It was a nice and relaxing week in Narnia this time around, thank goodness. I mean, we had a little bit of drama, but that's par for the course with this crew. And we may be saying good-bye to someone, but it's a newbie, so... whatever.
StreetPass NYC events aren't just a great place to get some StreetPasses to finish puzzles or defeat those pesky Find Mii enemies (although they are fantastic for that) — they're also a great place to play games with fellow Nintendo fans. And this Sunday, January 13, the group will be holding three tournaments at their booth (B4) at Apex Tournament Series at the Rutgers Student Center in New Brunswick NJ.
"We are super excited to be partnering and working with the Apex Tournament Series organizers who have been extremely gracious to us" says Jordan White, Founder and Event Organizer of StreetPass NYC. "The tournament organizers recognized our efforts in both charity and exposure as a voice to Nintendo gamers not only in the New York Metro Area but for Nintendo gamers around the world. We are honored to show the rest to the gaming public that Nintendo fans are just as competitive and vocal as the fighting game community and we can add our own variety and style of competitive gaming outside of VS one-on-one fighting!"
There will be Kid Icarus: Uprising and Mario Kart 7 tournaments on the 3DS and a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 tourney on the Wii U. Trophies and prizes will be awarded to the winners, and Kid Icarus: Uprising Series One Card Booster Packs will also be given away to top ranking players. And after the tournaments are through, there will be free play on the Wii U, so you can enjoy games like Nintendo Land, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, New Super Mario Bros. U, WarioWare Smooth Moves, Super Smash Bros. and more!
Sign-ups for the Kid Icarus Uprising and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 tournaments start at 10:00 am, so be there bright and early! For a full schedule of the day's events as well as more information about Apex Tournament, visit their website.
Okay, at first glance, this might seem like a mistake, my posting this video on GayGamer.net. But it's not. It's a "deleted scene" from a "director's cut" of American Psycho. (And no, it's not additional footage of the ridiculously hot Christian Bale running around half-naked) Just push play and within half a minute, you'll understand why it's appropriate for a videogame audience... It's kind of genius.
I know a lot of people are psyched for the Feburary 4 release of Fire Emblem Awakening on the Nintendo 3DS (I'm not one of them because this series frustrated me and put me off a while back). And to keep interest going, Nintendo has released some new details about the game, including DLC and SpotPass and StreetPass features!
Starting on launch day, DLC maps will be available for purchase and new ones will be released "regularly." The very first downloadable map will actually be free for a limited time, so don't miss out! Future maps will have varying price points. Oh, and you won't actually be able to download additional maps until you finish the fifth mission in story mode, at which point you'll unlock the Outrealm Gate in the world map. Nintendo is also promising new content distributed for free via SpotPass such as maps with new storylines, characters and items.
With Fire Emblem Awakening, you'll be able to set up a StreetPass Team of 10 units from an existing team in story mode and exchange certain game data with other players. StreetPass characters will randomly appear on the world map, giving you the option to recruit the team leader with gold, buy any weapons or items they've got, or battle them to win the leader and the loot for nothing.
And if you're new to the Fire Emblem series and aren't sure if the strategy RPG is for you, then you're in luck. Starting on January 17, a demo of Fire Emblem Awakening will be available in the Nintendo eShop. And when February 4 rolls around, you don't even have to trek to a store because the full game will also be available via the eShop for $39.99.
Regular readers of this site know how much I love LEGO games and their adorableness, so I'm delighted to report that TT Games, The LEGO Group and Marvel Entertainment have teamed up for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes!
I guess LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes did well enough that Marvel wanted a piece of that LEGO pie. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes will feature an all-new storyline where Nick Fury calls up on Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine and other Marvel heroes to save Earth from various threats such as Loki or Galactus.
"We're very excited to bring a myriad of classic Marvel characters to life in LEGO form for some fun, family-friendly gameplay in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes," said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games Publishing. "Players will brave the ultimate mission to save the world as they explore famous landmarks in LEGO New York and take the adventure beyond Earth to iconic locations in the Marvel Universe."
"Fans of both LEGO and Marvel have wanted this game for years, and we're addressing that demand with more Marvel Universe characters than ever in a console game," said TQ Jefferson, Vice President, Games Production, Marvel Entertainment. "If you're a fan of Spider-Man, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy or scores of other Marvel characters, this is the game for you."
There will be over 100 Marvel characters to unlock (I hope Squirrel Girl is in there!) and the game will take place in iconic locations of the Marvel Universe. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is currently slated for a Fall 2013 release on literally every system currently in active use (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U, DS, 3DS and Vita). I can't believe I have to wait that long!
