Credit to bob_newman who posted this link in the wii forums.

READ

perticularly the part about the tiered system in gaming. It really explains how games people call "casual" aren't actually casual games. And the section about how lazy devs simply think of so called casual games as retard games" explains a lot of the crap shovelware that exists.

A good quote from the article in case you are too lazy to read the whole article (but please do its a really interesting read)

"If there's only one piece of advice that I could give to the managers of third party companies, it would be that a lot of times it seems that when they're putting games out on Nintendo hardware, those games are being developed by their third-string team or their fourth-string team. Maybe that's because they see those products as being unique projects or somewhat smaller-scale projects. But when Nintendo puts out a title that is designed to really support and sell its hardware, that title is always developed by one of our number one teams. And so I think that when it comes to the question of trying to compete with our software, I would really like to see the parties try to do that with their number one teams rather than with the third- or fourth-string teams. [Laughs.]"

-Shigeru Miyamoto, Gamespot Article:

I knew it all along but finally I have solid proof.

The Good (in no perticular order and mostly about games)

Brawl

Just a great game and the level of polish the game had should try to be replicated in all games. All the extras from trophies to stickers, all the different stages and all the different characters there was just so much stuff in the game. Online would've been sweet but the local multiplayer is unmatched in my opinion. Get some friends over and have a tournament it is really a blast. The game sets it up perfectly for you, telling you who is playing, which controller to pick up so having a tournament with like 8+ friends is a breeze.

Lost

I fricken love this show. I got into it this year and borrowed the first three seasons from my friend. Then for Christmas I got season 4 on DVD. The show is just amazing in every sense of the word. The acting is good, the plot is good with enough twists to keep you interested and most memorable to me are the characters. They are all so deep and unique it just makes the show fun to watch.

Call of Duty: World at War Wii is actually a decent game!!!

I know I was shocked too! The campaign is great (it's the same one from the 360/PS3 versions) and the online really is a blast.

"In Rainbows" a great CD

OK let me start off by saying in the US and Canada the actually disc copy was released January 1st, 2008 so this is a 2008 story. But it was possible to download the cd online for whatever price you wanted to (no joke) sometime in october 2007 i think. Anyways it was a great CD from a great band. I perticularly liked "Jogsaw Falling into Place", "15 Steps" and "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"

A Good Year for the DS

The DS really stood out in 2008, and even though the system war had long since been decided, the DS showed us once again it is ahead of the PSP. (ok I have nothin against the PSP, but just from a personal standpoint I have to say the DS is the handheld for me because of its game library and touch screen. In no way am I saying that if you chose the PSP over the DS you made the wrong choice, I am just saying that to me the right choice was the DS.) But moving on, the DS stood out with its great games like Final Fantasy IV, Chrono Trigger, The World Ends With You (still gotta pick that up) Professor Layton and more i cant think of right now.

Nintendo starts to get in on the online action

Ok well they really missed the target on Brawl, but Mario Kart had really fun, lag free online, the Wii finally has voice chat, Animal Crossing CF has a pretty laid back online mode that can be fun, CoD WaW has great FPS online. WiiWare started up, and the VC started getting some highly requested titles (Super Mario RPG). It certainly wasn't as big a step as I would have liked, but at least Nintendo made a step in the right direction this past year with online play.

World of Goo

Innovative, engaging, artistic, challenging, breathtaking OST and all for just $15. Best $15 bucks I spent all of 2008.

The bad (once again mostly gaming and in no real order)

I want a PS3...

I played the Metal Gear demo at a friends house. Amazing. I really want to play Little Big Planet. The Blu-ray player and all the other multi media features are really handy so I want a PS3!!! But if I buy one, this will be the first generation I have bought more than one console. I think this just might be a phase... the PS3 has just been looking really good lately but after awhile my lust will wear off and i will be happy with my Wii. Not that I'm unhappy with my Wii or anything, I just think a PS3 would be a nice addition to me gaming.

Brawl has no online

*edit Haha i actually posted it as that. Then I was skimming over the blog and remember that Brawl actually has online. It is just really lame and laggy. It is only fun if you play against friends, but even then it's very... lacking to say the least.

It's rediculous. I don't know how Nintendo could've missed the boat so hard with this one. The game was made for multiplayer, and although I've always been the type of gamer who prefers local multiplayer to online, sometimes you just can't play local. The online could've been intense, with leaderboards, rankings, different playlists for different game types.... ah so much wasted potential! I don'y even care that the game has no voice chat, if anything that would've made it better because I wouldn't have to listen to silly noobs complaining about so called cheap item kills. OK its Super Smash. Cheap items are part of the game, they make it what the game is. But if the online had been great, there would have been a no item playlist so this imaginary stupid noob could've have had a game were he wouldn't be able to complain. AHHHHH it pains to me to think about all the good times I could've had.... darn you Nintendo on this one.

