GameCube logos so that you can differentiate them and so I'm not accused of trying to pass off Cube games as Wii games.

So I got the new Tiger Woods with Wii Motion Plus...

2009-06-12T23:00:00.003-06:00

I picked up the new Tiger Woods Golf for Wii yesterday at Game Crazy. I had some birthday money and also traded in Tramua Center: New Blood; a game that did not live up to my expectations. I really enjoyed doing cooperative surgeries but after the second they get pretty hard and after the third the game turns into a sci-fi plot where you have to kill aliens in the bloodstream using mystic time-stopping powers. Really? All I wanted to do was realistic surgeries with no sight of blood. There were only so many times I could play the first 2 missions and fix the broken arm or take out the tumors before they got old. But I digress...

The Wii version of Tiger Woods should theoretically obsolete golf games on any other platform. With any level of realism, physically swinging the club should be more attractive than pushing buttons to start and end swing any day. However, the Wiimote just hasn't quite had the sensitivity to detect nuances in your swing from start to finish. Although they have gotten progressively better, the previous iterations of Tiger Woods have been more of a "click where you want to shoot, then we'll gauge your swing power" type of activity.

I owned the first Tiger Woods on Wii (07), thought I was upgrading and got 08, sold both, and then just rented 09. They were better than Wii Sports Golf but not better enough to justify me owning them. If the kids wanted to play golf on Wii, they wanted to use their Miis; and we didn't play enough for them to get bored of the course selection.

The new Tiger Woods 10 supports (and comes bundled with) the new Wii Motion Plus add-on. You plug it into your Wiimote and (for games that support it) it becomes many times more sensitive to movement. It definitely feels different- it feels real. Typically in golf video games there are all sorts of meters and indicators showing how powerful your swing is, where you are aiming, etc. There are a few of those in this game but you don't need to use any of them. If you can get over the simulated depth perception and visually judge how far your target is, you can physically get it there. Nowhere is this more true than putting which finally registers the subtle movements enough to make small putts (makes me want a mini-golf game).

Also included is disk golf - which truthfully I might play as much as the traditional golf. The Motion Plus add-on is sensitive enough to pick up any movement in the wrist in your throw. I foresee my kids relating to this one more as well, since throwing a Frisbee is something they can go outside and do anytime.

You can get the game by itself (don't) or bundled with the Wii Motion Plus add-on. I figured I would get Wii Sports resort with the Motion Plus add-on in July, at which point we'll have two of them (2 of any of the add-ons is usually enough). I'll have to see if the added physical realism makes any impression on my kids but I sure am enjoying the experience.

My Entire Nintendo Game History

2007-03-30T20:00:00.022-06:00

Having been a Nintendo video game fan for over 20 years, I have owned several systems and a lot of games. I thought it might be interesting to have a historical list. Here is the list of Nintendo Games I and my brothers have owned to play for each system during that system’s lifecycle. Omitted are games that I purchased with the sole intent of reselling, NES games I have owned to make my PocketNES collection legal, games for our other systems such as Genesis or Playstation, or games my brothers owned after I was off to college with my own collection.

Wii
Kid Icarus Uprising
Mario Kart 7
StarFox 64
Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
Super Mario 3D Land
Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Wii
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Beatles Rock Band
Big Brain Academy
Boom Blox
Boom Blox Bash Party
Cars Race O' Rama
Dead Space: Extraction
Disney's Think Fast
Disney Sing It: Family Hits
Disney Epic Mickey
Disney Universe
Donkey Kong Country Returns
EA Active
Endless Ocean
Endless Ocean: Blue World
Excitebots Trick Racing
Excite Truck
Fling Smash
Geometry Wars: Galaxies

Ghostbusters
Goldeneye 007
Guitar Hero 3
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero World Tour
House of the Dead: Overkill
Jeopardy
Kirby Epic Yarn
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
LEGO Pirates of the Carribean
LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4
Link's Crossbow Training
Madden NFL 2007
Madden NFL All-Play 2009
Mario and Sonic Olympic Games
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Party 8
Mario Power Tennis
Mario Strikers Charged
Mario Super Sluggers
Metroid: Other M
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Metroid Prime Trilogy
NBA JAM
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
No More Heroes
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Punch-Out!!
Red Steel
Resident Evil IV
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 3
Sega Bass Fishing
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
Smarty Pants
Sonic: Unleashed
SpongeBob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Super Paper Mario
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
Table Tennis
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010
Tiger Woods PGA Masters 2011
Toy Story Mania
Toy Story 3
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Trauma Center: New Blood
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Wheel of Fortune
Wii Fit
Wii Fit Plus
Wii Music
Wii Party
Wii Play
Wii Play: Motion
Wii Sports

