Matt’s Top Ten Nintendo Games

Today it was announced that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had passed away on July 11th, 2015 due to a bile duct complication.  To say that myself and the rest of the gaming community were shocked and saddened by this would be an understatement.  What Iwata-san has done for video games is immeasurable.  Starting in the 80’s as a programmer for NES games such as Kirby and the almighty Earthbound.  He worked his way up the ladder eventually being named Nintendo’s president in 2002 spearheading the development and launch of the revolutionary Nintendo Wii.  Along with the visionary Shigeru Miyamoto and Reggie “My Body is Ready” Fils-Amie he put his face out there and became a very public face for the company.  Focused on transparency, making personal connections with Nintendo fans, and delivering high quality and above all, fun experiences, us fans looked forward to each installment of Iwata Asks and the Nintendo Directs.  In a gaming scene that was veering towards homogenization he took the wheel and steered the climate of Nintendo into one of innovation and genuine personality.  Even just a few weeks ago he responding and commenting on the feedback he had gotten from Nintendo’s E3 showing.

From my first NES console at age at 7 to last night spreading ink all over the place in Spatoon on the Wii U, Nintendo has been and always will be a huge part of my life.  From helping create and grow friendships over some rounds of Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros to easing my sadness with the bright and colorful Mushroom Kingdom and Dreamland to waxing philosophical and adventuring into the unknown with The Legend of Zelda series and Earthbound, Iwata-san has either directly or indirectly influenced some of the most joyous moments in my life.  The photo below is a shot of a bit of my current Nintendo collection (unfortunately things get lost and broken when one moves around a lot) and each piece there is more than just a game or character.  Each is a memory of a good time and good times to still be had.

When someone dies I feel it is better to celebrate their life than mourn our loss.  So, in honor of Satoru Iwata I would like to make a Top Ten of my all time favorite Nintendo games.  Many will be obvious and maybe a couple out of left field will pop up and a looooooooot have been left out (I could have easily made this a Top Twenty or Thirty list).  All are among the best games I have ever played and have returned to countless times.  To put it simply, each game is fun.  Quoting Iwata-san “Video games are meant to be one thing.  Fun.  Fun for everyone.”  And with that quote he sums up why I love Nintendo and look into the future with nothing but positive vibes for the house he helped build.

R.I.P. Satoru Iwata.  Thank You!!!

Xbox: Games With Gold & Deals With Gold

It’s time to discuss May’s free games for Xbox Gold members.  Keeping in mind, it cost about $60 a year to be a member, the games they have been giving away this year are worth far more than that…but, you have to like them or want to play them to make it worth your time.  April’s roundup was quite nice, featuring a bunch of free games.  May can be considered a little on the light side comparatively speaking since there are only four games including one from April that is still on the list.  But, when given free stuff can you really complain?

Here is the lineup for the Xbox One:

Castle Storm Definitive Edition.  Available all month.

Pool Nation FX.  Available all month.

 

Videogames: Free Stuff on Xbox for the Month of April (2015)

According to the article on Yahoo! Games, since Xbox launched the Games with Gold program, there has been over 100 million downloads.  People seem to be enjoying the Games for Gold deal.  Currently, Xbox gamers can download…for free…Rayman Legends and It Draws a Red Box for the Xbox One and Bioshock Infinite on the Xbox 360.  Not a bad deal at all even if you just download Bioshock. It’s a great game.

April’s new download list should excite some gamers simply for the sheer volume of games that will be available during the month of April.  Six this time.  Of course, this should appeal mostly to those still hanging on to that 360 since there will be more games available for that system.

For the Xbox One during the entire month of April 2015, you will be able to download with your Gold subscription:

Pool Nation FX.  Personally not much for these games, but I do like billiards.  I may squeeze this one on to my hard drive.  Try not to giggle when she says you can “play with your balls.”

Child of Light.  Based on the trailer, it looks like this game is uniquely challenging. 

Xbox Games With Gold Update: Free Stuff

One of the biggest complaints I hear from gamer buddies about online gaming is having to pay for it.  I understand that a whopping $50 to play Xbox online for an ENTIRE year is tough for some people, but they do give stuff away that might help take the edge of shelling out $50 to fry your brain shooting people, racing, or whatever it is you do online.  For Xbox Gold members, it’s that time again to announce the Games With Gold and Deals with Gold lineup.  They have just been updated.  Here is the listing.

Game Review: Resident Evil HD Remaster (Xbox One)

Resident Evil was probably the reason I initially bought a Sony PlayStation back in 1996.  Back then there were plenty of cute cartoony games that involved side scroll fighting and plumbers and stuff, but Resident Evil was so different.  It was actually scary.  It might not be very scary by today’s standards as we have all become immune to grotesque gaming.  But, decades ago Resident Evil defined survival horror and set the foundation for many copycats and unfortunately the excess blood and gore we have today.  There may have been scary games prior to this one, but in my lifetime and gaming involvement, Resident Evil opened a new path in gaming experience.  Why am I talking about it again after all these years?  Well for one, designers need to go back and learn from the subtle nuances of the game…the scary parts, the quietness, and the loneliness.  Today’s survival horror gaming is just ridiculous.  Second, Resident Evil was rereleased and updated in HD for the modern console.  This old guy says…yay! 

