Smash Bros Release Info And New Characters Revealed

Its been quite for a few months now on the Super Smash Bros front, but thankfully the big N held a Nintendo Direct yesterday for both the Wii U and 3DS version of the much anticipated game.

 Needless to say, the Wii U version is breathtakingly beautiful to look at. Everything is fluid and moving at a wonderful 60 fps. For what many call an under powered console this game looks stunning. 

During the Direct two new characters were revealed, Charizard and.....Greninja! Which is cool, because a buddy of mine and I were just talking about how cool and badass Greninja was, and the next day its announced as a combatant in the new Smash Bros. ! Thanks Nintendo! The trailer below is from the Direct, and showcases both characters and some of their moves.

During the presentation Nintendo finally gave out some info on when to expect these games. The 3DS version will be released sometime this summer, and as for the Wii U we can expect its iteration this holiday season. Another notable piece of news is that character transformations have been removed. So fighters like Zero Suit Samus and Shiek will have their own character slots, but dont worry the characters are being fleshed out and new moves are being added.

First Impressions: Warface Beta

 Just spent some time with the Warface beta for Xbox 360 and surprisingly had a good time with it. I'm not saying that its going to replace Call of Duty, but for a game in active development it wasn't too bad. The game has a very simple look and feel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You can tell its borrowing from some of the more popular franchises out there, most notably Ghost Recon and the above mentioned COD.

The games setting is standard fare for the genre,  with abandoned foreign villages and middle eastern deserts. The game's. Sound is also rather generic and is what you'd expect from a 360 arcade game.

Now i know it sounds like I'm being extremely hard on this game, but really I'm not. The game is a free-to-play fps, you downloadable from Xbox Live. I was never expecting Battlefield 4. Games of this type have two objectives; to get you to put tons of hours into them, and to get you to spend money through in game purchases. And this is where this game may succeed.

Gameplay from Call of...I mean Battle...I mean Warface.

Its paint by numbers approach may be its greatest strength, because even though it doesn't do anything new, it does most everything well. The game controls ok, and is easy to pick up and play.

When you shoot the opposition they normally take damage, which is always good in a fps. Seriously though, it controls well enough and takes obvious cues from some of the more popular franchises. One major gripe is that all of the enemies look and react the same. After playing through a few levels of co-op this stood out like a sore thumb. The jury is still out on the multi-player, and I'll update this as soon as the full game is released. So far though the game seems to be decent, but not much more than a time waster. Its fun to play, but to get the most out of it, it appears you'll have to be willing to put up some cash for weapon upgrades and such.

One of My Faves #1: Tales of Vesperia

 Where do I begin? I love the Tales franchise, and Tales of Vesperia is my personal favorite. Over the years the the series evolved with the times, but somehow stayed true to itself and its fans. Unlike Final Fantasy, who seems to have lost and/or forgotten its identity, Tales has stood the test of time. With its unique blend of action and classic rpg elements, the gameplay remains fresh and exciting throughout the course of the game. This battle system makes leveling up in game much more enjoyable than your typical turn based rpg, and has contributed to the replay value of the game.

Raven, Repede, Rita, Yuri, Estelle, and Judith

What makes a great game is balance, and ToV has just that. I play this game for the story just as much as I do for the combat. Without spoiling anything, ToV is in  my opinion the darkest in tone of the series. The characters are put in situations where the solutions to the problems are not always clear. Its never as simple as good versus evil, and their decisions never so easy as black or white. This isn't your standard good versus evil story line here, and as a result the main character Yuri is forced to make some tough not so typical jrpg hero decisions. The subjects of revenge and murder ( there is even a tiny bit of genocide) are common throughout the game, and it makes you look at these characters actions and their motivations somewhat differently than you normally would.

