TakeThisStudios

Cities: Skylines Review

2015-03-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Cities: Skylines has been out two weeks now (fifteen days at the time of writing), and I believe I have gotten far enough into the game to offer the sum of my experience with my take on the game, as well as the controversial similarity to SimCity (2013) of recent memory. Now I must say, forums were exploding at the announcement of this game saying that it was just a carbon copy of SimCity and that it wouldn't be worth buying. I doubt that this opinion is exactly objective, but I pose the question; exactly how different IS any one city building sim from another? The devil is going to be in the details for this one and I can't wait to get started.

Right off the bat I'd like to point out that long time fans of SimCity are going to notice some similarities. You start drawing out roads, ideally in some sort of logical shape or grid if you are a fan of progress in this game and then move into zoning. You assign the areas on either side of the road to be Commercial, Industrial, or Residential Districts and buildings grow up from each zone as you might expect. You'll next build stations to bring power and plumbing to the masses; so far so normal. You eventually establish schools as well as police and fire departments, then eventually schools and parks. The city grows as people move in and the population increase gradually opens more and more options for you to build and explore. These are all things that any city sim would lay claim to and, in fact, not the point of this article. With the hot issue of Cities: Skylines being "too" similar to buy or enjoy, I went into the game asking myself what makes this different, and how does this game stand out or expand the accepted formula on games like this?

Well for starters, it isn't always online and there isn't some half cocked multiplayer mode inviting people to come in and foul things up. Nope this is my city! However I refuse to garner any reputation for harping too hard on a game company, so here go my actual observations upon playing the game.

One of the key differences that expounds on the gameplay in a great way is the brush tool allowing you to divide up the city and create districts. In each section you create you may adjust taxes and policies independently of the remainder of the city, giving a sense of depth. Unfortunately it is just a sense, meaning it is just another layer of micro-management. But in a simulator such as this, is that really such a bad thing? I would figure that running a real city is quite a bit of micro-management. Likewise a real city needs to keep a close eyes on its resources, and so do you. As you play you need to keep watch over your wallet, though in reality it is simply refraining from overspending and moving sliders until you find a balance in the black. While nothing is overly complex about these systems and they aren't exactly groundbreaking concepts; it is no less rewarding to use these tools you are given to grow your city and watch the population soar when they are used wisely.

In addition your buildings can now level up in a rather interest new way of keeping the gameplay fresh, even into the later game. While I don't have a scientifically precise exploitation, I believe that your buildings in any zone will level up, grow, and become more productive once you have nailed down the proper services coupled with correct amenities. Such as education funding and parks allow your residential zones to do better.

Contrary to the overwhelming joy I'd feel when my city was thriving and my population rejoiced, you can expect to feel a terrifying tension that comes with the resulting failures of mismanagement. While most citizens are contest to leave passive aggressive complaints and suggestions on the faux twitter feed offered the the top of the screen, they will eventually abandon you en masse if you continue to screw up. So it is as you might think a balance that you have to maintain and growing your city slowly is a more stable way to go.

Over all I found the game immensely satisfying and certainly the experience was leaps and bounds ahead of the SimCity debacle of 2013. If you are the kind who isn't really turned on by building sims then I doubt that this will sway you in the other direction. However if you've enjoyed game like this before, then Cities: Skylines will be a shining gem in your Steam library and a game that I would certainly recommend.

Alien Bang Bang Mobile Review

2015-02-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

It always feels wonderful to think that people read your incessant yammering on the late night internet. Every time we are approached with another game in the interest of getting in exposure, I am thrilled a the prospect. So when GameChanger approached us with their title, Alien Bang Bang, I immediately picked up my phone and headed over to the Google App Store. That's right ladies and gentlemen, this one is on your phone. Meant to be played on the go or discretely while at work, mobile gaming is surging to ever greater heights; and sadly with no way of recording, it is the only reason I don't have a First Look video posted for the game. In the absence on gameplay footage I will, as always, do my best to give a good idea of what the game is about.

Jumping right into it, GameChanger takes every opportunity to tell us that the principal design of this game is supposed to invoke a retro feel in its appearance and gameplay. Rest assured they did exactly that in it development. As an avid arcade goer, as much in my early childhood as today, I have wonderful memories of using every coin I could get my hands on to stand in front of a cabinet playing Galaga or Space Invaders; and it is those wonderful memories that encouraged my excitement about playing Alien Bang Bang. Once I started playing I recognized at once the similarity to Galaga and couldn't help but smile. Playing the spiritual successor to classic titles always carries with it a bit of nostalgia and warmth.

Considering the game is of a simpler sort and meant to be played on a cell phone, the controls are quite simple but no less intuitive. Tilt the phone left to move the ship left, and tilt right will of course guide you right. Tap the screen to shoot your ships primary munition. I do hope I haven't lost anyone. You progress through areas, each containing four levels of enemies that queue up and take it in turns to try and bring you down; culminating in a fifth level containing the equivalent of a boss fight. It is an easy to follow layout from the far reaches of gaming history that fits perfectly for mobile gaming when intense focus may not always be available. Like when you are at work playing the game under a desk and the hair on your neck stands up as a chill runs down your spine, chasing away any semblance of comfort. You glance over just in time to see a co worker look away, but you can't be sure if they saw you playing a video game under your desk and almost desperately hope that they did see that, rather then interpret your sub-desk attention as something more unwholesome....

Iffy working habits aside, I only have one hang up about this game at all when it comes down to it, micro transactions. That's it, the one thing that seems to be deeply intertwining with every mobile game, browser game and many others. I won't gripe about it if the developer makes the noble decision not to withhold content until the transactions are paid. Quite frankly, if you are into games that are centered around the small exchanges, then I consider it your problem. Thankfully Alien Bang Bang holds up perfectly fine with my having ever spent a cent. I have been able to make it quite far in the game at the time of writing and look forward to playing more.

Now comes that final paragraph where I regard very deeply my gameplay experience as a whole, and consider my every integrity when deciding whether or not I should recommend you spending your time and in some cases money on the game at hand. In the case of Alien Bang Bang, you most definitely should. It is charming retro recall game about defending our galaxy from aliens, what more do you need? I know our galaxy needs you, so hope to it.

WizardWizard Review

2014-12-23T22:59:00.005-08:00

As a wizard myself I was easily drawn in by such a title as Wizard Wizard. Perhaps naturally I sought to play a game that hit so close to home, plus it was free! So giving this game a try I wasn't sure of exactly what to expect. For the past several weeks I have been playing games that people sent me and asked that I play; and now that it was up to me I really wasn't sure what I was in the mood for. In my First Look, I mistakenly called this one a rage platformer, and it isn't that at all, but I will
delve a little deeper into that one later on.

Wizard Wizard begins with an urgent atmosphere set up when the player discovers that a princess has been turned to stone by a mysterious man in red. Presumably he stole all your wizard spells as well since the only thing out of the ordinary I performed regularly was a double jump. While that does make the title seems a bit duplicitous, that isn't the shot at the game it sounds like. Actually quite the opposite. I am glad to say there in next to no combat in the game; and if there were, I am sure there would have been balancing issues with spells and enemy incorporation. I like the game in the simple state it is in now. Each level is a platforming path around obstacles, escalating in difficulty as levels progress, to obtain a key. The key opens a door behind which is hidden progress to the next level and so on. So far so normal but, I found it quite difficult to stop playing Wizard Wizard, and I think I figured out what Crateboy did to keep me so enthralled. I noticed so many elements drawn from the spirit of old school platformers, and the simple ideology only strengthened this connection; but this was achieved without sacrificing the precision of current generation gaming. Not to mention the nice nostalgic feel of the pixelated graphics tying it all together so nicely. The smooth gameplay coupled with a very nice soundtrack (that took me back to the Scott Pilgrim side scrolling beat em up) made for a very good time.

There are a lot of little touches to the game, in the things like what the NPC's say that give the game a sense of depth, but it is just a sense. The game is just as I said, a platformer, and it hits that mark with great poise; but there simply isn't that much to it. Again that isn't the cold discredit it may seem like. Mario is perhaps the most recognized gaming icon in the history of the media, but strip away the decades of built fame and there still isn't much there. I believe that is the beauty inherit in such games. They are easy to enjoy so long as the developer takes a solid no nonsense stance to their craft and does well to polish their creation, which is something Crateboy did beautifully.

At the end of the day Wizard Wizard is an excellent incarnation of the platformer, with acute attention to detail and tight platforming mechanics. For free I dare not ask for more than that, lest I sound greedy and pompous. I quite enjoyed playing through this one and I know you will to, so get out there and give it a go.

Thoughts on Pokemon!

2014-11-23T22:59:00.002-08:00

Giving thoughts on an entity like Pokemon at this point is the gaming journalism equivalent of cleaning a whale with a cotton swab. I admit the task ahead is a bit daunting; but as I watch the opening cinematic for the freshly released Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, I cannot help but think of just how far the game has come since I first turned on my Gameboy Color and began Pokemon Red. With this realization clinging to my thoughts, I can't think of a better opportunity to take a look back at one of Nintendo's most recognized titles.

In American the gaming sensation began on September 28th, 1998 with the dual release of Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. The following year would yield Pokemon Yellow on October 18th, in what would become the trend of releasing each new generation of the game in couples, punctuated by a slightly updated rerelease of the title soon after. Up until recently this rerelease normally came as a one of; but Black 2 and White 2 sent that right out the window, though I would hardly call the step innovative. Honestly having the game released released this way meant that there was more for the single player to miss out on if no one with the corresponding copy happened to be around. Yet, I suppose it is incentive to get out there and make some friends.

For me it began on a birthday, mine specifically (I never received gifts on other people's birthday, though I am not sure why) and, to my excitement, I opened up a brand new Gameboy Color and Pokemon Red to go right along with it. My excitement was such that I can hardly remember anything else I had gotten that year, and I could hardly wait for the party to end so that everyone would go away and I could get to playing my game. Looking back now, there wasn't that much to do from a gameplay approach. Complete the PokeDex, become the league champion, and deal with whatever shenanigans that Team Rocket has brewing. In the next couple of generations, they didn't change much; only serving in little gimmicks at a time. My guess is they were testing the waters on what areas of gameplay could be expounded upon. Only in the recent games have we seen actual development in expanding what all there is to do in the games, and some things are starting to stick. There is character customization, additions like Super Training, and the Global Trade Network; all of which are allowing for much more time to be spent in game on matters beyond the PokeDex and the Elite Four.

While it's true that for over a decade GameFreak has been releasing, what is essentially, the same game again and again; I have to admit that the game feels fresher now than it ever has. It goes without saying that the only group that gives in to this game time and time again are the fans, and as a fan myself it shows that the fanbase is only growing. So the duo of GameFreak and Nintendo are obviously onto something. Although I am as invigorated about this play through as I was on my very first; I cannot help but think of more...

Pokemon Snap is now a dusty old gem, but a gem it remains (not to mention it is my favorite Pokemon title). I wonder if they could incorporate collectible photo albums into these core games in a way; perhaps to reward exploration with something a bit newer than the traditional TM find. All this could culminate with hidden photo opportunities you catch on film being collected in a museum of some description, with a wondrous reward for completion. This is only one of many possibilities and just a thought, and it my or may not work; but it would be a powerful addition to the game mechanics as they are and I feel that this is what I hunger for.

Maybe I am asking too much. The franchise seems to be doing just fine, and the fandom has never been bigger or more connected. I am enjoying my game very much, I can't shake the feeling that I am dancing to the same song again and again. Believe me, that isn't the criticism that it sounds like; but it is my honest worry, and Nintendo seems to have a habit of reviving old properties to put on yet another show every couple of years. So long as they keep them coming with new ideas and presentations, then I suppose I am just barking at nothing. If you are a fan of the series or not, Pokemon looks to be in it to stay and I for one am not disappointed. As I have said I am playing through this new reboot with the childlike joy I felt at that birthday all those years ago (which was more years ago than I would care to mention), albeit with a more refined expectation.

Love it or hate it, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! That's all for now so we'll catch ya next time.

Bit.Saw Review

2014-11-13T16:05:00.001-08:00

This week we were approached with another game to play through and review; and I must confess that I am liking that trend. Though before I get to feeling too self important, let me jump on the spikes up front and say this week it's a rage platformer. That's right! Bit.Saw is of the devilish sort that brings out the worst and most hilarious reactions in a gamer. Brought to us by Shubshub, and available in itch.io for a humble $1 USD; it isn't too complex but many of the good ones never are. With such a modest price tag and 24 computer smashing levels, it's pretty hard to overlook.

Personally, I have an odd relationship with rage platformers and their ilk Having played a good many of the titles in this sub genre of one of the oldest gaming styles out there, I'm not sure of what exactly I get out of them; besides fury so pure and burning hot that I can loosely be described as a solar entity, and paroxysms of indescribable joy when I finally complete a level. I believe it is this very mystery wherein lies the subtle elegance of the rage platformers; which seem so simple on screen, but add up to more in spite of their nature. Bit.Saw slides right in there with Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV; with a much more apparent inspiration from the later, owing to the simple visual style and the ability to flip gravity along a single axis.

The visuals of the game are not explosive. In fact, I believe the entire thing could have been played on a Gameboy Color; though as we have discussed with games like this visuals aren't the point. As is the case in many things, less can be more. In this game I think the basic look of it serves to accentuate some smooth platforming and gives clear indicators of where is safe, and where is not.

When speaking of things like "safety" in games like this, I feel it is important to note that it is a relative term. Each hazard is innocuous all on its own, but each level is of course, designed with your insanity in mind. As we have mentioned above, that is simply part of the charm of games like this and Bit.Saw is certainly no let down in that department; but I fear I am starting to just ramble.

To put a bow on this one, I'm giving this one the recommendation for one simple reason. It was fun! Fun for an incredibly low investment I might add. So go ahead and treat yourself to this one, if you think you can handle it.

Castle Review

2014-11-07T16:37:00.001-08:00

About a week ago we were approached by someone from Snails Animation. They told us about their new game, Castle; and asked if we wanted to do a review. I always look for more reasons to play and having someone offer up such a creative little gem as Castle was a real treat. Upon looking over their website, I learned Snails Animation deals mostly in Flash games for your browser and Castle is their very first game for PC Download, which makes it a bit more impressive that Castle is such a nice piece of work. Before I start to prattle about the developers, let's move onto their game.

Castle is pretty straight forward from the beginning and Snails Animation really shows off a bit with some clean and color animation. The clip shows a king in his morning routine jumping at the opportunity to get his very own castle. From there is a brief tutorial screen explaining the mechanics of the game and off you go to level one to begin your time as a castle construction contractor. The game operates in a similar fashion to a claw machine; but rather than pick things up from a jumble of stuffed animals or the like, you are placing castle pieces in the appropriate spots in the correct order. Early on it is fairly simple to do. They give you a silhouette of the castle that is to be and all of the pieces scroll overhead. Drag and drop the piece you want to the column you want and you have got the hang of it. It sounds overly simple until you've considered the later portion of the game, when you will have to place down innumerable amounts of castle sections into the slots of the wackiest building designs; all while defending your castle from many unique threats. If you don't believe me, get yourself to level ten and get back with me.

The threats themselves offer little challenge. Each one prevents progress in a specific way and you have a number of items by which you may prevent them from doing so, or repair the damage they cause. The challenge appears when several of these enemies are plaguing you at once, and you are trying to build into a complicated and expansive castle design. Top this off with a deceptive time limit, and you'll find the challenge you are looking for. If you are the type of gaming legend that requires more (and you know I do) there is a King Mode available for the mighty few who complete the normal mode, and a Defend the Castle Mode that I used to exact my boiling vengeance on the enemies that harassed me in my play through.

The game doesn't offer much in the way of extras, but I don't really think is needs to. There are character descriptions and trophies for reaching certain milestones; both offer the title a little depth for a little reading and a sense of accomplishment. Though to be perfectly honest by the time I hit level sixteen, building the castle at all was its own reward.

Overall, Castle is quite entertaining and I gladly give it a shiny new recommendation fresh out of the box. It only costs you a meager five bucks and offers way more than your money's worth in terms of content and challenge. Along with giving me hours of fun, I was left with a hatred for chickens. A hatred so deep that if put into words I may face serious litigation. I'd love to see if the game could be released on tablets. The format fits perfectly and I can see the game getting excellent exposure in such a medium. Give it a go, and don't forget to greenlight this title for Steam!

http://www.snailsanimation.com/Castle/castle_homepage.html

Eufloria Review.

2014-11-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Eufloria, where shall I begin? I've seen it described in a number of places as "your standard RTS"; yet I fail to see anything standard about it, as it is quite distantly removed from Star Craft and the number of other games we have come to associate with the genre. Don't let that dissuade you from giving this one a go though, they have taken RTS by the wheel and gone in an interesting direction.

The mechanics are essentially the same as you may expect of an RTS, the developers choosing to stick to the going formula apart from some interesting stylistic choices ; and things are kept pretty simple, so interacting with the game is reasonably intuitive. You've got your minions, a role which is played by seedlings in this incarnation, and you move from one asteroid belt to the next colonizing the otherwise barren rocks and growing trees on them. Trees with which you spawn more seedlings and thus the cycle goes on. Though in many cases these asteroids are already host to your enemy and the right to colonize them yourself is a hard earned reward. Early on in my play through I made the mistake of underestimating the opponent and was overwhelmed rather quickly. I learned a few good lessons, that I won't spoil for you, as I progressed through larger and more challenging maps; and I must say I never knew intergalactic gardening could be quite this treacherous.