SingStar kicks off the new year today with a SingStore Update, but unfortunately, it's really light. Well, unless you're a Freddie Mercury fan! In this update you'll find:
"Shut Up And Kiss Me" by Reece Mastin
"Hit The Lights" by Selena Gomez & The Scene
"For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder
And a Freddie Mercury song pack that includes:
"I Was Born To Love You"
"Made In Heaven"
"The Great Pretender"
"Living On My Own" (1993)
"Barcelona" (with Montserrat Caballé)
I'm tempted to get the Stevie Wonder song, but I just know it's going to be one of those times when I think I can sing something and then after I download it, I get the worst score ever and am humiliated (like with the Marvin Gaye track a while back).
Harmonix has announced the January DLC for Dance Central 3, and it looks like a mixed bag. Here's the full schedule:
January 8
"Whip It" by Nicki Minaj
Choreographer: Marcos Aguirre
Difficulty: Legit
January 15
"International Love" by Pitbull ft. Chris Brown
Choreographer: Kunle Oladehin
Difficulty: Legit
"(Hey Baby) Drop It To The Floor" by Pitbull ft. T-Pain
Choreographer: Torey Nelson
Difficulty: Off The Hook
January 22
"Glad You Came" by The Wanted
Choreographer: Marcos Aguirre
Difficulty: Simple
January 29
"Let It Roll" by Flo Rida
Choreographer: Ricardo Foster Jr.
Difficulty: Legit
All Dance Central DLC is 240 Microsoft Points each, but the two Pitbull tracks will be bundled together as Pitbull Pack 01 at a discounted price of 400 MP. Sadly, it looks like all I'm going to pick up this month is "Glad You Came." Good thing I've got three games worth of tracks and all the other DLC I've bought to keep me busy until February!
Well, this week's Rock Band DLC is more than just a dud for me and anyone else who has already downloaded Rock Band Blitz. Because today Harmonix updated the Rock Band Music Store with three tracks that were previously available only as part of the track lineup in Rock Band Blitz.
They are: "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People, "These Days" by Foo Fighters, and "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera.
The tracks are $2 each as usual, and they've bundled "Pumped Up Kicks" with "Helena Beat" and "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" to form the Foster The People Pack 01 for $5.49 if you didn't already have the other tracks and wanted to save a little bit. Oh, and "These Days" doesn't have keyboards — the other two do.
So if you don't already have Rock Band Blitz, you might be excited by some of these tracks. If you do, then you're like me and waiting to see what Harmonix puts out next week...
Sorry, this one's a little longer than I had planned because while I tried keeping my New Year's resolution by finishing a game, I also broke my promise and bought a couple more. So I have kind of a lot to cover this week! Click play and share my shame!
Last Friday, Harmonix posted their first Dance Central Fitness Challenge Friday of 2013, getting everyone's New Year's resolution to shape up in gear. The "Get Low" Challenge contains songs that give you a really good lower body workout to strengthen your legs and build a foundation upon which you can build some amazing dancing skills.
The blog post lists 26 songs spanning the games and their DLC, and all you have to do is make a custom playlist of 10 of your favorites (or the ones you actually have, since you may not own all of the DLC or the earlier games) and get to dancing. You can dance on Easy, Medium or Hard, but obviously Medium and Hard will give you the best workout. Do the whole playlist three times between the Friday they post the challenge and the following Friday when they post the next one.
Part of me wishes that they would just update the game with a playlist you could just do, because having to make your own is kind of tedious. But when I was making mine, I appreciated being able to pick and choose from the songs I like better, so I wouldn't mind dancing to them. (Also, I could pick some easier ones!) Although I would also prefer a Harmonix playlist because then they would know that you were playing it, and could reward you with medals or something. Right now, you're on the honor system, because they have no idea. They suggest you let them know when you've completed the challenge by posting on the Dance Central Facebook page or on the forums or tweeting @Dance_Central on Twitter with the #DC3Fit hashtag. (You'll notice there was no tweeting yet from me as I've only done it once so far!)
I really like this idea. It's a great way to keep the game different and unique and giving you a specific goal to work towards instead of just randomly dancing to songs or doing one of the pre-made fitness playlists. Variety is the spice of life! I'm going to try to remember to check the Dance Centralsite to get the list of songs for the new challenge every Friday... who else is with me?
Unfortunately, my plan to review The Walking Dead episode by episode was derailed by both Telltale Games' erratic release schedule and the fact that I fell prey to the vicious bug in Episode 4 that wouldn't retain your game save. Thankfully, that bug was finally fixed, and I was able to complete Episode 4 at long last, and then plow through Episode 5 in one sitting.
So I'm not calling this a review, because it's really not. Episode by episode, The Walking Dead maintained the quality of its first episode, and in some places, surpassed it by leaps and bounds. While for me, Episode 3 will remain the high point of the game, taken as a whole, the entire experience is tour-de-force of gut-wrenching storytelling. Therefore, I have thoughts.
Which you will find after the jump! (Obviously spoilers abound, so if you haven't played, beware!)
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