Nintendo Conference 2010

The biggest news at the conference probably revolves around the 3DS. Some news that I’m excited about is the announcement of Megaman Legends 3, a vastly improved Tag Mode, handheld Virtual Console (Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, and “Classics”), and the ability to transfer download data like game. The 3DS is coming out February 26th in Japan and sometime in March for Europe and America. It has two colors for launch, Blue an Black. More blue, really?

Other news about Wii and DS games was also released. There is a Rhythm Heaven Title in the works for Wii.

There is also a Fatal Frame shown in Wii games, I’m not sure if will be a remake of Fatal Frame 2, or if it will be a new game. But seeing as how Fatal Frame 4 was never released in the US, I’m not sure how much interest I want to invest in this news.

There is also a new Kirby game coming to DS, and it has you controlling multiple Kirbys. Could be fun.

All the screens and videos can be found HERE, and hopefully there will be news from Nintendo of America soon, like today.

Three Captains of Anime (+2)

Through watching anime I have come across three characters that all happen to be Captains and all have very similar characteristics.
The first I encountered was Robotech’s Captain Henry J. Gloval

The next character is Catain Nemo from Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. At First I thought that Nemo and Gloval were the same person.

The third, Captain Harlock is seen in many shows from artist Leiji Matsumoto. He doesn’t look as much like the other two but to me still gives off the same vibe.

There is another character that I can think of but I will wait to bring up that one.

Edit: I just discovered that this other character that I was thinking of actually pays homage to Captain Harlock.

Simon, From Gurren Lagann is the above mentioned reference to Captain Harlock

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze from the Naruto Series.

Game Over: Metroid Other M

I have only become a fan of the Metroid series in the past year. When Metroid Other M was first announced at last years E3 I was blown away by the teaser trailer. It was odd how giddy I was for a series that I had spent very little time playing. Back in the 90’s I remember watching my best friend playing Super Metroid and thinking to myself, “This game looks cool, but it looks too hard.” I don’t remember even trying to play Super Metroid at that time.Years Later I tried another friend’s copy of Metroid Prime, I couldn’t get into the game. I couldn’t even beat an early boss. Then Metroid Prime: Corruption came out and I figured I give the series another go; afterall, the Wii didn’t have many games at that point, I hadn’t started buying tons of PS2 and Gamecube games for my backlogue. I wanted something to play. The controls for Corruption were great and I played it for around 7 hours but quickly became disinterested.

It wasn’t until after the announcement of Other M that I bought both Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid Fusion for Gameboy Advance and Super Metroid for Wii Virtual Console. It only took me playing through Zero Mission to turn me into a hardcore Metroid fan. I then started Super Metroid and finished it just before the release of Other M.

As I started playing Other M and got sucked in right away. I enjoyed watching the cut scenes, I think that the voice acting is actually good and fits the haunting feeling of solitude for which the Metroid series is known. The controls work great and have a familiar yet new feel at the same time. The auto-aiming makes shooting enemies easier than past Metroid games but the addition of close quarters attacks keeps combat interesting. Even the first person aiming that I was worried about mostly works. My only issue is with the few parts where scanning a specific and easily over looked object is required to continue and sometimes takes patience.

The story of Metroid Other M takes place after Super Metroid chronologically and before Fusion. With it’s greater focus on story it does a great job of connecting the stories of the main Metroid games. Unfortunatly it leaves important information unsaid, assuming that you have played the other games and know details from the Japanese manga. I personally enjoyed the story and back story, reinforcement of Samus Aran as a strong female character and a human with heart. The inclusion of more story builds upon what was started in Fusion; a more linear game because the stronger emphasis on story keeps pushing the game forward. Other M is much like Fusion, it makes me wonder why some are so vocally outraged by Other M as not being enough like a Metroid game. I enjoyed playing though Other M and would very much like to see another game built on this engine with some refinements.

Two WiiWare Games

I’m back in less than full force with two videos from up coming WiiWare titles  This first I’m posting will likely be out in the good ole’ US of A first. A physics based, till controlled, water moving, puzzle game.

Fluidity

and the second is coming out this month in Japan, looks like 3D intepritaion of the Stage Racer mode from Tetris Party (also on WiiWare) with a slight twist.

Surinuke Anatoosu