 Vesperia is the first HD entry in the series, and the series has never looked better.The game's art style is beautiful from the over world map to battles stages. The use of colors and detail bring the villages and dungeons to life. The game has great characters as well, all of them unique and with their own motivations within the story of the game, but whats a game or story without awesome villains too? Good thing ToV has some amazing boss battles( especially the final boss). Some of the baddies are pure evil, others are more tragic, and some are just doing what they feel is the right thing. Which isn't too different from what Yuri does throughout the game. If you haven't played this game, you owe it to yourself to try it. In an age where classic rpgs seem to be a thing of the past, its good to know that there are developers still making these types of games.

In the city.

This isn't meant to be a review, as much as its intended to bring to your attention an overlooked game of the past generation. Its one of my favorite games of all time, and is a good fit for any jrpg fan out there.

Wii U Getting GBA Virtual Console

So Nintendo is finally getting the ball rolling on the Gameboy Advance virtual console on Wii U. And its about damn time. There are so many amazing games in the gba library, it surprises me that they didn't do this earlier Especially given the lack of releases the Wii U has been experiencing. Personally, Ive been dying for them to release a vc version of Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green for either the 3DS or the Wii U. Heck, slap on some online capabilities while you're at it too. To be honest, there are plenty of other games that you probably use that sort of treatment as well, but in the meantime I'll take what I can get.

Here is the list of games that are scheduled for release in the month of April

04-03-2014 
Advance Wars $7.99
Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga $7.99
Metroid Fusion $7.99

04-10-2014
Kirby and The Amazing Mirror $6.99
Wario Ware Inc. $6.99

04-17-2014
F-Zero Maximum Velocity $6,99
Golden Sun $6.99

04-24-2014
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island $7.99

This is a good way for the Wii U owners to satisfy their appetites until some more big console releases come out later this summer. And let us not forget that E3 is right around the corner. These gems could give Nintendo the momentum they need to roll into the expo at full steam. They definitely will need it, especially with what will most likely be stiff competition from Microsoft and Sony.

I'm super excited by the fact that Metroid Fusion and Golden Sun are being released so quickly. Nintendo is most certainly coming out swinging for the fences, And I can not wait to see what releases they have up their sleeves for May.

Pictures From Naka!!!

Naka-Kon has come and gone, but it was still a blast and I cant wait for next years convention. Hopefully I'm a little less sick next time around....Anyway here are some pics that were taken when I was up and actually feeling well. Its not as much as I had hoped to get, but there are still some good pictures in there. Enjoy!

Spent a ton of time in playing Magic: The Gathering

One of the many celebrity panels

Super Smash Bros.!!!!!

             

Triple awesome

Bane was photo bombed

Robots in disguise!

Strike a pose!

I sure could use a cola....

Unfortunately these pictures do not do the fun and excitement of Naka-Kon justice. There were so many different characters and genres being represented by fans it was astounding. Some took minimal effort and others took hundreds of dollars, nonetheless its the passion for these characters and the people that portray them that make events such as this worth attending. Hopefully, some of you that have never attended a convention will be there next year. I'm certain you'd enjoy it.

Naka-Kon Is Upon Us!!!!!!

It’s time!!! Well almost time. Kansas City’s annual anime convention, Naka-Kon, is going to be here a week from today! There is going to be plenty to do and see during the three day weekend the convention is in town. I’m talking about games, music, parties, anime celebrity guests, and everything in between.  Representatives of the anime and manga industry will also be in attendance, as well as voice actors/actresses from some of your favorite anime, both there for q & a and individual panels. For more information on who will be there this year visit https://naka-kon.com/guests‎.

 
Unfortunately pre-registration has been over for quite some time, but you can still; buy passes for this year’s kon, you will have an awesome time at Naka. Its Kansas City’s largest anime convention for a pass at the door. Even if you’re only there for one out of the three days, if you have a love for anime and manga, or Japanese culture as a whole, you will have an awesome time at Naka. Its Kansas City’s largest anime convention for a reason.

If you are interested in getting in on the fun and need more info check out https://naka-kon.com   Gaming+ will be there all weekend and will be posting pictures and well also have some other good stuff for you guys to check out. Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

Nintendo Franchises That Need Reviving!

