Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Mario Kart 8 Review

Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Features

Recommended

Beautiful in HD

Anti-gravity racing, gliding, and drifting

New characters and tracks

Multiplayer

Post to YouTube

HD: Mario Kart has been a very popular series since arriving on the Super Nintendo. Since then, the game has evolved to include new courses, new characters, new karts, and more. Mario Kart 8 not only adds these new things, but is the first in the series to be in HD, making it the most beautiful Mario Kart yet! There is also a Wii U Deluxe Set which includes the standard Wii U components, the game, a red Wii-mote Plus controller, and a red wheel accessory.

Anti-gravity racing: One of the new features of Mario Kart 8 is anti-gravity... Read All

New Super Mario Bros. Wii U Deluxe Set

Bundle info:Recently, I decided to get the New Super Mario Bros. Wii U Deluxe Set. This set includes a Wii U with a 32 gigabyte hard drive and a disc containing New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi Bros. U. It also comes with an HDMI cable, which I was delighted to see. Other A/V cables can be purchased separately.

Synopsis: In New Super Mario Bros. U, the Princess is once again in need of Mario's help as Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom with his Koopalings and Bowser Jr. The Koopalings were introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3 and have appeared in other Mario games and the cartoon. They are Wendy, Larry, Lemmy, Iggy, Morton, Roy, and Ludwig. Toad also makes an... Read All Bundle info:Recently, I decided to get the New Super Mario Bros. Wii U Deluxe Set. This set includes a Wii U with a 32 gigabyte hard drive and a disc containing New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi Bros. U. It also comes with an HDMI cable, which I was delighted to see. Other A/V cables can be purchased separately.

Synopsis: In New Super Mario Bros. U, the Princess is once again in need of Mario's help as Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom with his Koopalings and Bowser Jr. The Koopalings were introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3 and have appeared in other Mario games and the cartoon. They are Wendy, Larry, Lemmy, Iggy, Morton, Roy, and Ludwig. Toad also makes an appearance in the game along with Blue Toad and Yellow Toad. Yoshi also makes an appearance along with Baby Yoshi who comes in blue, yellow, and pink versions. Each Baby Yoshi has their own abilities. The pink Baby Yoshi acts like a hot air balloon, giving the player a lift into the air and the ability to float down. The blue Baby Yoshi spits bubbles which turns enemies into bubbles that contain coins. These bubbles can also be jumped on and provide a bounce. The yellow Baby Yoshi lights up the area when used, which is helpful in dark dungeons.

One of the reasons there are so many characters in the game is perhaps because the game has a multiplayer feature, which allows up to five players to play the game together. One player can use the GamePad and the other four can use Wii-motes. I can't report on this feature as I have not tried it out yet. I have, however, played the single player Story Mode using the GamePad. In fact, I didn't play the game on my TV, I simply used the GamePad, which seems to pretty much be an HD DS XXL. However, the Wii U console must be on and within about 10 feet as it uses Bluetooth to connect to the GamePad. I did test the range.

New Super Luigi Bros. U is actually a DLC, which seems to be something new with Nintendo. Perhaps I should say, "new-to-me," as I haven't seen very many Nintendo games that have DLC. That is if you think of DLC as in add-ons, I have, however, been familiar with games that have digital versions which can be purchased from Nintendo's online store. As for the new Luigi game, it is very much like the new Super Mario Bros. U game, but Mario does not make an appearance in it. Instead, the player controls Luigi who has abilities similar to his character in Super Mario Bros. 2. That is, he can jump higher than Mario. The courses are also different as you only have 100 seconds to complete a course, but they are also smaller and do not contain flags which mark halfway points. So, failing a course means starting back at the beginning of the course.

In the game, you can visit Toad houses in order to play a small mini-game in which you can win power-ups. One of the new enemies is a rabbit named Nabbit who is introduced when you get near the first Toad house. You see him come out of Toad's house with a bag and he runs away. Toad then tells the player about what happened and shows you how to use pipes to quickly get to another area in the game. Toad uses a pipe to get to the first area in the game after asking you to help him chase Nabbit and get his stuff back. Nabbit is visible on the world map, so you know where he's hiding. Once you select to play that course, you have to chase him down. He is fast, but not too difficult to catch. Luckily, after catching him, you don't have to finish the course. As soon as you catch him you see yourself at the end of the level with Toad, who gives you a power-up for helping him.