Wii Sports Resort
Zelda; Skyward Sword
Zelda: Twilight Princess

Nintendo DS
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
America's Test Kitchen
Animal Crossing
Big Brain Academy
Brain Age
Brain Age 2: More training in minutes a day
Civilization Revolution
Club House Games
Cookin' Mama
Crayola Adventure Pack
CrossworDS
Disney Friends
Dragon Quest 9
Elite Beat Agents
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Game & Watch Collection
Game & Watch Collection 2
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Imagine: Family Doctor
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Mario Kart DS
Meteos: Disney Magic
My Spanish Coach
New York Times Crosswords
New Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo DS Web Browser
Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends
Peggle: Dual Shot
Personal Trainer: Cooking
Phineas and Ferb
Picross DS
Planet Puzzle League
Pokemon: Heart Gold
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Scribblenauts
Super Scribblenauts
Smart Boy's Winter Wonderland
Smart Girl's Magical Book Club
Smart Girl's Toyland
Space Invaders Extereme
Super Mario 64 DS
Touchmaster
WarioWare: DIY
WarioWare: Touched

Gameboy Advance
Crazy Taxi
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fight One
Fire Pro Wrestling Advance
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Mario Golf
Mario Kart Advance
Mario Tennis
Metroid Fusion
Namco Collection
Pac Man Colection
Street Fighter 2 Turbo Revival
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Super Mario Advance
Super Mario Advance 2
Super Mario Advance 4
Wade Hixton's Counter Punch
Wario Land 4
Wario Ware
Wario Ware Twisted
Zelda: Link to the Past

Gamecube
007: Agent Under Fire
007: Everything or Nothing
007: Nightfire
Animal Crossing
Crazy Taxi
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Disney's Haunted Mansion
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
F-Zero GX
Karokee Revolution Party
Luigi's Mansion
Madden NFL 2005
Mario Golf
Mario Kart Double Dash
Mario Party 4
Medal of Honor: Frontline
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Nascar Thunder 2003
NFL Blitz 2003
Pacman VS
Pacman World 2
Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door
Pokemon Channel
Pokemon Colosseum
Resident Evil 4
Simpsons Hit & Run
Star Wars Rebel Assault
Star Wars Rouge Leader
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Monkey Ball
Super Smash Bros.
Viewtiful Joe
Wario Ware Party Games
Wave Race Blue Storm
WWE Wrestlemania X8
Zelda: Collectors Edition
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest
Zelda: The Wind Waker

Nintendo 64
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
CastleVania 64
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Crusin' USA
Crusin' World
Diddy Kong Racing
Donkey Kong 64
ExciteBike 64
F-Zero X
Goldeneye 007
Jeporady
Madden NFL 2000
Madden NFL 64
Madden NFL 99
Mario Golf
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party 2
Mario Party 3
Mario Tennis
Mickey's Speedway USA
Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Paper Mario
Perfect Dark
Pilotwings 64
Pokemon Puzzle League
Star Wars Batlle for Naboo
Star Wars Rouge Squadron
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire
StarFox 64
StarWars Racer
Super Mario 64
The World is not Enough
Toy Story 2
Vigilante8
Wave Race 64
WCW vs nWo World Tour
WWF Attitude
WWF No Mercy
WWF Warzone
WWF Wrestlemania 2000
Yoshi Story
Zelda: Orcania of Time
Zelda: Majora's Mask

Virtual Boy
Golf
Mario Clash
Mario Tennis
Red Alarm

Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Actraiser
Actraiser 2
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2
Earthbound
Fatal Fury
Final Fantasy 2
Final Fantasy 3
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fight
F-Zero
Gradius 3
HyperZone
Illusion of Gaia
Ken Griffey Jr. Major League Baseball
Killer Instinct
Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Mario Paint
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2
Mortal Kombat 3
NBA JAM
NBA JAM Tournament Edition
NBA Live 95
NCAA Basketball
NHL Stanley Cup
NHLPA Hockey 93
Out of this World
Pilotwings
Pit Fighter
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally
Secret of Mana
SimCity
Soul Blazer
StarFox
StarFox Official Competition Pack
Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Super Baseball Simulator 1000
Super Castlevania 4
Super Contra 3
Super Empire Strikes Back
Super Ghouls and Ghosts
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Super Punch Out
Super Return of the Jedi
Super Star Wars
Super Street Fighter 2
Super Tennis
Tecmo Super Bowl 3
Tecmo Super NBA
TMNT Tournament Fighters
Wailae Country Club Golf
Wanderer's from Y's
World Heroes
WWF RAW
WWF Royal Rumble
WWF Super Wrestlemania
WWF Wrestlemania Arcade Game
Yoshi's Island
Zelda 3: A Link to the Past