Metroid Prime

Come on Retro!!!!! Hopefully the Texas based developer has some good news in store for us at this year’s E3. Fans have been begging for a new entry in the Prime franchise since the announcement the Wii U would be HD. The Metroid Prime trilogy was already a breathtakingly beautiful series despite its hardware limitations, but that didn’t stop Retro from creating one the most rich and atmospheric games of the last generation. The Wii U game pad and the Prime franchise seem to belong together like cookies and milk. Just imagine scanning a room with the gamepad acting as Samus’ HUD? This would have been the type of game Nintendo should have had ready during the launch window to truly show the functionality of the game pad. Sorry Tanks! Tanks! Tanks!

Super Mario World

What no Galaxy? Sorry guys, but it’s time for something new for Mario and gang, and I think the perfect setting for that would be Mario World. I can still remember playing SMW for the first time on my Super Nintendo so many years ago. It was awesome. The game had an endless number of enemies to throw at the players and the every world was different. It is Mario platforming at its best. I would love for them to create a open world 3d Mario game with the same characters and overall world feel as that game. Complete with choco mountains, cape feathers, and Koopalings. Oh, and bring back Yoshi!!!!!!

Golden Sun

The 3DS has the rpg scene on lock for The big N it seems, however the Wii U definitely needs to pick up the pace in this genre. Actually, lets take a second to name a Wii U rpg……..Need more time? Okay. Done? The Wii U has zero games of this type in its U.S. library. I know there are some on the horizon like X and maybe even a Dragon Quest game somewhere down the line, but for the console to be approaching its second year and NOTHING? Its sad.

And it’s not as if they have no games of their own they could be putting into development. Take Golden Sun for example. The much loved series hasn't got any love since its last outing back on the original DS, and has never got a chance to shine as a full console game. Why not though. The Golden Sun games have a strong following, on top of that the series is packed with cool characters and back story. I still consider the original on Gameboy Advance as one of the best rpgs I have ever had the privilege of playing on ANY system. The game pushed the system well passed what anyone thought was possible on a handheld at the time, the musicals score was awesome , and it had a cool and unique battle system compared to other games of the same genre around that time.

Metroid

You’re probably asking yourself why is Metroid on this list twice. I shall tell you. The Metroid Prime games are amazing and deserve their place up there with some of the best Metroid games made, however no game in this storied franchise has lived up to the brilliance of Super Metroid. Huge diverse world to explore? Check. Creepy atmospheric music? Check. Bad ass boss battles, with each one being different than the last? Check.

Samus frackin’ Aran? Double Check. What more needs to be said? We’re talking about the mother that spawned Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The Wii U should have this style of Metroid just because of how awesome the game would be. Nintendo give us what we crave!!! I for one think this would be a great seller and addition to the Wii Us thirsty library of games.

F-Zero

                Now this one is a little difficult. Nintendo already has Mario Kart for its go to racing series, so making a new F-Zero game just isn't on their radar. Think

About it for a second, how much would this game sell in the shadow of Mario Kart? Probably not much, and this is most likely why they haven’t pursued it. I , however, have an easy solution to the problem! Make the new F-Zero game a downloadable title. The game doesn't need to be a full fledged console release , and I can’t see it selling for $50 bucks a pop anyhow. It would be a cool game to download for $20-$30, and would be great for fans of the series and newcomers alike. It would be a quick and easy trip down memory lane, and wouldn't cost much to develop. Heck, maybe they could just throw in a F-Zero mode into a future Mario Kart game, or develop it as dlc for the upcoming one. How cool would that be?

These are just a few of the games rattling in my head that I would love to see revived on the Wii U, but believe me there are plenty more where that came from. Some choices are a lot more obvious than others and then you have those more obscure games that people still love to play. What are some of Nintendo’s franchises would you like to see make a comeback this generation?