The visuals in Eufloria are very dynamic and at first glance are quite breathtaking. No effort was spared into making the game look wonderful start to finish; and it's very nice to see such crisp and colorful imagery in Indie Games. It shows that someone took a lot of time and quite a bit of pride in their work, so well done. Another interesting thing that the visuals brought to light is some pretty stellar programming. Understand that I was playing Eufloria on a rather old laptop, and running it on moderate graphic settings never caused any sort of distortion or FPS drop. For those of you who know all too well what I am talking about, this is certainly a positive thing to understate it a bit.

In my experience, I really only ever notice music in a game if it is quite good or quite bad. Otherwise it just fits in and passes by as ambiance, going largely unnoticed. I am glad to say that in the case of Eufloria, I noticed some very very good music. I was a little iffy when I saw that there a bundle offering the game + soundtrack, which is pretty bold move and show confidence in the game's music. However, once I got into the game, all doubts were stilled by a delightfully trippy groove underlit by a hip hop beat that just didn't stop. I know music like this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it struck a chord with me (no pun intended). In my opinion it is definitely worth the additional five bucks to enjoy the soundtrack with your purchase.

Finally a word on a subject I normally like to discuss up front. The storytelling is perhaps the factor in this game that surprised me the most. The story itself is original enough, rife with nebulous enemies about whom I was learning more little by little; but the delivery was sublime. Just enough new information at any one time to keep me playing to learn more. I can't say it is in the ring with James Joyce's Ulysses, but it was devilishly compelling all the same; enough to keep me playing for quite a while on any given evening.

I suppose it's just about time I put some kind of score on this one and wrapped things up. Problem is, I don't really see much good in numerical scores; but if you must have something, go with this: Outstanding recommendation and Gold Star/10. I had a ton of fun and feel it was more than worth the investment, so give it a go!

http://omnisystems.itch.io/eufloria-hd

Unity3D Visual Scripting with Mecanim

2014-10-25T17:23:00.003-07:00

As the indie game development scene grows more and more inexperienced programmers come in and try to grab ahold of the ropes, learning the engine, scripting languages, animation, and so on. Most of the aspiring game developers usually start out as artists who have no idea where to start when it comes to programming. I believe this is the reason that many cheap visual scripters have been showing up. Aside from speeding up production and making communication between programmers a little cleaner, it allows the ignorant enthusiast to ease them self into the practice of game programming.

This article is to demonstrate how to use Unity's animation system double as a visual scripter.

Although we will still be making a script, it only consist of three functions, and the longest one is only three lines of code. In this 2D project I created a turret that I want to start firing when the player reaches a certain distance from the turret. You could also use triggers, raycasts, etc, but for this tutorial I chose the simplest possible.

Let us begin with just hanging up our variables. Our Lazer Turret will create a GameObject of our lazer that already has a script on it. All the lazer's script does is have it use a "Move Towards" command to make it more and a script on it that handles the health and damage items of the project (that is not for this tutorial.)

Now lets set up our Start Function. Here we assign what the target will be, which I want to be the Player. I use "FindGameObjectWithTag" because it is just more general, so in case I have multiple characters that have different names this line will always find who it needs to. And also here we create link our public variable to the speed in which the Animator plays. This will become clear in a moment.

Now, our Update Function, which updates every frame. The first line is in case the script was not able to access the target at the start of the level. This might happen if you spawn your character into the scene instead of placing it in through the editor. Next, I assign my float value distance to the amount of distance the player is from the turret. Then I pass that variable into the Parameter in the Animator named "Distance."

Next we have our Function Shoot Lazer. Here all we do is create our lazer bullet prefab. We have no conditions scripted into the script, all we are doing through out the script is collecting data. Mecanim is going to actualize it for us.

I also have this function that literally is just a place holder.

Here is our Animator Controller with two animations in it: Idle and Shoot. You can see in the bottom left corner the Parameter "Distance." I you remember, in our Update function. We wrote a line that passed info through to the animator. That value was the distance that the player was from the turret.

Here out animation has no keyframes aside from the Animation Events which call the functions fro our LazerFire Script. To add these just right click in the top, grey area in the time line and select "Add Animation Event" then choose the one you wish to call. I call the ShootLazer Function near the end to enact that function. Some times when animations blend into each other the function could be skipped if it is at the end of the animation, so I used the PlaceHolder Function to make the animation longer to avoid this problem.

So our information from the script we made a transition from Idle to Shoot that happens only when the value of distance is less than three. For transitioning back to Idle we use the same information just reverse it from "lesser than" to "greater than."

Here is our inspector where we can change all the needed information. Before I wrap up, I want to re address a particular line of code.

anim.speed = fireRate;

This line changes the speed of the entire Animator Controller, not just one animation. Keep that in mind. If you want to change the speed of a certain specific animation, there are a couple of ways to do so which you can find in the Scripting Reference on unity's website.

Although we still did dive into some script, we used very basic coding to create a very customizable object. Mecanim can be used for easing many more processes and can be used to create very elaborate event systems without having to type much code or having to send message after message through out your scripts.

If this tutorial was helpful, or any other we have created, please visit support.TakeThisStudios.com where you can get access to much more information and get ahold of any Game Assets you require. Such as this source files for this tutorial. If you like the efforts we try to achieve, then please consider donating some pocket change to help further our goal of providing resources and asset for developers.

If you ever wish to see more, then just visit our Official Site!

Thank you very much!

Unity Character Controller C# (Tutorial)

2014-10-15T17:31:00.003-07:00

The most basic and needed asset for any game, in which you control an avatar, is a script to control your character. In this tutorial I will demonstrate and explain how to build a character controller.

There are a few thing that you want to decide before you start working on your script. What kind of movements will I need? Can it run, jump, attack?

In this tutorial the controller I will create will allow the player to walk, run, jump, bounce, and attack, all while playing in a sidescroling environment. This script communicates with Unity's built in animation tool "Mechanim." The player gameobject requires a collider, rigidbody, and an animator.

Terms Used Frequently:

public - can be accessed from other scripts and can be edited in the inspector.

float - Number variable that allows decimals. Ex 1.251 or 576.6574893.

bool - A value that only holds true or false.

LayerMask - a type that you can assign particular layers to in Unity.

Transform - represents a specific point in 3D or 2D space.

GameObject - pretty simple.

This is what your Script will start with. Make sure that your script's file name is the same as the "public class" name.

As our first variable, lets make a Boolean value. We want to make this so that in the situation where we want to make the player unable to control the avatar, say for a cut scene or on death, we need this here so we can do so.

Here are the variables that we will need for movement. You can change these at any time here in the script or in Unity's inspector.

The running variable does not control anything in the script, however, we use it to communicate with the Animator. Same with the xSpeed. I will explain those later.

We start the player off with grounded being false because I have the player slightly above the ground at the start of the level. If you try to place it on the ground to start in the editor, you risk clipping issues and the player falling straight through.

The Transform groundCheck is an empty GameObject that is in the avatar's hierarchy. Place it near the feet, or where ever the player would touch the ground. the float groundRadius is the range it takes from the groundCheck to detect ground. The LayerMask whatIsGround is the layer(s) that we declare as ground to detect.

The floats and bools after are not set at a certain value in the script because they require so much tweaking, so I set them in the editor. the bool jumped is used later when checking if the player is off the ground because it jumped or if it fell. Then I am sure you understand the bounce stuff is kind of the same.

My player uses fireballs as his attack. This tutorial does not show how to perform the attack, that will be another tutorial, however, this does give the very basic setup for it.

As stated, you will need an Animator component. Here the Animator anim is set up also where the variables are placed. Now when we want to do something with the animator we only have to use anim to call it.

In the start function we want the script to recognize that the anim is in fact the Animator. You could just make the anim public and drag and drop the GameObject in the inspector, but this way my object's inspector is clearer.

Most of our script will be housed in the FixedUpdate function. This function is best for working with physics (which is how we will move our character) because unlike the Update function, FixedUpdate does not update every frame, it refreshes at a steady pace regardless of the frame rate.

The first line is used to set the rotation of our character. The angle variable is the key to which way our character is facing. With using Vector.up unity will set the rotation based off of the "up" axis. In this case it is the -y.

In the second line we make the float value move equivalent to the Input value of the axis labeled "Horizontal". In the Project Settings > Input I made my "Horizontal Axis" based off of the joystick X-axis. So now, whenever the player moves the joystick along the x-axis, we will return an input value of -1 to 1. This will be used to tell Unity which direction to apply force to.

xSpeed is equal to the amount of velocity the player is moving along the -x axis. The xSpeed and running variable are used for Animation purposes. When animation your player for movement, you do not want the movement input joystick to tell the animator to play the walking animation. Instead it is best to see if the player is actually moving. This way when you run into a wall and stop moving, your character will not be playing the walking animation.

The bool running is used when we want to pass info to the Animator, telling it whether we are running or not running.

Still in the FixedUpdate function, I have these lines of code so that I can tell my animator to perform certain things. This is not a tutorial for Unity's Mechanim, you can find that elsewhere.

All of these are fairly simple to understand. I'll explain the first one and then you should be able to comprehend the rest.

If float move is greater than 0.1 (which would happen if the player moved the Horizontal Joystick along the positive -x axis) and if the player is not running (that's what "!" means if it is in front of a Boolean) and the player can be controlled, then we will apply velocity to the gameObjects rigidbody.

In the Vector3, the values inside the "()" are the x, y, and z axis. When working with a Vector3, you do not always have to include the -z axis. In this situation, we are applying force along the -x axis based on the value of float move. We do not wish to apply force along the -y axis so we just type "rigidbody.velocity.y" meaning that whatever amount of velocity it has in this frame, it will continue to have.

When my character moves along the positive -x, he is facing right so I need to make him face right which would put him at 90 degrees along the -y axis. And since I am moving without running, I put the bool running to false.

Now translate that logic to figure out the others.

Here we can give the player the ability to jump and bounce off of objects or enemies.

If the player is grounded (which we will determine later), then the bool jumped equals false.

If the player is grounded and the player presses the button that we assigned for "Jump" (Project Settings > Input) and if the player canControl, then we will apply force. Just like how we applied the movement force with the Vector3, we can do the same here with a Vector2(x,y).

So we apply force with 0 along the -x, and then we use the equation jumpForce *(times) 100. You can tweak this however you want using the inspector to set the float jumpForce. You do not even have to multiply by 100, I only do so to keep my inspector value cleaner.

Then we set the bool jumped to true. We will use this to tell our animator that we have jumped and not fallen.

The bounce brick of logic will make sense after I show you the way we are going to check for grounding.

As I said, this tutorial does not show how to make an attack, there are too many different kinds and ways to do them to explain here. This piece of code checks if the player has hit the attack button and if the player is in the process of attacking or not.

Now we can get to checking if the player is on the ground. We made several variables and components at the beginning of the script:

bool grounded
Transform groundCheck
float groundRadius
LayerMask whatIsGround

This line of code is placed in the Update function, which updates every frame. It could reside in the FixedUpdate, although I ran into many bugs with it not detecting my player touching the ground quick enough which messed with my ability to jump again.

The bool grounded is equal to a specific condition. Physics.CheckSphere is the ability to create a sphere from a particular position and gather information with what it touches.

Physics.CheckSphere (where to check from, how far to check, what layermask);

So as long as the CheckSphere that originates from the Transform of the empty GameObject that I placed in the hierarchy touches objects that are under the layers I decide in Unity's inspector, the player will be considered grounded.

These functions are here in case I want to send a message from one script to this one to declare the player as controllable or not.

I hope that this helped at least a few people. If you are new to programming or to Unity, it maybe wise to read over it again to make sure it sticks.

Source File Here

Ghost in the Machine (Indie Game)

2014-10-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: These reviews are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions or values of Take This Studios LLC.

Ghost in the Machine is a retro game for the modern era. A 2D platformer that is heavy on the platforming. Available for PC, Mac, and Linux on itch.io for $5.00.

Your avatar looks as though he is the spawn of ancient 80's program and the Nintendo Gameboy. In the year 20XX the player has become trapped in a factory decades old, and I am pretty sure that the factory manufactures death. As you play though the platform heavy, spike stabbing, weight crushing levels you pick up special wrenches with the mysterious power to reveal why exactly you are trapped in this factory.

Although this could seem like the typical pixel platformer, it surely should not be treated as such. The art for the game, like I typed about the avatar, is a tasteful reflection to much older systems and the game mechanics a reflection of that as well. However, even though the art mimics ancient technology, it feels completely modern as if it were targeted to a much younger audience just like it is for the OG's (Original Gamers). Also, the controls may be simplistic, the level design is flawless and shows that the designers paid much attention to detail.

The engine was also built from the ground up so that the creators could make sure that their product was exactly what they envisioned, which is always worthy of recognition.

Overall Rating:

My rating system works a little differently. I do not go with the "Star System" nor "1 through 10". I rate games based off of the price point and what I think the game is worth compared to it.

Replay Value	$5.00 I would say that the replay value is there for the right price. Collecting the secret items and making it to the end of the level is not something done lightly.
Gameplay	$5.00 The gameplay is well worth the listed value. It plays fluidly and is a great new age, retro experience.
Target Audience	$5.00 They hit it spot on with their audience. It is perfect for retro lovers. The controls are so easy for anyone to pick up and it is challenging enough to keep the hardcore gamer enthralled.
Art	$10.00 A great crisp experience with the art style. The music is what really brings it all together. Completely synthesized using old handheld game sounds. Fantastic!
Total	$6.25 I would say that the creators are giving a very modest price at $5.00. This Is worth the buy!

Conclusion

The only thing extra I wish for this game is that it could come to the Nintendo 3DS. I would love to play this when about and about. To mention one more thing, the creator is planning on releasing a level editor so that players can make their own levels and share them with each other. Can't wait for that feature.

Download Here

Paper Runner (Indie Game)

2014-10-13T12:30:00.004-07:00

Disclaimer: These reviews are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions or values of Take This Studios LLC.

Paper runner is vibrant 2D sidescrolling runner game available for free on the Windows 8.1 Store. It was created using the Construct 2 Engine, a software targeted largely at game artist more so than hard coding school programmers even though it is expandable with writing code in JavaScript.

The art for this game is whimsical and adorably child like. You play as the imaginary stick figure stick figure that exists in every school-goer's notebook who roams around the treacherous forest fighting monsters and trekking villainous terrain dotted with sharpened pencils and paper punchers. The music for the game generates an atmosphere that presents an environment for creative flow.

I brought up Construct 2 Engine for a reason. That engine, as well as several other similar tools are starting to allow Game artist who may not have the opportunity to develop programming skills to jump in on the game making arena. These packages and tools become invaluable to the Game Dev scene as a whole. The reason being is that the more artist that become active in game development, the more unique art styles we can really see make an impact. With that being the case, the indie crowd can really begin to have a much stronger voice on the gaming market.

As stated, this game is free for the Windows Store, so if you have a 8.1 PC, go download this game and give it a whirl for sure.

Windows Store Link

SinaRun 2 (Indie Game)

2014-10-11T12:31:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: These reviews are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions or values of Take This Studios LLC.

SinaRun 2, created by Princesseuh, is…well… a 3D platformer in its purest form. That might sound like it is the embodiment of what Indie game is about, but it also could mean a lack of innovation. While judging this, I ran into a lot of grey area. It is available on Itch for $1.99 USD.

The creator uses this as the opening line to the sales pitch: "SinaRun 2 is a minimalist 3D platform/racing/runner game."

SinaRun 2 definitely is a challenging and engaging race to the finishes using very strategic jump timing and anticipation of the velocity at which you move. Many a time I started out dying after the first jump. With no exaggeration, it look me 48 deaths to beat the first level. It is an amazingly addictive game! Every level is worth playing again even if you have beat it. There is no one path to finish and each course provides a "Dev Time" to try to beat.

As a runner/3D Platformer, this game has hit it spot on. However, as far as the description of a minimalist art style, I have to say that said description is being too generous. Minimalism is a legitimate form of art that actually consists of many different elements and it by no means should be called "basic" art. This games art style is basic, not minimalist. It would actually be more accurately stated as having a lack of art.

This is my main problem with the game: Indie games will not betaken seriously on the gaming market until these things happen: (1)Indie Games that charge should show clear and distinct uniqueness from AAA titles that makes them desirable. This uniqueness could be accomplished by creating a (or many) gameplay mechanic(s) that make the experience stand out. (2) Indie games that charge, especially with small teams, have the chance to develop an art style that is unlike any other. Even if the gameplay is a typical experience, the art can make a player perceive it in an entirely new fashion.

SinaRun 2 is not a unique experience per se, and it has no art in it. Not to be harsh, but it seams as if it could be completed in a few days max. All of the objects in the level are basic geometrical volumes, so level creation (not design) would have taken no more than an hour for each level (which there are only five of). The movement uses the basic in-engine physics (looks like Unity) and a basic Character controller script (perhaps Unity's Built-in Controller). Then throw some in-engine fog and then different ambient light colors and the game is finished.

Since I have now torn it down, let me try to build it back up. The creator does promise additional content in the future such as more levels, game modes, and general content. So perhaps this game could get the polishing it needs to make it a title worthy or charge. And to say again, it is very addictive and engaging.

Overall Rating:

My rating system works a little differently. I do not go with the "Star System" nor "1 through 10". I rate games based off of the price point and what I think the game is worth compared to it.

Replay Value	$0.50 It is replay-able in many ways, however, there are only 5 levels to chose from.
Gameplay	$0.50 The game play is pretty fluid for what you are playing, however you can not control your avatar with a joystick which is actually more important that you would think, since you move and accelerate your movements at such a fast pace. And there are no unique features about the gameplay. (There is a multiplayer option for the game, however, I could not use it, whether it is lack of community or the feature is broken)
Target Audience	$0.50 The target demographic for this title is unsure. In my opinion, the game is too casual for what most people would spend their time with on their PC. If this were for mobile then the audience would make much more sense and would be much more enjoyable.
Art	$0.00 Like I said before, there is no art.
Total	$0.38 Is the pricing I would suggest.