Along with the standard Mushroom, Star, and Fire Flower power-ups, the game includes Super Acorn, Ice Flower, and Mini Mushroom power-ups. The Super Acorn allows you to glide in the air, much like the new enemy that seems to be a flying squirrel. The Ice Flower power-up allows you to freeze enemies. You can stand on them, but they will thaw out eventually. You can pick up a frozen enemy and throw it, which can knock out other enemies as it glides through the course. I did obtain a Mini Mushroom power-up, but never used it. I believe I did see a couple of mini-pipes that you could probably enter with this power-up. There is also a power-up that turns you into a penguin and allows the player to glide across ice. I also found a propeller hat which helps you jump higher and float down.

Finishing Story Mode allows you to save at any point, instead of just when a castle or fortress is cleared. It also unlocks a small island that you can visit that shows you statistics. Another course, Star Road, is unlocked and available, but each course is locked until you collect all the Star Coins in each area. For instance, in order to unlock the first course, you must have obtained all the Star Coins in the first area of the game. This is something I have not yet completed.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/12/2014 at 02:25am

Wait, the princess needs Mario's help? I'm shocked!

Cue a Sarkeesian video.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/12/2014 at 02:30am

Yeah, although in New Super Luigi Bros. U, it's Luigi that helps her as he replaces Mario. One thing that's missing is Toad telling you that the princess is in another castle. It's obvious from the beginning which castle she's in. LOL

Travis Admin wrote on 06/12/2014 at 03:04am

It occurs to me that the joke in my first comment here could be taken the wrong way. I don't mean to slight what Anita Sarkeesian is trying to do, in fact I'm a fan. I was more making a joke about the trope being reused in every Mario game.

But yeah, Greg, I do miss Toad in every castle, or as they were called in the original, Mushroom Retainers. http://www.mariowiki.com/Mushroom_Retainer

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/12/2014 at 03:41am

Well I have no idea who Anita is, so my interpretation of your joke was that you were using a sarcastic voice.

Anyway, I'm kind of proud that I made two posts today!

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/12/2014 at 05:50am

As E3 continues and I continue to enjoy my friends Wii U games AND after reading this, I am thinking a Wii U might be in my future. It just looks like fun.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/12/2014 at 06:03am

Awesome! Sadly, I haven't really been paying attention to E3, although I caught some Zelda videos. I have been enjoying the Wii U lately, though.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/12/2014 at 03:30pm

I am completely jealous. Between Mario Kart 8 and Nintendo's E3, I'm fairly confident that the Wii U is going to be the next console I buy.

Which is crazy as I mocked it heavily when it first came out lol. I still want a PS4 someday, I think, but the Wii U and probably a Steam Machine are higher priorities.

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/12/2014 at 05:50pm

I agree Adym, I think Steam Machine+Wii U is a pretty awesome combo. Still considering the Wii U and all told, I might pick it up when it's cheaper and by that time it will have way cooler games.

That said, you should buy one sooner so I can play it at your house.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/12/2014 at 05:54pm

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/12/2014 at 05:55pm

Next week works for me.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/13/2014 at 01:27am

I like that there's now two or three of you that are thinking about getting a Wii U. I wonder how many of us here have one.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/13/2014 at 01:51am

I want a U, and some Nintendo stock lol

Travis Admin wrote on 06/13/2014 at 02:38am

Yeah the U launch was terrible, but it's getting to the point where I want one badly. I'll be getting it for the Nintendo-owned properties and Bayonetta 2, and that's a little disappointing. I hate console-exclusives. But still, the only way to play some of these games is to buy one, so I probably will. Nintendo knows how to make fun shit, even if they don't know how to market a console.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/13/2014 at 03:23am

That's awesome that you guys are wanting a Wii U! I'm interested in knowing more about this desire, why you want one. I still haven't checked out Nintendo's E3 announcements other than one or two Zelda videos. I told you, with this post, that I played New Super Mario Bros. U. Honestly, I found Mario Kart 8 to be much more fun. I tend to get frustrated with Super Mario Bros. games (such as SMB and SMB3, etc.) although I don't remember getting frustrated with SMB2. I really enjoyed that one. As for other Mario games, my feelings vary. I enjoyed Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, but the Paper Mario game for the Wii didn't quite appeal to me very much. I also have Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the GBA, which I also enjoyed. I got my son Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, which seems to be part of the Mario RPG series. The box says it's a really good and funny game. Unfortunately, the night before I was going to play it I saw it and the next night when I was ready to play it, I couldn't find it.