Gameboy
Alleyway
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Land
Dr. Mario
Final Fantasy Adventure
Final Fantasy Legend
Final Fantasy Legend 2
Golf
Hoyle Casino
Hunt for Red October
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Metroid 2
Mickey's Speedway USA
Nintendo World Cup
Operation C
Perfect Dark
Pokemon Gold
Solomon's Club
Street Fighter 2
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2
Tetris
Wizards and Warriors: Fortress of Fear
WWF Superstars
Zelda: Link's Awakening

Nintendo Entertainment System
10 Yard Fight
Baseball
Baseball Simulator 1000
Battle Chess
Battletoads
Bionic Commando
Captain Skyhawk
Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
Contra
Crystalis
Dance Aerobics
Donkey Kong
Dr. Mario
Dragon Warrior
Duck Hunt
Final Fantasy
Goonies 2
Gyromite
Harlem Globetrotters
Heroes of the Lance
Ice Climber
Legend of Zelda
Maniac Mansion
Mario Bros.
Megaman 2
Megaman 3
Metroid
Mike Tyson's Punch Out
Monopoly
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden 2
Nintendo World Cup
Robocop
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Spike V' Ball
Super Team Games
Tecmo Super Bowl
Tecmo World Wrestling
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tetris
Top Gun 2
Track & Field 2
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
World Class Track Meet
Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link

Wii packaging for GameCube games

2007-03-20T21:09:00.000-06:00

I've been keeping a few GameCube games around for various reasons in addition to them being fully compatible with the Wii. Here is some cover art I put together (usually from the original art but there are a few that are edits from other stuff I found on the web) that you can print, slip into the GameCube covers and make them look like proper Wii games on your shelf.

Super Mario Sunshine- My young son really likes Mario 64 so I thought this might be another option for him. I forgot how much more complicated this games' controls are.

Star Wars: Rouge Leader- Wish they would just port this to Wii. Until then it's a keeper.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - I actually got this one free just a few months ago. I also have Super Paper Mario so I cannot see getting into this.

Mario kart: Double Dash - I was holding onto it until Mario Kart Wii was released. Now that it is out I planned to unload it.

Luigi's Mansion: My son is a big fan of this game, or more watching me play this game. The controls are way to complicated for him. I hope they port this one to Wii as well.

Karaoke Revolution Party: I actually bought this after the Wii release. For $20 it was really fun to try. It actually is a really solid game but now that there is Rock Band I cannot really see playing it again.

F-Zero GX - Awesome looking game. Pretty fun but way too hard. Very little resale value so it is worth keeping around.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat - This is the other Cube game I have purchased after the Wii release. I got this one for my son who was really into Bongos (you use Bongos to control this game). They actually are re-releasing this for Wii but without the Bongo drums (and without support for them) so I will be keeping this version around for awhile.

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix- First and only DDR game I ever bought. This game has been a little of a collector's item.

An updated cover can increase the resale value of these games (as can including them in Wii game listings), however I recommend full disclosure in any listings that these are actually GameCube games you are selling; in case the buyer does not have the required controller or memory card.

iPod Shuffle - Custom NES Skin

2007-03-19T20:55:00.000-06:00

NES Skin for the original iPod Shuffle

http://www.designerskins.com/
http://www.decalgirl.com/
Here are two sites that will sell you vinyl skins for your iPod (or a number of other devices). They have many to choose from, but I used designerskins.com because they offered the service of downloading their templates and creating your own custom skin. The skin itself was pretty durable and looked very good. It has stayed on very well but still seems like it could come off without a lot of effort if I wanted to remove it. I expect the skin will get some wear and tear eventually but better the skin than the device itself.

http://fantendo.com

My Classic Mario Bros. GameBoy Advance

2007-03-19T20:49:00.000-06:00

Skin to make your plain GBA SP a Classic Mario GBA SP.

There are websites out there like Designer Skins that let you create (or purchase) custom skins for various electronic devices: iPods, Cellphones, etc. I have made one such skin for my coblat blue Gameboy Advance SP. It is styled like my Arcade Cabinet in the classic Mario Bros. style.

http://fantendo.com

Sell your Cube to get a Wii - eBay Tutorial

2007-03-19T20:13:00.000-06:00

At press time, I own the 3 systems currently being supported by Nintendo; A Wii, a DS Lite, and a Classic NES Edition GameBoy Advance SP. The unique status of my ownership is that I didn’t invest any new money into them, rather, I didn’t spend any money on them that wasn’t already poured into video games long ago. I did this by selling my old systems and games on eBay. There isn’t a lot of magic to selling your old stuff on eBay but when it comes to old systems and games; there are things you can do to get the best return on your old investments. For this example, I will use my most recent sale: selling my GameCube stuff to get a Wii.

My Cube, along with the stuff I packaged with it.