Conclusion

The game is fun, and has the potential to be great even. Make a few textures or find an artist to collaborate with for a small fee or small percentage and that would bump up the value right there. Add about 15 more levels and bring it to mobile devices and the game would totally be worth the $1.99, actually even more than that. Best of luck!

Purchase Page

Velocibox (Indie Game)

2014-10-10T10:30:00.003-07:00

Disclaimer: These reviews are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions or values of Take This Studios LLC.

"Velocibox is a twitch-heavy action game crafted for the hardcore audience." That is what there Itch page uses as it opening line of description, and it sure is accurate. Although it falls under a common play style in the arcade genre, it feels completely unique and new to the gaming scene.

What is it?
You play a Mr. Cube, or whatever you choose to name your avatar, an you are constantly falling or running down an enormously long hallway avoiding the obstacles on the walls, ceiling, etc. While doing so you collect little item that are placed in the midst of the obstacles. These little guys are the root to the high score system. Like I said, it falls under a very common play style, however, keep reading to see why it is also a very unique game that is worth you playing time.

Unlike other high score game, this is not tailored to the casual player. After the tutorial level, it becomes very difficult to keep up with the pace of the game. Mr. cube moves about extremely fast down this hallway and it becomes very hard to anticipate your next move. Another distinguishing element is the lack of ability to acquire muscle memory for each level. Every time you die, which is close to around a thousand times, the level regenerates it obstacles and point pick up thingies in completely random places and patterns. This game will definitely keep your mind scattered and will make you hate your fingers for not having the god like ability to react before your brain does.

I am a sucker for minimalist art styles and this game does an amazing job a providing a visually appealing game. Now just because I say minimalist, that does not mean I am saying basic. Everything is very crisp, vibrant, and full on HD which is nicely complemented with awesome, trippy, modern looking screen FXs.

This game goes for 5.00 on Itch.io. Even though I find this game to be quite enjoyable, I am uncertain I could recommend this game to everyone with the price point it is at. It is not a game for everyone and that, I am sure, is a driving factor for the price point. With a game of this genre to be so challenging, you have a small market of Indie Gamers. However, I would suggest to everyone to download the free demo to make sure you like it, and that you will not bash your face into your keyboard from furry.

Overall Rating:

My rating system works a little differently. I do not go with the "Star System" or "1 through 10". I rate games based off of the price point and what I think the game is worth compared to it.

Replay Value	$5.00 Being a High score game, you never truly beat it until you have satisfied yourself or are on top of the leaderboard
Gameplay	$3.00 It is "too" challenging of gameplay for some to experience the entire game. Improvements would be to add some difficulty setting to try to help newer players.
Target Audience	$5.00 Being a game with a very select audience, and advertising it as such really helps redeem the difficulty problem.
Art	$5.00 The style is very consistent and through out and you can definitely see that a lot of creative work when into making the visual aspects of the game great.
Total	4.6 is a pricing I would suggest. The full price is $5.00. So, not too shabby at all!

Conclusion
The fact the creators offer a free demo really shows their confidence in their product. I would love to see this game ported over to the three Mobile Platforms. If I could see this on my phone, I would buy it in a heart beat.

Click to View Purchase Page

2014-07-21T19:09:00.002-07:00

Surviving the Surprise 3DS Artillery from Best Buy.

Well, If you weren't prepared for the BOGO (buy one get one) promotion at Best Buy then you must have been away from the internet for the week leading up to it. Most likely you are screwed.

However, I will try to piece together a guide for both Noob and Veteran 3DS owners to be able to finish up their catalog. This is the BOGO Wasteland Survival Guide!

Chapter 1: ~~Finding Food at the Super Duper Mart~~

Finding 3DS Games at Best Buy!

There is a basic rule to getting your way as a retail employee. You are never wrong. Complain intelligently enough and loud enough and you will win. This may be your tactic at a Wal-Mart or Target, but let's save it for later. Best Buy for the most part is better to deal with than these stores. Besides, if you waited until after 2a.m. Sunday morning to order your games, it's your own fault. Nintendo fanboys are a rabid beast.

BestBuy.com updates every minute. Be persistent and check in any spare time you have. Pro Tip 1: Already have the 2 (or 4 or 6 or 8) games you want in your cart awaiting checkout so when their stock is updated it is a quick and easy process. Also don't trust the internet....

except me, you can trust me. The Big Blue website often lies about stock a store has so don't get your hopes up, call them. Also, even if the store does have it available for purchase, the website may tell you it's unavailable as to allow the crazy people who go outside to shop a fighting chance of stumbling on the deal.

Now, on from the dotcom. In store they of course may have offered to order you products or get a transfer before. This doesn't apply here. It won't be possible for them to order it the normal way. You must request something else. Much like the hidden menu of Starbucks, this other way of ordering isn't commonly known to customers. A few Best Buy stores have posted it on their websites which is the only reason why I am going to share. It is called Express Lane.

Not AN express lane, but The Express Lane. It's a 3rd option for ordering and much like the Alaskan Pipelines it is a valuable resource that, if harnessed properly, can help everyone greatly. Protip 2: You can even call the store and have them expresslane the games for you if you don't mind giving out debit card info over the phone.

Chapter 2: ~~Contract Radiation Sickness~~

Price Matching the Best Buy Ad with Target!

There are 2 types of Targets (No, not regular and super) There is the Target who are glad they are not Wal-Mart and appreciate all who think so as well. There's also the Target who thinks the name should be pronounced with a French twist and that built in Starbucks makes them a superior and high class alternative to their competition (the same hated competition who doesn't lose customer data)

If you go to Target #1 then congratulations! They probably won't grill you about the stock of the item at Best Buy and why you didn't go there instead and finally finish up their verbal annoyances with some b.s. about not needing to price match a BOGO deal. I just described Target #2 if you didn't catch that. You probably already know which Target you have. Feel free to avoid them if you know you have a Target where the last T is silent.

Chapter 3: ~~Traversing a Mine Field~~

Wal-Mart Thinks Ad is Spelled "P-R-I-C-E"!

I you are reading this on your phone. First off, I'm sorry. I'm a poor writer and Gifs are the makeup I use to doll up this horrible blog. Second, you WIN! Because here is a link to Wal-Marts COPORATE Ad Match Policy: http://corporate.walmart.com/ad-match-guarantee which states that they specifically match BOGOs! Anyone who misses out on the BOGO can just bug their local Wal-Mart. Do not take NO for an Answer! Pro Tip3: I gave you the intelligence needed, now you bring the loudness! Customer is Always Right! Without YOU they wouldn't be here!

BOOK ONE COMPLETE!

Thank you to the vault dweller who gathered the information. That was for the Veterans who got lazy or were unaware because their internet broke. Now for the Noobs. This BOGO sale may have pushed you into buying a 3DS for the first time (or again for those of you broke, lost or *gulp* traded one in during a time of financial troubles) New purchasers can read the rest if they would like. If you already know what games you want....

Book 2 The Sequel: Deciding What to Purchase

So you haven't owned a 3DS before? You're purchasing a gift? You've been out of the game for a while and are trying to get back in? We are here to help. We are the internet. Don't fear us, just because we are many. Look around the internet. Do you see what I see? Friendliness?

NO.

Opinions. Lots of them. About everything. On Twitter. Reddit. Facebook. Best Buy's Own Website. Nintendo's website. Here. If you are purchasing a 3DS and need a guiding light, it's easy to find one, and a million more just like it until you're going in circles.

Let's look at it slowly. First. Buy the Mario & Luigi special edition 3DS XL at Best Buy which is on sale. It's $169.99 and comes with a fantastic first party title which sells for $39.99 and has atleast 40 hours of content. That's just a good deal. Don't skip on it, even if you don't like the silver color. You can always just buy a case.

Second. Utilize the BOGO now to build a library at great price. Pro Tip 4: IF a Best Buy location has the games in stock and they DO NOT have to be ordered then you can use price matching as well as the BOGO deal. Price Match Amazon for most games and save almost $10 on some titles. It does work, as long as the games are bought physically in the store. I have a few formulas if you are willing to get 4 games. These will help with gift giving or just making up your mind depending on play style.

Well Rounded: Mario Golf World Tour (Amazon match 27.13) + Disney Magical World (Amazon match 26.15) + Bravely Default (Amazon Match 33.63) + Zelda LBW (Amazon match 33.88) =

$67.51

Nintendo Lover: Zelda LBW (Amazon match 33.88) + Kirby Triple Deluxe (Amazon Match 29.80) + Yoshi's New Island (Amazon Match 34.06) + Pokémon X or Y (Amazon Match 33.58 or 31.83) =

$67.94

Share With A Friend: 2 copies of Tomodachi Life (Amazon Match 33.19 each) + Mario Party Island Tour (Amazon Match 29.45) + Kirby Triple Deluxe (Amazon Match 29.80) = $66.38

(Pro Tip 5: this grouping is intended for both parties to experience the crazy that is Tomodachi, while the other two games have AWESOME multiplayer modes which feature download play. Download play means there only needs to be ONE copy of the game for all 4 players to play. That's Right, one person has the game and their 3 friends who don't have it can still play.)

Time Suckers: Tomodachi Life (Amazon Match 33.19) + Bravely Default (Amazon match 33.63) + Pokémon X or Y (Amazon match 33.58 or 31.83) + Zelda LBW (Amazon match 33.88) = $67.51

Now these are all suggested groupings of games to give you a total of 4 (or 5 if you bought a 3DSXL Mario/Luigi bundle) Feel free to ignore the suggestions. I did. These are just for the lost people. My list would be Tomodachi Life, Kirby, Yoshi, and Bravely Default.

That's all I can really offer for anyone who needs help buying their new system. If you read this whole mess, congratulations. You win the knowledge of one person's opinion. and only his opinion. Good Luck this week. May the force be with you, always

and as always.....

......p.s. Take This Studios is about to start Twitching, Reviewing, and Debating. First will come the reviews. If you know of a game you would like to see and read about then let us know! Indie Games, Obscure games, AAA games. We would rather it be on Nintendo platforms or PC but any suggestions are welcome! We are a company built of fans and built from the internet. We need your help to succeed in anything, thank you.

Nintendo 3DS' 3rd Birthday! By Spencer Shoemaker

2014-03-27T22:21:00.003-07:00

Nintendo 3DS is 3 Years Old in North America!

You know what that means!

A top 10 list!

O, not a top 10 list? Thank goodness, because I despise those.

How about a RETROSPECTIVE???????

Yes, so I have had a 3DS ever since launch. In fact it was my plain Cosmos Black model up until this past Christmas. That’s when I received one of the most amazing gifts of all time, an upgrade, the silver Mario and Luigi Dream Team 3DS. The 3DS is BY FAR my favorite system I have ever owned. There are many consoles I have owned that I have really liked, but only the SNES comes anywhere close to the 3DS. To understand my weird brain Let’s Go Back.

To the beginning.

The first console I ever had was an NES….like 2 years after the SNES came out. Within a year (And many Mario levels and Zelda dungeons later) I was upgraded to the SNES. I LOVED that thing! I remember playing Super Metroid, Super Star Wars, Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures, NBA Jam, Kirby Super Star, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Goof Troop, Super Ghouls N’ Ghosts, Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Earthworm Jim, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter 2, Turtles in Time, Super Mario World, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

I’m sure there were others, but I remember all of these games. It’s what made the SNES my favorite system (Along with many memories tied to it) No system after that got as much play time as the SNES after that, even though I loved my N64, PS2, Gamecube, Wii, and others.

The SNES was huge and had many great games, especially first party ones. Nintendo was the big name in the industry and they lead the video game market with their own first party titles. This was largely because of competition from Sega and their incredible Blue Hedgehog.

Nintendo was branded as more a kiddie system. A lot of games for the system looked and played better on Sega’s machine (if it was multiplatform) Most people were more impressed by the Sega Genesis even though the Super NES sold almost twice as many units. Also, the top selling game on the Genesis was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with 6 million sold….Super Mario World sold over 20 Million…

Yet Nintendo’s SNES was still called the inferior system and excuses for them beating Sega usually circle around gaming not being “Mainstream” yet….even with 80 Million consoles sold between Genesis and SNES.

And Nintendo’s top ten games from their system accounted for almost 80 millions sales alone.

Sure, Gaming wasn’t mainstream. Because the media hates Nintendo. Always have, always will.

RANT OVER

Back to the 3ds….that all served a point I swear.

All of these things hold a strong parallel with the 3DS. The 3DS was not expected to be able to carry the weight that the DS did. The DS was a phenomenon. The PSP was very close to those sales. The 3DS was called gimmicky. People said it was only trying to capitalize on the success of the DS. It wasn’t as powerful as the coveted sequel to the PSP, the Vita. Mobile gaming was now meant for phones and tablets, not dedicated gaming hardware. The E3 demo wasn’t anything special. 3D is a fad that won’t sell the system. The Wii’s blue ocean crowd weren’t going to be able to support Nintendo anymore.

To the average anti-Nintendo person or Sony/Microsoft fanboy, this seemed correct. And for a few months.....they were right....

THE LAUNCH

On March 27th, 2011 the Nintendo 3DS launched in North America for $249.99. The Launch of the 3DS wasn't terrible as far as a line up of games go. But There wasn't anything from the Big N except Nintendogs, Steel Diver, and Pilot Wings. The 3rd party support was there, in the form of uninspired ports. Lets not forget that when the 3DS launched there was no eShop full of great indie titles. There was no Netflix or Hulu or Youtube apps. There was the built in AR games and that was it. Which is probably why original owners have wayyyy more time in Face Raiders than people after the drop. Face Raiders was really neat because you just took pictures of peoples faces and it would take those faces and make them into invading enemies in the actual world, which was a great use of augmented reality. An even better use of the augmented reality was something simply called AR Games. This used a pack of cards that comes packaged laid out in the real world to take AR pictures and play AR games featuring puzzles and some of Nintendo's beloved characters. They did throw us some freebies, like Excitebike 3D. BUT the only good games Nintendo had coming down the pipeline were Star Fox 64 and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (From the N64) remade in 3D and updated graphics. Yep. 2 ported games for the future. 250 Dollar price tag for the Portable System. And Nintendo knew this, they were okay with it or else the plan would have been different.

The sales were slow....slower than the Wii U slow! The 3DS didn't even have ANY REAL competition at launch and it was super slow! There was very little support from the start and any real support for the future was being dropped. Everyone was writing up the 3DS as the next Virtual Boy. Then Nintendo made needed changes and made a strong move.

THE NINTENDO ESCAPE PLAN

On July 28th, 2011 Nintendo announced a Price drop to the Nintendo 3DS down to a low price of $169.99. This would have normally shocked and angered existing owners (Even though price drops happen all the time). However, Nintendo acted with incredible wisdom and loyalty to it's hardcore fan base. It developed the Ambassador Program!

This is the single best thank you to gaming fans ever. A price drop that would help bring sales and more games, but also the existing owners weren't getting screwed? This made me jump on Nintendo's ship for the rest of my gaming days. Basically the Ambassador program gave me and millions of others 10 NES games and 10 GBA games for free. With the knowledge that those 10 NES games would release to the public much later at the price of $5 bucks a pop. And the Promise that the 10 Gameboy Advanced titles would never release to 3DS owners.

It is March 26th right now as I write this, and that promise holds true. A big time company saw a pile of money that could be made just by breaking a promise, and they took the high road and stayed loyal and truthful.

Those games by the way included many gems. Including Super Mario Bros., Metroid and Metroid Fusion, Yoshi's Island, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Wario Land 4, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Mario v.s. Donkey Kong, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Donkey Kong J.R., Ice Climber, Legend of Zelda 1, 2, and Minish Cap (coupled with four swords which everyone got free...that's 4 free Zelda games on 3DS total) There were 20 games...I just didn't feel like listing more than 16.

The price drop also meant that many more people could finally upgrade and they were already in position to still make a profit while sniping the over priced Vita from afar. But a price drop as we know is never enough. Most people didn't want to buy a 3DS just to play old N64 ports (albeit great games) and games like Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D. (Games I was excited to own and bought as they launched) Nintendo didn't have much of a presence on their own system. SO the flood of games came just a few months later.

Star Fox finally released a couple of months after the price drop. It was followed by Pokémon Rumble Blast. Then the marvelous Super Mario 3D Land which implemented some great uses for the built in features of the 3DS. Then the spectacular Mario Kart 7. Which was half and half developed by the normal Mario Kart team and the near-damn-legendary Retro Studios. (The Retro half was my favorite btw because it was the best courses from previous tracks ever assembled...wait...Retro Studios chose the retro tracks....omg...HAHAHA...just realized this...I'm slow)

There were other multiplatform games that came to the 3DS during 2011 to entice buyers as well like Sonic Generations, Sims 3, FIFA 12, and many more. Following that Christmas, the 3DS was crowned "The Comeback King" and it continued to send out many amazing exclusives. They brought the eShop which brought the Virtual console with it, as well as a new revolution for the Indie gamer scene. Nintendo started laying the ground work to be the home for indie gaming on a console. New features and apps seemed to release weekly. The 3DS grew stronger and stronger. This was built on the foundation of every Nintendo system, strong first party titles.

THE HEART AND SOUL OF NINTENDO: GAMES

The 3DS has a huge list of great games. Following strong outings by Ocarina of Time 3D, Starfox 64 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, and Mario Kart 7 the 3DS strived for more. The first exclusive to follow was the return to true survival horror from Capcom's Resident Evil: Revelations. This Game looked HD on the 3DS, had great 3D, did really interesting Streetpass item transfers, and truly felt like the first REAL resident Evil since Resident Evil 4 on he Gamecube. This game was so good in fact that Capcom remastered it in HD to release among all consoles over a year later after Resident Evil 6 (Xbox360 and PS3) bombed and threatened Capcom's stability.

