Token Female Gamer

Nintendo has dropped the price on the fancy 3DS (as of August 12, 2011). Clearly they haven’t sold enough units and are hoping to stimulate the sale of games and 3DSs by making it cheaper.

Totally sold me. I am now the proud owner of a brand new teal 3DS!! I can play Ocarina of Time!!!

As a side note to the awesome power of cheaper 3DSs, the executives of Nintendo are taking a pay cut to accompany this price drop. The press release states that they feel responsible for the poor showing of the 3DS.

I have to say that I find this incredible fabulous, not that they are losing money, but the taking responsibility. It’s something we are sorely lacking in the USA. Then again our culture never involved Seppuku for failure. Can’t help but think that a little more Seppuku would do us good.

Way back in the day, when Portal was first released, you know the dark ages of 2007, purchasing a game that I already owned didn’t seem worth it. Portal was bundled in the Orange Box, a Valve game extravaganza including such games as Half-life 2 (owned it), two expansion packs, and Team Fortress 2.

But the Portal section of the box made such huge waves, it peaked my curiosity so I ran a ‘portal game’ search. The result was a poor, browser based imitation that frustrated me within the first ten minutes. This just reinforced my resolve not to purchase The Orange Box and I carried on, blissfully ignorant.

Enter Portal 2 with its cooperative multiplayer. That’s a tag line that is sure to get me to sit up and pay attention. So I begged my buddy to play it with me and after hours of badgering he caved, but set this one requirement – I had to play the original Portal first.

Best blackmail ever!

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I was fortunate enough to see the new Thor movie last Saturday. That’s right, five days early!! Husband job perk. =D
(Guess that technically makes this a preview, eh, whatever.)

Loved this movie. It managed to find that magic balance between action, computer graphics, humanity, romance, and humor. Yet its still Thor with all sorts of various Marvel nods. Even the lore was spot on (confirmed by my husband) according to the J. Michael Straczynski Thor storyline. (JMS is the guy behind Babylon 5!! <3 B5!)

It should be noted that this is still a Super Hero movie. Suspension of disbelief is a bonus, as is a tolerance for some cheesy moments. But Kenneth Branagh did such a fabulous job directing, the actors were spot on and well picked, the script was actually supportive of the story and the characters, that much of the Super Hero foibles of the past are handled with such grace as to render them inconsequential.

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It’s always a pleasant surprise when a sequel manages to exceed its predecessor’s fun value. By retaining the chewy inner nugget of goodness and strengthening the original game’s weak points, Super Mario Galaxy 2 certainly succeeds.

From what I have read it wasn’t actually supposed to be a full-fledged sequel, but more of a continuation – a bit more fun to be had. But I guess the developers were inspired because it ended up as a bit too much more. =)

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Everything I have read about Heavy Rain leads me to the same conclusion – this game is a critic’s wet dream. “Exhausting, exhilarating, and, crucially, involving” (PS Magazine). “Powerful and emotionally engaging narrative” (GameSpot). You get the point. It manages to push all the right “critic” buttons: innovative, graphics driven, and story rich.

The game reminds of me of all those sad depressing artsy movies about special people that somehow manage to win the Oscars time and time again. Those movies that are lauded for their craft, composition, and story; those movies that suck all the fun out of life and that I avoid at all costs.

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Now a days I tend to avoid scary games. Yet there was indeed a time when I enjoyed them; enjoy may be the wrong description, it was much more: cringed my way through the experience. Yet clearly some part of it was exciting enough to be entertaining.

Resident Evil (the original) was probably the first horror game I played on the console and boy did it scare the shit out of me. The spooky atmosphere in that vast ancient house, monsters dropping on top of you when you least expect it, and every nerve racking moment when nothing happens but you just can’t help expecting something to jump out at you anyway. Plus I got to kick ass playing a girl, which is always a big plus in my book.

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One thing that really became evident while playing this game (for me anyway) is the lack of perspective. I think this is a huge drawback for the Jumping puzzle genre.

I think that this guy’s idea will save 3D jumping games. In essence it’s a great way to simulate perspective.
Check it out:

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote

Here is a talk he gave in Feb 2008 on modifying the Wiimote.

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My Impressions

Behold the latest Nintendo Love-child: Super Paper Mario.
And let me introduce you to the proud parents:
Father : Super Mario Brothers
Mother: Paper Mario

No one knows quite how these two met, especially considering the age difference. One might think this would cause quite a stir at Nintendo headquarters, then again they are Japanese; rich older men cavorting with younger ladies is not so far fetched. (Not so shocking here either.)

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