I was excited about the Wii U when it was announced, but I lost interest in it some time after it's release. I think the fact that I couldn't afford one at the time was a big part of that. Still, I'm not aware of very many games that are out for it and so far I think Mario Kart 8 is definitely one of the very best. I have now unlocked all the characters and have decided to start playing Pikmin 3.

I think the Wii U GamePad is quite interesting. With my most recent experience with it, I'm finding that it's great in some games and doesn't even need the TV, but in some games I like using the Wii-mote instead. In Pikmin 3, you can use the GamePad's touch screen to move the cursor around, but I realized that I'd prefer to use the Wii-mote to move the cursor. When I held the GamePad for the first time at GameStop, it seemed bigger than I expected. Now that I've used it a bit, I find that I'm impressed with it. The screen seems to be bigger than the screen on my 3DSXL, but I believe the size of the GamePad is just right. It doesn't feel too heavy, bulky, or odd. It also has it's own charger that comes with it. Without looking it up on the Internet, I can't tell you how long the internal rechargeable battery lasts, but when I played New Super Mario Bros. U., I spent a few hours playing in one game play and had to charge it twice in one session. I think it's battery life is similar to my 3DSXL.

I hope you guys decide to get one and, if you do, I recommend getting the Wii U Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Set and register your copy of the game before the free-game offer expires. Thanks for the comments! =)

Travis Admin wrote on 06/13/2014 at 03:33am

When I found out Bayonetta 2 was going to be an exclusive, I kinda wanted one. Mario Kart 8 made me want one even more. The new Zelda and Starfox games made me want one EVEN MORE.

And you may have found enjoyment with Super Mario Bros. 2 as opposed to the others, because it was never actually a Super Mario Bros. game. When the original SMB2 came out in Japan, Nintendo thought it would be too hard for western audiences so they reskinned Doki Doki Panic to make it look like a Mario game. The "Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels" that is on Super Mario All-Stars is the actual Super Mario Bros. 2. In Japan, our SMB2 is known as Super Mario Bros: USA.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/13/2014 at 03:34am

What I really want is a Super Mario Galaxy for Wii U, where player 2 can do something really interesting with the gamepad. Katie and I loved playing Galaxy together on the Wii.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/13/2014 at 03:58am

I hated the look of the gamepad, I didn't want to have to hold something that large. But I only really tried it out once briefly at a store. I think I was too loyal to Xbox, before I knew the details of the system and then became a PS4 snob.

But the only game that really jumped out at me as a *must buy* was Watch Dogs, and I just can't justify a console for one game.

So I settled for waiting for a Steam Machine. I have been slowly building my Steam library and am looking forward to playing the games on my tv.

I saw trailera for Mario Kart 8 and thought it looked great, but haven't been into Super Mario games since Mario 64, so those never drew me in. I've also not played a Zelda game since Link's Awakening... and have really wondered what I've missed. Seeing a little bit of the new Zelda game really piqued my interested. Then on top to see a really interesting looking shooter game Splatoon, I was hooked. Maybe I'll ever grab Super Smash Bros.

Another great thing about Nintendo games is being able to play them when the kids are awake, and with them as well :-)

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/13/2014 at 04:12am

I don't know anything about Bayonetta 2, so I can't comment on that. I haven't seen anything about Starfox for the Wii U, which means that I need to start checking out Nintendo's E3 conference (the only one I care about). I remember the original Starfox on the SNES. I did play the one for the N64 at a friend's house and enjoyed it, but that's about it. I have Starfox Assault for the GameCube, although I want to play Starfox Adventures, also on the GameCube. I totally agree with you about Zelda! I thought Hyrule Warriors looked cool, but the other new Zelda game looks awesome, too! I, of course, really enjoy playing Mario Kart 8.

As for SMB2, I am aware of what you stated. It was one of the very few in the American series that I was able to beat. I'm not sure if I've played The Lost Levels, but I'm familiar with it. Thumbs up for your knowledge of Mario trivia, by the way! That's two things you've stated about the series so far that most people might not be aware of (the first was about Toad Retainers).

