Duck Hunt is indeed a new character in the game, but it's not just the dog, the duck is with him, too. This character, called "Duck Hunt," is kind of a like a two-in-one, some what similar to Olimar who is Olimar and his Pikmin. Some of Duck Hunt's special movies includes 8-bit characters that shoot. You can also shoot cans and clay "pigeons" to hurt your enemies. I was delighted to see Duck Hunt in the game. Since I've had the 3DS verson of Super Smash Bros., I've had some time playing with Duck Hunt. Also, when "Duck Hunt" jumps, the duck carries the dog. It's really cool.

Yes, you do, Travis! =) The game comes out in 11 days. I have it pre-ordered along with the new Pokemon games. =)

Oh! I should also mention that Nintendo's amiibo figures are supposedly going to be being released at the same time (in 11 days). I pre-ordered Link for myself and my son chose Fox. I saw something about the Link figure being able to function in Hyrule Warriors. Speaking of Hyrule Warriors, I still love the game. I have completed Legend mode and not yet tried any of the other modes yet. I collected all of the "easy" Gold Skulltulas, but have not yet collected all the more difficult ones. I did also purchase all of the DLC for the game.

Back to Smash Bros., I still don't have a favorite character, I like almost all of them. Over the last few months, I've spent a lot of time with the 3DS version unlocking characters, stages, and doing the various challenges. Both games are supposed to interact some how. On the main menu is a button for the Wii U, which is a feature that is currently unavailable. The stages are supposed to be different in both versions, with the 3DS having more handheld stages (such as a stage based upon The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Train). I'm also sure that while the 3DS is missing the "story" mode, it will be on the Wii U. I have been pretty impressed with the game. Little Mac is really strong! The Villager (from Animal Crossing) is also a cool new character. I thought that the Gamecube version of the game was pretty deep with lots of trophies, but the Wii version expanded upon that and thus so has the 3DS. I expect the Wii U version will be even better than the 3DS version.

I'm not sure, but I haven't looked into it. I forgot to mention that the Wii U version will support 8 characters battling together at once on the same stage.

Now that I have the Wii U version of the game, I thought I'd leave a comment about some of it. It seems most of the characters are already unlocked, although I apparently unlocked Falcon. I was surprised that Ganondorf was available on the character selection screen, since I had to unlock him on the 3DS version of the game. The game looks awesome on the big screen TV in high-definition. The graphics do not look like the 3DS version. Sadly, story mode was not included. I read an article that said the creator of the game decided not to include it and the cut scenes since people were uploading them to the Internet. I think I saw my son watching one of them, so maybe cut scenes some where, some how.

There is an amiibo button in the Vault menu (I think). The game will tell you to place the amiibo on the bottom-left side of the game pad to access it. You can customize the amiboo fighter by changing it's color, equipment, and moves. I added my Link amiibo, gave him some of the strongest available equipment, and changed his outfit color to blue. Other abilities were not available, perhaps they will be in due time. To get the amiibo to fight in a Smash game, you have to select the customize option on the game. Then, you can put the amiibo on the game pad and select which character place it will be. It sounds confusing, but it's not. My amiibo played on its own and I even watched and lose to Zelda. It did level up to 6 or 7 and it can level up to 50.

The 3DS version of the game can connect to the Wii U version by using the 3DS icon on the main menu of the Wii U game or the Wii U icon on the main menu on the 3DS game. You can use the 3DS as another controller and you can copy over customizations back and forth between the two versions of the game.

The game manual also shows that a GameCube controller can be used to play the game using a new adapter. I'm not sure if this adapter is available yet.

I may make a main post about the game later after I spend some more time playing it.

I made a correction in my Super Smash Bros. post about the amiibo figure/character. You don't have to turn on "Custom Fighters" on the character selection screen, just put the amiibo on the designated spot on the GamePad. I've just start doing team battles with my amiibo Link.

Yeah there was a lot to dislike about the prequel movies, and midichlorians is probably my most hated addition, except for maybe youza-know-who...

I think the new movie will probably make little to no reference to the prequel movies. I doubt they'll directly contradict the prequels, I just think they'll ignore them. I remain cautiously optimistic about the new Star Wars movie. I've been hurt in the past, but I think I'm ready to love again. We'll see if JJ and Disney can make it happen.

Hm, well "the force" awakened a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Perhaps the title may refer to "the force" awakening within a character. I'm a fan of JJ. I liked Heroes and his Star Trek movies. I think he's a great guy and he'll do well with Star Wars.

That said, I don't understand the midichlorians (if that's how we're spelling it) dis-like. I am also one of those rare Star Wars fans that not only enjoyed the pre-quels and has the Star Wars: Complete Collection on Blu-Ray, but I also like Jar Jar!

Well that went fast! Hahaha.

Did anyone change the default keyboard controls? I wanted to go with WASD movement and I made the skills numeric. I assumed I could attack with a click (or double-click) with the mouse, but it seems you have to use the skills. I noticed there are gamepad controls and I wonder if it might be better with that or the default keyboard controls. What do you think?

I've had that discussion already although I don't recall all of the results of it. I believe Travis said he uses a Logitech controller. What do you recommend? I know there's a way to use the PS3 (or XBox) controller, too, but that didn't quite work out as well as I wanted in Morrowind. It's been ages since I've actually used a controller on a PC. Maybe I should invest in one.

That's right, I think that was the general agreement with the PC controller discussion some of us had some time ago. The only XBox I own is the very first one and I have no interest in the newer versions. When I tried to get my PS3 controller working for Morrowind, it seemed like the XBox 360 controller was perhaps easier to use and configure. This was evident because, to get the PS3 controller to work, I had to use a program to get it to emulate an XBox 360 controller. Thanks for the reminder and the tip. Perhaps I'll get one eventually or soon. I am expecting to visit Gamestop in a few weeks to pick up Smash Bros. for the Wii U and both of the new Pokemon games for me and my son.

All that said, are you using the default controller configuration for the game?

Cool. So far my first impressions of the game are still the first impressions I had of the video. Like Starship Rubicon, I don't survive very long nor have I played very long. The game also reminded me Edge of Space, similar graphics, similar size (I have it on a high resolution). I was happy that I learned that holding down a key for the first ability makes it continue to fire, instead of constantly pressing the key.

Today at GameStop, one of the things I bought was an Afterglow XBox 360 controller. It is "see-through" and glows blue when plugged in. I got this controller because it attaches via USB cable, which i thought would be the best way to connect a controller to my PC as I'm unsure if my PC is Bluetooth-capable. I plugged the controller into my PC and it installed quickly. I decided to test it out in Risk of Rain and I found that the only configuration I had to do was to select "enable gamepad." I was then able to use the controller in the game and I understood why you, Jon, use your controller in the game. They keyboard settings for the game are just weird to me, but the gamepad configuration feels perfect. Thanks for the recommendation!

I totally agree, as I said the keyboard configuration just seems weird, while the controller seems perfect.

One thing about this game though is it's title. I keep think it's called "Risk of Ruin," which seems much more fitting.