Cheap items on Mario Kart

After just writing about how cheap items were part of the game in Brawl I am going to write about how cheap items destroy Mario Kart. Basically it was too far in this game. The cheap items in Brawl weren't so cheap that a noob could beat a skilled veteran Brawler with luck. Brawl you fought for the items, and there was strategy involved with using them and dodging them. Too bad for MK. You get items with pure luck, and it was not uncommon to go from 12th to first in a single lap with just a bullet bill and some shells. The cheap items really hurt the game, but it was still a fun game just once again, wasted potential.

School

ok nothing new here. Although once again I managed to do quite well in school without really trying to hard so no complaints.

Having trouble finding the games from more than a year ago

I got my DS October 2007, and my Wii February 2008. So I missed out on alot of great games. Well not that many with the wii. But with my DS I ended up resorting to eBay for some of the games such as Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. And I looked all over for Advance Wars Dual Strike but never did find it. I bought Days of Ruin when it came out but after playing it I think I would've been much happier with Dual Strike. Too bad.

Megaman Starforce

I love the Battle Network games. But starforce? It's supposedly the continuation of the series on the DS, but with no graphics upgrade, annoying as hell characters, weak, weak story.... ARGH!

So yeah that was some of my likes and dislikes this past year. Obviously there are way more than what I listed but I am getting tired and want to go to bed. Let me know what you liked/disliked in 2008

5026-8655-1916

Town: Compton

Player: Patrick

I am pleasently surprised with this game. I figured it would be good cause I used to always go over to my neighbours and play the original GCN one and it was always a good time. But seeing as how I never actually owner the first one and therefore never really played through it extensively I figured I would be able to look past the biggest complaint people have with the game and that is the similarity to the other games in the series. To me, the game feels fairly original, and certainly stands out as unique on my games shelf.

My one beef with the game was commented on in the gamespot review and that is that there is really only so much to do in a day on the game. You finish up whatever Nook has you doing (if anything) earn bells to buy whatever catches your eye in the store, and then just sort of wander around. The city proved to only add in a few fairly meaningless additions, such as another place to buy clothes, a theatre to learn emoticons, and mii makeover building. None of these new additions take away from the game, but they don;t really add that much to it either. Plus, none of it really justified the addition of a whole city section to the game. The town could have been expanded slightly, just enough to make room for a corner of the town to be a more urbanized "main street" sort of area.

Anyways back to my poin about there not being much to do in a day. There is certainly enough to do that you could have a decent gaming session everyday if you wanted to. In fact, the game encourages it by providing new items in nooks store and various events that occur randomly on various days. But I am not that type of gamer. It's Christmas break so right now I have time to play everyday and probably will. But when the break ends I go back to school and all the work that comes with it, basketball practices everyday, and guitar lessons and practice thrown in whenever I have time, I will not be gaming everyday. Probably just on weekends. And not every gaming session I have will be spent on Animal crossing.

With all that being said, I am quite enjoying this game. So far none of my "real" wii friends have the game but I would still like to experience the online in this game. I think visiting someone elses town would be fun. Don't worry I didn't get the wii speak so I won't pull a resetti and talk your ear off. So you have the game hook me up with your friend code and all the other necessary info. Or if you know of a good AC union let me know about it.

Before (or after, I'll see how busy I am) new years i am going to write somesort of year in review blog. So yeah... expect it...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I hope everyone else had a good Christmas because I sure did!!!

I got a Nixon watch!!! It's "The graduate" in all black it's pretty sweet. I also got Lost Season 4 on DVD. I absolutely love that show. First season was great, second season was just amazing, third season got a bad rep from critics but I actually thought it was pretty good. And so far season 4 is looking like it will be good as well. I have only watched the first three episodes but I am already hooked! Still, there was something special about season 2 that I don't think the series will ever be able to replicate and that's too bad.

I wasn't sure what game I wanted so I didn't ask for one for Christmas. But I am planning on using money I got from relatives to buy a game. I am thinking probably Animal Crossing City Folk. I know its exactly like the gamecube one, but i never owned that one or the DS one so it should feel fresh to me. If not I might pick up De Blob or The World Ends With You. Just a question about AC. WiiSpeak comes bundlef with it, right?

Once again, Merry Christmas!!!