As for Mario Galaxy, I agree that a Wii U version would be really cool. I thought Mario Galaxy and Mario Galaxy 2 were very beautiful, even if I got frustrated with them, too. I did finish them last year while Vinny was away. I'm glad you and Katie enjoyed playing Mario Galaxy together. I played those games with Vinny, but preferred to play it on my own.

Super Smash Bros. is also a big Nintendo title coming out for the Wii U and 3DS that is exciting. I've enjoyed every game in that series so far and am looking forward to the Wii U version. I'm not sure if I'll get the 3DS version, but it should be out sooner than the Wii U version. I think GameStop told me it comes out for the 3DS in July and for the Wii U later in the year. That series is very popular and I imagine Nintendo will sell a lot of units when it is released.

Seeing as how popular and cool Mario Kart 8 is, I imagine their sales are doing better now. I'm surprised and glad to see so much enthusiasm for the Wii U now.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/13/2014 at 04:28am

That's cool, Adym, and thank you for your comments. I was into the original XBox, but the 360 never appealed to me. It seems (to me) to be a system more for FPS games, which I'm not really into anymore (I played those kinds of games a long time ago when the earlier Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein series were out). I suck at Halo and have only played that at a friend's house. Oh, I should also say that I loved Golden Eye on the N64. The only game I saw for the XBox 360 that I'd like to play is Blue Dragon (a Final Fantasy game). As for the PS4, I don't know what's out for it. I imagine I'll want one when a single player Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts game comes out for it.

I'm also not at all interested in a Steam machine. I have been enjoying Steam on my PC, but the console idea hasn't appealed to me. I still only have a small Steam library, but I have some great games in it. I recently played Skyrim on the PC via Steam and was wowed. My PC is able to run the game on Ultra High settings without any lag. I have also recently created a Steam account for my son. I finally got most of the games in my library installed on his computer (my old one). I also decided to get him Gary's Mod.

Mario Kart 8 does look very great and is cool. I've been following the Zelda series and have been enjoying those games. The graphics in the first Wii game are some what disappointing, but it's still fun. I also have the second Zelda game for the Wii, which I enjoyed as well. I think Super Smash Bros. is one of those "must have" games for a Nintendo system like Mario Kart.

I totally agree with your statement about Nintendo games and playing them when kids are awake. One of the main reasons I got the Wii U was so that my son could play it and we could play it together. I played GTAV when he was asleep. He's been asking me if he can play it, but I keep telling him no because he's 10. Of course he doesn't like that as his friends are allowed to play it and Call of Duty and similar games. I got Gary's Mod for him because it said it was a "sandbox" game, but there are still realistic guns, which makes me kind of "iffy" about letting him play. My reasoning behind denying him from playing GTA games is not just the violence and gore, but also the language.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/13/2014 at 08:09am

I'm really excited after watching some videos from Nintendo's E3 events. Adym, Splatoon looks pretty cool and interesting. Travis, I could only seem to find very brief mention of Star Fox for the Wii U, but saw the video for Star Fox 64 on the 3DS. Was there more about Star Fox on the Wii U that you saw that I didn't see?

One point to keep in mind about the Wii U is that it is backwards compatible with the Wii, although I have not yet tried this feature. Since I got one of the first Wii consoles that were released at launch, my Wii suffers from an original disc drive that has issues reading games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the Metroid games. I'm looking forward to seeing if the Wii U is able to recognize those games where my Wii has failed. Although I don't know very much about the other newest consoles, I know that the PS4 is expected to bring older Playstaton games to the PS4 via the online store. However, Nintendo has had a Virtual Console for quite a while now and many older games can be purchased and played on the Wii, DS, and now the Wii U.

Right now, I think the only negative thing I can think of about the Wii U is that the hard drive is only 32 gigabytes. In today's technical world, that is pretty small. My Kindle Fire HDX has internal storage of double that size (I did pay extra to have the maximum amount of storage available). Hard drive storage capacities have exploded and prices seem to have gotten better as well. My old PC that I built and is now used by my son has a 320 gig hard drive and a 1 terabyte hard drive. My new PC has a 3 terabyte hard drive, so 32 gigabytes seems pretty small. My PS3 has an 80 gig hard drive and even though I don't have a lot of video games, it has filled up pretty quickly and easily.