Game Review: The Evil Within (Xbox One)

I can’t think of a game in recent memory that has been more overblown than The Evil Within, at least in the survival horror genre.  Tango Gameworks took cues from just about every other horror game out there; Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Outlast, etc., and put them all into one mashup, hence, it’s unoriginal!  I will give the developers props for a few things, but seriously how many puss-filled, pulsating, veiny, acid-spewing, bulging mucous looking sores-on-walls am I going to see in these kinds of games?  Time to come up with something new; let’s get back to scaring the crap out of gamers with suspense instead of wowing us with the fantastically grotesque.

What started off as a pretty legit story line; cop responds to gruesome murders at Beacon Mental Hospital.  Cop sees some really strange crap and runs for life.  Cop and friends escape in ambulance (earth shakes violently); ambulance crashes in the woods; cop and friends get split up (of course).  Cop runs through woods trying to find his way.  And this is where things start to take a turn for the worse.  And when I mean worse, I don’t mean for the safety of the cop protagonist, I mean took a turn for the ludicrous worse in overall gaming experience. 

Game Review: Game Dev Tycoon (PC)

This review was created entirely by my 11-year-old son/game enthusiast…

I bought Game Dev Tycoon as part of the 2013 Steam Summer Sale.  Business Simulation games weren’t really my style then, so I thought “Hey, I’ll give Game Dev Tycoon a go.” As of now I’ve committed 132 hours of blood, sweat, and tears into this game.  This game is basically centered in the early 1980’s era when videogames were getting very, very popular.

So, I started my videogame developing Simulator Company with the name “Crank Incorporated,” named after Steam Corporation.  My company started out in a location that seemed like a garage that might actually be housing a DMC Delorean.  With $70K, I started development of my first game.  At the moment I had four game topic choices, one of those being “Racing,” so I chose that.  The second choice was of the genres RPG, Simulation, Action, etc.  So, I chose Simulation because I know that racing and simulation is a good combo.  The next choice was naming my game.  I saw some of the forum pages where people made hilarious names such as a military action game being called Call of Dooty, but that didn’t stop me from making a formal name for my racing simulator because I take gaming seriously. Speed Racer was what I chose; named after the somewhat successful film.

Game Review: Sherlock Holmes – Crimes & Punishments

Title:  Sherlock Holmes:  Crimes & Punishments

Console reviewed:  Xbox One

Developer:  Frogwares

Release Date:  (latest) 3 Oct 14

Style:  Adventure

Mode:  Single Player

Similarities to:  L.A. Noire, CSI

Despite being released in the latter part of 2014, this is my first 2015 gaming victory courtesy of Santa Claus.  Solving crimes as Sherlock Holmes not only tested my aptitude, but my moral virtue.  You see, this game allows you to be lazy and hasty…to a certain point.  There are about a half-dozen crimes to solve and for each one there are multiple outcomes…quite a few possibilities actually.  In the end, you can actually put an innocent person in prison, hence the test of moral virtue.  Will you ignore the clues to “get your man” and close the file or will you be thorough and ensure justice is served appropriately?  The choice is really up to you. 

Free Games on Xbox This Month (Jan 2015)

For those who have Xbox One and/or Xbox 360; here are a few games ready for download for free if you are a Gold subscriber.  Enjoy these clips.  Personally, the D4 game looks interesting.  Anyone play it yet?

Xbox One:

Xbox 360:

Game Review: Sniper Elite 3 (Xbox One)

In my attempt to break away from wildly popular shooter games (you know what they are), I picked up “Sniper Elite III” to shake things up a bit when it comes to fast-moving shooter action.  Not to mention, there just aren’t “that” many games out for Xbox One right now, so my choices were limited.  I haven’t played the previous editions of the sniper franchise and it worked out great because I didn’t really need to know about those games coming into part III.  Despite the fact that this story took place before “Sniper Elite V2” I didn’t feel I missed out on story and concept.  All I really needed to play this fun game was patience.  Sometimes I had it; sometimes I didn’t and here is my “Sniper Elite III” story.

The biggest reason I enjoyed this particular tactical shooter is that I had time to plan my attack and decide which approach I was going to take.  I could go quiet or I could go loud or both.  Mostly, I preferred sneaky and stealthy.  I can be a methodical kind of guy, so this aspect of the game pleased me.  Because the game took place during WWII in Northern Africa, there were lots of large rocks, hills, and dessert-atmosphere to hide behind; perfect for sniping.