Resident Evil also started a domino affect for the attachment called the Circle Pad Pro. This game used the circle pad pro to give the 3DS dual analog sticks (something the PS Vita has built in). Other games in the next few months used the pad as well. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D also used dual analog sticks and the remake being a 3DS exclusive used the camera feature on the 3DS to create your own camouflage. Kid Icarus: Uprising was the first Kid Icarus game since the Gameboy and his rise of popularity (most likely caused by Super Smash Bros. Brawl) brought a ton of spotlight. They went with a cool circle pad pro use, to allow easy access for left handed people, but also used AR cards (which you could never find in stores) to create AR fights. It also featured some of the best dialogue and on rails shooting in any game period. It was a nice bonus to see what Sakurai could do with his online multiplayer in a 3d arena.

Soon after Kid Icarus was a cool game I beat in about 3 hours called Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir. This game really felt like the movie "Stay Alive" to me because of how well the augmented reality was implemented. It was a cool way to make the player feel haunted while using the camera and augmented reality to interact with their surroundings and the included memoir book.

Following the oddly strong start to 2012, the 3DS hit it's first birthday and still seemed like it was out to prove something. Rumors were that the 3DS was getting a redesign to include a built in 2nd analog stick. The truth was much more believable. The 3DS was getting the eventual big brother (the 3DS XL). News was breaking about Nintendo and their news game and hardware at a faster and more comprehensive rate. this was thanks to Nintendo's video messages. Nintendo Directs started becoming Nintendo's main way to distribute news. Along with Swapnote, Nintendo Video, and Spotpass updates. The news came pouring in. All the games.
How About

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure

Heroes of Ruin (Four player online Co op)

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

New Super Mario Bros 2!!!! (Which let the younger Mario Devs take a crack at the game and came up with some very interesting ideas)

Code of Princess

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Scribblenauts Unlimited

Epic Mickey 2: Power of Illusion (A GREAT SNES sequel not to be confused with the terrible Epic Mickey console game for Wii U, Xbox 360, and PS3)

and Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!

And that was just the games I bought at retail in 2012....2013 was even bigger. 2013 was odd because Nintendo seemed to be trying really hard to keep Wii U momentum climbing after launch. It wasn't. The 3DS however may have had their best year in 2013. At 2 years old now the console had seen 2 very different years. One rough, One spectacular. How could 2012 be topped in retail games? 2 words. Animal Crossing
or try Fire Emblem.
or Luigi's Mansion.
or Monster Hunter
what about Lego City.
even Mario Party.
Pokémon X
Pokémon Y
Mario & Luigi
Legend Of.
Zelda: Link
Between Worlds
Ok so the last one was quite a stretch. but it's no coincidence...well yes it is. 2013 was a great year for the 3DS and there were many more games besides these to come out. but just this group alone accounted for over 30 million sales in 2012. And lets not forget that the 3DS was the top selling console of the year. For more info on these games you can check out my article for my favorite 3DS titles of 2013.
Please read it if you don't own any of the games I mentioned

Also let's look at Fire Emblem: Awakening. this game was over shadowed perhaps by brand names like Luigi's Mansion or Animal Crossing or Pokémon or Zelda. But what Fire Emblem accomplished was far more important. Because Fire Emblem was never a major hit outside the U.S. or at all. Fire Emblem was supposed to be given this one last game, and it wasn't even going to be shipped outside of Japan. I truly think that the only reason it was localized for outside regions was due to the voice of the American fans of the series. That voice was represented by former IGN Nintendo team member Audrey Drake. Her favorite game series were Zelda and Fire Emblem. She always bugged Reggie Fils-Aime and anyone she could get to listen about how much she needed the newest Fire Emblem to be localized for America. It wasn't the only reason but I believe it was a big one. The important thing is that it came to both North America and Europe. It also went on to sell more than any other Fire Emblem. AND North American sales and European sales were their highest since the original. This along with Operation Rainfall is a big reason why JRPGs are getting better traction in America than they have had in recent years. Oh, and also, Audrey Drake left IGN and now is on Nintendo's Localization team. Super-Win!

We are now in 2013 so there haven't been a super sized amount of retail games released since it's only 3 months in. But what has come out is amazing. How do you top a Christmas season starring a sequel to Link to the Past, Sonic's return to glory, Scribblenauts with a full DC makeover, and a Mario Party which features AR technology to change the game completely? You slow things down and beat people up and give them free stuff. Bravely Default had a Demo hit the eShop before it hit retail. That demo also serves as a Prequel to the game and gives a full games worth of content just to make sure you will be into the game.
AMAZING IDEAS ARE AMAZING

Nintendo wasn't done. Professor Layton came back, with his 100 hours of extras and 30 hour main story. His final puzzle would be his most amazing. You will only see Layton one more time, in his cross over game with Phoenix Wright. His reign has ended and it was an amazing 6 games with a great finale. To end their 3rd year Nintendo didn't allow things to be sad however, because they used a fantastic art style, interesting platform design, and an adorable 3DS XL special edition to bring Yoshi back to his own Island. The game plays like the original, but better. It looks great and is a nice cap off to the 3DS' third year. I couldn't have been happier with the game. Now we have the next year to look forward to Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Mario World Golf, Sonic Boom, Super Smash Bros, Monster Hunter 4 AND Professor Layton v.s. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney.

THE ESHOP AND THE INDIE REVOLUTION

A Lot of people have been making a big deal about the Wii U and how indie firnedly they are with the Unity 3D program they have. As great and revolutionary as that is, home or portable consoles have never seen the indie catalog quite like the 3DS. And no other system has ever relied on it as much as Nintendo. The Eshop had a few apps like Netflix, Pokedex 3D, and Nintendo Video on the app store before the price drop. but after the drop is when the Virtual Console and the Indie scene started growing. It started with a weird game about creating Ungodly Abominations in the game Freaky Forms: Your Creations Alive! A lot of people got that game but because of lack of competition.

That would change soon. Following that there were borderline instant classics like Pushmo, Mighty Switch Force, VVVVVV, Mutant Mudds, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, and Dillon's Rolling Western. These game became the back bone for great downloadable titles. The list over the next couple of years went on to add Marvel Pinball 3D, Johnny Kung Fu, Planet Crashers, Fractured Soul, the Heavy Fire series and the Denpa Men series, Night Sky, Crashmo, and Fluidity: Spin Cycle (sequel to the Wii Ware hit). Level 5 (of Professor Layton fame) even joined the mix with the release of vastly different games in Aeroporter, Crimson Shroud and Liberation Maiden. Later followed some amazing releases like Gunman Clive (which actually sold more on 3DS than IOS, Android, and other gaming consoles combined!), Ikachan, ATV Wild Ride 3D, and Coaster Creator 3D. Then Nintendo decided to wake up and smell the coffee. And the money.

The big time support outside of Nintendo had left the building and was already leaving their Wii U. It was time to make a change and support the indie developers. By way of either just publishing the game for them or at the very least advertising the indie games releasing by way of eshop banners and Nintendo Direct shout outs. If Nintendo didn't embrace themselves as the new home for Indie....then..

So they started bringing their own gear in. With games like Kersploosh, a sequel to Dillon's Rolling Western, Mario and Donkey Kong Minis on the Move, and Harmoknight (from Pokémon devs GAEMFREAK) Nintendo was helping bring more people into the digital download world. Which in part helped their digital sales. So Nintendo continued. Starship Damrey, Bugs vs Tanks, and Attack of the Friday Monsters were brought out by Level 5 who became a big player in the eShop.

But the eShop hit an All time high over the next half year with the releases of Steamworld Dig (which was a Gigantic hit), Retro City Rampage DX (The ultimate edition of the game), Steel Divers Sub Wars (First big N free to play model game), Chibi-Robo Poto Finder (A Nintendo Published sequel to the Gamecube title which was enhanced for AR camera use), Pokémon Battle Trozei (the second game from GAMEFREAK for the eShop) and Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (an import of a Japanese retail game exclusive to the Eshop in NA and EU). There are no signs of the eShop releases slowing down as we see more and more Nintendo support by Indie developers. The 3DS needed the eShop to become what it is.

O wait....I forgot 2 very important (Semi important at best) things from the Eshop. Apps and the slow to start but eventually great Virtual Console service.

Well to start, the Apps exclusive to the 3DS are slim but amazing....sometimes. Netflix, Hulu, youtube....my toilet seat has those. But Nintendo Video could send you 3D trailers of 3D movies that you could watch with ease, very nice. Swapnote was a great way of getting news and occasionally sending messages....until Miiverse arrived and rendered it obsolete and unmanageable. there are the Pokémon transfer apps which do a job very needed but not glorified. COLORS 3D is the most amazing showcase of talent on the 3DS! I cant even draw...almost finished one painting, but I am so glad I spent the money...just to see other peoples art work! Pokémon actually have 2 apps that are tremendous. Anyone else get the PokeRadar app when they got Pokémon Black/White 2? I did, 3 dollars and I got tons of rare and amazing Pokémon and alternate forms of legendaries. Pretty Fantastic. And finally the Pokedex 3D Pro. which has ALL the Pokémon up to Black/White 2 in full 3d with sounds and move sets and it's just like a Pokedex really.

AND the Virtual Console, finally. Well the Virtual Console works a lot like the Wii version with many games from multiple systems spanning the NES and the Gameboy, Sega Game Gear, and Gameboy Color. All but the NES games weren't available on the Virtual Console until the 3DS. Which is pretty cool. I had personally never played any Game Gear games until they were released onto the 3DS virtual console. The really cool releases onto the eShop are the 3D Classics. These are games from the past that have been remastered with a very well done 3D effect. Games like Altered Beast, ExciteBike, Kirby's Adventure, Kid Icarus, Xevious, and even Sonic the Hedgehog were completely redone very well with great frame rates and really beautiful 3D. These are the Virtual Console games I truly wait for and buy as soon as they release.

MISSED OPPURTUNITIES

Oh my. Where do I start? If there is one company who is picked apart for their missed opportunities, it's Nintendo. They have made tons of money and have been successful for a long time. The 3DS is super successful and may outsell the PS2 or original DS before it's all said and done. but there are always areas for improvement. Let's start with unused features. Some users of the 3DS may have never used the camera in game before. Or used the gyroscope in a game. How about the microphone? Yeah, I didn't think so.

So the 3DS has all these features. If you play Heroes of Ruin online with friends, you can actually just speak at the 3DS and it will pick up your voice from the built in Mic. It's actually pretty nice. the gyroscope was put to decent use in the beginning with Zelda with the ability to use it to aim weapons and Starfox allowed you to fly the Arwing with the gyroscope if you wanted to. Super Mario 3D Land also used it to look forward in the level to see what's ahead. Overall the gyroscope and microphone have been forgotten about, except in Mario Party where all the 3DS features were used. Nintendo went so far as to say at one point that 3D wasn't going to be a big focus for their future games.

Umm....it's called the 3DS. Am I the only person who plays 90% of the time with 3D on? when it's done right it is amazing. And even not done right it is an experience that you cant get anywhere else!

And the camera, barely ever used. You may have used it to interact with your Pokémon while playing with them in X and Y. You may be using it in Chibi-Robo as you fail at their challenges. But We can all agree on two things.
1.) The camera is very rarely used and would be a welcome focus for some games
2.) The camera was made toooooo weak even for 2011 when it launched.
Thanks Nintendo for that camera circa 2002.
More misses? Well let's look at their 3rd party support. After the first year. Besides Capcom (who needs Nintendo more than Nintendo needs them.) What happened to the 3rd parties?

Yep. Low sales compared to 1st party, lack of engagement by Nintendo, and a bleak future basically shot them in the face. Almost no 3rd party support since that first year. I don't know what else to say. And I'm really friggin good at talking a lot. this needs to change on both of Nintendo's systems. Something that might have hurt the 3DS and their outside support is the GPU power. Indie games and first party games work with it just fine. but 3rd party companies hate work, they are kind of lazy and want everything to just fall in place for them....which is why they aren't the future. But that's a different rant for a different time. Here and Now we can just hope that 3rd party support gets better for the Big N. Because I'm not wasting my money on a Vita, PS4, or Xbox One when I have a Wii U, 3DS, and ultra awesome gaming PC.

Let's not forget the lack of online support and drop off of download play support. While there are games that have great support of these things, ANY Nintendo published multiplayer game should have download play. And in NO way is it cool for both users to have to have the game and only the person who plays as Player 1 to keep the progress. You can see this abuse in Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and New Super Mario Bros. 2. And Online should have been on those games along with Starfox 64 3D.
What else has Nintendo missed out on? lots. But I'll end on my biggest pet peeve. That is the lack of Advertising from Nintendo. Remember the Wii and those commercials for Mario Kart Wii or New Super Mario Bros? Well that was about the only commercials for the Wii, even though those games sold well over 25 million copies...Grand Theft Auto would kill a million hookers for those numbers.

Well Nintendo has ALWAYS been bad about advertising. But it seems to be more apparent when you have systems in as much trouble as the 3DS was and the Wii U is. Nintendo makes ads but they just keep them on their YouTube, instead of actually using those ads to ADVERTISE. I especially enjoyed this one featuring Joel McHale from Community and The Soup.

I did enjoy the commercials for Fire Emblem which made it to TV. Also the amazing stunt in New York City's Times Square for the release of Super Mario 3D Land which got millions of people's attention.

But what about advertising for the few 3rd Party games that were out then? Luckily Luigi's Mansion 2, Pokémon X/Y, Zelda: Link Between Worlds, and New Super Mario Bros. 2 all got advertisements on television and all of their sales were great. What if Kid Icarus Uprising, Resident Evil: Revelations, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins, Mario Party: Island Tour, or heck even Animal Crossing: New Leaf all were advertised? Imagine the boosted sales. Even though most of them sold great, they could have sold better. Speaking of Animal Crossing. There was a certain Amazing, Cool, Legendary punk musician whom all of my age group grew up loving that has a total addiction to Animal Crossing. His Name is Mark Hoppus and he has a problem.....

He spent Christmas in his town! Nintendo could have made a quick advertisement last summer about him admitting his addiction and warning about the game for adults. Which would have been a cool reverse psychology ad to help promote the game. And might have even moved a significant number of systems.

Resident Evil: Revelations could have had a really cool ad featuring the actors who portray them in the movies.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate could have featured a giant CG dragon attacking a group of friends by a lake who were all playing 3DS and instantly are armored and have cool weapons! And 2 cats jump out to help!

Kid Icarus Uprising could have shown CG commercials or anime style commercials similar to their Nintendo Video series which shows him versus his many enemies and shows off the amazing humor and multiplayer features! Or maybe just show him and Link fighting from Smash Bros. and show him avoiding a bomb by flying up and going to do his own thing which turns into the game.

Lego City: The Chase Begins could have just shown an ad. Period. It's GTA Lego. That is literally all you need to sell units and games.

Ads aren't hard. unless you are Nintendo. It could be worse, some of Sony's best ads are for their worst games. (i.e. God of War Ascension, Killzone 3, Resistance, PlayStation All Stars Battle Royal, ect.)

WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

We will end this article with the main feature that Nintendo has done right. Its so simple yet so fantastic.

Streetpass. Streetpass started as 2 games which included a single turn based RPG (Find Mii) and a puzzle collecting game (Puzzle Swap). These games were supported by coins which were earned by keeping the 3DS on you and simply taking 1,000 steps a day for 10 coins. They were mainly supported by other 3DS users who you walked pass. When that happened, data was transferred between the two systems. They came into your game and supported you with characters for the Street Pass games. Street Pass Plaza got a seriously needed DLC update in the summer of 2012 with the release of 4 new games. These games differed and were made by a few very talented groups within Nintendo. Warrior's Way, Monster Manor, Flower Town, and Mii Force all used Streetpass uniquely and were great additions to the built in software.

Streetpass is also used in almost EVERY game for the 3DS. It's uses range from sharing times of completion on levels and tracks in various games like Mario Kart 7, Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, and Super Mario 3D Land to actually helping a friend out with some ammo to shoot zombies in Resident Evil. Fire Emblem actually uses Streetpass to send your chosen team to their 3DS to battle them and if they beat you, they can actually recruit your Streetpassed character. New Super Mario Bros 2 actually had a few sets of levels for you to complete with the goal to collect as many coins as possible. This coin total was streetpassed to others and they would have to try to beat the total you had to get coin bonuses. No one would have seen something like this coming, such a huge hit from such a simple concept of connecting us all together through personal contact.

Streetpass is the coolest function on the 3DS and adds a lot of depth not found or replicated anywhere else. It's a revolutionary and truly innovative feature.

AND MIIVERSE!!!!! Which is fairly new to the 3DS but has been on the Wii U. Miiverse allows us gamers to talk directly to other gamers playing the same games. There is nothing like it. Streetpass creates an actual community of gamers in the real world. Miiverse is the digital adoption of that. A digital community of gamers for each game. I love being able to post a screenshot if I'm stuck on a level and within 1 minute getting a response to it explaining how to do it. The internet only works for walkthroughs if you only want to use a walkthrough. I'm sorry but sometimes I want to just play the game and sometimes the game stumps me. Luckily we can now all rely on each other. Also Miiverse can give you an idea of what a game is like before you buy it. It also allows you to follow the developers of your favorite games directly for update news and sequel information. Miiverse is the Social Media that I have always longed for. And I am so thankful they made it safe for kids, cause creepers be creeping.

THANKS

Nintendo has proven that they can be completely family friendly and still connect with us. not just through Nostalgia trips but also with new ideas for games and how to connect with our everyday lives outside of video games and away from looking into a screen. Nintendo continues to care about the gamers, the fans over anything. Even if that means they will take some pretty serious hits on the stock market and from critics. The 3DS is an amazing blend of casual blue ocean and hardcore scary gamer.