After watching some Nintendo E3 videos I was excited to find out that the GamePad has a feature that I didn't even know about. I'm talking about amiibo (http://e3.nintendo.com/amiibo/), which is a figure that you can place on an area on the GamePad that can interact with games and store information. This is a new feature especially for the new Super Smash Bros. Wii U game. However, I also learned that it will be usable with Mario Kart 8, which answers the question of characters like Diddy Kong that are visible in some pictures, but not yet featured in the game.

I also watched the Tree House video featuring Hyrule Warriors and I was very impressed! You should check it out (http://e3.nintendo.com/treehouse/)! One of the guys who plays it shows what one of the fairies can do. I don't want to spoil it here, but I was totally in awe of what happened!

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Doom (4?) will be shown at QuakeCon

The confusingly titled fourth installment to the Doom series, which so far has publicly just been called "Doom," will be on display at QuakeCon this year.

The Cyberdemon gets all the attention in this teaser trailer, and it looks pretty badass. And did anyone else get all giddy at the door-opening sound?

Keep an eye out for more info on this game July 17-20. http://www.quakecon.org/

Hotline Miami 2 Will Ship With A Level Editor

Not a ton of great news out of E3(yet) but there has been some and this is definitely one of them. Hotline Miami 2 will ship with a pretty fully featured level editor. In a E3 developer Q&A the Dennation Games folks mentioned that they are working on Steam cloud sync for our levels making it easy for us to all share our creations.

Live Streaming E3

Live streaming from E3 today. Will anyone be watching? I'm interested to see what's announced and shown, but if I miss something, I won't be terribly disappointed.

http://www.ign.com/events/e3

Maybe I'll post thoughts along the way in the comments. Join in if you're watching :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:12pm

Watching it as I work. So far nothing seems compelling at all.

That said, they seem to think 1080p graphics is a new hot thing. :godmode:

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:14pm

Fable Legends seems OK. It's the most interesting thing i've seen yet.

The combat seems pretty fun.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:17pm

It is funny how much they're saying "All in 1080p!"

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:27pm

The Halo Collection on XBone looks interesting. Too bad it's not on PC/Windows.

IT WILL BE IN 1080P!

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:31pm

You can watch the stream live on Twitch too.

http://www.twitch.tv/team/e3

Seems to be better quality.

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:40pm

Witcher 3 gameplay looks great. So far, the best game i've seen show. I think the reason why is because they were just hunting an animal in game. Kind of getting "save the entire universe" fatigue with games and movies.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/09/2014 at 05:44pm

What a right-wing hater you are. "I don't want to save people, I just want to hunt meat."

Travis Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 09:08pm

So far I haven't seen anything that amazing. I was looking forward to details about Mirror's Edge 2 but they really didn't give us anything. Criterion's next game looks incredible, I have to say.

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 09:17pm

What was Criterion's game?

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 09:50pm

Here is the E3 schedule for those interested: http://blog.twitch.tv/2014/06/twitch-broadcast-schedule-for-e3/

Going to watch The Witcher presentation tonight!

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/09/2014 at 10:15pm

I think Ubisoft just turned smart phones into a Wii controller for Just Dance...

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/09/2014 at 10:21pm

They didn't say much about how it works, but it's a great idea.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/09/2014 at 10:29pm

yeah... but there's a reason the Wii remote has a strap lol.

I'm already looking forward to the stories of people throwing their phones whilst playing Just Dance ;)

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/10/2014 at 02:23am

Excited to see more about Abzu, coming from Giant Squid. Ex-Thatgamecompany art director for Journey, Matt Nava and company. Have been following since they formed Giant Squid, because of an unhealthy attachment to all things Journey. Really want to see what they are capable of on their own.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/10/2014 at 12:52pm

Jon, Criterion's next game doesn't have a name yet from what I can see but it's a massive open-worldish racing game where you can race many different kinds of vehicles.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/10/2014 at 01:59pm

Catching up on the highlights from last night-- Little Big Planet 2 has me wanting a PS4. If I do end up getting one, this will be a major reason why.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/10/2014 at 02:00pm

Er... 3. Little Big Planet 3.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/10/2014 at 04:32pm

So far I've been impressed with Nintendo. I don't care at all about the Amiibo, but both Captian Toad's Treasure Tracker and Zelda look impressive. Zelda and Mario Kart 8 might be making me lean towards actually getting a Wii at some point.