Step 1: Decide what your are selling
When looking at any of the newest game systems but especially the new Nintendo systems you may consider keeping some of your software and accessories because they will be compatible with your new system. For example: I owned 4 GameCube controllers; 2 regular and 2 wireless Wavebirds. I needed to provide controllers to make the system an attractive package, but I could also use those controllers with the new Wii. I decided to keep the Wireless ones and package the regular ones with the system. I also had a pile of games, many of which I wanted to keep. I decided to keep only the games that I knew 1) I still enjoyed playing and 2) there wasn’t a superior version available on the Wii in the near future. For example, I did sell my two favorite Cube games, Zelda:The Wind Waker and Metroid Prime because I knew they would never be used again once I got the Zelda and Metroid games for Wii. Mario Kart, on the other hand, wouldn’t be available on the Wii for some time. Once you decide what you are selling and what you are keeping, you are ready for the next step.

Step 2: Determine how to package the items you are selling
Should you sell everything individually? Or all together in a Lot? On one hand selling everything in a Lot can be advantageous when time is scarce. But if you have basic eBay skills my research shows that a combination of both will give you the biggest returns. I would almost always suggest against selling everything individually. In addition to the additional time it will take to manage all of those auctions and sales, you’ll find that the less coveted items may not receive a bid that makes your time worthwhile. Put your system and necessary accessories together as one item. Then browse eBay to see how the games you have are selling, and put them into two categories:

Zelda Collectors Edition - valuable enough to sell on it's own.

1) Games that are valuable enough to sell individually
For instance: My Zelda Collector’s Edition Disc was going for over $40 on eBay at the time I sold it. Packing it with the system could only hurt its chances of getting sold; there were people who wanted this game and they generally already had a system to play it on.

I bundled all the games that were priced under $15.

2) Games that you will package with your system
For instance: Madden NFL 2005 was not a bad game by any means, but it is a hard sell when Madden 2007 is in stores, and even GameStop was selling 2005 for $4.99. At the time, there were copies of Madden 2005 on eBay that had not gotten their initial bid of $1.99. Madden 2005 was much more valuable as an enhancement to the sale of my system than a sale on its own. I chose a minimum price ($15 in my case) and packaged everything that was selling for under that with my system.

Extra memory card? Sell your saved game data.

Step 3: Make your items look better than the others
When you list your items on eBay, you don’t need all the extra bells and whistles eBay offers. I would suggest gallery (show the picture on the search screen) for all items and subtitle for your system to describe some of the games. Here are some general tips to help you list your items:

Make sure that you mention you are selling multiple products and offer to combine ship. People looking for games (and especially systems) may be in the market for more.

Start each of your auctions at $0.99. It seems crazy and risky but the free market will take care of you. The low starting price will get more people emotionally involved with the auction. Not to worry, if you have only listed your coveted items there will be a bidding frenzy if it is still $0.99 near auction close.
If the new systems are compatible with the old games you are selling, put that new system’s name in the title. For instance: Zelda Ocarina of Time Master Quest for Cube/Wii. I still listed this in the Cube game category, but the name of the new system attracts more users.

If you have extra accessories, package them creatively. For instance, I already packaged 2 memory cards with the system, and had an extra one. Since I had unlocked everything on Mario Golf, I put my game save on that extra card and included it.

List marquee games and the number of games on the title of the system. Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda: The Wind Waker and Metroid Fusion all were selling on eBay for under $10, but they are still the name brands that helped sell GameCube systems. Since they were being packaged with the system, I made sure to put the words “Mario”, “Zelda”, and “Metroid” in the auction title. Having 17 games in addition was also a real selling point and the number 17 should be front and center; for example: Complete GameCube System+17 Cube/Wii Games Mario, Zelda

If a game you are selling has all the packaged materials (case, manual, etc.) use the word "Complete" in the title. People seem to bid more on that word than auctions without it.

Describe environmental issues that may make your system more valuable- for instance: Owned by non-smoker. Some people don't care, but I always hate getting stuff on eBay that needs to be Febreezed.

Custom decals or skins. My custom Mario themed GBA went for way more than average GBA. (which you can get at http://fantendo.com if you need to dress up yours)
My GameCube was the original model that had component hook up. Although I didn't have cables, it can be a plus. I did see the question asked on other Cubes.

The Outcome: My games each sold for around $20, each a couple bucks above the average going price. Mario Golf did better because of the memory card, and the Zelda Collectors discs did much better (over $40) because they were more obscure. My system and games sold for $227.50. Not huge but I consider it successful in this regard: The games essentially went for $10 each, which in all cases was 20%-100% more than what they were going for individually. The system then essentially sold for $67.50, which is about 50% more than what it was going for individually.

http://fantendo.com