It is for everyone and there is something for everyone. I truly believe the only people who would say they wouldn't ever want a 3DS are people who just love to hate. But Nintendo and their fans are used to it. They will continue to rise above it and do what is right. I appreciate all that Nintendo does. I am glad the 3DS is doing well enough to support the failings of the Wii U, because Nintendo is a company I really hope is making consoles if I decide to start a family.

The 3Ds is proof that the Wii U can make it back, they just need to try harder to find their way. This is all one person's very long opinion. I own all the system's so I don't hate. But Nintendo has given me the most joy so I tend to lean their way. I understand that gaming truly does need Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and Steam to keep being competitive to keep quality up. Don't hate. Don't be a douche. And as always, this is my own view and not the view of Take This Studios. If you gotta hate...just hate Mii!!!!!!!!

by Spencer Shoemaker

My Top Games for the Nintendo 3DS of FY13!

2014-02-23T01:57:00.000-08:00

Another late list adjusted for this previous fiscal year. This gets very confusing if you work at various businesses because there is no real standard. The company I work for ends their fiscal year between the beginning and ending of February. They seem to make it up as they go along....
Whatever.
Let's get to it!

My Favorite 3DS Games of FY13!!!

by Spencer Shoemaker

This list is a lot like my last but since the 3DS would have had at least 5 games in my top 10 favorites I decided to pull them to their own list! In the top 50 games sold in FY13, ONE was Sony exclusive, THREE were Microsoft exclusive, and FOURTEEN were Nintendo Exclusives. Even counting out pre bundled games from the counts, just take away 1 game from each company (leaving Sony with zero, unfairly) Most of those 14 were 3DS games....and a lot of em were new releases...and some didn't get the Wright exposure because of Nintendo all of a sudden becoming more download, online, and indie friendly.

Okay....I guess I will start with one of the games which sold well with the hardcore, well over seas, and got good reviews, But was hurt by no Advertising and a lack of awareness to Americans.

Number 10
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
Developed and Published by Capcom

This game is fun. Not a normal game by far, but it's a change of pace game (much like Professor Layton or Animal Crossing) that focuses more on story and brain teasing more than platforming or action. Phoenix Wright is a popular character, even if you haven't played a game of his or even heard about him. They mae a movie about this game series in Japan that looks kinda cool...in that Japanese way...

Honestly, I never played an Ace Attorney game before until I tried this one (I immediately went out to find older ones, like I did after playing Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask a year ago) These games are funny, full of great characters, and are written pretty well.....even though I think our NA localization team trolled us sometimes...

The different relationships and lack of respect Phoenix Wright gets from his colleagues and opponents and judge and clients really surprised me after seeing pictures like this all over the internet from the hardcore crowds

But it actually helps add to the story and dialogues to see that the combo of Phoenix, Athena, and Apollo is actually a dysfunctional group. Of course, until it really matters, when the chips are down and the cheese is high

This Game was very different, very fun, and is regular price at $30 dollars on the eShop. Luckily eShop cards are 20% off at Best Buy between 2/23-3/1 So it's kinda like the game is on sale! (just go with it)

NUMBER 9
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
Developed by TT Fusion
Published by Nintendo

The Wii U game, Lego City Undercover, really helps this game a lot. It is constantly referencing things in Chase McCain's past but never elaborated on. A month after that game came out, this game was released onto the 3DS. The Same huge open world, quirky humor, and amount of side missions, customization, and unlockables but on the little brother.

The 3DS handled it well and gave me just as memorable of an experience to a character and world I already fell in love with on the Wii U. The only gripe I have on this game is that there isn't as much voice acting as the Wii U version. they still have some things subtitled and intended to read instead of listen to. The bad guys and fighting are the same however, with this one being more straight forward since you already know from the first game that you will be going after Rex Fury in your first attempt to apprehend him.The Wii U version of Lego City was truly a Grand Theft Auto game with Legos. And The Chase Begins is truly a great prequel but apparently just doesn't know how to use it's tongue...

This game is definitely worth getting for the 3DS, a must have if you enjoyed any Lego or Grand Theft Auto Game ever. Same goes for the Wii U Lego City as well!

NUMBER 8
Steam World Dig
Developed and Published by Image & Form (on the 3DS eShop)

This game was an eShop exclusive for many months before success called for it to be ported to PC in an HD remake. This game is many peoples Indie game of the year and the same goes for me! Its a simple concept...dig down and make sure you can get back up.

It also calls for exploration to gain gems for power ups, and fighting enemies in hopes of their dead robo-bodies will leave something like health, fire, or water behind. The story of the game is set in an old robo-west and you are left a mine due to an uncle dying....Yeah. Welcome to the freak show.

Well ultimately you keep digging and keep getting cool powerups which give the game more of a Metroid type feel.

As you dig down you find more and more evidence towards an ancient world and someone who seems to be living deep underground.....Shia Labeouf!!!

Well, maybe not. But it is a rewarding end to the game which keeps taking hours and hours from your life. Great game and a MUST HAVE if you download ANY game on the eShop!

NUMBER 7
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team
Developed by Alpha Team (with help from Good-Feel)
Published by Nintendo

The first game from the year of Luigi to make it on the list is also one of the most misunderstood. The same team that has developed all of the Mario and Luigi series games has returned to make this new RPG. This series has always differed from the other Mario games. A turn based fighting style similiar to paper Mario with an open world "Metroid" style gameplay set up.

This game boasts hilarious dialogue, funny and intriguing story, amazing characters, and a weird trip into the mind of Luigi and how much he feels like a loser in comparison to his brother. In real life he is treated as a second class citizen. However in his dreams it is a different story..

The story deals with the Princess getting kidnapped as always except it puts a different spin on it.

The current people on the island who live and visit there, the ancient people who founded the island, and our Mario bros. are all on the line against an evil new foe. The only way to truly take on the new dangers is to go into the dreams of a chosen one. Which is Luigi....also while there Mario is out matched. Which leaves him to rely on Bros. attacks which implement unique help from his brother...and since they are Luigi's dreams the help is just as odd as him....

This game looks odd and is odd but also is one of the more memorable games I have ever played. It has a long story if you don't avoid fighting and love leveling up (which I highly recommend). The game plays and acts a lot like previous games because the same Nintendo developer made the whole series, but a few REALLY amazing things were added into battle thanks to Good-Feel (The developers of Yarn Yoshi, Kirby;s Epic yarn, and Mii Force) and the additions are truly Epic. My Favorite thing is the humor. The humor will make you laugh out loud like an idiot. but I'm a sucker for Meta-Humor.

If you don't have a 3DS XL yet, just buy the Silver one which comes with this game like I did. If you have one, congrats, you can just go buy this game on the eShop or in store. it is SOOO worth it. And as a taste, there is a free demo on the eShop. The demo doesn't even begin to make you understand how great this game is but it is something.

Number 6
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Developed by Next Level Games
Published by Nintendo

The next game on the list is from a very talented Nintendo development team which has put out some great Wii games like Mario Strikers Charged and the Punch Out remake. They outdid themselves by making one of the best games on the 3DS. This is a sequel to the extremely short cult hit game from the Gamecube. The second Luigi focused game on my list is incredibly detailed, well written, and has flawless game mechanics.

The game revolves around Luigi returning to help Professor E. Gadd by using the Pultergust 5000 upgrade to save Evershade Valley from the Dark Moon. the game play is fun and the story is funny. It travels the same road as Mario and Luigi Dream Team to make Luigi realize that he is as much of a Hero as Mario. He just has to face his fears.

The Pultergust 500 has many upgrades which helps with the many missions per haunted house. The detail in the houses is amazing, Try to suck up the walls an floors and you will find every picture moving and some rugs revealing secrets. So much to explore it will make you sick and there are so many different types of ghosts that one trick won't do the trick, it's like Mario Bros. meets Supernatural. Hope you got a trunk full of salt and silver bullets....

The game has very good length to it and a lot of unlockables. The coolest extra is the co-op mode called SCARE SCRAPER which features online multiplayer or local download play to see who can capture the most ghosts and gets to do the Dark Moon Walk...

A must have game for anyone that enjoyed the first, or any 3D platformer. And whoever loves family drama with a little brother with serious self worth issues.

NUMBER 5
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Developed and Published by Capcom
Distributed by Nintendo

A game in the right direction for Nintendo. This game and the Wii U version are the same game just HD graphics compared to 3D graphics. You can even play this game on your 3DS locally alongside a friend playing on other 3DS and even on Wii U!! DO I NEED TO SAY MORE??

This game is VERY addictive. Each Mission is basically just about killing one monster or a variant of the monster or a herd of the monster. You can team up with up to 3 other people to be 4 vs 1 gigantic creature. The depth comes in how you want to take on these Monsters. There are almost 50 DIFFERENT MONSTERS!!! Ranging from Alzaroths, to Baggis, to Jaggis, to Rhenolpolis, to Wroggi from the small monsters list.

The Large Monsters are very diverse ranging from Agnaktor to Brachydios to Diablos to Lagiacrus to Queropeco to Rathian to Uragaan!

And the strategy to take on all of em varies by your skill set. What armor suits you best can be crafted from the body parts left from the monsters. Crafting the armor and weapons can take many battle with the same monster, but the pay off is very rewarding! The weapon classes include Sword/Shield, Dual Blades, Long Sword, Great Sword, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Light Bow gun, Heavy Bowgun,

and Bow.

So...the depth is there, the graphics are there in either fashion (HD or 3D) and the player customization and replability is there. Add in the support of streetpass to lend you streetpassers that have the game so that you can send them on quests to fetch items for you and you can even level up your streetpass slaves and this game has all the makings of Number 1 Game of All Time. However, this isn't top games of FY13. It's MY favorite games of FY13.

It's my opinion that this game could be many peoples favorite games....So try it, the demo is single player only but will give you and idea of what is in store. I tiny idea.

NUMBER 4
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Developed By Nintendo and Monolift Soft
Published by Nintendo

Yep, co developed by Monolift Soft, they have worked with Nintendo on such games a Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword & Link Between Worlds, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pikmin 3, Project X Zone, and Xenoblade Chronicles! Shows you how hardcore this game really is huh?

Well it may not look hardcore but it is a casual grind fest in the vain of games like The Sims. Except this one is cuter and full of Nintendo stuff so it's better right? You are apparently some child who has been sent off to live on his own in the woods full of Animals while you are appointed as Dictator of their strange government which is composed of any town that anyone else has created.

The creepiest thing with this story is you. The one human child in the town has got to be the creepiest character every in a video game.

You have to play everyday. no Joke. This game is the most played on my 3DS by FAR! That even beats out Pokemon Y and Fire Emblem: Awakening...It's kinda sad. And Kind of addicting. I'm going to be a negative influence on you right now. You want to try this game. Every one is doing it. It was a top seller amongst all games last year. Just try it once. You can quit whenever you want....

Then you realize that you dont play the game. It plays you. Build the town, buy all the town advancements, try to manage which 10 of the hundreds of villagers you will get, keep, and turn away, buy all the house expansions, use play coins for fortune cookies full of triforces and Arwings, and participate in every seasonal event like the spokes person for AC Addiction: Mark Hoppus of Blink 182...

This game is fun and enjoyable and a grind fest. You will never stop........it will consume you.
Join Us.

NUMBER 3
Pokemon X & Y
Developed by Game Freak
Published by Nintendo

I have sinned apparently. The BEST Pokemon game since the original thanks to updated graphics, music, animations, and a nice 80s-esque childhood friend storyline....and it isn't number1!!

Well This game is still amazing and for most people would be the most Necessary game to play out at the moment!! I know people who NEVER played Pokemon games before say this was their favorite game they have ever played. It's that good. It is still Pokemon, which is weird reinterpretations of animals but with odd names.

Besides the other normal stuff like catching em all and filling up the pokedex and beating the Elite four and stopping the evil doers.There are a lot more things to do too. I'm currently addicted to doing stuff all around the game...so much stuff...

There have added in really creative ways to train and bond with Pokemon which includes mini game trainings and feeding the Pokemon.

And Mega Evolutions. You will be given some stones to make the evolutions happen during battle, but the rest are found after beating the game. Want your weird little fat gengar to stop being weird and be a man?

DONE! There are many Mega Evolution stones and surely one of your favorites has one! This game is Pokemon. It sells as much as Call of Duty every time it comes out. So I'm sure you will get it eventually if you are one of the few who haven't already. To entice you even more, they have online capabilities which make battling and trading easier and its like a constant living world with online players passing your screen every half second. Also there is this glorious new thing called WONDER TRADING! it's like playing the lottery. Trade out a Pokemon to the world and hope you get a really cool one in return! You could get a level 100, Shiny, or legendary. Just try and see. 75% of the time it's great, Every time!

NUMBER 2
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Developed by Nintendo (w/ Monolift Soft)
Published by Nintendo

Yep. the game that was told to have many references to Majora's Mask while also serving as a Direct sequel to A Link to the Past. Well It served as a sequel while also teasing all of the desperate people that are a part of Operation Moonfall which probably cried when they saw this

and then raged when nothing came of it. nothing else. It's almost Like Nintendo wanted to make those crazy A-Holes rage their guts out.

Well newsflash to the group who waste time and many peoples money trying to get Majora's Mask remade. It is the 3rd day. And

JUST ENJOY THE GAMES THAT COME OUT! WE SHOULD ENCOURAGE NEW DEVELOPMENT AND NOT REGURGITATED REMAKES!!!!!
Well....Now...onto this Wonderful game. The game plays much like A Link to the Past. this game doesn't hold your hand but offers assistance when asked of it. The graphics are gorgeous. It's basically 2 games in 1. The top down look was achieved by slanting everything

But when you are in the painting form and you see the world from a normal 3rd person perspective, there are no slanted people. Because they built two games into this. These developers deserve some respect. O wait....did I mention? Are you ready? this game performs in 60 Frames per Second on the 3DS!

The Xbox One even has trouble doing that with some games. Congrats developers on creationg the best handheld Zelda Experience ever. And I havent even mentioned the story yet.

So, the story is a huge reference back to the mythology laid down in previous Zelda games. Most notably A Link to the Past. You are a blacksmith apprentice and a lazy one at that. Evil Looms and strikes at the Princess. you are forced to team up with the new 7 sages and use various items to unlock your way to a "Dark Realm" known as LORULE. Nice one Nintendo. Well the layout of the map is the same in LORULE except slightly altered to look so very menacing.

The Princess of Lorule is actually a really well done character. Her realm was as prosperous as Hyrule. Until their own Triforce was destroyed. Which brought the evil and darkness. She recognizes how lucky Hyrule and Zelda are to have Link. it's truly sad how much she knows her world sucks. Her she is Luigi and Zelda is Mario.

The Year of Luigi Contiues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyways....The story is great and the dungeons are much better when they are not in any order. the items are very fun and the unlockables are amazing....and not to be missed if you want to be tough and strong. The Streetpass was also done better than a lot of games. If you get a streetpass from someone else who has the game, they send a DARK LINK to your game and those dark Links will wait in various specific areas until beaten. When you challenge a Dark Link you fight them and whatever items and power ups they are equipped with and the reward for beating them is very shiny. very shiny indeed. This game is amazing and proved why FY13 was the year of Nintendo 3DS (AND LUIGI!)

NUMBER 1
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Developed and Published by Nintendo

Number 13 in the series, But Number ONE in my Heart for FY13 and for the 3DS in general. This Game is a masterpiece of story, depth, streetpass functionality, spotpass functionality, DLC strategy, graphical options, and gameplay Mechanics. This game is worth the near 100 hours it can take away from you in one play through!!!

This game is actually the Best Selling Fire Emblem in the franchise. Shocking when you think that the game almost didnt get localized for North America and also was very close to being the last game in the series if it didnt sell well. Luckily, the word got out.

The game revolves around you and your bff Chrom. You run across the legendary hero, Marth, from time to time. You try to keep the peace in your land and try to stop various evil invading forces. All while meeting and recruiting new soldiers and trying to groom friendships and relationships. The importance of the relationship buildings come half way through the game....when time travel happens.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

The people who get married before that halfway mark actually affect what kind of soldiers their kids become....because they time travel. they come back in time to help their parents defeat the evil before it is too late. This adds much depth cause there are many different possible marriages which all reflect the type and quality of the children. Marriage is a new feature to Fire Emblem. it was tied to the story very well and add to the depth. Don't disappoint Chrom son! Or you will be punished!

The added depth was also met with added accessibility. Fire Emblem games usually make you pay for bad decisions. If a character dies in battle, then they are gone for good. Well the Casual mode added to this game allow you to stop resetting your game to the last save over and over again. Casual mode lets your characters die in battle and simply go home and chill. But Hardcore mode definitely adds drama!

A few more features are small things like the battle animations being either 3d fights or sprite battles which give the game a certain amount of customization towards the type of player you are. The Streetpass feature basically lets you send out a hand picked team to other players and when they receive it they can find you on their map and battle you for money and renown! The Spotpass feature allowed for more teams to face, extra weapons, and more! The co op mode allows you to partner with a friend to face strong teams for money and more renown. Finally, the DLC is well priced and offers everything from boosted XP to extra gold to classic characters such as Ike and Roy! Definetly worth checking out!

Overall, this game was very important to localization efforts, to Nintendo, and mostly to the Fire Emblem series. If it wasn;t for this game being a hit, the whole series might have disappeared. Now we have a Wii U crossover with Shin Megami Tensai to look forward to and maybe another 3DS game (PLEASE!) This game was a desperate Hail Mary pass....but it was caught....thank Naga.

That's my FY13 top 10 favorites!!! I have a list of runner ups but there are wayyy too many....
ugh....okay. I'll mention them and give one sentence or else I will feel bad for not even trying...

THE REST!!!

Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder

Take Pictures and clean and compete against others in challenges and stuff!

Project X Zone

SEGA! CAPCOM! NAMCO BANDAI! ALL the Characters!!!!.....in a Strategy game!!!

Mario and DK: Minis on the Move

Mini Games! Sling toys! Puzzles! Extras! Ect!

HarmoKnight

A Rhythm Platformer made by the makers of Pokemon!!!! Pokemon Bonus Levels!!!

Urban Trial Freestyle

Platforming as a Dirt Bike that does tricks. So Awesome!!!!!

Coaster Creator 3D

Create roller coasters in 3D using the touch screen. Fluid gameplay. Earn people and things!!!!

Dillons Rolling Western: The Last Ranger

A bunch of rough animals in the wild west! Tower defense meets RPG!!!

Mighty Switch Force 2

Same 3D timing based platforming with switched. But now, put out fires!!!

Attack of the Friday Monsters

Lie to Kids while making them play rip off Pokemon cards and get attacked by aliens!! Japan!!!

Air Race Speed

Fast racing game! F-Zero until we actually get a 3DS F-Zero!!!

and Finally the best of the NON Top 10...an optional DLC update to Streetpass which actually can be bundled. The Streetpass Games!! This encompasses Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way, and Monster Manor! Developed by extremly talented groups. These games are side scrolling, micro managing, strategy based and puzzle filled. And Powered by the streetpass tags you obtain!

If you read this. Truly thank you for taking the time just to read someone's opinion. Hopefully our opinions and styles mesh and it influences you to give one of these games a try. Remember to keep an open mind and don't let reviews or the media make decisions for you. And as always...

Favorite Video Games of FY13

2014-02-11T12:08:00.004-08:00

MY Favorite Games of FY13

by Spencer Shoemaker

A little late for a top 10 of 2013? True. Due to school, work, and life. I missed the deadline for a top 13 list. Mostly because Christmas Break was the only time I had to play any games I missed during the semester. Not a lot of time….since I work Retail (Still).

So these are MY favorites. I don’t really read reviews, I watch some video segments, and I use gamefly. So I really get to try some games that otherwise would be demonized to the point of not trying. Just one guys unbiased opinion. I own all the systems (360, PS3, WiiU, gaming PC which is reasonable for a college student who pays all his own bills and then some…had to skip PS4 and Xbox One since I can play their games elsewhere and with the same graphics on my PC)

P.S. I had to leave 3DS out. It over ran my list and I had to make its own list to be posted soon.

NUMBER 10

Poker Night at the Inventory 2

Developed and Published by Tell Tale Games

So, you might not have played this game. But. You probably love the creepy movies of one guy, the loot filled FPS of another guy, the puzzle Game of this one thing, the adventures of one dude and his partner, and the show of another big guy.

Yeah. It’s a Mash Up. A simple Poker Game enhanced by TONS of amazingly hilarious dialogue. The main goal of the game (if there is one) is to collect their individual prized treasures.

Ash, of course, offers his Necronomicon. Sam offers his old banjo. Brock Samson offers an Orb from Venture Bros. GLADOS offers up one of her personality cores. And last, but not actually last on the bounty list, is ClapTrap with the offering of his 2012 Spike VGA Award.

If you are interested in the gameplay of this game….go buy a deck of cards. Instructions for Poker will be there. HOWEVER, interested in a TINY taste of dialogue? Here ya go:

NUMBER 9

Pikmin 3

Developed & Published by Nintendo

This game was my first entry in the Pikmin series. I missed the first two cause the Gamecube had a lot of other games I was playing. But I’m so sad I missed them. This game looks so much different from a jaded view point. Look! Another Nintendo creation with cute characters. But it’s actually Great Game play on top of Great Slavery! If you want a quick explanation on the semi-RTS this is the best I can do.

Now listen up. Here’s the story. About a lil guy who lives in a blue world.

He and his friends go to a foreign planet because their home world has used up all it's Natural Resources. So they must find more in order to save their race and themselves from their own mistakes and gluttony.

They can't so it alone however. So they enslave an indigenous race. Hard working and no choice but to obey the commands of their new masters, this small but resilient race bravely and regrettably sacrifice themselves to do the work of someone else.

This work includes slaughtering all of the other species that call this planet home in quest for the natural resources needed.

This, 3 people reading this blog (Hi Lee) is the truth of Pikmin 3.
You must play it to understand it.
Not to mention the game play is outstanding. the graphics are beautiful. The multiplayer is fun. And if you like it and want some more of it (yep, did it) then the DLC is really cheap too. Just don't let that title music fool you.

NUMBER 8

Ducktales Remastered

Developed by WayForward Technologies (by way of Capcom)

Published by Capcom

Yep. this game is SO good it is the only remake entering my top of FY13. (I was only allowing one and this beat Wind Waker HD...my favorite Zelda game) This game plays flawlessly. Just as it ever did. Wayforward has a way with art and it is showcased here.

On top of the upgrades, there are extras showcasing the games roots. Which shows how much love this game has been made with. Everything has been redone. That new nostalgia definitely hits when you hear the Music.

NUMBER 7

Tomb Raider

Developed by Crystal Dynamics

Published by Square Enix

I was against this reboot in the first place. Once I saw that the team behind the later Tomb Raider were making this one, I was hesitant but also curious. Reboots aren't usually handled by the same people....Am I glad they rebooted it. The game of course focuses on Lara Croft.

But Lara isn't born a smart bad ass warrior. She becomes one. Shipwrecked on a mysterious island and forced to risk everything to save herself and others. This is as good of a coming of age type story as any. And a great start to what I hope is a continuing series. The game play is great, with sneaking and archery at the forefront. Skills and crafting play heavily too. And there are enough collectables to make you happy without making those ragey type people hardcore rage cause they couldn't find something. Oh. And did I mention? Lara is a vulnerable, strong, smart, fighter while also being hot?

Win. We ALL Win.

NUMBER 6

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal

Published by Ubisoft

One of the most dominant companies in publishing games right now. Ubisoft has a great collection of franchises. With Just Dance, Rayman, Splinter Cell (and all other Tom Clancy games), and Far Cry. But the most recognized amongst the slightly more hardcore crowd is Assassin's Creed. Which had been growing a little stale with Assassin's Creed 3 and it;s very disappointing DLC. I liked 3. A lot didn't So they needed a change. Striking while the iron is hot (10 years ago)

Ubisoft went with the pirate thing. What seemed uninspired actually became their most unique idea yet. outside the Animus you work for Abstergo and collect data for them using a varied Animus collecting data by using Desmond's DNA. It ties to the grandfather of Assassin's Creed 3's protagonist, Connor Kenway. You are now Edward Kenway, no honor or purpose to speak of. A man who left his wife to plunder the sea for riches and good times. He get's in between the Templars and Assassin's and becomes a pain to both. it is interesting to play as a man who doesn't come from assassins and has no want to ever die as an assassin. There are tons of things to do across the huge map. Endless ships to plunder, deep sea diving into wreck sites, gathering the necessities for ancient outfits, tons of tiny islands with treasure, and so much more. Outside the animus is a great way to find out more about the beginnings of Abstergo Industries, about how the Templar's view various assassins, and about Desmond's life.

This story though......it pulls AC3 and AC4 full circle (More so if you buy the tie in books) for Edward, Haytham, and Connor Kenway. If you played 3, do yourself a favor and play this incredible game.

NUMBER 5

Rayman Legends

Developed by Ubisoft Montpellier

Published by Ubisoft

And here is another Ubisoft title in my favorites. They may have had their roughest year in a long time for FY13. But it doesn't represent the quality of titles. Possibly the best Assassin's Creed ever is only beaten out in my favorites by the best Rayman ever. The art and music that we all enjoy is back. As well as the tremendous multiplayer aspect. If I could pick a few highlights from this game, I would pick the music levels, the unlockables like Rayman Origins levels, the splinter cell levels, the skins (Which include everything from Sam Fisher to Mario!)

and last but not least.....MURPHY! Yes, if you were lucky enough to play the PS Vita or Wii U copy of the game you got the true and full experience. a touch screen helper named Murphy. Of course on the Vita, I hope you have friends with Vitas...Because the Murphy levels alone suck. But with friends in multiplayer, Murphy makes this game absolutely amazing.

And Here is a sample of both Murphy's gameplay as the second player on a gamepad helping along a music level :)

NUMBER 4

Battlefield 4

Developed by EA DICE

Published by EA

I don't really fall in love with many military shooters, because their story's are pretty generic. Online heavy games in general aren't my style. But every once in a while, There is a game that focuses on repetitive shooting online that grasps me. I could name them on one hand: Star Wars Battlefront, SOLCOM, M.A.G. and Battlefield 4. This game is amazing. I play it on PC. the story is decent. The online play is where it shines! The Frostbite 3 engine helps power the destructible environments and levolution which changes everything. Don't like a camping sniper in that building over there? Blow it up! Got a group of skilled snipers and engineers on the roof of a building? Blow it up! Stupid chopper chase? BLOW IT UP!

Okay that last one was just to fit in the gif. But destructibility is battlefields calling card. That along with disastrous storms and weather changes bring us something new. Building from the destructibility of BF3 we now have [Levolution] This new concept has triggers in the map that change the match completely.

O Yeah, Another reason to love this game? T-Rex Reference. *Drops the Mic and walks away*

NUMBER 3

Super Mario 3D World

Developed and Published by Nintendo

It truly can't be a top 3 without the only guy with a mustache to not look like a sex offender, MARIO! Sorry Luigi.

Things that are great about this game? It's like there was a really weird and fuzzy night spent between Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 64, and New Super Mario Bros. Then.....9 months later Super Mario Bros 2 was pregnant even though she was so old that no one thought it could happen. New Super Mario Bros was panicking because he wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility, he just wanted some multiplayer action. Super Mario 64 was a little more mature however and would help guide the little baby game into the world alongside Super Mario Bros 2. They lived happily ever after. And this game is awesome.

Yeah, that didn't explain anything. But it did explain everything. This game incorporates the 4 player experiences (with some 5th player action on the gamepad) that we have grown to love with New Super Mario Bros. FACT

It also has a fully 3D world that allows larger levels and more creative ideas from the 2D inspirations, a lot like Super Mario 64. FACT

Last but not least, these gameplay features have been merged with the varied gameplay mechanics of Super Mario Bros 2. Which means Mario is our usual hero. Luigi is our slippery and high (Jumping guys, jumping!) version of Mario. Peach can float around with her parasol. Toad is fast as lightning. And Rosalina is an unlockable with the ability of a spin attack. Which gives this game the greatest multiplayer experience Mario has ever seen. FACT

Unless you like online play. This game does a great job of integrating Miiverse, which is per the norm for a lot of the games on the Wii U. But this game wants you to play together in the same room instead of playing like mustached strangers online. So that sucks for the friendless.

Extras include side games and the various things you can post to Miiverse to brag about an accomplishment. Also Luigi Bros which is like the great battling game Mario Bros which started it all. The new power ups are great, not just the cat suit. And Honestly, just admit....you always wanted to fight this...

Yep. Cat Bowser. Suck it.

And also, here is a tiny example of the gameplay for Super Mario 3D World

NUMBER 2

Last of Us

Developed by Naughty Dog

Published by Sony Computer Entertainment

The third and final exclusive game on the list. Pikmin 3 and Mario on Nintendo both beaten out by Sony's best game since, well Uncharted 3 from Naughty Dog. This game is labeled an Action-Adventure Survivor-Horror game for good reason. It sometimes seems like a survival horror, mostly it is an action adventure. Which is great because that is what Naughty Dog does best! Especially since some core team members left after doing Uncharted. This game has an incredible story. It has heart. It really reminds me of a great mix between Resident Evil, Uncharted, and Heavy Rain. The zombies get tougher as the game goes on, but not in a normal video game fashion.

You and you're partner (a little girl) will meet up with other survivors and it leads to interesting gameplay and story elements. You really don't know who to trust. This is 20 years after the zombie outbreak....so just imagine what most people who survived DID to survive. There are tons of notes everywhere explaining so many peoples situations. There are heart wrenching moments around every corner. I don't want to spoil ANYTHING since story is 75% of this game. So I'll just give two hints. Collect everything you see by scavenging and beware clickers....

Aside from the main story there are also multiplayer modes and DLC which features a back story for one of your protagonists. One more thing. the soundtracks of games can be as important as anything (i.e. Silent Hill & Fallout) so here is a lil sample of some music.

NUMBER 1

Grand Theft Auto V

Developed by Rockstar North

Published by Rockstar

Number one game for me was also the best selling amongst AAA games. Only available on Xbox 360 and PS3. Completly disregarding the existence of Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, and PC fan bases. Yet this game has the highest sales total of the year. Even on Individual charts they took up spots 1 and 2 for PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively. Only getting any competition from Pokemon.

This game is glorious. The best Grand Theft Auto ever created? Yep. Even better than San Andreas. Sales were even better, during a down market.

Why? because they brought the fun back. They brought back the larger than life characters and the fun that is found in Los Santos. The game features a living and breathing city which is seen through the eyes of 3 very different people. You play as these people and how they interact with their own lives and each other. It's pretty great. The story follows a black guy trying to avoid being in a gang his whole life, a retired former big time criminal with a huge temper, and a weird criminal redneck with a windows phone.

What makes this game even better than the 69 story missions and tons of side missions. Is the great online world. Mission, community, money. that is what it is all about. Get in a gang with your friends and go rob some people! most likely if you are reading this...then you have already played it and loved it. If you have played it and hate it....then you have two options.
1)Go Play in Traffic

2) There are 195 other countries you can move to....get out.

And because the best thing about GTA is randomly killing yourself and others....this is kinda what it looks like when I play...

Just play the video....ignore their stupid logo. Its the only short video without annoying 11 year old commentary.....

And The Rest.......(like Russel Johnson)

Really Great Games that I couldn't fit in to my favorite 10?

The tremendous Bioshock Inifinite!! With a good story and most importantly, entirely different feel from Bioshock, even including a neat nod to Rapture (which was devalued by the DLC sending you there.....why? wtf) This game had a predictable ending but the story was neat and environment unique to Bioshock. Unfortunately that environment is also one we have seen time and time again. So many people might hate me for this not being a top 10 favorite....but it is just one person's opinion. Don't rage. It's still a great game though!

Max Payne 3 is another fantastic game from Rockstar and really pushes the story of Max into a new future and back to his past all at the same time. Flash backs, flash forwards, whatever. It is a really fun game with a really fun environment and great acting, amazing music choices, and proves why Games don't need to be movies.

The swan song for the Wii was better than the swan song for Xbox 360 or PS3 (Gears of War Judgement & Beyond Two Souls) This game is called Padora's Tower and is only in America because of Operation Rainfall and their cause, despite what Reggie FilsAime says. it is a great JRPG, not quite as good as Xenoblade Chronicles which Operation rainfall also brought to us, but this Game is very very close in quality and very different in style. If you like JRPGs and haven't played this...ummm...why. This game is.....umm...

DEADPOO! I mean....Deadpool. Voiced by the talented Nolan North. Who is here a second time, after appearing as Desmond Miles in Assassin's Creed 4. this Game is CRAZY and HILARIOUS. Nothing Makes sense and that's what great, with appearances by Cable and Wolverine that make this game a laugh riot. From beginning to end. Fantastic job. Since we won't ever get the movie....

Awwww poor Splinter Cell Blacklist. Reviews were decent (like Rayman Legends) but eh sales were poor. I really enjoyed this game. My biggest gripe is that the online services have always been messed up, especially at launch (Which probably affected the delays of Watch Dogs) The story is fantastic and it has the right amount of elements from previous Splinter Cell games to show that this one has truly evolved. Most won't like ol' Ironsides gone, but it's not a major loss.....but it doesn't help. Even though Sam Fisher will always be

Sam Fisher.

NES Remix. I'll make it brief. classic NES titles with their own set up speed run inspired goals. Accomplish these goals and you unlock the "REMIX" levels which really give old games neat twists. if you are good enough to accomplish the speed runs of old games then you will be rewarded. If you own a Wii U, it is a must buy for $15.

And the last game actually was in a tie for 10th on my list, but I love Clap Trap too much. It's the Wonderful 101!! Let me give you a run down on why this game didn't become a system seller....

This games has over 100 individual superheros with their own abilites and personalities. The concept of fighting as one major unit under a leaders control is great. It lets the player use the power that they are more comfortable with. Like guns? shoot stuff with little people as your ammo. Like Indiana Jones or have an S&M fetish? Use a pink whip to destroy armor and put eyes out! Like Hell Boy? Then use a giant red fist made of people to Hulk Smash your way through life's problems. Are you deemed worthy to posses the power of Thor? Then drop the yellow hammer on people like and angry turtle with a helmet on! Do you wish to be the villain of Street Fighter but always come up second? Use claws to rip people to shreds...cause I've already made my Wolverine reference earlier! ART! Are you a racist? Be a black guy using black bombs in between playing his 3DS to blow up everything! That was so wrong my brain threw up and imagined this...

Anyways.......back to the rant...
Perhaps it's to dangerous to go alone? Use my favorite hero's power to create a giant blue sword and probe those aliens back! (Wonder Blue is my favorite btw, he is really like me....)

This game offers a fun and hilarious story, Great Characters, Challenging game play, Unique ideas, and cool extras to unlock. Plus, the creator is among the very few "artists" and "Innovators" in his field. this isn't like anything else you have played. Most of my top games are either sequels or just mash ups of other games, this game is truly unique. To get an idea...just watch this trailer (Since Nintendo doesn;t know what advertising is...)

So that's it. One guys very late opinion of favorite games of 2013, cleverly turned into a Fiscal Year list. I'm so smart....

everything is syco1316 for me....twitter, origin, steam, Miiverse, psn, xbl, nn. send hate if you must. Dont hate this site, i just write for it.