I really am interested in the open world feel of Zelda. Hopefully it's as big and open as the press conference made it sound!

And it looked briefly like in Captain Toad, the remote controller could be used as a first person perspective? I would like to see more of that.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/10/2014 at 04:33pm

And I'm loving the Robot Chicken interludes between games lol

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 06/10/2014 at 05:02pm

Splatoon looks like a lot of fun! I'm already thinking up strategies :)

Travis Admin wrote on 06/10/2014 at 05:11pm

Nintendo is trying hard to get my money. Mario Kart 8, a new Zelda, Bayonetta 2, Star Fox... yeah, I might have to shell out. Hopefully at the end of the conference they announce a price drop.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/10/2014 at 05:55pm

I haven't seen Nintendo's showing yet, but I caught up on Microsoft and Sony last night. Watching Microsoft first got me excited about the Halo Master Chief collection (big halo fan...), the resurrection of Phantom Dust from the original Xbox (very fun title back in the day), and Inside (from creators of Limbo). Then...then I saw Sony's and I quickly forgot about what the XBone had to offer. Suda51's Let It Die, Bloodborne from From Software, Abzu, Grim Fandango, even the 3rd party games that will be on multiple systems made the PS4 more enticing. Playstation Now was interesting. The idea of being able to use that service simply through a capable Sony TV is most interesting. Latency will be the key factor there. Interested to see what they do with Morpheus.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/10/2014 at 10:02pm

Okay, watched Nintendo's Digital Event. Not super impressed. Captain Toad does look cool. The idea of an open world Zelda is exciting, but I'll believe that when I see it. Splatoon looks amazing; wish it was coming to other consoles. I'd play Hyrule Warriors. Never a huge fan of Dynasty Warriors, but I loved Ninety-nine Nights, which is similar enough. Bayonetta 2 will be good, and the inclusion of the original is nice.

With most of these games sporting a 2015 release, I'll probably put off getting a Wii U for a while longer.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Aperture Tag Is A New Portal 2 Mod Coming This Summer

"Aperture Tag: The Paint Gun Testing Initiative is a Portal 2 Mod. It's time to think with Gels! The Portal-Gun is gone, and the test must go on! Grab the Paint-Gun Device and solve the test chambers in ways you've never solved them before."

Any reason to get back into Portal 2 is a good one and this looks to be a very good one. Exploring more of the paint based mechanics, Aperture Tag also ships with a few other things too:

A new 27 maps campaign!

A new character with full voice acting!

Custom paint gun model!

Custom Soundtrack!

That said, this doesn't seem to be the only Portal 2 mod on Steam. "Thinking with Time Machine" is another such mod that is out now.

... Read All

Dislike The Game So Much You Spend 452 Hours Playing It?

I see many reviews on Steam like this. They basically give the game a bad review but play it... a lot.

So you dislike the game, don't recommend it but you suffered through it for 452 hours? Games I don't like get a few hours at most.

I don't entirely understand many parts of gamer culture, this kind of thing in particular.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 08:39pm

It may be that there's a bug with reporting the time played on that. But that said, "keeps crashing" isn't necessarily a reason to give it a thumbs down anyway. I would first assume something was wrong with my setup rather than the game.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 08:41pm

You see this with Diablo III all the time too. "I have all six classes farming Torment VI and now there's nothing to do, this game is terrible." Disregarding the hundreds of hours you had to play to get there.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/08/2014 at 10:07pm

Travis: Yeah thats kind of what I mean. I've heard of people having reporting bugs, but not like this. That said, maybe it was 200 hours of horrible, horrible time and this person needs to be liberated.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/09/2014 at 03:43am

Would be interesting, too, to see if time spent in the SDKs registers as game time.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/09/2014 at 04:10am

Huh, yeah, I don't know.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/09/2014 at 04:20pm

Perhaps they did enjoy the game, then a patch broke it? Or they might have children/family members that do enjoy the game through the crashes.

I think I have hundreds of hours of play time on Railroad Tycoon because my daughters enjoy it, and will sometimes not close it out when done playing.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Retro News: Parents Upset Over New Super Nintendo Console

"In 1991, local newsstation reports Nintendo released their successor to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in America. But the parents wasn't too happy about it. The parents thought Nintendo was exploiting their children into buying new and expensive hardware for new games when the improvements to the new hardware were obvious."

