05th Jun2012

E3 2012 Coverage: Nintendo Wii U GamePad

by Jeremy

Nintendo Wii U GamePad

[Update 11-22-12:

The Wii U is out just in time for the holidays. It will come in two versions: Nintendo Wii U Console 8GB Basic Set - White for $299.99, and a Nintendo Wii U Console - 32GB Black Deluxe Set version, that comes with the Nintendo Land game for $349.99. They've also announced 50 games that will be ready during the "launch window". I've linked to some of those games below, and added a couple more (not previously mentioned) here: New Super Mario Bros. U, Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth, Assassin's Creed III, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed Bonus Edition, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Scribblenauts Unlimited]

 

On the first day of the 2012 E3 convention, Nintendo pushed gaming entertainment to the next level by announcing their new wireless motion-sensor tablet controller: the Wii U GamePad. No pricing details or launch date have been announced yet (but you can bet that they are shooting for availability by the holidays), they did say that it can be used with all the current Wii controllers, and that more than 20 games are already in development.

At the press conference, Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime said when using the new GamePad controller “you are playing the same game, but you are playing it differently” than the other players. Nintendo put together a great “trailer” video that really shows off the features of the new Wii U controller, here it is (courtesy of IGN):

Some other games they’ve mentioned are Nintendo Land, Rayman Legends, ZombiU, Wii Fit U, Pikmin 3 and Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition. Nintendo’s YouTube channel has videos for all these games, and more, being played with the new controller here. The new Wii U GamePad will also be able to stream HD quality videos via Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video and YouTube.

It appears as though Nintendo has made the next step without making their customer purchase a whole new gaming console. Wii users, are you excited for this? Non Wii users, does this make you want to purchase a Wii?

Category : Gaming
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05th Jun2012

E3 2012!

by Jeremy

Logo for 2012 E3

If you want to know what the future holds for gaming, gaming consoles, and any other peripherals related to the gaming industry, E3 is where you will hear about the newest and most anticipated developments from the video game industry. E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It happens every summer, this year it’s from June 4-7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

From Wikipedia:

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, is an annual trade fair for the computer and video game industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It is used by many video game developers to show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware.

E3 is widely considered to be the ultimate expo in the video game industry and major video game critics routinely document the event and sometimes even provide a series of E3 awards. Video game companies generally spend more on their presentations for E3 than any other convention. Major video game critics often have a “best of E3″ award session (similar to end-of-the-year sessions), and only E3 consistently features such awards.

All the big boys are there, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony; and they are putting out press releases and holding news conferences at a ridiculous rate during this thing. All this week I will be sifting through all the news and updates to bring you, what I believe to be, the most important and ground breaking info.

Category : Gaming
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23rd Feb2012

Mario Bros. Ruined My Family Night

by Doug

 

Picture the scene: My wife, five-year-old son, and I are ready to play some Wii for the next couple hours to enjoy “family time”  instead of sitting solo with the tv, computer, or phone separately playing or surfing our own content. We start with some dancing games, laughing, having a blast and decide to finish the night with some classic yet modern side-scrolling action. We failed to see that playing Super Mario Bros. for the Wii would make us hate each other by bedtime. Here are the three ways Nintendo intentionally creates division in my family:

1. All Male Characters
My wife always has a fit that the yellow toadstool is the most feminine of them all. Why no Peach? Why no Daisy? This just guarantees we start on the wrong foot with a touchy female player.

2. Collision Detection
“A four player Mario game where we all play at once?! NEATO!” Yeah you think that’s great until you are all jumping off of each other’s heads causing the person on bottom to fall short to their death, pushing each other off of ledges or into lava pits (because SOMEONE can’t lay off the turbo button).

3. Question Mark Boxes
The box is designed to give out a bonus to all-but-one player. Meaning, if you have three players and you are all small, they will give you two mushrooms. If you are all big, they give two flowers and one mushroom. Causing one player to always say “AHHHh! You always get the flowers!” Let’s be real we don’t each get one, they come out in one big pinata explosion. The person who grabs the best power-up usually grabs a couple extra power-ups they don’t even need, because if you don’t grab fast they fly off the edge and no one gets them.

It is most likely the meanest developer trick of all time. Or it could mean that my family has issues and should not play games like this unless the other players are on Ventrilo (real-time voice chat software for group communications used during multiplayer games) or we are unable to speak to them. That way we can hate them and not be bad parents for it.

Category : Gaming, Parenting, Platform
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21st Feb2012

Raising A Geek Child – Part 1

by Jeremy

 

Lego Friends

Normally when you think of a geeky child, you think of a boy. That’s valid. Growing up, most of my geeky friends were boys, we read comic books, watched sci-fi television and movies, and read lots of books. We had seen all of the Star Wars movies multiple times, we read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. We played with Lego’s as long as was acceptable and we could quote Monty Python until everyone else left the room disgusted. Most of all, we couldn’t understand why Princess Peach and Princess Zelda kept getting into their horrible situations.

My oldest child recently celebrated her fifth birthday, and upon going over her presents, I realized she was destined to travel down the same path I had. Last year she received a couple of Lego sets, the general ones with all different color blocks, some wheels, doors and windows. Just enough random parts to make about anything you wanted to make. Thanks to Lego releasing their new Lego Friends line she received even more. At first I thought it was no big deal. She liked Lego’s: its something we enjoy doing together, and now they come in pink and purple so they match her Disney Princess and Barbie toys. Her mother and I also got her a Nintendo DS, something she had been asking for since her cousin got one earlier in the year. Ok, Lego’s, Nintendo, it’s all just a coincidence right?

The day after her birthday, I had to stop at my LCS (local comic book shop) and pick up that week’s titles. My daughter came into the store with me, I pointed out the Smurf and Alvin and the Chipmunks comic books. I asked if she wanted to get one for her birthday. She pointed at The All-New Batman: The Brave and The Bold and asked if that was the Red Tornado on the cover. After I caught my breath, I informed her that it looked like him, but it was in fact Mister Miracle. She told me she hadn’t seen that episode (on Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave and The Bold), and wanted to buy it. I again pointed her in the direction of the other kids comic books I thought she would be interested in. She declined, and picked up the Batman comic.

On the inside I was smiling, but also thinking: just because I love most things Batman, I hope she doesn’t think that she has to as well.

-Stay Tuned Tomorrow for Part 2

 

Category : Comics, Parenting
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