Nintendo E3 News Reaction

2013-05-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is a Calm reaction to the Nintendo E3 news.
By Spencer Shoemaker

It was delayed by a few days for a couple of reasons. reason 1, Finals are more important. reason 2, so that fanboys/haters can come to grips with the evolution of gaming news which has finally been adopted by one of the Big 3. Oddly enough this evolution comes from the company who was so afraid of the Internet just a few years ago.

Surprisingly, it's Nintendo.
See, when I say evolution, I mean our need for info as it happens. Movie Spoilers. Up to the second and inaccurate Election results. Midnight releases on Video Games and Movies. WE HATE TO WAIT. It's our society. Actually it seems like Everyone's society. Why anyone would be upset at Nintendo passing up on the expensive, dated, and mostly terribly presented presentations? Well, because it's change. It won't extremely change anything. Except for giving most of us less cringe worthy moments. Remember Trey Parker and Matt Stone mocking smart glass? Remember PS3's Book of Spells? Or What about Nintendo's ENTIRE 2012 E3 conference? They do best at what? software! I love their consoles. Don't get me wrong. I own all of them. I bought a Wii U at launch. That was hurt a lot by Rayman Legends getting delayed along with everything Nintendo Published, but that's another story for another time. What I'm saying is that it is a extra dark time for Nintendo.

And in this dark time they need to change. Miiverse is a step in the right direction because it's like an awesome mash up of Tumblr and Twitter. And for those of you who don't know, they share up to date info through posts as well. This and the Nintendo Direct are all building to one thing, bringing news. Actual news. When was the last time you watched E3 and found out something new that you didn't read already on the internet? Don't worry about trying to name a moment, because if you did then you obviously didn't care about that game that much anyways

We want information and we find it. Nintendo is fighting that. By completely surprising us MONTHLY with awesome news, not just Battlefield 47: Awesome Company (IF you Could Work On Saturday That'd Be Great) Edition

But Games we had no clue were being developed. Maybe no for 3rd party games, because that leaks. But this is Nintendo's big edge over others. Which kept the 64 and Gamecube afloat despite rocky waters. And the driver of the Wii and its software sells. They drive their own business, and they do it their way. And now their way just so happens to be with our way. The amount of people who actually watch E3 live probably equal the amount of people who watch Nintendo Direct on their 3ds. Heck, where I live I cant get a live feed except the internet.....I would rather go outside and then come back when all the videos are neatly prepared for me on Youtube. The only people that seem to be upset for real are the online gaming editors who have one less party to sit through at E3. And the people on the internet who just love to be angry. Nintendo is In trouble and they are doing a lot of moves to get out of it. The 3DS carried their Wii U flop to give them a Net profit this previous fiscal year which they missed bad the year before, but their home console can not pull a Gamecube or then we are all in trouble. I know I can't state the obvious much more blatantly than that.

But for real. The Gaming industry needs Nintendo. Their innovation influences the other consoles, but their software started all this. Sega came YEARS after Nintendo created a fun home computer game console for all types and ages. That was a risk for Yamauchi and Nintendo back in the 70's. but They did it and it worked. Portable version? Worked. Analog Stick on a controller? Worked. Motion controls? Worked. 3D gaming without glasses? Worked. It's hard to deny Nintendo uses some strange Strategies

But a lot of times they work. Miiverse works and Nintendo Directs Work. Expect them to use a combo of this and live floor shows with the software to make a more intimate and important statement this year. Who knows, maybe they will change the gaming world. Again.

If you don't care about Nintendo or dislike them but made it all the way through the article. This is for you:

Blender Game Engine: The Choice for Beginners

2013-04-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Some of My Test Files

Games are fun, right? But not every game meets the standards of our fantasy game. So many people have so many great ideas. But not all ideas can be actualized. However, some try even though they have so many restrictions. They want to create something of their own. Today the amount of people trying to actualize their dreams is growing. Indie game studios start popping up left in right, either solo groups or small teams. Even though the rate of people trying to develop games is growing rapidly, the amount of success is not keeping up with it.

Now let me tell you about some of the trends of these failing teams before I get into the main subject of this article. (However if you want to skip this part skip to the next bolded section)

Teams that start out in High School or Early College	These teams can be successful don't get me wrong. These teams are usually started by a group of bored friends that have no "real" knowledge of how game creation works. And most do not have the real drive to finish either: learning, planning, or creating.
MMOMakers	A whole bunch of people like the idea of an MMO that fits their needs completely, however they do not understand why no MMO fits anyone's highest needs. MMO's are big. Like Really big. Most teams don't understand how much effort goes into making these kinds of games. There is a lot more modeling, texturing, and animating that a single player game. Not just the actual physical content is increased, but the programming and server development is the biggest issue. No game comes from gathering a group of people together and telling them to make it based off of their skills. There is a lot of money and effort that goes into R&D (Research and Development). Researching how to do these things is too much for a small group of people. So these people need to get over their pipe dreams.
Full Time workers with varying schedules	Now this kind of team fails frequently by no fault of their own. If no one on the team can meet, then there is no time to discuss and direct each other in order to make it flow well. And there is hardly any time for private work as well.

Okay that’s out of the way, I can breath now.

Learning the Ropes

Now if you have a level head about you and realize that your first project might be crap, or at least not to your expectation, then you might be in good shape. The best way to lean the ropes of game dev is to be working on a project as you research; I think anyway. Now the things that you have to learn straight up is modeling, texturing, and animation; no matter where you go. But one of the main things that will give people a hard time is the programming. Programming is hard to do, probably he hardest for beginners and this is the thing that needs to be entered slowly.

Programming for the Newbie

Diving into learning a programming language will be extremely tough for the newcomer to do. So I suggest working with something that will smooth part of that processes over. There are some games engines that have you really just click a few buttons to make a game. This might be a good idea to do. It really just depends. But so you can get some taste of programming while hitting some buttons, I would say that Blender Game Engine is the best bet.

What is Blender?

Blender was primarily a 3D Modeling and Animation software. However, as time has went on, Blender has become more robust and has expanded it's portfolio. Blender now has nice Video Sequence editing, 3D Camera Tracking, and Motion Tracking, and a stronger game engine.

Learning Logic with Blender

Logic Bricks

With Blender, a first time experimenter can really learn the ropes of Programming Logic, with out having to worry about language syntax. It uses things called "Logic Bricks" which you open up, choose what type of logic you will be performing, type in the variables you need and pretty much "BLAM" you have created some small feature to your game. Now there are some limitations to the specifics of what you can do, but that can be opened up with a little Python Scripting. (P.S. Python is one of the simplest languages to learn)

That's Not All It Is

Not just is Blender easy for beginning programmers, but it is fantastic for all of it's other features. The UI, to me, is very intuitive and simple (Once you learn the simple hotkeys, which are also very natural) I have tried using a few other 3D programs, but I never decided on them. I was able to get my hands on 3DS Max, (I received it from a Student because I couldn't afford it) and the UI was not very smooth to me. Because 3DS Max was so weird I did not try the Maya that was given to me since it too was made by Autodesk (So I have no real opinion on it). I also was able to beta Test a software coming out soon called "Ray Supreme". I am not allowed to give any details about it until it releases, but I can say that it was not my cup of tea either. I also tried some cheap software programs that didn't work out either. Needless to say, I stuck with Blender.

Solution for Just About Everything

Animation Workplace

Another thing that makes Blender a perfect gamming solution is that you can run every feature you need in the same window or multiple windows with the same session. You can have UV Mapping, 3D Modeling, Node Editing, Animation Sequence Editing, Python Scripting and ..err… "Logic Bricking," all spread out over you display(s). I use two or sometimes three monitors for my work space. On one I'll have my view port, primarily through the game's camera. On another I will have my animation Sequence Editing coupled with the Logic Bricks and Python Scripts. On my Last screen I will usually have my UV Mapping with Gimp pulled up beside it or a Tutorial. When I work in Blender I usually am able to work very smoothly.

Documentation

Okay, I mentioned a tutorial like two sentences ago so let me tell you something. This I would figure is the most important topic when researching for an software, documentation. The community for Blender is extremely huge. There are several different forums all with almost infinitely amount of topics posted. There are several Blogs dedicated to it. The most exciting documentation to me is the endless video tutorials. Any problem I have ever run into, I have found someone with a solution.

Pricing

Now the final topic, and the one that hurts most staring developers, price. Blender has many high end features. It does not have some of the very complex abilities like some AAA engines, but it is growing, and quickly. A software with extensive documentation, amazing incorporated features, and an amazing community is defiantly worth a fair amount of money. However the value of Blender is much higher than the price asked of it, which is free.

It's Big Problems
Now I know it seems like I have been praising Blender beyond belief, but believe me I am not that big of a fan boy. There are some problems about this engine. The ability to optimally run a very high poly count is not as sufficient as others. Creating an online multiplayer game is not very likely (to my knowledge anyway). And the biggest downfall is the exporting abilities.

Licensing
To fully explain the exporting problems I need to get into the licensing. As I have said before, Blender is free. How is it possible for Blender to be free? Well Blender is an open source software that several people work on for free (some people are out sourced to I believe). And these people believe that there should be a robust solution such as this that is free to all people who need it. So the licensing it was put under is called GPL (General Public License). This license allows several things that people can do: create content for free, sell content created, and even sell the software, and so on. So how does this affect the export?

Exporting Problems

Scripting Workplace

Blender exports one of two ways. You can export as a ".exe" file which is typical, or you can export as a ".blend" file. First lets talk about the ".blend" file. If the game is exported as a ".blend" file then the player needs to have Blender installed so that it can be opened. But you don't want to do that do you? That would be extremely complicated for someone to have to do to play it and it would break down the size of your audience. Well okay then, I can just export as a ".exe" file that should be good right? Wrong! If you export as a ".exe" file then the game is compiled with the Blender Player incorporated. What's wrong with that? Well this goes back to the licensing. All of you material that you create in Blender, on its own, is your content, however, once the Blender Player is incorpor
ated into your file it is instantly placed under GPL because some of the content is Blender's. This means that anybody can take your game or your files, and use it for their personal use or even sell it for their profit.

Exporting Solutions

However there are a few ways that you can get around these problems. You can do a search for these and you can find them after some work. What these solutions are, are engines that you can import your ".blend" files into, with all your programming and physically created content and it will compile it with out the Blender Player. Some can even export to mobile devices.

Conclusion

That's about all I have to say on the matter. Summed up, I think Blender is a way for anyone interested in Game Development to get started. Look at it some more and see if it will work for you. And remember, there is no such thing as wasting your time. You need to learn it anyway and you need to go through problems, Blender just seems like the best bet to start out.

Pretty soon I' will post an article about some of the best games I liked that were made with Blender.

Thanks for reading, Bye!

Hyrule History is still a Mystery

2013-04-12T10:31:00.001-07:00

For the 25 anniversary of the Legend of Zelda, Nintendo released an extensive History of Hyrule and was published by Dark Horse Comics. Not to long after the initial release, the English speaking world was able to get our hands on what could be called, the greatest history book of all time!

The purpose of Hyrule Historia was to finally come out and tell every person who had worked rigorously to try and create a legit and fulfilling timeline of the Zelda games that they can now give up because salvation is here. I mean these people worked hard and had amazing and complex explanations, and then Nintendo decided to come out and screw over all of these hard working 40 year old virgins that have way to much time on there hands.

Now let it be known that I am not forty, so my nerdiness may be slightly excused. And this is not a new, opposing timeline theory, but this is simply a commentary on some of the problems with what Nintendo released.

If you didn't realize this before, or even if you have, you probably are thinking, "WTF Nintendo. What's wrong with you! Why can't you do anything right!?!" In response let me tell you this. Nintendo has never had a timeline planned. They randomly created stories around the general theme of Zelda. The only Chronology they have had were direct sequels and some loose connections with Ocarina of Time. You can look at early explanations of the Timeline that Nintendo released near the beginning while there were only four games out, and it does not suggest the idea Nintendo tells us now.

Inconsistencies in Sword Mythology

The Changing Sword

Master Sword (In Manga)
Goddess Sword
Master Sword
Pickori Blade
Four Sword
Master Sword again
Four Sword Again

How and why is it that the supposed legendary blade

Underwent so many different changes with powers and

Different background lore. One could think that these

were just different blades altogether. One could also

believe that these are all the same blade. Which is what

The Official Nintendo Zelda History suggests. However,

with this thought we run into a lot of problems.

In the Manga in "Hyrule Historia," the Goddess Hylia

Brings the blade forged by the gods, the Master Sword.

This Sword was made to be Evil's Bane. However, the blade

First needed to be reformed by mortals in order to be used.

(We'll get back to that point in a moment)

In Skyward sword, there is the Goddess Sword that

eventually turns into the Master Sword, but no explanation

as to how this transformation happened from Master Sword

to Goddess Sword before the Events in Skyward Sword but

still after the Manga.

In Minish cap, the Legendary Blade was called the

Pickori blade. No mention of the name master sword

In Four Sword, the blade is named Four Sword, with no

Mention of an item called the "Master Sword" again.

Then In Ocarina of Time, the blade is finally named the

"Master Sword." With two games and hundreds of years

in-between.

Then later on in the chronology the "Four Sword" comes

up as if nothing ever happened.

Solution Theories For the Screwed Up Sword

First we will start with the "evidence" that suggests how these blades cannot be different items.

The Pickori Blade cannot be said to be anything other than the Master Sword. At the Beginning of "Minish Cap" the legend of the origin of the Blade is told and fits a general profile of the Master Sword descending to the Surface.
The Four Sword can be called the Master Sword because Four Swords is the direct sequel (according to the Official Timeline) to Minish Cap. So Link would use the same blade to defeat Vaati again.

Now the problems. If these are all the same, why is it that they have different powers and properties from each other.

Bringing up the story in the Manga again, about how The Master Sword had to be reformed by mortals so it could be used. Perhaps somewhere in-between the vast amount of years that segregates the games, someone or something reformed the Blade into a new fashion making it a new type of blade. That would explain why at the beginning of Skyward Sword, the Master Sword was not fully at it's potential. Being called the Goddess Sword.
You could say that different Links unlock different properties in the Sword. Even comparing games that use the Master Sword you can see this. In Skyward Sword it could shoot Sword Beams and it could douse for items. In Ocarina of Time it was able to make an "Energy Slash" with the spin attack. In Wind Waker it was able to break the barrier separating Gannon's Tower from Hyrule Castle.

The problem with A is that at the end of the Child Timeline, the Four Sword comes back up again, and the problem with B is that there is no explanation for why the Master Sword was not at it full potential and being called the Goddess Sword at start.

Inconsistences with Landscapes and Cities

Great Deku Tree
Temple of Time/Temple of Goddess
Castle Town
Sacred Grove

These are all really important places in Legend of Zelda Mythos, but why are they always moving and even changing their purpose? As said before, Nintendo did not think through these problems, mainly because they were not important to them. They knew that these games were linked together in some fashion of chronology, but each game was more of a reimagining than it was a continuation of a story. This is why all of these memorable areas changed locations, and even purposes, from game to game. If Hyrule was to be static throughout the saga, then it would eventually become bland.

Now let's try to look at these as clearly as possible. I'll start with describing Ocarina of Time. I will use this as the centerboard since this is the most well know game. In Ocarina of Time, The Temple of Time is located near the market area of Castle Town. The deity of the Great Deku Tree is located in the forest which is, theoretically, miles away from the Castle. Lastly, the Sacred Grove is nowhere to be found, or even mentioned.

In Skyward Sword, the Castle Town is not yet founded because there is no kingdom (but I did not need to mention that did I).There is no deity of the Great Deku Tree. And the Temple of the Goddess is located in the sky but descends to the surface in the wooded areas of the Sealed Grounds.

In Twilight Princess there is no deity of the Great Deku Tree. The Temple of Time is located in the wooded providence, as only ruins. Link travels through time in order to enter into the Ancient Temple of Time so that he may retrieve the Master Sword. Hyrule Castle is located far away from the forest still.

In Wind Waker the deity of the Great Deku Tree Sprout lives. There is no Sacred Grove, or any resemblance. The Castle is located deep under the Great Sea, with the Master Sword held inside.

Solution for the Mix-up

In the manga of Hyrule Historia, which sets off the entire "Legend of Zelda" the Goddess Hylia brings the Master Sword to her people, it is used to fight off evil and as the source of power that sends the land of Skyloft into the air. In Skyloft the Sword rests in the Statue of the Goddess. After the island holding the Statute of the Goddess descends, the Sword is placed back into the Statue.

This states as a literal and symbolic sealing on the evil that was the Demon King Demise. With this important symbol, you could assume that the Master Sword was to always remain in this location when it is to remain idle. There is another idea that could be said about this, and I will touch on that in a moment.

Okay, so we are going to say that the Master Sword always remains in the same location. Starting with the Temple of the Goddess. That eventually faded away with time, and the Temple of Time was built in its place by the Sage Rauru.

On the Adult Timeline, after Ocarina of Time, since Hyrule Castle was destroyed during the final fight between Link and Gannon, the Castle needed to be rebuilt. With that being the fact, they should have built it over the Temple of Time. Fearing hat an Evil might arise again it would make since to built the mostly impenetrable Castle around the dwelling of the Legendary Blade. And this is were Link finds it in WindWaker, in the basement of the Castle. And that is the last time the Master Sword appears on that side of he timeline.

Now on the Child Timeline side, the Master Sword, during Twilight Princess, is found in The Sacred Grove. As you find out in the Story, that Sacred Grove turns out to be the remains of the Temple of Time. The Sacred Grove here lays in the Forest. You might assume that this is just where the Temple once stood, However there is no Castle. And there is evidence that these woods are the same as the Lost Woods. There is a Very Large Tree, which inside contains the Forest Temple. This could be the remnant of the Great Deku Tree Sprout. If that is so, then how is the Master Sword so close to the Forest. It could not be, simply put.