It's fun to look back at video games to see how far we've come. I watched this news clip from the 90's that made me laugh a bit. I still remember the first time I played Super Mario World and experienced the Super Nintendo for the first time. The music, graphics and controls were very good. We... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 12:34am

Wow, that 80's hair! (OK, early 90s hair, but still)

But yeah, I remember reading about how people said the printing press was going to be the downfall of conversation, the radio was going to ruin the world, television was rotting our brains, and so on. This is just an extension of people not understanding technology.

But as for the SNES, I just bought one for the first time about 5 years back. I went from NES to Genesis, and while I LOVE the Genesis I was a bit bummed out that my parents wouldn't get me another console. I don't regret my choice, the Genesis is the bees knees, but it was great reliving a lot of the experiences I had at friends' houses when I finally got an SNES of my own.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/08/2014 at 02:48am

Those were the days, right? I think the news was run by Satan back then, so I wasn't allowed to watch it, but I do remember the SNES and it's heavenly 16bit glory. And the hair.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 03:58am

" I think the news was run by Satan back then, so I wasn't allowed to watch it"

That sounds like a story in and of itself.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/08/2014 at 04:08am

His parents weren't the only people that thought stuff like that. I couldn't go trick or treating because of that. Early on in my gaming years I couldn't play Mario 2 and had to stop playing Zelda because they had magic and potions.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/08/2014 at 05:06am

Smurfs, He-Man, Depeche Mode... It all came from the fiery depths.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/08/2014 at 06:08am

Ah yeah, He-Man. That was the first thing that was excised from my child years. I had the sheets and the toys then we went to a different church or something, I don't entirely remember I was very little.

No more He-Man sheets or toys.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/08/2014 at 07:00am

Was this something from Fox News? It seems like something they would report. LOL I didn't get a SNES until my college years, I believe, same with the NES. I still don't have a Genesis, though I want one. I was, however, lucky to have a cousin that had a NES and a Genesis and friends that had a SNES. I got the Gameboy, the first one. I got a Game Gear during my early high school years.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

What IS Steam: The Game?

A new game popped up on Steam today for just a few minutes, but someone caught a screenshot of the page before it went down. It's called "Steam: The Game."

http://i.imgur.com/RvS2wW8.png

The description seems to just describe Steam itself, not a new game of any kind. It matches up to an entry on steamdb.info that refers to it as a Tutorial App. For those who don't know, SteamDB crawls through the Steam databases to look for data, and in the past has shown new games before they were announced.

http://steamdb.info/app/255700/

So what is this? Its timing makes it seem like something related to the upcoming Steam Summer Sale.

I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. I was ready to... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/07/2014 at 02:41am

So all of those trading cards we get by playing games might actually have a purpose? I guess we shall see in due time.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 06/07/2014 at 05:22am

Oh they already have a purpose. You can combine them into badges and get coupons and stuff from combining them.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/07/2014 at 05:32am

Hm, that's something I may have to look into some time.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 06/07/2014 at 06:26am

http://steamcommunity.com/tradingcards/faq/

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/07/2014 at 06:37am

Hope this turns into something cool. When is the summer sale?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 06/07/2014 at 07:38pm

I don't think anyone knows for sure yet. Someone always leaks the date early, though.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/07/2014 at 08:58pm

When you visit that link you gave me, is it in German? I'm not sure why, but when I go to a Steam page it's in German and I have to click the button to translate the page. Any ideas?

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/07/2014 at 09:08pm

Steam bug

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/07/2014 at 09:47pm

Cool, so it's not just me then, huh?

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/07/2014 at 10:01pm

No, i've seen bugs like that before.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/09/2014 at 08:26pm

I sure hope the cards don't have a purpose in a game, as I've been selling them off as I get them.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Shovel Knight releases on June 26

Yacht Club Games has announced via their Kickstarter page that the official, final release date for Shovel Knight is June 26.

In addition, they've shown the box art and have released the digital instruction manual. If you're a fan of the old-school NES manuals, this will look familiar. I just wish I had spent enough to get a physical copy now.

Get the full scoop here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight/posts/867693