330882563221

friend code for Call of Duty World at War for Wii. Please post your friend codes here and I will add you. I am actually getting really into this game, the online specifically. Which brings me to my first point, and that is I would like to either start up or join a CoD WaW Wii clan. If there isn't already something like this made, I would like to start up a CoDWaW union where players can get together, share friend codes and set up matches. I could be pretty fun and I would be willing to start one up. So if you are willing to be a charter member of this union let me know, or if you know of a union like this that already exists then let me know about that so i can join this union.

Now onto what I've been up to lately. I haven't blogged in awhile so there is lots to say. First off I got my drivers license the other day. It's pretty sweet, but I dont have a car and my parents aren't too cool with me using theres, at least during the winter. But I;ve managed to borrow it a few times and it is totally awesome. I just pop in Daft Punk Alive 2007 (which is an amazing CD)and roll!!!!

I set up this old crapbox TV in my room the other day and hooked up my SNES and N64 to it. It;s awesome!!! I've been getting really into A Link to the Past. It's such a great game and one any Zelda fan should check out if only just to see how the series originated. I have just cleared the second temple in the Dark World which is the water one. [Update: I just now cleared the 5th temple in the dark world]

I'm sure you;ve heard about this but incase you haven't, Nintendo started Club Nintendo which is basically a Nintendo rewards program. I went on and registered all my Nintendo games, and I am almost at the platinum level already!!! I really like this new thing because it basically just means free stuff for me! Who doesn't love free stuff?

Some future blogs:

A top 5 GBC games list, a top 10 gamecube games list, and a top 5 (maybe 10( N64 games list.

And my next blog is going to be a big end up the year blog. My GOTY, platform winners, and basically what I liked and disliked in 2008.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

a year and one day to be exact.  After my first year I might as well be level 18 (98% done level 17) and that is not bad at all considering I wasn't active AT ALL for at least the first 6 months or so that I had my account.  Even when I was being active, I was never really that active so 18 levels is pretty good.

And some other stuff.  I found out today that I am going to be flying to Toronto pretty soon for a few days.  It should be fun, especially because I get to go to a Toronto raptors game!  I am going to probably have some time to kill so I might pick up a new DS game before I leave.  But probably not since I still have to beat Mario an Luigi: PiT, Final Fantasy IV and I just bought the Minish Cap.

Lastly, I have been playing a lot of Halo (the first one) because I put it on one of the mac computers in my computer class at school.  It is pretty sweet, especially going to some of the online matches.  CTF on Blood Gultch, ftw!!!  I love sniping in Halo 1 it seems a lot easier than in Halo 3, but that is probably just because I am playing on a computer and I am way better at computer FPS than concole FPS.

I think I am going to get Call of Duty: World at War for Wii. Shooters work well on the wii (metroid, Medal of Honour) and from what I've seen and heard this one is going to be pretty good. It will have a good single player campaign, with a co-op component (although it is a gimmicky Super Mario Galaxy style co-op) and have online multiplayer. Thats actually the main reason I will probably get the game, is for the online. I want a game with good online and since I only have a Wii that can be hard to find. The online system is going to be just like the online in COD4 even in the wii version so it should be fun. I am going to wait until reviews come out but unless this game completely bombs I will probably get it. And speaking of reviews, why hasnt a review come out yet from any gaming websites? I thought they would have gotten the game a week or so ago but there are no reviews for any of versions of the game (xbox, wii, etc.)

Oh and I just found this out. Call of Duty: World at War for DS will have online!!! :o:o:o

maybe the next Metorid Prime Hunters?

#10 Warioland 4 GS score 8.7

Although not as good as Warioland 3 for the GBC or the Super Mario Advance series this is still a great platformer. Plus Wario is always a nice change from Mario or Luigi.

#9 Golden Sun GS score 8.6

Plays just like an old-school SNES RPG, and that's a good thing. Great battle animations, likable characters and a good story make this perhaps the best RPG on the GBA. The sequel is also very good, but I prefer this one.

#8 Mega Man Battle Network Series GS Score from 6.8 to 8.5

Just a personal favourite of mine. I know review sites give the later games in the series bad reviews because they feel they aren't different enough from the previous games in the series, and that is true to some extent. But as a fan of the whole series and one who has played every game in the series I can say that it doesn't really matter because the games are just so fun! My picks for the series are Battle Network 2 because it has an older feel to it which I like and Battle Network 6 because it was a good ending to the series and probably the one I enjoyed the most.

#7 Metroid Fusion GS score 8.6

Metroid Prime showed that Metroid could be good 3D, but Fusion (and Zero Mission) reminded everyone that Metroid can still be tons of fun in 2D. The game feels epic, almost too big for the tiny GBA. The controls work perfectly, and shooting your way through enemies is a blast. The game sounds great as well, with that eery soundtrack you've come to expect from Metroid games.