I am going to try to keep this clear, but to settle this particular subject about the Sword, I now need to cover the problems with The Great Deku Tree. As we know, the Great Deku Tree exists in the Forest. The "Huge'' Tree in Twilight Princess exists in the Forest but does not exist as a Deity, or any strong evidence that it is the Deku Tree Sprout. Also, in Skyward Sword there is a great Tree that exists on the Forest. It is said that people would come to the tree to receive blessings. With that lore that exists, during or before the time of Skyward Sword, it is shown that this tree was divine. So this might be the Deku Tree before it evolved into a deity. It is also in close relation to where the Sword rested. However He does not exists close to the Castle in Ocarina of Time. The only explanation that fits our restrictions would be that these are not related to the Deku Tree in any way other than coincidental, visual similarity. The Great Deku Tree must have just been created at a later point in time to protect the region just like the governing spirits in Twilight Princess.

Now we have it explained that the Great Deku exists in only two games, Ocarina of Time and WindWaker. The forests in the different games, are different forests altogether, which have grown up and been torn down several times. And so there is nothing that hurts our idea that the Master Sword always remains in the same place when idle. Also it should be said that the Sacred Grove is just where any Temple that the Sword was housed in that has fallen around.

I hope that was clear enough to follow.

What else is brewing

We've covered the main problems and probably the most interesting subjects, but let us go over a few more inconsistencies just for fun.

What's with the Triforce? The Deities? The Spirits? The Goddesses? And that other Triangle?

Okay, the Golden Goddesses created the world, each one played a different role in creation. Upon there, assumed, permanent withdrawal, the Triune Triangles were left behind. Now I am sure that during their creation process they created the different governing Deities, but why were their so many different Spirits and Divine Beings through out the games. Almost all of these beings clam to be appointed by the gods long ago. So…. Why were they not around at the beginning of History.

Were they created later on in the Legend? But wait, I thought the Goddesses withdrew from the world and let it rock to its own beat. So did all of these powerful guys and gals just have these ridiculous complexes? Here's one idea: perhaps these beings evolved from a former state into these elevated states, acquiring the enlightenment of their divinely appointed purpose. Perhaps this could be it: the Deities in this universe do not exists as we might believe a god would. These lesser gods may be mortal. And after their death they are reborn into a new existence. However those things cannot be explained, nor are they very pertinent.

Now what is that fourth triangle everyone is stalking about. There is a pretty popular theory out there about the "Teraforce" alright, if you didn't know the Triforce was named that for a reason, then you are pretty retarded. 'Tri" means three, so "Tetra" means four. You can see on the Hylian shield, that there is another triangle placed under the Royal Crest of the big red bird. (which by the way, is linked to the big red Lifting Link flew in Skyward Sword) This triangle is pointing downward, as if it could fit into the empty area between the Triangles of the Triforce.

The Tetraforce Theory

Before Skyward Sword was released, this theory did not seem very valid because everything could be explained away. Let me mention that first. Like I said, people believed that this separate triangle

represented another God. Trying to explain this thought they looked for other gods they could relate it to.

The Goddess of the Sand:

We all know about the mysterious Statue of the Temple in the Desert of the Gerudos. They claimed that this was the hidden goddess. However, why would the Gerudo tribe know of it's existence and not the Great Deku Tree himself. It could be explained away as just some idol that they invented or more likely it is the Goddess of Power Din. This makes a lot of sense seeing as how Gannondorf was accepted as the chosen one of Power.

The Goddess of Time:

During Majora's mask, once Link retrieves his ocarina from Skull Kid, he remembers Zelda telling him as he leaves Hyrule "Call on the Goddess of Time when you are in need and she will guide you" or something of the sort. However, this easily could be understood as the Goddess of Law, Nayrau, who created the laws of reality.

The Fierce Deity:

This is not a theory I have read but it is one I have entertained. The Fierce Deity is a character one taps into in Majora's Mask. Now this is not very plausible but it could be reasoned that the missing counter part of the Triforce should be a male. However, how could an almighty god be contained inside a humble mask.

The goddess Hylia:

Now with the release of Skyward Sword this theory has a chance to survive. The goddess Hylia is someone that we never knew until this game. Although we never hear anything about this Goddess, it would make since that at least a small Triangle would remain through the ages. Now this small golden triangle is not a physical object, but a representation about the importance or even power of the Goddess of the chosen People. Also, at the beginning of Manish Cap, the opening scene talks about the Sword brought from the sky, and the Light Force, which is shown to be one Triangle.

Conclusion

I could go on and on about these Zelda topics, but I want to stop here. As I have said, I hope this was clear, and semi-easy to follow. So now that you know Nintendo is just making it up as they go along, and that they now have a fully canonical document that cannot be superseded, does not mean that the theories that we create are unimportant. In fact, it is quite on the contrary. Our theories are more important than ever. Because we, the avid fans of this series, are no longer responsible to create the bias of the narrative flow anymore, now we are responsible for fixing Nintendo's short comings with their continuity. The game was made for us, and we'll play it how ever we want.

2013-04-04T21:26:00.002-07:00

Crazy Tower Defense 3D

Hello all indie and mobile gamers! Boy do I have a nice one for you. Well if you enjoy puzzle or Tower games it is a nice one for you. However, I will say this: I am not a "Tower" fan, and when I was asked to review this game I was a little iffy on how I would like it, but this game really did ignite a flame inside that has the urge to consume this newly enjoyed game genre. By consume, I don't mean like destroy, I mean play a whole bunch of. Don't mistake what I said as something negative…cause it's not!

Crazy Defense was created by a small company named Etorki Games. It consists of three members in the Basque Country located north of Spain. As one of the members, Pablo, tells me, Crazy Defense is Etorki Games' first game, and was made as a type of "test." This is not a game one would assume is an "armature practice." This feels like a quality game made by professionals, and that is what it precisely is.

Let me get into the review of the game itself.

This game is definitely an old man's acid trip. The story actually starts off that way as well. I wont go into detail with the story, if you want that then you can watch the video review on our channel (I'll have an embedded player at the bottom here).

The Towers:

The Towers of this game really feel like you are in the mind of the drugged out Looney Bin patient. There are three basic towers to choose from, which each have a few upgradeable options. There is the simple box used to retard enemy movement and with some money that can transformed into the towers that you will actually use as you defense: the Venus Fly Trap, the Looney Patient, and the Shooter. The Fly trap will chop on enemies near it, or if upgraded can shoot land enemies with in a certain radius. The crazy man can crash down on the ground, whack at enemies, or fling them back away from their objective. And the Shooter can fire away at those really desperate enemies that decided to use jet packs to fly over the tripped out battle field.

Survival Mode:

You objective in this game is to keep your enemies, which are nurses and doctors, from entering into the room you are hiding out in. You are given twenty lives which drop down every time an enemy slips passed your defenses. You are also given a small amount of money at the beginning of the game so that you my buy a few towers and upgrade them. After your towers kill an enemy, you earn a few more bucks so you may buy more. And after every wave the enemies become more abundant and more difficult. This game mode lasts for over a hundred waves and trying to think of new ways to beat this game mode gives plenty of replay value.

Strategy Mode:

With strategy mode, you are given a few towers that you must arrange within a short time limit. You need to arrange these based on the types of enemies that you will face and what direction they are coming from. You do not get any more towers than what you are given, so you better make sure you made it were those nurses suffer a hideous death at the hand of your hallucinations.

Box Challenge:
This one is very tricky. You do not kill the nurses on this mode. On this mode you have to arrange the towers, which are just simple, non-upgradeable boxes, in a fashion that will change the enemies movement to make them take long enough so that they will not reach the corridor within the time limit. I guess the reason you do not kill them in this mode is because your not high enough to create the different crazy towers. So you just keep them away for long enough so that you can get doped up for another round.

Pac-Dan:

Have you ever played Plants verses Zombies, well I have and I loved it. Now a mode that I enjoyed greatly was when the roles were reversed and you played as the zombies. However there was never enough levels for that mode. Well Pac-Dan mode is where the roles are reversed just like what I was talking about with Plants verses Zombies . However, in this mode there are plenty of levels to enjoy, and they are a nicely complex and simple, and difficult enough to keep you busy for a while.

And what I mean by reversed is you are actually playing as the old man and you try to go around collecting your pills while running from the staff.

Now here is my overall rating for the game:

The control scheme was pretty straight forward, a little frustrating at times trying to move towers.

(4 out of 5)

The art style was nice and detailed for an Android game, but also very cute.

(5)

There was a fair amount of content to this. A fair amount of levels. It will defiantly keep you entertained longer than angry birds.

(4)

Game Play, Majority of the puzzles were great, but for some of them, the difficulty level didn’t seem to match the level on which you unlocked it.

(3)

And the price of this is free, which makes any game better when you don’t have to pay for it. But just for kicks, I would say I would pay 2 to 5 bucks for it, seeing as how it is an android game.

(5)

Overall = 4.3/5

So download this game for sure and give it a go! If you liked this review then subscribe to this blog and out YouTube channel. There is a link below here for the video Review of this game. Thank you for reading and goodbye.

Survival Ball and Rockbyte Softwares - Indie Game Reviews

2013-02-08T20:19:00.002-08:00

Hello All Indie Gamers. Well, more Like “Poor, Hipster, Cheap A** People that play these games in order to be a part of that underground community of Douche bags so they can play games 'That No one has ever heard of before.’” Yeah I can’t stand you!

But maybe some of you actually appreciate the underdog. They make you feel proud to be low on the corporate food chain of Game Development. Many of you that play Indie games probably appreciate them so much because you are in the same exact boat. Well, today I am going to talk about an Underdog and his work. This is about RockByteSoftware.

RockByteSoftware has three titles under its belt right now. AlarmZen, the first one, WikiQuiz, and Survival Ball, which we did a video review on. As told in the video review “RockByteSoftware is a hearty little team of One.” At the beginning of January of 2012 RockByte launched with its first finished project called “Alarm Zen.”


- "How long did it take you to make that app?" - "A couple of days?"

Oh yeah, the founder’s name is also Pedro. Now when I was talking with him I was going to ask him the question “How long did it take you to make that App?” and hope for the reply, “A couple of days.” You see what I did there? I made a Napoleon Dynamite reference…oh come on its funny. But I decided not to because I figured that it probably took longer…and that I would have been a little racist

Alarm Zen is a very nice android alarm application that’s designed to…well…wake you up. But there is more to it than that I swear! Okay let me explain it like this. When we sleep our mind goes through different stages.

- Those beach whores aren't going
to seem so pretty are they?

After about one and a half hours, we fall into a deep sleep, and shortly after that we achieve a stage of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and then it fluctuates back and forth for a while. During our REM sleep stages is when we dream and thus forth closer to consciousness, so in this time frame waking up will be more pleasant. I know you may think the opposite of this because you are having the best, most amazing, dream ever with motorcycles and volleyball girls and steak! But say you just did a closing shift at work and you now have to do the opening shift right after, those beach whores aren’t going to seem so pretty are they.

You can choose a time based off of a sleep stage chart.

With this app you can just simply type in the time you want to wake up or you can actually look at a chart of sleep patterns and find an optimal time to wake up. What even adds to this madness is that this app can detect the energy levels of you music in your library and use it to slowly put you to sleep and to smoothly wake you up.

So that pretty much covers the basis of that. Now to talk about Pedro’s first android game which is… dun…dun..dun… WikiQuiz. Now I’m sure you can guess what it’s about. So let us talk about its variety and functionality. On the Google Play description, Pedro claims that ten questions are added every day. I’m not really going to doubt it. I haven’t run across a redone question but once.

The questions are all very interesting. Someone made a comment on the Google Play Store taking about the answer choices, “The answer choices don’t make sense, only one of the answers even seems logical.” It was at least something along those lines. What I would say in response to that is “Well, if you know the answer to the question, then it makes sense that only one of them would make sense.” But I am way too Internet shy to go off and start a fight on the Google Play Store, so I kept the thought to myself.

Now when playing this I started to ponder my interests and saw how I should be learning more sophisticated and relevant things. If I can answer these questions:

Who wrote the episode Hide and Q in Star Trek the Next Gen?

What Native American chief learned to smoke cigars, and use eating utensils while living in Denver with White people?

But don’t know something important like “Who, in 1903 was the general superintendent of education for the Philippine islands and was instrumental in the total reorganization of the educational system.” Then I’m pretty messed up. (Answer is David Prescott Barrows)

After you answer a question, right or wrong, two new buttons show up at the bottom. One is to continue to the next question, and the other is a link to the Wikipedia page about the person or event or whatever proper noun you are being quizzed about.

So this man David Prescott Whatshisname intrigued me. So I poke at my unresponsive touch screen that my cheap phone has, and after a few tries I am now able to take a gander at who this man is.

I found out this man was an archeologist, an explorer, and an educator. Every summer he would spend studying culture with the “American Indians.” I know a lot of people say that Wiki has a ton of their stuff wrong, but I disagree. I’ve learned everything that I know from almost only Wikipeda. There are no such things as those so called “Native Americans.” White people were here first and then those people from India came over here to take our land. But we sure did show them who the boss is around here.

I know I’ve never qualified for a college scholarship, or made very high scores on my ACTs, but I know that I’m well educated. Everyone at my 8.00/hr job at the Yogurt Place and my girlfriend lets me know that I am. Although my intelligence may be up for debate, we are going to move on.

His next project was Survival Ball. Now if you watched the video then you then the gist of what’s there, but I’ll have a little more here.

In Survival Ball you’re a sad little ball living on a very sad and apocalyptic platform governed by an invisible God that loves to make your life as short and miserable as possible.

You try to stay alive on the platform that you are set upon while enemies, or maybe their considered obstacles, or maybe…Dang It…their trying to kill you. Either by pushing you of the side, blowing you of the side, bouncing you off the side, or knocking the floor off.

The game is continuous. The “levels” increase as the timer rolls on and as you survive the waves of enemies. The platform never heals and it only gets more aggravating. If you don’t like aggravating then you can make it kind of frightening. If you get the “Theophany Majora’s Mask Music Remake” and play it in the background with some headphones on, you actually can feel the eeriness of the malevolent forces that govern your life.

Like in the video review, this game is for android and for the PC. Now on the PC there is a local Two-Player-Mode if you have two controllers or just a controller and a keyboard.

Now in case I haven’t instilled into your head that there is a video review and that you should watch it, go now! There a girl that actually plays video games reviewing it. So go!

But before you do! (If I haven’t already lost you) I want to add something to the end of this; a conclusion if you will. Making games is hard. But the process is very intriguing. Things may start out one way and turn into something else even better. A team may have never even though to make a certain project but they did. A person may have never even dreamed of getting into a certain hobby, but they flourish in it now.

Now I want to interpret something I attained from Pedro’s Spanish Bible:

Yo no hablo españoles

“I started to grow curious, to dig deeper in an area of expertise that I was very fond of: gaming.”

“I started the RockByte Software with the AlarmZen app, one year ago, in order to have a "brand" that could house some posterior titles/apps. I made it that way because you never know who might join you for the journey, but for now, the team is just me.”

“Survival Ball was never meant to be in the first place, it was result of many fortunate experiences…. After doing a (YouTube) tutorial on physics, I placed a ball on top of a surface, and wondered what I could do to make it move with a gamepad.”

Sometimes we can’t just jump into our biggest dream, we need to slowly build up to it. Having a portfolio will help attract someone to work with you on something, maybe even your big something. And the last thing, if an idea comes from nowhere and it seems like it will work, try to at least pursue that as well. So that’s all I have. All those apps are worth a play/test. Remember to stay Indie!

Okay, Bye.

Whoring around Again

2013-02-07T14:51:00.003-08:00

Ah Ha, the title got you didn't it. You dirty little mind you.

After a while of inactivity, we are going to not do that thing any more....the inactivity thing......not the active things that were stopped doing for a while. We're gonna do stuff again! We had a some one ask us on YouTube to review one of their games. It's called "Survival Ball." We are recording that today and hopefully have it up by Saturday. I'll also be writing a more detailed review of the game here and it will consist of a full review of RockByteSoftware's (that's the guy I was talking about in case you didn't get that) other titles.

Also two days ago I uploaded our newest cartoon episode to our channel. It's called "The Iron Jew." A kid named Matt shows up, preaching "the gospel" (emphasis on quotations) on the block and Joshua just can't stand another religion on his street. So it's a whole bunch of religious intolerance, but there is a good message behind it. Just like all of our well thought out few minute cartoons. :)

And another thing, the last thing, today we will be recording the second set of voices for "Tom the Talking Turkey and Jerald the Retarded Sea Turtle." But don't worry, we'll have a shorter title as well, so no one has to say or read that monstrosity. "Tom and Jerald" will be the shorter title. YES I realize that it sounds almost exactly like "Tom and Jerry" and NO we didn't think about that at the time. But it's too late!!! WE already recorded voices that say both the names "Tom" and "Jerald." Come to think of it, maybe I'll spell it with a "G." It's not like anyone is going to be talking about it to there friends or anything, no one gives a crap about it!

But enough rambling and self pitying, that's that. And another final thing after the already final thing, I'll upload some video of some of the recordings today along with the first set of recordings. Should be pretty funny. It usually is. Well to us it is...cause we aren't actually funny.

Okay, bye.

Watch and share!

RedNeck Shopping Finnished

2012-08-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

We'll I just uploaded our newest side Cartoon. RSN is about the Character seen in the BoB Fat Asains episode. The is the disgusting girl that works at McDonalds, that Cody falls for.

And this is what she imagines at work.

Small for a Jewish Offspring

2012-08-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Remember the movie Thor, well Joshua is Lokie.