#6 Advance Wars GS score 9.1

The game that started it all off for the series. The game was perfect for the GBA because it was simple enough that anyone could play it well enough, yet complicated enough that you had to really get into it to be good. This game also had some of the better multiplayer for the GBA.

#5 Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 GS score 9.2

All of the Super Mario Advance games were great, but this one was the best. It stands out from the rest for it's different type of gameplay. Everyone remembers carrying around baby mario on the SNES, and somehow it is even more fun doing it on the go.

#4 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap GS score 9.1

It's sort of an unwritten rule that every Nintendo system needs to have its own Zelda. But after a long time of just the Link to the Past remake (hey you didn't hear me complaining) it looked like the GBA might not get its own Zelda. But it did in a big, er small, way. The minish cap is a great zelda that deserves to be on the same platform as A Link to the Past. Everything one would want from a Zelda is here so if you haven't already, you should play this game.

#3 Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga GS score 9.2

A truly original game that combines RPG elements with the Super Mario Series. That hybrid had already been done with Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario but Superstar Saga is unique in the way it used Mario and Luigi in the gameplay. You control both at the same time and seperately on occasions to solve puzzles, gain XP and SAVE THE WORLD!!

#2 Mario Kart Super Circuit GS score 8.2

This is the first game I ever bought for my GBA and one I still go back to from time to time. It's basically Super Mario Kart for the small screen and thats absolutely awesome! This game also has the best multiplayer of any GBA. You can do basically everything if everyone has a cartridge, and you can do races on some of the tracks with only one cartridge!

#1 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past GS score 9.2

It seems weird giving the top spot to a remake, actually more or less a direct port, but how can you not when the game is as good as A Link to The Past? The game seems to fit perfectly on the GBA. The controls work flawlessly, the music is memerable and the action is unbeatable. A truly epic adventure that everyoneshould experience.

I hope you liked my list and i would love to hear some of your favourite GBA games. Sorry about the picture sizes being all over the place i had some trouble finding pictures the same size.

My next list will be the top 10 Gamecube games.

It was my birthday on Friday!!!! I actually got the sweetest gift ever!! I didn't really ask for anything so I wasn't sure what I would get but I got the sweetest present ever! My dad gave me his old guitar!!!! It's such a nice guitar! It's an acoustic Tekamine and it is about 7 or 8 years old but it is in like new condition. It's got mics and everything in it! I was actually so surprised but my dad said he never plays it anymore and this way it will actually get used. Which makes sense but still, I'm surprised he gave me his guitar.

So I'm sure most of you have heard that the 3rd DS has been announced, called the DSi. (If you haven't, check this out.) For anyone such as myself who has been a fan of Nintendo for a long time this wasnt really a surprise. As great as Nintendo is (and dont get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the big N) it isn't a big secret that they like to milk their customers for all they're worth. Upgrades and add-ons that should have been included in the first release are saved for later so you have to buy the new version. I don't hate Nintendo for this, after all business is business and they aren't the only company to do this.

But getting to the actual DSi itself I would have to say that so far I am not really impressed. It looks like Nintendo said to themselves, "Hey, let's copy the PSP!!! Hey, maybe if we stick a camera in it we will one-up the PSP!!!" Because when it comes dont to it, all it is is A DS lite with slightly bigger screens, media capabilities and a camera which lets face it, probably wouldnt get much use. Also, I LOVE MY GBA SLOT!!!!!!!!! It is my favourite future on the DS so I would be annoyed playing a DSi which has no GBA slot. I would estimate that a least half of my DS gaming time is spent playing GBA games. I know they removed the GBA slot and added an SD slot so you could download GBA games and play them, but I own all the good GBA games so I dont want to half to buy them again. (once again, see Nintendo milking their customers). But even though I would rather have my GBA slot the SD slot is cool. All it really is for is so that you have to go out an buy an SD card instead of whining about storage problems. But thats not what I would use it for. With an SD slot, homebrew would be simple. I'm sure before long there would be a way to just illegally download GBA games on your computer and play them on your DS in the SD slot. Heck, you would probably be able to get full DS games and put them on the SD slot although they would probably require a full SD card to fit. Still, $15-$20 for an SD card is cheaper than $35 for a DS game.

All in all, I am intrigued by the SD slot but not enough to shell out $180 for an add on to something I dont feel needs to be improved on. Plus I love my iPod. I dont need another music player. As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Unless of course you want to make a bit more money.